"PHROSO."

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 204, 29 August 1896, Page 1 (Supplement)

"PHROSO."

BT: ANTHONY HOPE.

Author of ' The Prisoner of Zottdiit'

CHAPTER XVII,

In the Jaws of the Trap.

I sat for some moments in stupefied despair; the fall from hope was so great and sudden, the revelation of my own blind folly bo cruel. But the mood did nob last long, and now I waa busy thinking again. Alas, the matter gave little need of thought! Before the yacht came back, Mouraki would have ib settled, and for all if ib were lefb for him to settle ; therefore 1 could nob waib. The passage might be a trap. True; but the house was a prison, and a prison whose gate I could nob open. I had rather meet my fate in the hob struggle of effort than waib for it tamely here in my chair ; and I did nob think of myself alone, for Phroso's interests also pointed to action. I could trust Monraki to allow no harm to come to her; be prized her life even as I did. To ber the passage threatened no new danger, while ib contained a possible slender chance; would she come with me ? If she would it might be bhat Korfceo and I, or Kortes or I, might, by some kind caprica of fortune, bring ber safe oubof Mouraki's hands. And on the top of these calculations came a calm, cool, but intense anger, urging me on to try the issue, band to hand and man to man, whiipering to me thab nothing was impossible, and thab Mouraki bore no charmed life. For by now I was ready, ay, more than ready, to kill him if only I could come ab him. and I made nothing of the consequences of bis death being laid at my door. So is prudence burnt up in the bright flame of a man's rapre. ' I know where to find Korfces. He would be keeping hia faithful watch outside his mifitrepa's room. -Mouraki had never raised any objection to this attendance of hia ; to .forbid it-wPwldh^^een to th<w-off the mack; before the moment came, and Mouraki would not bo guilty of such premature disclosure. Moreover, the Pasha held the men, qf ,{foPßatJ» ! in,:np i -gr^a|i;5ieppeC A li,,B,iid certainly ,dW not fcßiqk thab a single ialandor oouTd offer any resistance to his echomes. I went to the foot of the Btairs and called «oftly to our trusty adherent. He came down to me at once, and I asked him aboub Phroao. > I She is alone in her room, my lord,' he answered. ' The Governor has sent my sister away.' ' Senb her away ! Where to ?' •To the cottage on the hill,' said he. *I do not know why ; the Governor spoke to her apart.' I 1 know why,' said I; and I told him briefly of the crime that had been done. • That man should not live.' said Korteß. • I did nob doubt thab his escape was allowed in order that he might be dangerous to you.' 1 Well, he hasn'b done much yet.' •No, nob yet,' said Korteß, gravely, I am bound to add thab he took the news of Francesca'adeath with remarkable coolness. In'spifee of his good qualities, Kortes was a thorough Neopatian, and ib needed much to perturb him. Besides, he was thinking of Phroao only, and the affairs of everybody else passed unheeded by him. This was very evident when I asked his opinion as to waiting where we were or escaping the way that Mouraki'a euspicious carelessness seemed to have lefb open. ' Oh, the passage, my lord. Let ib be the passage. For you and me the passage is very dangerous, yefe hardly more than here; and the Lady Phroeo has he^ only chance of escape through the passage.' ' You think it very dangerous for us ?' 'Possibly one of us will come through,' he said. •And ab the other end?'

•Copyright) 1896 In the Untied States of America by A. H. Hawkins.]

* There may be a boat; if there is none she must try (and we with her if we are alive) to steal round to the town and hide in one of the houses till a boat can be found.'

• Mouitaki would scour the island.' ' Yes ;\ bub a clear hour or two would be enough ; we could get her into a boat.' • Bub he would send the gunboat after her.'

