LADY LIL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 179, 29 July 1913, Page 10

LADY LIL.

ETfSATIOSAI. STORY 01 , A SOCIETY BEATJTY. A ROMANCE OF LOVE A?HJ THE SALVATION AEJIY. (By ARTHUR APPLIN'.) OStthar of "The Chorus Girl," "The Girl Vho Saver His Honour, ,, -'The Stage Door" etc. etc. CHAPTER XXIX. P-icr Allen and Lady lil got safely away without attracting undue attention. A* scon as the front door had closed on them, Savage drew Allen aside. "You'll see her safely hume: we had best not go together!' . He smothered a laugh. "I attract too much attention. ■Biit take care that no harm comes to her." Thfrre was a menace in his eves. in his voice. Before Allen could reply, and before Lfl could stop him. he bad slipped a-way into the darkness.

A police constable—the same who flashed hi= buffs-eye lantern on Burt- — met Allen and Lady Lil -jt the top of the street. There was nothing remarkable in seeing a young man carrying a dressingcase and walking beside a. pretty woman ia Mayfair—even though the honr was exceptionally late, so they passed unchallenged.

Xo word was spoken as they walked quickly along. The cool night air revived Lil.

P«ter Allen made his way to Park Jjrt-ne. He was sure of tinding a Laxieab there, though he was going in the opposite direction to BrcmnmgLon Gardens.

"You could sleep the 'night at my rooms." he whispered to Lil, as they got into ;he cab. "I couKl put up at an hotel."

She shook her head, then gave him a geatle pressure of tbe hand. "Bless yon. Pete, dear frSend."

He v.meed. and drew away from her. Love repressed too long w-as struggling ■to find expression. Ailen was suddenly finding out the dfrpth and height of his love. The aimosi melodramatic rescue he had helped" the ottuir man to accomplish had been, child's play. Action is always easy. A man has not time to think.

New thoughts came. He was quite alone with the wc-man he He had loved her for some years. A month or two ago he had made up his mind he had lost her Irrevocably.

But here slie was again sitting close baside him: friendless, practically homeless: her b/mcur threatened, her life in danger. It -aould have been easy for the. most bonoirmdle of men lo renew his protestations of lovr. "'1 mat go back to Brormington G-jr-d?Tis." L/i! ■wiiispered. "To your husband?" The questi<m came unexpected]v. Allen himself was surprised a : it. Lady Lil glaniv! at him. 'wondering- if he knew or suspected. Siie -hook her head. "No. To face this charge The- police arc bringing against mc." There was a moment's silence. Again she laid her huna on his, as if still seeking hi<= protection. "You don't helieve— you knev.- I ran away—before that man v.:i- found lying dead in mv room? - '

told him how sho had returned to find a crowd around the house, her meetlie had sent her back to her hkiing-plaee in the East Knd.

It was not ilie time to ijuestiun. bill Alien eouM Tim lot Lady Li] go without definitely knowing her position and the I dangers which threatei>ed her. -Thia fellow—.loe Savage—is he your husbantTs friend ':" Ho .-■α-w her sliirr-r. though ;'„(■ turned her face away. "Tl!- enemy." she whispered, "And yours:" "With you ho .-aveu my life to-ni»ht."' "f did nothing. It was just clianee that ! was tbore: perhaps fnt->." Allen drew a deep breath. "Yes. it must have ix>->n fate. Bui yuu owe your life. Lady Li!, to Mr. Savage and the fellow Burt/' The c-ab slopped at Hronningtnn Carden-. imulo no attempt to open t!ie door of the taxi. "Hadn't yon better lind yi.ur husband and u>ll him what ha* happened?" li<- •.i.-kMI. Lil looked a: him tlir-n. and the expression in iier eyes made hi* heart ache. The bloud burned in his veins "I dnn't want T" drag you into ihi<." I.il whispered. "I mu-=t stand alone i'"t<-." ■•Yen can't keep mc <>ut of it." In> said. q;n. k'y ; "Life has nu w-p t o mc unless I use-it in rwrvins you. Vo<ii know that— yuu'mu'~t ah\-ay~ have kmtam it." Lil hid her face. If onJy she had known—in th n< .. [f only she had not been <o blind—so ,-asily !wayed. "•luet teil my husband I have returned h"nu\ nothing else." she ?.iid. "l>on"t go to the elnb 10-nijriu. to-morrow raornins will do. And ray solk-itors—do you think they'll refuse m> for mr now?" "You leave all that to mc." Allen cried, all though; of .-eif vanishing. There wii< s= till to be done. A man* tn.rk. Work for the woman he loved. What did it matter to wliom :-he bflonsj»>il: Neither her past nor her future mattered >.. long as he could fight

