A Woman Among Thieves.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 37, 12 February 1913, Page 10

A Woman Among Thieves.

By HUGH PHILLIPS.

CHAPTER I. — If Mar Martineau. ■"- 1 - rtaniriuer if James Martineau and Annette Martines;: inee Gordon. Wn .it Xotrinirnam in 1883. -vill communicate tvitb the undersigned, she will hear of somethinc considerably v, her advantage. Five potmds reward wjil be piven for information that win lend to the discovery nt the present whereabouts of the aforesaid May Martinean. — "VVaJlis and f'lmeron. solicitors. Cray's Inn Mansions. London, W.C. Colonial papers please '-opy. A young girl rat on the Embankment, not far from Blsckfnars Bridge, readHKr the preceding advertisement again and again. For =ome rime a wetting drizzle had been falling, but she had not moved. Indeed, she was qnite unconscious of the fact, or that she was get- j tiru: very wet. For one so younfr—she looked scarcely' twenty—her depression was sad to observe. Yet it was apparent that- in another mncd many would think her really beautiful. She was tall, well developed, and had a wonderful head of jet black hair that matched the equally, •wanderfui brilliance of her eves. At Wat moment, however, the utter sad-! -ess of her face banished any thoughts; of her attractiveness from the many, passers who looked at her curiously. !n-j deed, it- is probable that hrr dejection and seeming lassit'ide were the causes of her ill success throughout that and: many another recent da-. It was four o'clock in the afternoon.' and since early morning she had been | making unsuccessful applications for aj situation. Her reception at the different offices | had been oi a varying c-naracter. The i rebuffs she had met with had caused' the iron to enter her soul, and danger-1 ous and daring thoughts were crossing her mind as she read the jdvertisement.

The only occasion when success had been within her <rrasp was in the office of a dissipated-looking "commission agent." but the man had glared at her in such a way that .-he had fled from the office in fright before a few words h*d passed b<=twepn them.

For three mouths now she had daily gone through the same weary trial.

Her name was Bella Norman. Four ?Jears earlier shp had comp to London to work as a typist in an "outside" stockbroker's officp. Thprp she had first met the May Martineau referred to in zhf adverti-ement.

Bella's mothpr and fathp- had died ■when she was a young child, and shp had been brought up by a distant relative, who begrudgingly kept her until she was old pnough to work. Then, whpn she obtained a situation, hp had coolly said "Good-bye." and just a;

cruplly to.d her he did not wish to hear from h»r again. Hp was a morose old man. and the two had sppu little of each othpr during the years Bella had been with him. With such an upbringing it is small wonder that Bella's young days wprp passed in a rebellious mood. Yet her inhprent nature had not been warped, and she was one of thp most lovable girls pvpr placpd in the awful position she now found herself in. She had been out of a situation for three months, since the bankruptcy of the firm foi whom she had worked irom thp beginning of her business career. Shp had watched her little rtock of money dwindle away, until now the rent of her little room was a week ovprdup, and she had fourpence between her and starvation Little commiseration. or .anything else was. she knew, to be expeered from her landlady. The advertisement! Was that a way out ? Bella knew where May Martineau was and that knowledge hati brought a daring and pr 'l suggestion to her mind. Bella and May had been employed in the same office. May had been called Martin—she dislikpd to be thought French, and so had dropped Sac suffix from her name — and as far as Bella knew, scarcely anybody was aware that her friend's name was Martineau. May had married quit" recently, and with her husband had emigrated to Canada.

' The circumstances of the two girls were, curiously similar, but the similarity of ti><-ir features and stature v/as even more remarkable. The two-girls were as plike as the proverbial "two peas," were frequently thought to be twin sisters, and many a curious situation had this

similarity pla*>ed them in. Many the practical joke. too. that they had played upon people, particularly their employer. •who had laughed as heartily as tbey -srben the deception was explained to him.