•Yes; but, my lord, am I saying thab escape is likely ? It is possible only ; and possibly thrt boab might evade pursuit.' I had the highest regard for Kortes ; but he was not a very cheering companion for an adventure. Given the same desperate circumstances, Denny would have been so easily bqnfidonb of success and valiantly scornful* of ou\r opponent. I heaved a regretful sigh for him, and said to Kortes, with a little irribation :

•Haug it, we've come outright side up before now, and we may again. Hadn't we better rouse her ?'

During this conversation Korbes had been standing on the lowest step of the staircase' and I facing him, on the floor of the hall, with one hand resting on the balustrade. We had talked in low tones, partly from a fear of eavesdroppers, even more* I think, from the influence which our position exercised over us. Our voices sounded as no more than low murmurs in the large hall; consequently they would not have been audible—where ? In the passage ! For as I spoke to Kortes, in a petulanb. reproachful whisper, a sound struck on my ear—a very faint sound. I caught my companion by the arm, imposing silence on him by a look. The sound came. I knew the sound. I had heard it before. I stepped back a pace — and I looked round the balustrade to the spot where tha entrance bo the passage lay.

1 should have been past surprise now, after my sojourn in Neopatia. Bub I was nob. I sprang back with a cry of wonder— almost (must I adtnib it 1) of alarm. Small and faint as the noise had been, ib had sufficed for the ouening of the" door ; and in the opening made by the receding of the planks were the head and shoulders of a man ; his face was hardly a yard from my face; and the face was the face of Constantino Stefanopoulos.

In the instant of paralysed immobility that followed, the explanation flashed like lightning through my brain. Constantino, buying his liberty and pardon from Mouraki, hod stolen along the passage, ho had opened the door ; he hoped to Had me alone—if not alone, yet. off my guard in the ball. Then a slight shot would be enough, his errand would! be done, his pardon won. That my explanation was right, the revolver in his hand witnessed. But he also was surprised; I was closer than he thought; so close that he also started back for an instant. The interval was enough; before he could raise his weapon and take aim I put my head down between my shoulders and rushed at him. I think my head knocked his arm up ; his revolver went off, the noise echoing through the hall. I almost had hold of him, whetf I was seized suddenly from behind and hurled backwards. Kortes had a mind to come first, and stood on no ceremony. Bub in the instant that he was free, Constantino dived down like a rabbit into it burrow ; he disappeared with a shouted oatb. Kortes sprang after him. I heard the feet of both of them pattering down the flight of steps. For a single instant I paused. Tho shot had echoed loud through tho hall. The Bentrieß musb have heard it—the sentries before the house, the sentries in the compound behind the house. Yet none of them rushed in; not a movement, nob a word, not a challenge, came from them. Mouraki Pasha kept good discipline; his orders were law, his directions held good, though shots rang loud and startling through the house. Even at that'tnoment I gave a short, sharp laugh, for I remembered that on no account was Lord Wheatley to" be interrupted—no,~neither Lord Wheatley nor the man who came to kill Lord Wheafcley was to be interruped. Ob, Mourakij Mouraki, your score was mounting up. Should you ever pay the reckoning?

Shorter far than ib has taken to write my thoughts was the pause during which they galloped through my palpitating brain. In a second I also was down fcho opening and down the flight of stairs beyond. I heard the steps in front of me bub I could see nothing. Iti was very dark thab night in the passage. I ran on bub I seemed to come no nearer to the sbepß in fronb of me. And suddenly I paused; for there were now steps behind me also—light) steps that yeb sounded distinct to my ear. And a voice cried in terror and distress, 'My lord ! Don't leave me, my lord !' I turned. Even.in the deep gloom I saw a gleam of white ; and a moment latter I caught Phroso by both her hands. 1 The shob, the shot ?' she whispered. 'Constantino—be shotabme—no, I'm nob hurt. Kortea is after him.'