.lumping on: on to the pavement he ran up th" -teps and rang the he!!. A sleepy servant upened the door and stared .inr.iz-d nlien he saw Lady Lilian.

"I'm mmrng in with you for a moment." Allen whispered. ' He no longer asked to =erve—he i-sue,l instructions, he pve commands. And the sen-ants, frightened, curious, mystified, oberwl without J'Ufwtkra or demur. Before" hleft Lariy Lil was safe, at any rate, for the nioriient.

.lust as he T\a~ about, to got into the <7-U> a man *ieppeu out from the shadows of ih, adjoining house and stopped, him. it «',i- .100 Savage again.

-Do you mind walking a little way With me'; We have something to say to out- another."

Without a moment's hesitation Allen Bgrcod. ile dismissed the ca.b. and tl» two men walked away together.

'■You -rot here quickly/ Allen said. The distorted, humpbacked man laughed. ■•[ ran! You forget that the house might still be watched; that the police would he on the alert. I found an officer in The square, and reported an imaginary braarl down the nest street: told him a woman was bein-; ejected from her lodgine-. a free fight was going on. lie A!'.en nodded. "Good. Whet have you got tci >-.;.- to hip?" Sr.vap> straightened himself and push*fl a ..ck of hair back from his forehead, "lou love F,adv LilY

Halt a dozen hours ago Allen would I probably have struck a. man who had ! said that to him. Bui now he was meta- j phorically faring We with his coat off I 3nd his shirt-sleeves rolled up. The simple statement was the simple truth. "Yes." he replied quietly. "I do." I ' "You know that she's married to a vil- ! lain ?" Allen stopped and looked at Savage. There was a silence. '"Who are you?" They were standing beneath a gaslamp. The night was clear now. Above them the stars shone in a blue sky. Dawn was beginning to break in the east. | London i= never silent, but she sang her I tireiess song very softry.. bondon never j sleeps, but it was just the hour when she nod 3 h-er head drowsily. "Who are you?" AEen repeated. Instinctively he knew -wbat was coming. Savage raised his withered stump. "One of Rupert Roper's, alias George Crawford's, victims." Peter Allen understood. The two men walked on. They walked close together now—a subtle bond of sympathy between them. A queer, ill-assorted pair. One the clean, upright, well-bred Eng--1 isli gentleman: the other a bruised, broken scrap of human driftwood. Presently Savage briefly told Allen how. after escaping fre-m the. Congo, he had for many years sought George Crawford: how he had found him with Lady Lil on their wedding nighi in Paris. •'And about this murdeTed man, Silas Weinhardt ?'' Allen asked, dropping his voice. Savage shook his ungainly head. "I think we've discovered rite secret. I euppos-? he went to Bronnington Gardens to blackmail. How he died I don't know. At present it had letter remain a mystery. Sir Rupert and Lady Lil are going out with the Mission that starts for the Congo this week. Oh, witli my help, ! and that of the fellow she called Burt, 1 she'll be able to prove an aTitn. We can { travel overland and pick up the boat at I Lisbon. I've arranged it."' "You!" "Yes," ftivage replied, and the vicious J snarl had returned to his. voice, the brutal, panther-like expression to his j face. '"Neither you nor any man shall cheat mc of my revenge. Sir Rupert ha.s forgotten, but I'm taking him back with mc that h*> may remember. She shall see him as he is. Anrl then "" "And then?" Peter Allen echoed. Savage langhed. "Who csje tell?" He j looked up. "It's no u>3 figMing, Mr. Allen. Sir Rupert is a strcrager man j thnn you—he fought m<> —he made mo , the contemptible, repulsive thing that I you see. And yet I hold him. in the hollow of my hand. He's one of the richest men in London. He has for a. wife one of the most beautiful women in London. But I stand between him and his wealth and his wife. Oh. yes, 1 know there arcother ways [ can satisfy my revenge; but I'm going to make him suffer as he mad-c mc suffer —with compound interest! If you try to interfere —well. Lady Lil's life is in my hande. Everything depends on what I say when she appears before the magistrate." There was a long silence. They were standing outside Peter Allen's rooms. "You'll force Lady Lil to go out with this man to that cursed country?" Savage nodded. "What wrong has she done you?" Again a long silence. The humpbacked man seemed to have grown yet more rr pulsive. dreadful to look upon, standing there under the stars. His face was raised to the sky, and when Allen saw his eves he understood.