'"May does not want for anything 'considerably to her advantage." "' Bella reaeoned to herself at the bidding of the tempter. "Why should not I go to the solicitors, and pretend to mc May'; I ■would only keep up the fraud for a short ■while, and" if it was money that- is awaiting May. I can borrow from it. replace i: -"-h<»n i" find work, and then send it t-j h<T.' : Little did she dream of the real jturport of the advertisement, or of what ■was in store -for her. \nd then: "Five pounds U of little use to mc I've watched thrice five vanish ?ince I've been out of -work, and am as far off obtaining a situation as ever.'' Should she go to the solicitors and impersonate May? That was the dangerous thought she sat debating on the Embankment. Evervthiwr in her nature revolted at the idea, but she was desperate. The ttHckedness of the thing she could not banish, from her mind, but try as she would she could not contemplate failure in her audacious impersonation. She knew t-v-erytaing about May's life; they had lived together for three years; they were so much alike; and May had left* behind her papers and things that Bella wa- sure would establish her as May Ma.rtiwau- And May would never hear of it. ohe was in the far North-west of Canad'-—never likely to return.

Thinking in this manner Beila at last rose, from her seat, all unconscious that sh" had been under the observation of a k;r.diy policeman for the last thirty minute*. He had grave doubts whether she, like more than one other poor soul whos? life it had -been his lot to rescue from a | watery grave in the river close by. hid not intentions of the sime kind. He even gave a sigh of relief when she disappeared along Q.ueea Victoria Street. But Bella did not notice him. and at last, after a dreary walk to Rasrgersum. she reached her lodging, still thinking of the advertisement, and still undetermined as to her course in regard to it. No. 24. Alberta Street. Baggerston. Vf: had once been a suburban mansion. That, however, was fully forty yea,rs ago -when tbe locality was-'the retreat of city men and the bourgeois rich —before the days of tube railways and -thirty-minute ionrneys from London into Sussex and Hertfordshire, and hourly trips to seaside resorts like Brighton -and Sonfhend. .* ifrow 'the neighbourhood is a veritable r _{fr~t»«jf.oiP of fteearg. _ ; T2ie booses are let

out in tenements, paint is sadly lacking from the front*, window-frames, and do-M"* of the houses; the steps leading to die street doors are broken even to an extent that frequently renders them dangerous, and an air of damp, mist, and frloom, ever seems to pervade the locality.

No 24 was a house of about fifteen rooms: one of which was reverently called "the drawing-room," another "the dining-room." and -a third "the kitchen." Tn the latter, if the truth be told, the ! malady. Mr* Simpson, and her family slept. a» well as lived, when they had the fortune to let the ot/her twelve rooms in the house.

These same rooms produced about £3 a week in rent, but as the good lady was for ever telling her tenants. "Yer know I 'as ter keep Bill in beer s ' —she never thought it necessary to add that she had kept, him in everything else as well since the time when, from being the occupier of her first-floor front, he had persuaded her to marry him—"and I 'as a "ard time ter make ends meet." So she ■was eternally poor. Bella Norman's little room was on the tnp floor, at the back. Since May Martinrau had left her she had had, perforce, to economise and take a smaller, and consequently cheaper, room. Her little room was no more than a cupboardThere was just room for a chair bedstead and a washstand. and—well, not more than enough to turn round in. Bella had purposely kept out of her landlady's way since "last- rent day. She had pone into breakfast only at a time when" she knew Mrs Simpson would be seeing her children off to school, and at pone straight to her room and bed—afraid of meeting the poor woman who. she knew, found life a hard task. So Bella opened the door with her latchkey, and silently ascended the stairs. Her room looked" particularly miserable this evening, and her first impulse was to .-it down and cry.

But at that moment there came a resounding bang upon the door, and before Bella could say "Come in!" Mrs Simpson unceremoniously entered. "Oh. it is you is it?" she said. "Yer enmp in so silent like, as yer 'aye done all this week, th-ax I thought perhaps it might he burglars. Now, young woman, what about- your rent—Jto say nothing of eight breakfasts, and three fires?"