She swayed towards me ; I caughb her and passed my arm itound her ; withoub that she would have fallen on the rocky floor of the dim passage. ' I beard ib and rushed down, 1 she panted. 'Iheard it from my" room/ • Any sign of aenfcries ?' 'No.' • I must go and help Kortes.* • Nob withoub me.' • You muab waifehere.' • Hob withoub you !' And her arms held me now by the shoulderß with a stronger grip than I had thought possible. She would not let me go. Well, then, we musb face ib together. ' Come along, then,' said I. • I can see nothing in this rat hole.'

i Suddenly from in fronb of us a cry ran ) out; ;it was* some distance off. We started towards ib, for ib waa Korbea's voice that cried.

•Be careful, be careful,' urged Phroao. 8 We are ne&r the bridge now.' Ib was truV As she spoke the walls of rock on eUlicir side receded ; we had come to the opening : the dark water waa below us, »nd before us the isolated bridge, of rock that spunned the pool. We were where the lord* of the island had been wonb to hurl hia enemy headloDg from bis side to death.

And whab happened on the bridge—on the narrow ridge of rock thai ran in fronb of us ? We could nob Bee. Bub from ife came strange sounds—low oaths and mubteringe, the scraping of men's limbs and the rasping rtf cloth on the rocks, the hard breathings of struggling combatants— now a fierce low cry of triumph, a disappointed curse, a desperate groan, the silence thai) marked a culminating effort. And now, straining my eyes to the uttermost and having become a llbble more accustomed to the darkness, I discerned, boyond the centre of the bridge, a coiling, writhing mass, that seemed like some many limbed animal, bub was in truth two men, twisted and turned round about one another, in an embrace thab ceuld have no end save death. Which was Eortes, which Constantine I could nob tell; how they came there I couln nob tell ; I dared nofc fire ; Phroso hung aboufc me in a paroxysm of fear, her hands holding me motionless ; I was myself awed and fascinated by the dim spectacle and the confused sounds of the mortal strife.

Backward and forward, to and fro. up and down, they writhed and rolled. Now they bun"g,.a protrusion ot deeper blackness, over the black gulf on this side, now on thab. Kuw the mass separated a little as one seemed to press the other downwards, as though he would hurl his enemy over and himself remain triumphant; now that one in hie turn tottered on the edge as if to fall and leave the other hanging on the bridge. Again they were mixed to* gefcher, so thab I conld nob tell which was which, and the sferange Appearance of a single writhing, coiling shape returned,

