THE CHAINS OF BONDAGE

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 203, 27 August 1910, Page 18

THE CHAINS OF BONDAGE

BY EMiLY B. HETHERINGTON, _.ntfcor cf "Hi 3 Ccl__e Gram," "Worthington's Pledge.** "A Bepentent Toe."

CTtAPTEa SXVH. I THE HAND OF FATE. ? Startled, an-I not a little shaken by the c tragic pitifuhiess of the scene he had s passed through. Trevena stood on t the lawn watching tee old place burn, t The Sanies were spreading rapidly. f With the revelation that his dash through tiie hidden steel door had t brcc__: him, Trevena was more mystified i than ever. He had suspected the exist- c enee of a secret room somewhere in s Fioalke's Folly. He realised now that g more than ih.it —a veritable nest of hidden rooms, lighted from the centre of t the roof—had existed en the upper floor. It _-_. as the nreirLin i_.d said to him. t *_. house within a nous..'' the presence c oi which tbe eccentricity ot tne archite. .ur-;- cf the huge rambling oid place had \ ___fe_tu___y concealed. s But why bad ihU ai__l _r connived J hi-iin.: place been constructed there—for « what freak had the original designer oi ' ____<» ______ a c*nmry ago _iill these secret chambers? -i-U io what use had Andrew J l_.r__Tr_von- evidently well _i_____i__l with J their existence, put tiese hidden, lirsuri- i o-__iy famished rooms? Questions that-j J no doubt, the girl he had rescued from J1 a Aery d___h, who seemed to have her., abode ia this place of mystery, could ■< save answered; but Trevena himself < i_>__M not hazard a speculation. Treverta tamed suddenly with a start, i He had heard a i-imiiiar voice _?peak- . ins es_&__y at; the gate in the garden; : then in 3 moment he saw a -.vomans i _gure dart up to him —the figure oi Judith Fa_rf___'. "Miss Fairfax!" he cried. "Why are s yon here?" "The police nave discovered that it 1 was your coot tbey found in the mar- : d__d mans fiat!" He stood looking a_ her, startled and pale. "Oh, I eaa never 1 forgive nrysd f for bringing this on you!." 1 _'__ broke oi: wildly. ~_Kow ___ the : _!o_ has alien, I shall t_l the police i everything! Bat will €h_ey believe my i story f* I For as izstant Trevena caught his ___ath. Then he cried q_i_dy: —So: to. must say .nothing- Yon 'Kosid oniv implicate yourself, and possibly wtthoat benefiting mc. 1 doubt if yo_r __>ry .oak. __t__ the truth seem any more" plausiHe. v o; I went there to save voa, and if yon come forward 3_>w you -will ndlify all I did "And le_vn? voa to bear the brunt of strspiekin aiohe? Oh. I have been gn_tv of despicable things, bnt I am sot so desp£c-_?le as t_a-_-!" Jadits rried, with a Sash of scorn ia her dark " There was a saddec interruption. One of the fe__ce_. and a tall, eiean-shaven Iran, who proved to t_r a doctor, had some up hnrriedly--You are Mr. T____a, the gentleman to whose bravery the girl rescued from the fire o_res the fact that she is still living!" said the deetor. hurriedly. "Yes: I an Mr. Trevena." "I have come with a. message from Ler. She has cent for yon. She says she has a confe-ssicn. to make before sic dies/ 7 John Treverta glanced at Judith for a moment. Then qnkkly lie turned to the doctor. "ITI go now." Th_ two men made their W3y quickly across