HER VENGEANCE !

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 179, 29 July 1909, Page 8

HER VENGEANCE !

by E. R. PUNSHON,

Author of "The Choice," "The Spin of the Coin," etc.. etc. "

tJ CHAPTER XXXI:re-bontijiuedv!.-. . - "And- if youTeeT- yout~muat" scrap," - eaid Xfe.ters^~&sc£ip— ive! rwilTTiere and. - tow, aiyoiaEe^SirrrißuJCsaGarpTTSrrTio-: - scrap, marrled-we!afe,_ and married we I shall as the laws I cf this; Stat€rtttJ3tte,.pexs_on;jpf:. Judge I Bampsoa join laws I of this; State in the person- of Judge- ; Sampson or some other duly constitut- ; ed Judge can put asunder ; again. So for my part I -don't see no ; good in scrapping, except as a relief, o ; course, to your feelings, sir." ; "But are you really married?" askec ; Hugh, hardly 'believing * it. Z "It seems to take a lot of telling,"" complained Waters. "But if you didn't know," said) Delia, "what did' you mean just now?" "Oh, nothing!" said Hugh with an eye on Eira. "Well, Tom and I are married," said - Delia decisively; "and -while I feel you have been abominably badly" treated) Hugh » "Oh, pray don't mention that!" mur- ". mured Hugh generously. L "Can you ever forgive us?" asked Z Delia earnestly. ; "If you can," eaid Waters, quite as earnestly, "we shall know you .have ; the noblest heart of any man now alive, - our happiness -will tie complete, and our gratitude eternal. Tf you can't, we will have to worry along without, I suppose." "My dear Delia, I forgive you from the bottom of my heart," eaid Hugh, shaking hajids with her -warmly. "Mr. permit, mc to congratu- - late"y<m," and he shook, hands -with Win. toor" "~ T_ "Waters is my name," said that gen- ■ itleman, "and I perceive that for general ..nobleness of heart and magnanimity _of character, you lick creation, eir, aKr'Yin proud t"o "know you." "Only it's a secret," added Delia, "till iro are able to tell papa. You wonH *ay anything. Miss Siddle, will you?" eho added, glancing at Eira. "Oh, no," said Eira, who was very red and very white by turns, and in Bwift succession. 'If Miss Siddle i 3 going to China as a missionary," began Mr "Waters, "I am "Oh, that was a mistake!" interposed Hugh; "at least, Miss Siddle has changed her mind slnoe then." Both Mr. Waters and _the new Mrs Waters Iffoked a little-- surprised,--But ■were too busy -with, their own affairs and their private happiness to have any time to spare on thinking of Eira's change of mind. They all turned back towards the house, and Delia, hanging behind, signed to Hugh to join her while her husband and Eira walked on ahead. "Hugh, I am so sorry," she said penitently. "You have no need to be, I assure you," said Hugh truthfully. "Ah, you are so good and kind," said Delia. Hugl began to feel like a saint, but ■wish-wl, nevertheless, that Delia would cease Isr compliments and give him a chance of talking to Eira. He wanted Very badly indeed to talk to Eira. "You see," explained Delia, "we were mutually struck with one another as Boon as ever we met." "Yes, I remember that," said Hugh. "Tom went away the next morning, but he had to come back," said Delia happily j "and it happened that when he got back Lwas.just in.the most frantic rage possible ~to "imSgine.rzpYer the way you andTpa_;had_;d edged \off and never told mc "Where you—weTe - going. When Tow ariivml lie fuuud me-thrashing the negro porter at the hotel while Mr Robbins_had_ run for help. I think I ihad frightened Mr Robbins. I forget what - Hihejporter done," said Delia mcdi- - -tivelyj f*ut- I know he had made mc -.- -^UHoue.-anjt-1 just wanted to kill him. So Tom Touhd mc thrashing him in the diiungrobm. Now, you would not have known whtt to do, and as for papa, he would simply have wondered how much compensation it would cost him." :_ . 'iAnd_wha± did Mr Waters do?" asked " " Hugh: " "Why, he took the stick from mc and thrashed mc," said Delia, wriggling her ehoulders -with a happy sigh, "until the etick broke, and tEen it was I knew I loved him. And oh, he -was so kind afterwards!" "Was he, though?" said Hugh. "But he let mc understand that every time-I hit anyone orjhrew anything at anyone; , -' -Delia coa£inuea, ~ '-Qic - wouldigiveu mc twice as "much. Ifc "is yery soothing to know that." j "I suppose so," agreed Hugh. "I tried it once or twice," Delia went on, "justf to see if he meant it. I found he did," she added thoughtfully. "Hβ seems a man of his yiozd," said Hugh. |*Oh, Iβ is," said? Delia, beaming at this praise, "and so quick with his hands and such a splendid shot—l miss as often as not and he never doe 3. I feel I have treated you very badly, Hugh, but you see he understands mc and you never did." "Ihat-makes a difference, of course" agreed Hughi- ■%• T 'But I to say to you,'< Delia; continued, "th&fc-J do so hope youiTßfe is not "-- "'Til. .try -"not to let it be,"-: HugE assured her bravely. '"Now, there is that nice girl, Eira Siddle," Delia said; "why have you never thought of her, Hugh?" "Why, really, that is rather a difficult question to answer," said Hugh. .'. ..._ ./'l"declare you are perfectly blind!" cried Delia impatiently. "Oan't you even see -what a pretty girl she is?—how . striking, too, and with such a clever, . interesting face. And, Hugh, if nothing . else, mere ordinary gratitude for what she did and risked for you " - "I'll fhink about it," eaid Hugh. 'If I could only bring you two to- - gether," cried Delia, "I should feel njy - happiiiGße was complete." She went -forward then to jeln th& - ether two, and took, passessien of Eira, pending Waters back te talk to Hugh. : Wfaa.t she had to say, Eira seemed te : find very interesting, te judge frem the, . Jntent_way in which sne Jdstened te itj :"$&& 3tthen-iie-nert merning ; Era confessed thartr they had become ; engagedj Dajia, was as preud as can well ■ ie imagined^ ; But for herself there a treubleus ' moment to be passed through when it - should become necessary to inform her - father of- her marriage.- It wa-s a-shock- ■ to the old man—lie-leeked, and -was, an ■ p]<j man now, with his feeble ways and : enow-white hair—but after what ihe had • xecenlly eiidiifed"-He"EaS no longer the etrengih to oppose to-it-the energy of . resistance he Tfould-ha-ee ehoifu earlier. : Besides, as J)eli* justly-pointed out, the :: ping ; .Tf*s Sone-flnd' «e«laf4»t ; laiTina»pe,