"I'm very sorry. Mrs Simpson." Bella rpolied. apologetically. "I carme upstairs siowly because I was so tired. And,

.- ; nd"—-this with a catch in her voice, for she was on the verge of breaking down— •I'm so sorry. I haven't any money to par the rem to-night. -I've been out of work for three months, as you know: bur I think f 6ee a way out: and rf you"l! be so kind as to wait until- "

• Oh. ye.-. I've heard all this •before."' interrupted Mrs Simpson, in her tones, "and it's a]wars the same. 'Ere am T. working the flesh off my hones, and if anyone gets out of work they at once thinks I can keep 'em. 'Ere's the second-floor front just sloped, owing mc £4 4/; Mr Bumeister ain't paid mc for three weeks, not to mention others, and I can't stand it." she-concluded, quite out of breath from her lengthy speech and the excited manner in -which she had made it. I Bella made, a despairing iittle gesture. 'Oh. Mrs Simpson. Fm so sorry." she repeated. tried so hard without 'success. I—l've—almost given up hope." "Rubbish.' Rot!" Mrs Simpson said. "You're too 'igh and mighty. If you can't get work as a typewriter"—'Bella could hardly repress a emile at the unconscious humour—"you can do something else. A slavey can always get a place, and why can't you take a job like that:-" "Mrs Simpson! DonV Bella cried, as she covered her face with her hands and sank on to the bed. "Xow ycm're carrying on like the girl in the play. Miss Norman. But I can't keep you for nothing, and if I don't 'aye my rent in three days' time out yer goes. And, mind, yer don't 'aye yer box. nor nothing."

With that Mrs Simpson banged the door and departed. Left to herself Bella gave way to despair. Little -wonder that •when the excitement caused by the altercation with Mrs -Simpson had subsided, and the advertisement recurred to her. all her scruples went to the winds, and she determined to impersonate May Martineau.

With a knowledge of Bella's awful position one can almost forgive the terriblp wicketyness of her intentions. But in the after years Bella could never find excuses for herself, and for many a day vowed that bad she been able to foresee what she subsequently bad to endure, nothing would have tempted her to do it. Starvation. Mrs Simpson, anyth'nff. would have been better.

Full of determination to call upon Messrs Wallace and Cameron in the morning. Bella went to bed exhausted, vet with dreams of a bright an-i happy future. CHAPTER rr. Next morning- at. eleven o'clock Bella opened the door of Messrs Wallace and Cameron, in Gray's Inn .Mansions, with fear and trepidation. "I've called in regard to this advertisement," she said to the -watery-eyed office boy who asked her name. "I a.m May Martineau. Can I see your principal ?" Her statement caused the lad some excitement. Bella could see, and after he bad taken her name into a private ] office, and then requested her to wait a few moments. iMay observed him .telling the clerks "who she was. At least that was the conclusion she came to, -because of the curious looks and stares that came her way from the six or eight clerks in the office. This did not tend to increase heT equanimity, and when at length she was shown into Mr Cameron's private room, eh-e felt she could never carry out -the imposture.

"Will he notice I'm •wearing summer things in November?" she thought. "Does he know mc?" and a hundred other conflicting emotions, amongst not •the least of which was the fact that she , feit the pangs of hunger. She had not I dared to sit at Mrs Simpson's sumptuous board that morning. ! "Good morning. Miss Martineau." jsaid Mr Cameron, a kindly, grey-haired | old gentleman, -whom Bella at once .Hked. "I'm delighted to have found you so qu'ckly. And I believe I can assure you that our client will be even more delighted. But before I tell you of hrm, perhaps you will give mc a brief account of your career, and show mc any papers. and so on. tbat you may have to prove your identity." Thus invited Bella- Tecotmied- the-ihis-tory of May Maxthneau as -well as she knew it, and then produced- May's birth certificate, and a number of other •papers aha had sdectgdjjaß-likery.-to , auewex'iher gnrpose. --- -'...„.

