THE GREAT ADJUSTER.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 104, 3 May 1911, Page 11

THE GREAT ADJUSTER.

(By WINIFRED MILLAR.)

, COMPLETE STORY.

Toiporjow he was to die—to die the a&tb of the detected spy, to be shot by iVoee bke-coate fiends, who had unmasked him- A spy! The , v ? ry sound of ?"] -a urns iHv Nevertheless, someone had rlv the part/i-e reflected: and if had fatten f> iiß to be one of tboEe - In a y as in many .occupations other than soldiering, someone has to do the "under-

jfjlnJy because of his knowledge of German iad he been selected. When his S, whose aide he bad been from tteKOinaeocement of the campaign—the Marshal of the whole French Army, he haeT .cenjwed him in nis imagination— Ltrueted him that he had been singled out- ie remembered that close upon the heels of his elation had come a feeling of almost repulsion when the word "spyins" lad ior a moment suggested itself ,/the correct designation of the secret Mission he was to undertake. Quick as rt e idea had entered Mb mind was it dismissed. Was he not to do this for his tcrantiVe e»ke» What higher motive jould there be than that? "For bis revsixfs sake!-" 'The Words spelt justification. Had be rot lived to serve France since his mother in his childhood's days had told him of the -.deeds ; of the soldier-father he had Sever seen alive? Oh! his ambitions had been boundless. Later, there came into fcis life the inevitable -woman. To serve her, to make her happy, had sunk into the background all else. She was to have been his wife with the coming of

peace. ' It was. not to be. His dear dreams «f- a -future were -not to be fulfilled, ffis -was the end. Bitter tears came— not for his own plight, his own impending doom, but for pity of her grief and agony of mind which would come to her with iiem of -his untimely fate. He would not be near to comfort her, to bring with his tender words the emile that he loved to her incomparable eyes. \ for-a .moment the mental picture he lad created of her as he had last seen 1 her dispelled his gloom. Be forgot that lie was -doomed to die ere twenty-four hours had passed. He was alive again. The world was once more bright. On that Boft, calm evening how little they had dreamed that they were parting for ever. He c-ould feel her touch on his arm. tightening convulsively as the moment of Separation came swiftly—all too swift-ly-"Upo.n them. His hones had been light, but he retttafiered'that his heart had been heavy, unaccountably heavy he had thought at '■the:.lime. A curious air of finality had iirept , upon him. Impatiently ho had thrust it aside as a touch of morbidness. JfpV he teliered *^ a * dimly Sa3 a premonition of this that was to If. he could see her but once more .exfc the world was shut for ever from ■ Jumi'But that could not be. Be prayed /thai Bomo miracle would waft his spirit to comfort her in the days of her pain. It matted -not the torturing he under--Jrent, "but why should "the precious woman suffer through the man whose wish was only to make her happy? Was there no mercy-in Beaveni In his agony of 'mind ie startedVuneaSi/y an Zne xongh jnakesfkafii2of-.& a, gToan and )iy_still.,.A half-suppressed breath, full Wiaan aid exhaustion, passed unwillingly IrOnj. his lips. He had teen wounded gevious to capture. He was weak. WJien would the surgeon come to change lisliandages? He was weary of -everyfliißg. Hewanted to sleep. Would it not be-'Ms last sleep on earth? Oh! he didn'i;want to dje! With all the tenacity ef yputh he clung to life. He had found this world good to live in, good to look upon. ; £ebellion against hie fate possess*d liiin. He had loved living; yes! had )ovsd/tqieel 4o&'s fresh air soothing his temples, to sleep with the Heavens his only canopy, to gaze at those mysterious ■ether /worlds that we call stars, and to wonder at the awfulness of the Master Hand that had fashioned all. Hisl'flkmghts we-oit bacii to liis youth. He lag , believed €hHt he ihad been bom io be %£oldier, and he had fallen into the niche for which nature ha.d intended

Mm..', I3ns was the end, lie reiterated, Ms ,-ibrain dulled. v How little ihe had dreamed thai iisJame was to come «o soon. . .

The doctor came in. Tenderly ne rearranged the man , !! 'bandages. Tjbe doomed insun -teLken to ff-Trig big, "boyish' "wftfih -the woman's &gff,\ilespiie Ik iMianality. "A--Germa»! JJgkl 'How' le "had bated •Isr rape.. At thought of it, again as of old, he felt ihe oold-hot blood of hatred

