Amends for All.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 135, 8 June 1911, Page 10

Amends for All.

____*T_"*_..__ THE YOUTHFUL DEAD. Ifc was only the thickness of his leather Eloiorino- coat, that and his own activity that saved Edward Thorold's life. As it was, he got a nasty stab in the hand, besides another in the neck that only iust drew blood, and then at the third -low the thin blade of Green's knife snapped short against the thick leather of Thorold's coat. Thorold laughed then, with his harsh, unaccustomed laugh, and seizing his assailant round the body fairly flung him into the road, where he lay stunned and shaken. Jumping down from the car, Thorold stood over him, blood dripping from his - wounded hand. "You little rat,"'he said, and when Green tried to rise he.put his foot upon •his breast and crushed him. down into the dirt again. "You little rat," he said once more. . . For two or three moments they remained thus, Green gazing up in _ullen rage and hate, and Thorold looking down in contempt, and, as it seemed, in some doubt. He was wondering how f.hose pale furtive eyes he had just seen charged with such murderous malice, could ever have seemed to him like those of the lad he loved with the love that David bore to Jonathan, passing the love of women, and it was a terrible reflection to him that perhaps his first impression had been the right one. In a moment or two he turned away and got back into his car, and Green rose slowly to his feet. For another minute or so the two men stared full at each other, and then Green asked in a kind of stupor of amazement as he saw that Thorold was preparing to start again: "What, ain't you going to give mc up to the police, then?" "You are not worth the trouble," Thorold answered with a cold scorn that set Green shaking with.a rage more intense, a fury more bitter than any he had ever felt before. __ From the very first moment he had felt a secret antagonism towards Thorold. In his very way 'of saving him had been a scornful pride that had stung Green to the quick, in his manner afterwards there had been, just that har,d cpn : tempt that was abov_a"";thmgs repugnant to Green's vain and yet affectionate nature. Had Thorold.done what he had done with another manner, with sympathy and kindness, Green would almost have worshipped him, would willingly have died for him: Bufc_as_.it was he hated him, and when lie spoke a malign and bitter fury breathed in his words. "I'll show what I'm "worth," he stammered, "I'll let them take mc, so I will. and then I'll tell 'em '6w y v ou 'elped mo to escape up on the -hill""—ltere. Twelve months 'ard it'll be* for 'afl"c_ri_g of. an escaped convict—twelve months 'ard, and T'J] do my time in peace and 'appy to think of you toeing the line in quod." Thorold looked rather astonished, and his grim, set face showed-a-cortain. dis--composure. For fjf" tihiß~ little "rascifl chose to carry out his threat and to denounce him for having helped him, not only would the immediate consequences be extremely unpleasant, but also the errand upon which he was would be ruined, with results he dared not think of. It was not his way to hesitate, and in a moment his mind'was made up. : The very depth. of the contempt he | felt for the little con_£t made him care nothing about:appearing to yield to his threats. "Jump in, then," he said, "and I will take you out of ..this. -J_; don't want, bother with tho police "just now. It serves mc right for being such a fool. I think it's the first time-I ever meddled with -what didn't concern mc, and I'm j Bure it shall be "the last." ' Sullenly suspicious, Green resumed his seat in the car, and in a moment the great machine was-flying along the road again. "Brought you to your senses, eh? Showed you I wasn't only dirt to be trod on eh?" asked Green, with a kind of feeble and malign triumph; "showed Tou you wasn't master same as you thought you was, eh?" "Aye," answered. Thorold, "I had forgotten that even; a worm can be an inconvenience at times." "Mc, a worm?" gasped Green. "Ere, •what? You keep a civil tongue in your 'cad, will you? Call mc a worm would you? 'ere, let mc down and' I'll go back, so I will, and split to the peelers." "Be quiet," said Thorold, turning on him with a blaze of wrath before which the other's spiteful temper;., withered in an instant; "if you bother mc or threaten mc any more, I'll strangle you where you sit and throw your body into the ditch there." • j ' i That he meant what be said was evi-' dent, and Green collapsed, hating him more than ever. About two miles further on they came oiit on a lonely 6tretch of down, at the extremity of which the spires of -an" old cathedral city were visible. It was in this direction that Thorold now headed' his car, and turning to Green, he. said: "What plans have you for - the future?" "If I can once get to London," Green answered, "I should be right enough. I've a friend what's in- the Baltic coasting trade, and he would stow mc away on board his ship; and once -I got' over there he could get mc on. board, with another friend of his, what's .captain of a ship trading between Bremen and South America. Then I should be all safe enough." Thorold looked at him very keenly, and in spite oi his habitual self-con-straint he showed a certain excitement. You are certain of what you say»" ie asked. ". ". ' - J ' "Of course," Green "answered. '^ ho is _™"* friend?'".Th6roia asked _ I**! «? !_? c ? Green answered, 'he thinks a great deal of me— he would do anything -oi-jne—always has—it was all planned out with •L when I got took." ■ "Ah, your elder brother, eh?" sai< Thorold with rather „ peculiar lookHe seemed to have become absorbe, an deep meditation. But he "had abov ail things tne faculty for- quick decisioi He never hesitated Jong', and now i again a "*" turned to Gree -ne-k 6 „7 ay °, f , esca P c from England yo wTth k vo u ;.° ald y ° U take so — * | -i^;S G ---.^-tar 0 c '■mvT>, ld i paid, of course." ,-_*-X «aro ynu" a y? ou _____ Slops after C1 ' 053 CoV °' t00? Are «* H ,P T S , atter you as- well?" _ '-. W__ ry. "ft cole ______ I fee-fed l \ B ° m . CO ™ ~ whom I am ii