'After perusing them Mr Cameron seemed perfectly satisfied. "Yes. Mies Martineau, this seems quite in order," he said, in his kindly tone. "Though, of course, you understand; we shall have to make a. few inquiries, merely as a matter of formality, assure you." Bella "would have liked to thank him for bis belief in her, but since entering the office sho had felt extraordinarily nervous, and scarcely da-red" to speak. "Let mc explain to you a fact- of which you do not seem to be aware)" Mr Cameron continued. "Tour father was your mother's cousin, and is retoied to the famous Gordons of Ayr. Sir John Gordon, the present head of the family, is a man of about forty-five, and seems to think he did your mother and faih'er a. grave injustice some years ago. Be that as X may, he now desires to make a tardy reparation, to use his own words, and learning that your parents are dead, he instructed us to seek _you out." and offer yoii a home -with hrnr."'BeMa felt a little 'thrill of disappointment run through her. This was so different from what she had anticipated. Still, i.t was too late to withdraw now, and s-he must go on with her deception till the hitter end. ■ - "Sir John, who is a bachelor, T- may tell you." continued Hr Cameron in -his matter-of-fact way, and quite failing to notice Bella's depression, "declare* his intention of making you his heiress. But, between ourselves—-and I jam- not now speaking on behalf of my client, but as the father of girls of about your own age—l must warn you against anticipating too deeply anything of that kind. Sir John is a comparatively young man—but forty-five—and it is not unreasonable to suggest that he may yet marry and have heirs to 'whom to leave his wealth. However, he is now living at Jarviston, in Kent, and is prepared to receive you at any moment. When do you think you will be able 'to go down?" Mr Cameron concluded.

Faced with the question 'Bella scarcely know what to cay. The solicitor's partner. Mr Wallis. had entered the room while Mr Cameron had been speaking, and Bella felt a thrill of fear pass over her. Here was a hard man who would stand no nonsense: a man from whom pity could never be expected. What should she do? A decision was arrived i at hurried!v.

"T can go to-morrow." Bella said, in a curiously hesitating manner. '"But, as T have explained, I am out of work, and am afraid I must beg my fare." Mr Cameron glanced at her beneath his eyelashes. She was so different from the ordinary over-loquacious girl who finds her way into a lawyer's office, but he could not understand poverty like this. Still, he believed in her, and so. ignoring his partner's covert signals for caution, he said: — "That is easily settled. Miss Martineau. T have instructions to hand you this .bank-note." (Bella took it with a glow of joy, and after a little further talk, and when ehe had been told how to get to Gordon Towers, she bade the lawyers good day. Tbe. rest of the day seemed like a dream to her. She bought herself a new costume, a jacket, and several necexssary things, but could never 'afterwards remember where she purchased them. (When she paid Mrs Simpson, and her purchases came home, the poor landlady could scarcely believe her eyes, and if the truth be told we are afraid her thoughts, if expressed, would have brought a blush" of shame ib Bella's cheeks. (Bella set out for Jarviston-e'krly the following morning, as arranged. Her arTivalhad been .advised by Mr Cameron, and she found a smart little trap waiting to take her to tbe Towers. Her first impression of the place was anything but pleasant. The house was surrounded 'by a thick, high wall, almost prison-like in its solidity, and it was some time before admittance could be obtained at the lodge gates. It seemed to Bella, that the keeper wished to be. assured no one else was trying to accompany her in. She was shown at once into the diningroom, where a fine-looking man at once stepped forward to greet her. It was Sir John Gordon, a florid-faced, jolly rooking man, with white hair and moustache. After apologising for not .having met Bella —or May Martineau as she mutt henceforth be known—at the station because of an appointment to play in a golf foursome, he said: —

"And now let mc introduce my dear friend, Mr Alfred Somerfield, Miss Martineau." May held forth her hand to the tall man who stepped from tbe shadows of the great hall, but it dropped to her side at once and she fainted. Alfred Somerfield was a client of. and a constant visitor to. the firm where May and heTself had been employed, and he knew of their curious likeness. (To be continued daily.)