the ssrden. The house to which vhe injured girl had been taken, was close by. The doctor took Trevena upstairs. to the room where she lay. "1 have brought Mr. Trevena," the doctor said. ■___. am glad yon have come," ihe giri murmured- _L wain, to tell voa the rrath about Herbert Wace's death. I could not die with the thought that suspicion of his death might fall on an innocent _aa —least of aM, the brave man who carried mc oat of that trap of fire!" For a moment she paused, then sac saidi "Id was I who- chot Herbert Wace." ""Youl" broke from Trevena. "___s; I killed him. You are aa acT_suain_L__e -of Sir Wilfred KHstrec's. He .rill teU you wbat a scoundrel this man _v_ee was —how he and other wretches go* my father. David _Lor___, into their power and drove him to ruin and dea__ Because of those viilahis, my father took, bis own life. I had no proof hy winch to bring Wacs to justice in a court of law^ —I bad to take justice into my own _____ ___. ring you took off by finger, doctor —you would not notice, perhaps, that on the inside is engrarrad the __>id Tlememher,' and a date. That <_t±e is the date of my fathers tragic deaSh, and the word signines a v_- I took to bring bis murderer to justice! Th-tt vow I kept! 1 ' it was you who dropped the lane oi diamonds through the letter _plis in W___> Sac*" ■_Tesj I -did not mean that the man 2____l die _itla_rt knowing that jns--fcsee for David Morton had overtaken •b__ at last. That card was the last object his eyes feil on before I fired at through the letter slit in his door. Ec turned and saw the card flutter through—saw the gleamiDg muzzle covering bim." "But why this cardf "Because thai card led a-sigruficance jor Tj-Tru." Tbe" infamous secret gang of blackmailers, among wiuoen Wace 'had been a moving spirit, had for some reason, the girl said, adopted this card as their device. If a would-be victim refused their demands, this card was. sent to firm. Its signineanee was well known; if' was a warning. If he still persisted in! bis refusal, a second, warning -was sent. I If the card was sent a third time, it was i £ warning that continued defiance would mean dee fch! "Bat after yon had fired that shot,"" Eaid Trevsia. "Surely the risk " "The report was drowned by the thander." she answered. "And I had a place, of ti treat —no matter where. I am not going to implicate any one else: ia my conf-ssjon. 3 But Trevena guessed shrewdly that it] could only have been the opposite flat, j And then the girl went on to speak of; the my:__ric_is tenants of the old house, j ■~P___abiy you do not know that your j tousin, the Lite Andrew Grierson, was I one of a secret, society pledged to figh:, M-tcVmr.iler.—to iafik-t jost purd-bmen! I on them in cases where the law would not, or couid not, punish. And this! house. Ffouike's Folly, was the secret; meeting place of this society—men j pledged to act against the law, but in the Interest of justice. *"I never knew Andrew Grierson, but sny lather had been a personal friend of the mat who is the president of this society thai he founded—the man who! sps__ to you to-night on the telephone. Oaro-Sb. _nl became associated with fe_ or^___ Qa _i^ Irtlo had Tfi^^ to ,____ __ a ____ maaer> ™.