.:. BY : E. R. PUNSHON. {Author of "The Choice," "The Spin of the Coin," etc., etc.)

as serious as I have some reason to believe it to be, will you help him to escape with you? Naturally you and your brother will be well paid, and of course you yourself will receive such assistance as I caii give you. If you agree, you can rely upon my help for yourself, and you and your brother may name your own terms." "And mc a worm and all," said Green sulkily; "can a worm 'elp any one?" "It seems so on this occasion," said Thorold with such deep contempt in his voice that Green writhed in helpless anger. '"Do you agree? If not, we are near the town now, and you must get down and shift for yourself—and if you attempt to play any tricks, I shall see you suffer for them. But I think your wiser plan will _c to agree to what i suggest." "All right," muttered Green sulkily, "but mmd —no more of that there worm business." ''Don't presume to make conditions with mc," said' Thorold with that cold contempt which always reduced Green to instant and trembling submission. "Remember this, too—if you try to betray us, I shall have no hesitation about wringing your neck. I suppose I can trust you as you are escaping from a life term of penal servitude, but if you attempt to play double, you shall—dis for. it." "Ugh!" muttered Green with a shiver; for his temperament, vain and shallow, though quick and ardent also, was just the one to feel the supremacy of Thorold's stern, purposeful nature, "I believe you would murder mc soon as look at mc, but I shall be in the same boat, sink or swim, as—your friend." He pronounced' the last two words with some hesitation, for he could riot yet clear his mind from the idea that his companion was, in fact, referring to himself. Without saying anything, Thorold turned the machine round, and after a time drove up a rough narrow track that-led away from the high road across the bare downs. He did not say anything more or take any further notice of Green, whose active little brain was busily at work scheming what further advantage he could suck out of this business for himself. He felt it would be indeed a grand stroke of business if he could somehow ensure his own escape and _t the same time hand over Thorold—or Thorold's friend, if there were any such person—to the police. But glancing at his companion again, he dismissed his thoughts of treachery with a shudder; for upon his shallow soul, dread of nis companion was becoming as deeply impressed as hate. A moment or two later, turning a shoulder of the down, they came in sight of a small house.

Evidently at one time this dwelling had been a far _, where the battle to win a living from the scanty soil of the downs had been long continued and then at last abadoned. It appeared since to have been turned into a pleasant though somewhat solitary and small country house,-while the outbuildings had been suffered to fall into decay. Xo one was visible near it, and Thorold stopped his car and' looked at it intently, and then all about with a very keen, searching glance; as for some one he both longed and dreaded to see, and whose absence he could not understand. "Ugh," said Green, with a shiver, "how lonely the place looks." Indeed an indescribable air of loneliness was upon the whole scene, so that it seemed' somehow impossible to imagine that any living soul was near. Thorold's face grew grimmer still as upon him also there came this impression of a great loneliness. "Strange," he muttered, "am I too early, then? No, for the telegram said —can she somehow " He started his car again aud they went through the gate, hanging wide open, and up the gravel drive to the front door, and at their approach a rabbit that had been playing there scampered away in a panic, with its little white tail held up like a flag of truce. Thorold sounded his horn loudly, but still there was no sign of any answer or of any life about the place at all. Frowning darkly, he sprang to the ground, and with Green trotting closely at his heels he opened the front door and entered. The house was square built, with a wide central hall or passage from which the rooms opened on either side. Stairs led to the rooms above, and there was not a sign or a sound or a _iovc_tent anywhere, save the slow, heavy ticking of an old wooden clock on the wall of' ■ the passage. Still without a word, but plainly much puzzled, Thorold paused and looked round. It was not fear that was on his face, but yet it was a kind of rivon,i. „ inrmv of what he might find and a desire to grapple with it on the ii—„mt. -uter just a moment's delay he opened the door to his right. It admitted to a well furnished sittingroom, with a large oak sideboard at one end on which some dishes were standing, and in the centre a' table laid for a meal that seemed to have been suddenly interrupted. At one end of the table, which seemed to have been laid for two people, stood a gleaming silver coffee pot; at the other end was a dish of bacon now cold in grease, and there was a second dish whose displaced cover showed some fish beneath. A toast rack half full, and an egg-holder with four eggs still in it, were also on the table, and the large centre vase was full of flowers. The clean napery, the flowers, the shining silver, all gave an impresion that consorted ill with the sinister air of desolation that this half eaten meal seemed somehow to spread about it. Thorold noticed that the chairs had been pushed back violentI ly and suddenly, for one of them was . I overthrown, and he observed that there -I was still food on the plates and still s l coffee remaining in the cups. Thorold's Q hT 1 STeW daTker ' Us Sri™ face more d "Breakfast. sepmincly."' commented * SLT iron \ bs *- I * Tlf -- th - Httle convict's d shallow and curious nature stirred to - much rarest in all thh: "and her n. was interrupted sudden. nnfi there ,iyt in been no one 'ere since. Toffs, too. that's m plain.and one of 'em a woman " m find l! ' eSclaim ? d Thor <>l<i, surprised to le Slink =o''" mPanion S ° obsc ™ t - "3*°** ; "Certain," declared Green. "Them 3f flowers mean a woman. And they was ( toffs used to plenty of r.ervants, or they wouldn't have cooked all that -rub iust <", for two. Question is." he added with ie a cunning look at Thorold, "who are they, and where are they now?" i- _ Thorold did not reply, but stood gaz- <"- rng at this deserted room with its rt signs of c. suddenly interrupted meal to