Then suddenly from both ab once rang out cries; there, was dread and despair in one, tierce uncaleulating self-forgetful triumph in the other. Noo even for Phroso's sake or the bond of her encircling arms could I rest longer. Roughly, I fear, ab least with suddenness, I disengaged myself from her grasp. She cried out in protest aud in fear, ' Don't go; don'b leave me !' I could not rest. Recollecting the peril, 1 yet rushed quickly on to the bridge and moved warily along the narrow perilous way. But even as 1 came near the two who fought there in the middle, there was a deep groan, a second wild triumphant cry, a great lurch of the ma»B, a moment — a short, short moment—when ib hung poised over the yawning vault—and then an instant of uoser stillness. I waited as a boy waitß to hear the stone he has thrown strike the water at the bottom of the well. The Rbene struck the water ; there was a great resounding splash. The water moved beneath the blow. I saw its dark gleam agitated. Then all was still again, and the passage of the bridge was clear. I walked to the spot- where the struggle had been and where the two had fallen toeether. I knelt down and gazed into the chasm. Three times I called Korbes'a name. No answer came ; and I could discern now no movement of the dark waters. They had sunk—the two together—and neither rose. Perhaps they were sounded bo death ; perhaps only their fatal embrace prevented an effort for life. I could see nothing and hear nothing. My heart was heavy for Kortea —a brave, true man, and our only friend. In the death of Constantino I saw loss than his fitting punishment; yet I was glad that he was gone and the long line of his villainies closed. Thia last attempt had been a bold one. Mouraki, no doubt, had forcod him to it, and even a craven will be be bold where the penalty of cowardice is death. Yet he had not dared to stand when discovered. He had fled, and must have been flying when Kortes came up and grappled with him. For a snapshot at an unwary man he had found courage, but not for a fair light. Ho was-an utter coward after all; he was well dead and Francesca avenged. Bub it was fatal to linger here. Mouraki would be expecting the reburn of his emissary. I saw now clearly thab the Pasha had cleared the way for Constantino's attempt. If no news came be would nob wait Long. I put my reflections behind me and walked briskly back to where 1 had lefb Phroso. I found her lying on the ground. She seemed to be in a faint. Setting my face close to hers I gaw that har eyes were sbub and her lips parted. I sat down in the narrow passage by her aide and supported her head on toy arm. Then I took oub a flask aad, pouring some of the brandy and water it contained into the cup, forced a libble between her lips. With a heavy eigh she opened her eyes and shuddered. 4lb is over,' I said. ' There ia no need to be afraid ; all is over now.' ' Constantino ?' 1 He is dead.' • And Kortes ?' ' They are both gone. They fell together into tho pool, and must be dead, for there is no sound from if.' A low nob was her answer, and she pub har hand up to her eyes. 'Ab, dear Kortes !' she whispered ; and I heard her sob gently again. •He was a brave man,' said I. 'God resb his boul.' • He loved me,' she said simply, between her sobs. ' He—he and his sisters were the only ones I had.' 'You have other friends,' said I; and my voicß was well nigh aa low as here. • You are very good to me, my lord,' she said ; and she conquered her sobs and lay still, her head on my arm, her hair enveloping my hand in its silken masses., 'We must go on,' said I. 'We mustn't stay here. Our only chanca is to go on.' • Chance ! Chance of what ?' she echoed in a listless, despairing murmur. ' Wher« am I! to "go to f What BayS rtro"livo-for? Why should I struggle any more ?-' ,' Would you fall into Mouraki's power 2' I aeked .from between set lips. ' No; but I need not. I hare my dagger.' • God forbid !' I cried in sudden horror ; and, in spite of myself, I felb my hand tighten and press her head among the coils of her hair. She also felb ife; she raised herself on her elbow, turned to me, and senb a straining look into my face. What answer could I make to ib ? I averted my face; Bbc dropped her head between her hands on the rocky floor.

•We must go,' said I again. • Can you walk, Phroso ?' I did nob notice the name I called her, nor did she appear to mark it. ' Ob, I can't go,' Bho mooned. • Leb me stay here. I can geb to the houss perhaps.' • I will nob leave you hero. I won't leave you to Mouraki.' llb will nob be to Monraki—ib will be '

I caughb her hand, crying in a low whisper, ' No, no." • What eleo ?' she asked, again sitting up and looking ab me. « We must make a push for safety, as wo meant to before.'

1 Safety ?' and her lips bent in a sadly derisive little smile. • What is this safety you talk about?' she seemed to say. • Yes, safety.' * Ah, yes, you must be safe,'she cried, appearing to awake suddenly to a consciousness of something forgotten. ' Ah, y^s, my lord, you must be safe. Don't linger, my lord ; don't linger. !'

•Do you suppose I'm going alone?' I asked ; and, in spite of everything, I could nob help smiling as I pub the question. I believe she really thought that the course in question might commend itself to me. INo !' she said. " You wouldn't go alone ? Bub I—l can'b cross that awful bridge.1

■••.Oh, yes, -you -can*' said -L •■'••Gome along,' and I roae and held out my arms towards her.

She looked ab me, the tears Btill on her cheeks, p. doubtful smile dawning dnhet lips; ."■'.■' ■-•' : * My dear lord,' she said very aofbly, and stood while I pub my arms round her and lifted her til) she lay easily. Then came what I think was bhe hardest thing of all bo bear. She let her head fall on my shoulder and lay trustfully, I could almcmfc say luxuriously, back in my arms ; and a little happy sigh of relief and peace came from her lips; her eyes closed; she waf content.