help of this society I carried out my pnrpos c." Speaking with increasing painful effort, only sustained by her indomitable will, . she went on to tell of the explosion of _ie lamp, while she was alone in the ' hidden part of the house in which the ' fire had orginated. The stream of blazing oil, running over the room, devasting ■with fire everything in its path, had interposed a swift harrier [ oi Same that cut otf her escape by the secret panel which opened into the hexagonal room. At thai moment a servant entered the room and spoke to the doctor, "Tou wished that a clergyman should be sent for," the latter said to the dying woman. "Let him come up at once,"' the girl whispered eagerly. "I shall still have strength to sign a confession, if you guide my pen. I must, leave a witnessed confession that will exonerate Mr. Trevena." She turned hex eyes to Trevena. "T am giad to do this act of justice to _ brave man," she said. Trevena touched her hand gently and in silence, and went out from the chamber of death into the street, lighted with the ruddy, wavering glare. He found Judith, and. as they drove back to London, he told her of the dying woman's confession. "It was good of you to come io warn mc," he said earnestly. "But now, i&ank Heaven, thanks to that poor, injured girl's confession, there is nothing to fear." "I. too. have a confession to make," -Indk-h said in a low voice. "The reason Wace was blackmailing mc was not for the reason you think, but because I had discovered through him that, after aIL I had no right to my uncle's fortuneIt _a_ he who brought mc the news — the proof. But at first I could not bring mvseli to give it up. Oh, don't despise mc too much! Bnt to-night I made up _ay mind to tell the truth. I have told it to Wilfred and to the real heir —the girl who proves to be my cousin, Elsie Hood." Trevena thought of the proofs that were in his pocket at that moment— tor proof 3 that he had found in the dead man's coat. "Despise you! As if I could do that!" he cried. "As if I don't understand how cruel it mast have seemed to be called, on to «=__ render what had seemed ycur own! You told Wilfred, you say?" --yes: that and everything else. A belated confession, wasn't it?'"—with a •wan smile. "I told him to-night that I wa? Judith Hardress. I set him free." "And he was willing?" he cried. "No; he refused. Oh, he behaved generously; only the engagement is at an end!" she said. 'T Eke him —I like him very much. Only I—l think I wanted to be set free! a woman should have something more tham liking for the m_n she marries. So you find mc to-night, stripped of fortune and lover!" Judith gave a little weary laugh. "But there are compensations.. I have found my boy again." "The child Miss Hood rescued from. some nrffun's _l____e_.* cried Trevena. i 'Tbe little fellow told mc his name was j Gilbert Hardress, and i guessed who he __"" I "Yes, my child. Thank Heaven, I ! know now that, whatever befalls me— and the end is not far off—my child's furore can be safeguarded!" '"Tne end not far off?" Trevena echoed. ~_o,~ said Judith. ___>oner or later, inevitably, I shall be arrested. The man who stole my child from me —Vernham, the murderer, as I am convinced, though I cannot prove it, of Gilbert Hardress—will denounce mc to the police." There -was a. look in Trevena's face _r- had never seen there before. •'•You say you are free—definitely free?" he demanded. "He knows that our engagement i» at an end," she _n_weredBe caught her hand suddenly. "Judith, do you know that I love you —that I have loved you all along, only I lad to keep my love bidden in my heart, because I had not the right to bet_ty a hint of it? Ami yet I think —I think yon must have known!" he cried. "Dear, give mc the right to protect you and care for you! And, Judith Ah, you do care a little for mc; your eyea tell mc that!" He caught her passionately to him. ''Yes; I do care for yon, above everything in the world!" she whispered, with a tremor in her voice. "But, oh, I love you too well to let you marry me—a woman liable to be arrested!" '•Darling, I won't listen to that!" he cried: _. want you—_ love you! Judith Riirfax, the heiress, or Judith Hardress—it's all one to mc!" '"Oh, Her voice suddenly broke. She could fight no longer against the longing of her beart. "I love yon, and since you say you want mc, knowing all there is to know, I will be your wife, if " She did not finish the sentence. A little shiver like a vague foreboding ran over her. The taxi-cab drew up outside the house. Trevena jumped down and helped Judith to alight. As she was crossing to the steps of the bouse, while Trevena paid the driver, two men, who had been loitering near, cam, quickly forward. One of them, in spite of his plain clothes. Judith instantly recognised—a j policeman whose beat was near the flat j in Battersea where Gilbert Hardress had ; been murdered; and, with the recognition, all the colour swept from her face, leaving it white as marble. The sword bad fallen at last! One of the officers laid his hand on her shoulder. ".Mrs. Hardress, it is my duty to arrest you on a charge of murder!" he said brusquely. Startled and white, Trevena sprang j forward to Judith's side, j "You mustn't interfere with our | duty, sir," said the detective. "We have ; a warrant for this woman's arrest." ! Judith put her hand on Trevena's arm. "John, it is Fate, and we can't fight i against it. You can do nothing, except I help mc to fight my battle, to prove 1 mvseh' innocent of the death of Gilbert ' K_rdres..'' •j He was standing like a man stricken, j bat at her words a light came to his i eye*, and he cried: "Please Heaven, we'll do that, some- • how! And then, when at last the gates 1 fly back and you stand free before the world again, I shall be waiting for you, i Judith —waiting for my wife!" (To be continued daily.)

I WOLFE'S SCHNAPPS—a Liquor ol I urufonii streagxii and quality.