whicll it seemed there Jiad been no return, either to finish it or to clear away the dishes. He was still wrapped deep in meditation when a S_r_l cry came from Green who, after another sharp look round, had crept away to see what else he could discover, with the hope of finding something worth pocketing. It was to a room opposite this one, just I across the central passage, that he had gone. Opening the door and peeping in, he had at once drawn back with a shrill cry that brought Thorold instantly to his side. "What is it?" he asked. "One of 'em," said Green, trembling,} "one of 'em is there!" Without answering a word Thorold flung the door wide open and entered. The apartment was furnished pleasantly and with some taste as a drawing-room. There were a number of comfortable chairs and couches with some rather good pictures on the walls, all of a sporting character. But it was not at these that Thorold looked, but at where beneath the window lay the body of a youth with a small round hole in his forehead and his bright hair all dabbled with his blood. Not speaking, Thorold crossed the room in two great strides, and stood in silence by the dead man's side, looking down on him with an utterly impassive face; nor was the dead countenance more rigid or more pale than the living one that gazed upon it. It was for long he stood thus, he looking down at the dead, and the dead looking up at him, and it could now be jfi'een that between ft—ese |two pallid and risrid countenances there was a distinct likeness, that perhaps had hardly j been noticeable before, but that their present equal pallor and rigidity brought out quite plainly. It was indeed as though in the dead man, Edward Thorold's stern, hard features had been reproduced by some artist who had wished to make them charming and attractive instead of cold and proud, but who in doing so had made them weak as well. Still now that the cold touch of a violent death had been laid upon the younger face, the likeness was apparent; and it wns impossible, too, not to see, even under the coldness and rigidity of death, how wonderfully handsome that young face had been, how gay and charming, and infinitely winning. It was still beautiful, the well nigh perfect features, the smiling mouth, the broad, low forehead -with the curling locks of auburn hair, al these still remained; and even something of the careless grace the living form had possessed. But fled for ever was the shining brightness of the wide blue eyes, gone for ever was the changeful charm of the. plaj' of laughter and expression, the delicate colouring of the complexion, soft as a girl's; all that made up the magnetic attractiveness of that bright young personality.

Close by the window a small, ivory tiandled revolver lay; and in the dead] boy's hand a photograph was grasped stiffly between finger and thumb. i Green, hanging back awed at the door,! felt that Thorold's stillness and silence were fast becoming unbearable. He had an impression that when this quietude | broke up, it would be frightful. He would have sneaked away had he dared, but he thought that the slightest sound might stir Thorold into action, and who knew what might happen then? Still Thorold stood perfectly silent and impassive. Even the pallor of his face did not change: he did not seem to breathe; it was only because he stood upright that one realised he lived. Green felt a perspiration breaking out on his forehead, and the silence in tbe room seemed to him fraught with the utmost awful possibilities. "Ah — my God," he whispered, and the whisper startled him as though it had been the loud shout of an enemy. But Thorold did not stir or move. Agsrin a heavy silence brooded undisturbed "upon the room, and Green -wondered pitifully why it was he dared not creep away; wny it was his feet seemed as though nailed to the ground. He tried to say something, but the ■words died of fear _auttered in his, throat. He tried to peep, and he thought he could make out it was .the photograph of a woman in the dead boy's hand. It was more plain to him than \ ever that it would be a frightful thing indeed, when his companion roused himself from the brooding torpor into which he had fallen. Green made up his mind that he would go away on tip-toe, very softly, so that by great good fortune he might escape unheaird. At that moment be would willingly have returned to his prison cell to he safe away from the terrific quietude of his companion. He said to himself that he would go with a perfect silence that would not in the least disturb this overpowering and oppressive stillness that involuntary be likened to the pause which will sometimes full upon the fiercest mob the 'moment before it launches itself terribly upon its prey. Silently he dared to move one foot and then the other, and then his wondering glance went to the widow So range far over the wide downs outside. Like a blasphemy, then, his shrill voice shattered the silence of death and' grief that, as if a material thing, had so filled the quiet room. "Oh, look! oh, look!" he shrieked in wild alarm; "oh., see—there is Inspector Lock coming straight 'ere, so he is." (To be continued daily.) g i

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