Well, I started ; and I shall nob record precisely whp.b I thoughb as I started, Whab matter for consideration were needed. I might have speculated on the besb thing to do when we reached the outlet of this passage. Suppose then I thought about whah I ought to have thoughb aboub !

11)on'6 move while we're on the bridge,' said tto Phroso. ' It's nob over broad, you know.'

A little movemenb of the head—bill ifc rested in yet greater seeming comfort—■ \va<s Pbroso'e only disobedience; for tho rest she was absolutely still; Ib was forbunabo ; for to croaa that bridge \n the dark, carrying a lady, was nob a job I cared much about. However we came Bafe to the other side 5 tho walla of rook closed in again on either hand, and I felt the way begin to slope downwards under my feefr, 'Does it go probty aferaighb,on no\f ?' I asked.

* Oh, yea, quite sferaigUb; You can't miss it, my Vrd,1 eaid Phroso, and another lifefcle »igh of qpntenh followed the word,"- I had, I suppose, little enpusih to loueh at, but 1 did laugh very gently and silently ; and I did nob propose thafe phroso should walk. *Are you, tired?' ask.cd presently, juab opening her eyes foe an instant. ; ' t J could fiarxy you for qygxJ "| . Phrosa smiled "undec lazy lida that closed agaia,

In spite of Phroao's assurance of its simple U straighbness, the road had many fcwiats and \ f turns in ib, and I had often to ask my way. \ Phroso gave me directions ab onoa and .\ withoub hesitation. Evidently she was thoroughly familiar with the track. When I remarked on thia she said : ' Ob yea, I often used to come this way. It leads to such a pretty cave, you know.' «Then ib doesn'l) come out at bbc-same point! aa the way my friends took ?' •No ; more than a mile away from thab. We must be nearly fcbero now. Aro you tired, my lord ?' 'Nob a bib,' said I, and Phroso accepted the answer withoub demur. There can, however, be no barm io admitting now thab I was tired, noc 80 much from carrying Phroso though, as from the strain of the day and the nighb thab I had passed through, and I hailed with delight a sudden glimmer of Hghb thab • danced before my eyes at the end of a long straight tunnel we were going down rapidly now—and, hark, there was the wash of water welcoming us, the outer sir and the light of the upper world ; for day had jusb dawned as wo came to the end of the way, and the light that I saw ahead was ruddy with the rays of the new risen sun. •Ah 1' sighed Phroso, happily. ' I hear the sea. Oh, I smell ib 2 And ccc, my lord, the light!' I turned from the light, joyful oa was the beholding of ib, to the face that lay^loee by mine. That, too, I could see now for the first time plainly. I mob Phro&o'e eyes ; & slight tinge of colour dyed her cheeks, bab she lay still, looking at me ; and she said softly, in low, rich tones, •You look very weary. Lab me walk, now, my lord. . .. ■ • No, we'll go on to the end,now, tvßaid

