AS PURE AS THE DRIVEN SNOW.

Bush Advocate, Volume I, Issue 51, 1 September 1888, Page 4

AS PURE AS THE DRIVEN SNOW.

CHAPTER V, (Continuod.) ';,-., «> Then I wish you would, Mr iJ Vaie," : Warren said.. "For upon my wprd I would rather meet the devi^inisel^than the Black Squire in one of his moods." '.. VAlick strode into the hall, I following close behind him. "Now show me the way to the squire's room," he commanded, and Warren, who appeared quite over- , -whelmed by Alick's manner, walked • across the hall towards the wide \ Staircase. But before Alick had * reached the first step a door opened and MissEskell appeared, still in her dress of trailing satin and lace, but . with V face so ghastly white that when I saw her I cried out in fresh ? alarm; Waving the footman back, with -a gesture full of pride and. contempt shejurned upon Alick almost /fiercely— . ; ... , ■ ._. _ -> What is the .meaning, Mr Vale, of this untimely disturbance?" . -„-i Alick answered her with a pride which, though perfecly respectful, was'as great as her own. " That the disturbance is untimely madam, is no fault of mine. Only a fewWnutes since we learned that Miss Lenore was lured .from the White "Hart by a message purporting to come from Miss Rae, she left thereat half-past nine, and has not "returned. Is she at the Hall?" , I must, have been growing fanciful, , f KiioughV f or as I. spoke i it sVemed to me that a look of relief flushed into her hard eyes. " I know nothing of Miss Eskell, she -said,- slowly. "She left the ! Hall last night on, some impulse which I feel only to be most'imprudent and ill-advised. We * were 1 informed this morning that she was ■ at the White Hart, and both my father and I thought *it well ' she . should remain there. until a sense of her own folly and wickedness brought her back. We .have at present ;kept the naabter secret as ! far *as the servants are concerned, giving them to understand^ that she has'been confined "to her own room all day ; but, of course, if she . does not choosbito return 1 soon, we shall be'compelled to -publish the fact so her absence. u,AJso.in. that, case, af you perhaps know, she iorfeits the money Jeft her by her godmother." Then Alick spoke again. " We did not come here, Miss .Esk'eil, to talk of such matters, but to learn some tidings of your sister. : If itT ; i£ a matter of no import to you whether she be alive or dead, it is '"* to s,ome others you know of ; so say quickly if she has been hcie this night or not." "She. has not." ; - .• : The. words, simple and short as they were,; seemed forced from her pallid lips, and as she spoke the door from which she had issued was opened from the inside, and upon the , threshold stood her brother Vyvyau. Unlike her, he was flushed and his eyes were wild ; he made a step forward and laid his hand upon ;hej arm. ••..-•■ " What's ..wrong, Veronica? What do these people- want ?" "They have come to ask about Lenore; J3hetis missing from the White Hart." Vyvyan shrugged his shoulders. - . "She had a very pretty habit of .quitting her place of residence all in a hurryi. Doubtless she will turn lip all right to-morrow morning." ,The hand which lay upon his sister's arm;. shook so that I could help . looking at it, and he seemed, to feel ray .scrutiny and resent it, for he , rempved the offending member aWup.tly^and thrust it into his pocket muttering, *.*. Curse that champagne, it has made me shake like a leaf !" "If this, is so/ Alick said, " if you 4p not know where she is, we must go elsewhere. For all we know she may be lying -now, murdered, in some lonely spot; or' worse even than that, she may be at the mercy of some unprincipled ruffian, ■whose sole object is to win possession ofher money." • '*:It was curious and startling to *cc th<s change which came over iVyvyan's face as he spoke— the flush died out, the eyes grew wide toith fear, and he staggered back against thedoor-post as if one had struck him a heavy blow. I could not take my eyes, from his shrinking horror-struck figure, and yet I felt that the sight would haunt me by night and day, troubling my dreams, '■ anil filling, my waking thoughts with images of horror. "Lot us go, Phillis," Alick said, and together we passed through the wide hall, and out once more into the cold and quiet night. " Alick," I said, clinging to his arm, and trembling with a terror too great words to express it, " there has been some dreadful thing done this night, and Vyvyan Eskell knows of it. For Heaven's sake! let us hurry home and see.if Miss Lonore or Mr D'Este has returned." " What do you suspect, Phiilis ?" Alick asked in a whisper. - "I don't know. Only I feel that the air is full of horror, and that in some way or other Vyvyan Eskell is connected with it. Let us go home, Alick. lam terribly afraid. But in the narrow lane, where the hedges were . highcat and the trees thickest, we met a man hurrying towards us with unsteady steps. "It is. Mr D'Este," I said. "Wait, Alick, and let him speak to us here."' He same- forward, his dark face changed and drawn in those few short hours almost beyond recognition j and J sa> from bis, air, of oxt

haustion that he scarcely knew how to move one foot before the other. "Miss Rae," he said, and looked uncertainly from me to Alick. ■*• "This -is Alic¥ Vale;" I said, quicklyi- "We -have been to the Hall to learn if Miss Lenore had been seen or heard of there, but they know, nothing of her. Have you any better news ?" " I have searched everywhere for her," he said distractedly. "I must have walked miles and miles, and I have found no sign or trace, of her. But one thing I have done, and I glad, at least, that I have partly paid off one debt." "And that?" l said, while the feeling of nameless horror grew upon me and seemed to strangle my speech. ' " I have given Lucien Lascelles a lesson he will not readily forget. 'Partially disabled as I am, 1 struck him one' blow with my right hand which sent him down" like a stone at my feet— the. coward, the cur !" . . "But you do not know him f I said, wonderingly, "Not until to-night. But .as I came away from the inn I met Vyvyan Eskell, and this man was with him. I 3topped to ask Eskell if he knew aught of my darling—not that I could expect the truth from him, but I dared not leave a single stone unturned; and then Lascelles chimed in with a lie that I might have known could come from those dastard lips— the foul slander that Lenore loved him. So I struck him down, as I told you^ and his friend — coward in that as in all else — slunk off like a whipped hound." . He toli it with such dramatic expression and such action of his right hand that the whole scene- seemed visible to my eyes. . " 1^ you leave him there hurt, . perhaps dead f I questioned. " Things like that take a great deal of killing," he said, contemptuously. " No, I saw him rise and crawl away in a different direction to Eskell. And then I went off upon my search, and as I met you I was just going myself to the Park." . " It is useless," I said. " What news we learn of her will not be there." ' ' Then, silent, sorrowful, miserably afraid, we walked back to the house, to find my mother standing upon the, threshold, with a shawl about her head and shoulders, and on her dear face the reflection of our own anxiety and grief. " Has she come, Mrs Rae ?" asked Mr-D'Este, but there was no hope in his question. "No;" and so together we reentered the .house and sat down in the parlour, looking each into the other's eyes for comfort, and finding none. CHAPTER VI. When it was light mother made some coffee, and we drank it eagerly though none of us could touch the food she placed upon the table, and then drawing our chairs close together we > talked over our plans for the day, and at last decided upon a definite course of action. '• First," said Mr D'Este^ " I shall at once telegraph to Scotland-yard. If I have to spend every farthing I possess in the search, yet I will find her. I felt my poverty prsssingly enough once before, but never as I feel it now, when it may prove a barrier to our success. I have only a few hundred pounds in the world, : and when those are gone until I can work again I shall be penniless. How can I offer, her a hand empty of everything she has been ased to?" (To be Continued.) The Bush Advocate,