They alone were not dreadful. They were not the eyes of the broken, beastlike creature he represenifced. A soul both big and brave and tender shone in their depths. They were the eyes of a dreamer, a lov-er. a man.

And Pe.tpr Allen shivered. Turning away he quietly "mounted the .stepd. and inserting his latch-key in the door he opened it and went in. Joe Savage remained standing on the pavement—his eyes still fixed on the sky. gazing r.p into the countless eyee of Paradise. CHAPTER XXX. Society received a shock. The feminine portion of it was perhaps disappointed when the news came that Lady Lilian Roper had of ber own accord surrendered to the police. Of course, when she appeared before the magistrate, formal evidence only was given, and at the request of her solicitors the case was adjourned. People talked, especially thoie people i who have nothing Pise to dn in the world, and at the moment they are in the majority. Revelations were to be expected. And wbm Lady Lilian mado her second appearance in the dingy London police court revelations, were certainly forthcoming. Never, perhaps, had such a peculiar array of witnesses 'appeared to give evidence on belialf of one of the I members of the aristocracy'

Captain Stokes, a prominent member of the Salvation Army; Hurt, HigginSj more popularly known as Burt the Bully, a prominent member of the East Knd ne'-er-do-welb: .loe Savage, a, mis-shapen, half-witted creature, tlw unobservant said: and Mrs. Roger?, the keeper of a wretched lodging-house in Paradise Lane. Whiteehapel, together with her maid-of-all-work. 'Liza ,faue.

Ac-cordinfr to the newspaper reporters. "Liza Jane kept the court, in a roar. Her pictures ppj>eared in every evening newspaper. She achieved fame—for a brief bour. Slip turned tragedy into comedy. She upset Ihe dignity of the law and the police.

Society was entertained —but disappointed. Lady Lilian was able to prove her innocence. She was not guilty of any crime, or even any complicity in crime. She was able to prove an alibi—witli Joe Savage's help, an alibi absolutely complete. The only thing thut could foe. proved was li-er eccentricity. She had lefr her huslrand to join the Salvation Army! As it is fashionable for the aristocracy to do eccentric things, people merely shrugged their shoulders, shook their heads, and said, "What a pity!' .

And as if to set the seal on her eeeentrkity. Hμ? first thing Lady Lil did on refraining her freedom -was"to definitely become a member of tie Salvation Army. In her case much of the usual formality ■was relaxed j she was not asked to serve the usual course of the novitiate. And though ehe was leaving England for Africa 'with her husband, she was allowed to go as a member of the great force which works so manfully for the salvation both of the bodies and the souls of the submerged. She was allowed, if she chose, to wear the uniform of the Army. "Lady Li], Salvation lass!"