of these-*3i3s conn&ry's enemies, rushJmg 1 tlnTOglj--'.his--veins. Hβ half-raised >jtt'ii&i escTtement. He mast be out thoi-e/jju:;Jhe open, fighting for France. Quickly the mood .passed, and, witJi a . sjgh.iflf Csiausiaoß, he fell back on his icijgh'-jbecl. .-'Jffie Geraiau simply =wa.tehed him. He ■ man, anfl he felt a '-greai.pity for this fellow being, who, ■te-raotrow, was to receive iris <-nli The •mad was grievously wounded, and the ■' doctor, almost '-wished -that the eoldiers •':. -J"™4 J»": <*eated. of. their voliey. For I w»'tet.jan»-a realisation of ike horj-or •; OMj#r- ; !lad. all its issues eaveloped the . ?nst a short time ago, when wie-darion died.first sounded, "he had tpfcugntißo -«Serently. War to aim tihen ".?M-*ppeaMd a glorious thing. Since, -■■ffl>t;«BO^,but .many times, he iiad had drcad.glimpees of tie "undertow," and pw.wished Tor it to end even' as h-e W once priyea ior it- ■ r H? doctor went Ms way. _btill more wearily the * spy" lay on staring Tacsaitiy. To the ' had entrusted ihe mission of ■ ,™« tdhßg-oi his end to the woman heen Jus wife. ■ M- 6 -S 8 ° toea - "wanted to sleep, fus-vlsaui became ms powers of fhougiit seemed to Dβ & His of mmd became B7n ?° a TOuld ™™ * «>e wo■S' "^ S ior bizsxM well, be vva 3 ' W - Sl !? ed noiT - Perhaps they would g£«.th»t other world God alone

■SutiS. Ur :haa come - morning ! and fcfsurtifuJ—a luring mom ■^lEsy^-i'ss been told off to do the :lS™s; 6 io P e . tnat to the very 'iavrSV • ew woman would • fficor S l ! 6 firing signal? ■".fcStuJfS ,18,1 * feelins of Tevolt ■ ■ ttle dea " r "woniaa le loved ' !The■ tt tr 4reaa news? ... ;...--:.v-.- l i-!f*-««gJag as of a myriad of

red hot needles searing Iris flesh. Inoom-, ceivable agonies shot through, his every fibre. His -frame seemed to 'be shrivelling as if a powerful electric ctiixent Twer«, passing through, it. The power of Itought fcad deserted ton. His brain was as if it la 4 never been. He oonld feel though, and feeEng was as the torments of hell. 'Vainly he exerted has strength to combat tihexn, but without avaiL Tihen in- a flash all £he pain fell aiway, and, wonder of wonders, he found that he. still retained Hhas, which we call mind. His first knowledge was that his pbysica.' being Jiad ceased. It seemed to h&Fe remained in that oifo&t world ha had deserted. He appeared to be eoarinf. ViTiere? W]ience? And the answer cajaie. He was passing through that -wliieli he, in common "with 'his fallow mortals, had vaguely designated space. In a rapidly chjanging panorama his whole liie seemed to pass Taefor© him. Episodes of his cihildh.ood and his eehooldare came to hwn Memories of sins committed arose to mock him. His many mistakes, wilful and crbherwise, reared their heads as ugly phantoms. He passed on to the days of his courtship, to that glorious day on which he had first met 'the woman hs loved: and then to that wonderful hour in which she Jiad promised Iteiself to him.

Nqw he was living ever different scenes in which he had participated during the war. Lastly he came to his capture. Again he felt the agonies -that had been born in him at thought of his fiancee's grief. Again his soul was in bitter revolt at thought that so early death was to be meted out to him. Again he -was facing the guns of the Germans. Again he felt the sickening eojdhot borings of their bullets in his flesh. Then all these things faded. AH the dead past seemed to roll away, and in its place a great peace stole upon him. The seeds of a wondrous happiness such as he had never dreamed of in that other vast \rorld seemed to be sown in him.

Phantom shapes seemed to be floating before him. He seemed cognisant of the proximity of something—some intangible something. What was it? What was the meaning of this happiness that was possessing him? He felt some familiar presence. Then he realised. There, coming to him without a falter was the woman. Faster now he went to meet her. What could it mean? What miracle was being created? She was alive, living in grief, in that other world so far removed. One could not be in two worlds. It could not be she! What racking hallucination was it? He could not understand. He would not try to do so. Now she was almost upon him. Oh! she was beautiful. . About her there was a matchless grace he had not before credited her with possessing. Nearer she came, and her face seemed to mirror his happiness. There could not be grief in her heart! Now she was in his arms. Fearful that she would prove to be but a creature of his brain, he held her to him. W«nderful! This was no 6tuff of dreams; this was reality. She—his wife, for all eternity—had come to him, God had been good. Dimly he understood that this was this tbe Heaven of which he had «nee dreamed.

When the doctor came to him in the, morning he found that his half-formed wish had been consummated. A greater Director "had taken a nand. The (prisoner's -•wound had afresh, evidently from some severe physical strain; the bandages had left their places, and the bed, saturated with his life's blood, told its own pitiful story. In deference to the dead man's wishes, six months later the doctor sought out the woman in the case. The big, bluff thoughtless, but withal tender-hearted, German abhorred his mission. He would have given 10 years of Ms life to escape it. His sacrifice -would lave been unnecessary. He found that God had called yet another of His beings. As he retraced his way, soberer even than he had come, he found himself pondering on the vast mysteries of what is known to us as Life and Death. Of a sudden he halted in his step. Six months ago they had told him she' had died; and the date they had given Jum Why, it -was the same! The woman must have died almost in the same hour as her lover. He recalled the look of perfect peace and happiness that had etherealised the face of the dead man. Could the man have known of this? Could, he ;, ha.ye : known that has spirit would, ere long be' mingling with hers? The doctor wondered.