The end was near ; another five minnfces brought us where, once again, the enfolding walls opened oub, the path broadened inbo a stony beach, above us bhe rocke formed an arch, we were in a little cave and the waves rolled gently to and fro on the margin of the beach. The mouth of the cave was narrow and low, the rocks leaving only about a yard between themselves above and the water below ; there was iusb room for a boat to pass out and in. Phroso sprang from my arum and sbretched oub her hands to bhe light. 'Ah, if we had a boab!' I cried, stopping a few feeb from the water's edge. Had the luck indeed changed and fortune begun to smile ? It seemed so, for I had hardly epoken when Phroso suddenly clapped her hands and cried : • A boat 1 There is a boab my lord, and she sprang from my arms and caughb me by the hand, her eyes sparkling. Ib was true, by marvel ib was true! A good, stoub, broad-bobtomed little fiahing boab lay beached on the shingle with its bcullb lying on ib. How had it come? Well, 1 didn't atop to ask that; my eyes met Phroao's in delight. The joy of oar happy fortune overcame us. I think thab for the moment we forgofr the terrible events thab bad happened before our eyes, the sadness of bhe parting thab ab best lay before us. Both her. hands were in mine andwe were as happy as bwo children prosperously launched in some wonderfully fairy tale like advenbure — Prince and Princess in their cockle boab oa a magic 6ea. • Isn't id wonderfnl ?' cried Phroso. * Ah, my lord, all goes well with you. I think God loves you, noy lord, a» much as-^-' She stopped. A rush of rich colour flooded her cheeks ; her deep eyes, which had gleamed in exultant merriment, sank to the ground ; her hands loosed mine. 'As the lady who waits for yon lovea you, my lord,' she said: I do not know how ib was, bub Phroao'a words summoned up before my eyes a vision of Beatrice Higrave pursuing her cheerful way through the gaieties of tho season, or had 6he gone to the country by now ?—without wasting very many thoughts "on thei foolish man who had gone to the horrid island. The picturebf her as the lady who waited for a lover, mourning because he tarried, struck with n bibber sense of amusement on my sense oj humour. Phroso saw me smile, and. her eyes asked a wondering question. I did nob answer ib, bub burned away and walked down bo where the boab lay.

•I suppose,'l said coldly, 'fchab fchiaia the best chance.

*Ib is bhe only chance, my lord,' ehe answered; but her eyes were still puzzled and her tone was almost careless, as if tha matter of our escape had ceased to ba tha thing that pressed mosb urgently on her mind. I could say nothing to enlighten her; nob from my lips, which longed to forswear her, could come the slightest word, in depreciation of the ' lady who waited.' • Will you geb in then V I asked. • Yes,' said Phroso, but the joy was gana oub of her voice and out of her eyes.

I helped her into the boat, then I launched ib, and when it floated clear out the water of the cave, I jumped in myeelE and took bhe sculls. Phroso sab silent and pale faced in the stern. I struck tha water with my blades and the boat) moved. A couple of strokes took me across tho cave, we reached the mouth ; I felt the sim on my neck with' its fainb early warmth \ that ia a good feeling and pubs heart in a man.

1 Ah, bab the sea and the air are good I' said Phroso. 'And ib is good to ba frae, my lord.'

I looked ab her; the sun had caught hoc eyes now and bhe gleam in them aeomod bo fire me. I forgot—something that I ougjhfc bo have remembered. I rested fora ifltimenb on my oars, and leaning forward, said in a low voice, . " ,

' Aye, to be free and together, PhroaOi' Again came the flash of colour, again fctia sudden happy dancing eyes, and 6he t>mih that curved in unconquerable wiabfuJne^e $ I stretched oub a hand and Phrasal hand stole timidly to meet it. Well, surely- tho recording angel looked away. Ttiftß wer,e, ,&$ just outside tfao . ea^&j there rose a straight rock on the left Wao^. ending in a level bop, some fo6V feefe abma our beadß. And, as our hands appra&ehod, gnd our eyes, those quicker tbrQgut&t&tg^ mob, there came from the bop 'M this f<m>U a laugh—a low chuckle—fchab I kttaw wpU, I don't think I looked up ; I looked »ttli aft Phroso; and as I looked, her colour Sad, fright leapt into her eyes, her Hrs quivered in horror. I know tho truth from h&t fees, •Very nice! Bub wbab have you 4obq with Cousin Consb&ntins V askad Ikle»r-aki Pasha. The trap then, had double Jaws i, atfd we had escaped Constantine on{y %a. fan into tho hands of his master* Ib was w like Mouraki, I was so muoh aghast'! fei*d yefc so little surprised ; tho fall wag e« ewMeo, our defeat so ludicrous, th&t) % feftiiove % umiled, as I turned my eyes ftstnft j^ttf^aa^s and cant a glance ab tha £*ftsbs,'I might have known 18, jew Umvf\ f^id I aloud. (To be Continmtf,)