The idea tickled the public fancy. She •was besieged by photographers, interviewer?, newspaper reporters. She avoided them all. though she could not escape the camera-fiend. In consequence, her photographs appeared everywhere, with garbled accounts of tie journey she ■was going to take into the forests of the Congo. % From a. possible criminal she was elevated to the position of an English heroine. She cared little for what people

thought or said. For her, life was a bitter thing. She had been down into tbe depths. She had reached that imaginary Wall which snrrounds life; she had looked over, and seen what lies on the other side. Xaturally, reaction came, and she felt dead, mentally and morally. She did not much care what happened to her— whether she went to the forests of the Congo or the brick-and-mortar wilderness of Whitchapel. She was incapable of feeling. Had her husband chosen to claim her she might even have gone to him—a heedless, loveless victim. But Sir Rupert's behaviour was irreproachable. Many affairs kept him busy, =o they seldom met. Of course, the Orlando sailed from Tilbury without them, but five days later they left Charing Cross to travel overland and meet her at Lisbon. The day before they left Peter Allen came to say good-bye to l.il. The meeting was brief. Allen could not trust himself to be alone with the woman he loved for any length of time —knowing what lie did. ''You may never come back."' he said, holding her little hand between his two bands. "But I want, you to know that here in England there is one who will always be waiting and watching for your return. It may be. months, it may be years—it may be for ever. But 1 shall wait for you. If there's any work to be done ■while you're away, let mc do it. I am your friend. There will never be any other woman in my life."

He did not moan to tell her that he loved her. But of course she knew. Not only his words betrayed the fact, but his face, his voice. Love permeated hia whole being. It seemed to wrap her round, too, like a cloak.

For the first time for many weeks her heart thawed. She look«i at him sadly.

"You -are very faithful.' , she whispered. And tlien suddenly the tears came. He felt them falling upon his hand?. They threatened to rob him of his strength.

"Oh, my d-car,"' she cried, "forgive mc if I seem hard, cruel; but I can't feel. I've forgotten how.' Xot only mv heart, by my brain seems frozen. I'm not myself, the self you once knew, any longer. I don't, know who I am. It just seems as if 1 were drifting. What the end of it will be no one knows. Perhaps there is no end." "I would come with you," he said, brokenly. She smiled through her tears. "1 know—it's no use disguising the truth at moments likr* these. I'm married, anil 1 ye sworn to love, honour, and obey mv husband! 1 suppose I didn't know what I was swearing. It all seems wrong. How can a woman take an oath like that about a man she doesn't really know? And how can a woman know a man until she has married him. until she hus lived with him?" .

He held her hand very tightly; he could not trust himself to' speak. "To obey, yes! But to love and honour—only after years of companionship oould one swear to love and honour anyone. I'm not saying all this to you, Pete, because—oh. because I know "you love me—but you've been through "the file; you. too, have .suffered. You wooed and you lost mc. but you still hold out the hand of friendship, you still want to serve mo. And so 1 know that you love m< , .' r Ho bowed his head. '"And you? - ' "I've told you. I don't feel anything. I feel like a dead body carrying about "a little soul. Isut because you lore mc, stay here and live your test life. X think I"m going because it's my duty, and because 1 want to know—the truth. Instinct, intuition, call it what you will, tells m-c I know it already, but I must see it with my own eyes. ' And if, when I know the truth, it* doesn't kill, then perhaps 1 shall come l>ack. But without my husband. I shall give my life to working—for distressed ones like myself and thost" IVe met the lust few weeks. - ' Slie laughed. "The last fpw weeks! When I remember what IV* seen and heard and done in a handful of days. 1 wonder why I live! Think of the world of misery unseen, untouched!"'

Bending down, he pressed his lips to her hand. "If you come back. 1 be hero, and I'll work with you."

Then lu> stood upright and they faeeil one another. They shook hands just as two friends shake. And so they parted. Twenty-four hours later Lady Lil was being carried by the express train do luxe to Lisbon—en route for Africa and the Congo! {To be continued daily. 1