Mr. Hetherington objected that he did not know Mr. Waters, and Mr. Waters •observed that this was a mutual difficulty, but'that he hoped that now- they were relatives they would become better acquainted. • "Aβ my wife's pa," said Mr. Waters, "I loot upon you as my own pa, and lam prepared.to show you a filial love and obedience-'in every single thing that don't matter much." Mr. Hetherington pointed out that he was himself a rich man, but Mr. Waters, .as. he_ understood, was a pauper. Mr. Waters admitted this fact ■cheerfully, but :said h_e hardly saw how_ the son-in-law "of" a reptrted-millionaire could be called a pauper. Mr. Hetherington announced his intention of founding a hospital with his fortune, and Mr. Waters cheerfully admitted his right to do what he liked with his own. "Only do it on a big scale," he said. "I like size—and then when I have made my pile I'll endow it with two dollars for every one of yours. I daresay I could make a dollar or two," he added thoughtfully, "over the contract for putting it up." In the end his new relative's breezy confidence and superb faith in himself overcame Mr. Hetherington's objections. When he returned to Europe, which he did as soon as he was fit to travel, it was with Mr. Waters as his accepted son-in-law; and as confidential secretary as well, in which capacity he showed himself so useful, capable, alert, and enterprising, that Mr. Hetherington asked him to continue in that capacity after their arrival in England. Waters soon made his influence felt throughout the whole business, which began to show itself as alert and enterprising as any of its younger rivals. To-day Mr. Thomas Waters, junior partner in the firm of Messrs. Hetherington and Co., of Ivondon, Paris. Berlin, New York, Denver, Chicago, Ba.n Francisco and Buenos Ayrea, is one of the best known business men in th<> city of London. And he is equally happy at home, where his wife shows 'him a meekly adoring love, which all his indulgence of her—for he spoils her as much as the good American always spoils his wife— never makes in any way exacting. If he can spare.hef time she'TS happy, and if he says he-is ibusy she is content to sit a long way away and watch. It is rumoured that she has a temper, but exhibitions of it are now-a-days so rare, one hardly believes the tales told of her past "doings: - - - - As for Hugh and Eira, they are certainly a good deal less wealthy, but perhaps none the less happy for that. Hugh does not push his affairs with the feverish activity Torn Wafers shows, and he and his partner, old Mr. Logan, are content with the sound, steady ibusiuese, quietly but frrcnly prosperous, that they have now built up. Hugh feels sometimes as sorry for Tom Waters, rushing from meeting to meeting in the city, and only returning home to 6natch a hasty meal before retiring into his study for more work, as Eira often feels for Delia, who, she says, has generally to content herself with the sight of her husband's coat-tails whisking through a door. On their side, Waters is equally sorry for Hugh, whom he privately considers rather slow. He still has a feeling that Hugh was treated badly, and salved his conscience recently by an offer to amalgamate their two concerns, Hugh to be a partner in the joint business. It was, of course, an exceedingly advantageous offer for Hugh, but he guessed the motive that inspired it and declined it with many thanks, though the knowledge that the two firms are in close alliance has often proved useful, possibly to both of them, but certainly to the smaller of the two. ■For the rest Hugh and Eira have now a boy and girl, who keep them busy enough; and as Mr. and Mrs. Waters have no children, and as both take a great interest in Hugh's two little ones, perhaps Eira sometimes has dreams concerning the ultimate destination of that huge fortune which Tom Waters gives long nights and laborious days to building up. But these are dreams—dreams such as that past dream of winning from old Mother Nature the intimate secrets she keeps so well guarded; dreams all, whether of wealth or of power or revenge or of terror, like that past dream of an un-heard-of doom that long ago threatened her and him who is now her husband; all are dreams together, and in a life that is but a sea oi dreams glad is she to ha,ve found a dream so sweet as that of the love which -between': her and Hugh grows deeper every day. (The End.)

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