THE GIRL WHO RAN AWAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 16, 20 January 1926, Page 18

THE GIRL WHO RAN AWAY.

[SHORT STORY.]

» (By D. C. ALEXANDEFw.) In the early summer morning the girl stole away from the big, old-fashioned house with a distinctly furtive air. She came at last to the- edgs- of a' Bma'll:plantation. Here a. young man V/as busy, tinkering, with a motor-cycle. And whilst he .tinkered, he -whistled. The newcomer placed her. hands against her ears. "Leave it to the birds,"- she. begged. "They do it so much better." ' - -' •'*-'- The young man. ceased whistling and snatched, off "his cap. "I was trying to whistle the wedding march," he said. The' ; girl looked startled for a moment, then-a gleam of mischief came- into her pretty eyes. "I have your word for it,", she said, "otherwise I should never 'have believed it." "Oh, come!" he expostulated. "It can't have been as bad as that." The stranger's gaze, however, had strayed r away, .from him. It was fixed upon that motor-cycle. "Does it go?" she demanded suddenly. "I put l it together myself," he informed her. -"But will it keep together? Because — she hesitated, then went on a little breathlessly, '"if you think" it will bear a double load, you might be kind and give mc a lift as far as London." Jack Seton, .though a somewhat reserved young man, rose to the occasion. "Delighted he said. Don't have any fears for• your safety. I'm : due' in London myself at 9.30. I shaU not be able to bring you back, though."----"I don't want to come back," she declared. "I want to go to some big place like London, where I can never, be found again." "Do you really mean it?" •-' ' "Indeed I do." He asked no more; her tone was convincing. He started the engine. It was running easily. He put the spanners away. "Have you an extra pair of goggles, I wonder?" she inquired. "You see, they would servo so. well as a mask. I don f want to leave any clue as to the means by which I got away." ''No; of course not," he agreed "T quite understand." c " The statement was absolutely untrue A more mystified young ma £ ™ have been hard to discover. He W.„ to rummage in his pocket f or gogl- eshis own, for he had no second pair He also offered her a leather can Sb! pulled off her own and tucked it away in her small suitcase, from which as she +^ 80 ' ' a string of flashing **t fell on the grass. ° It was a necklace of rubies. Jack Seton gazed at it astounded. "What wonderful stones!" he exclaimed invol*3? + t l ll F u , Bt * he ? away, carelessly «r dont think they're worth much," she i replied indifferently. ' c |] She took her pl ace on the pillion, and ; £ £0^^ were careLh *

It was still early when they reached London. The girl dismounted, and the thought struck Jack that she looked a somewhat forlorn and lonely figure, despite her : prettiness and charm. " "I don't know how to thank, you," she said gratefully. "Wasn't it a stroke of luck that I came upon you J" , ■■ Jack coloured. "For mc," he managed to say. The Love god was getting busy already. "Isn't, there any other small'service I can do for you?" She shook her curly head. , "I can manage, alFright now," she' said. "After a few days,. when" the hunt for mc has died down, I must,- for a job." "Perhaps-1 can help you there," he said. '.'-.'' ' "The'trouble is I-can't do anything except, dance,"- she confessed. .. His face brightened. "They want a dancing girl at the hotel at which I am •employed in the office. Are you ffood enough for that?" v

She nodded-'slowly- '"What brains I have are in my feet. I can dance any time, anywhere." ... i • Then her face clouded.' ' "But it would be altogether too public,"- she objected. "Someone would be certain to see and identify me."' "'"'"_ " • He pondered a moment. "If it is so essential you should not be recognised, you. might wear a mask," he suggested. ' "It would add to your attractions." The girl laughed. "What a beautiful compliment! All the same, it's a bright idea." Before parting it was arranged that tney should meet in Trafalgar Square that evening. ' An extraordinary sense of elation possessed the young man. What a girl to set dreams astir in a fellow's thoughts I

/ But he was sobered hen at lunchtime his gaze fell on this paragraph in a noon-edition newspaper: — HTJTT FOR SUPPOSED . GIRL BURGLAR. A daring robbery was carried out at an early hour this morning at Glebe Hollow, the fine old Kentish mansion recently bought by Mr. Purchester, the well-known wholesale provision merchant. The thief got away after ransacking Mrs. Purchester's dressing-room safe. Included in the haul was a wonderful ruby necklace. It is suspected that the robbery was carried out by a girl, aided, no doubt, by confederates. . A girl was seen at a very, early hour in the adjoining grounds; and later a girl, supposed to be the same, was observed riding on the pillion of a young man's motor-cycle. The police arc investigating.. The young man's brain siwain for a moment or two. * That aarling girl of the morning— thiefhimself her dupe! Of course, her pretence at needing employment was all a farce. She wouldn't turn up. . Yet there would be no harm in hanging round at the appointed time. 'To his surprise, and, oddly enough, relief, she was there. She hurried - towards him. "I'm. still' at large,:- you see," she said, brightly. [ He shiveredyet he admired her pluck.' He began, to - find excuses for her. She- had been led away by others. ; This was probably her -first and, he hoped, her last venture in the crook business. "What about that dancing job?" she asked. He hesitated. If he refused her this chance of earning a living honestly, wasn't it thrusting her back into a life jof crime? He thought hard for a moment, then:— "First of all, little Miss Runaway," he said, "they're making a horrible fuss about that necklace. Why not hand it over' to mc and let mc restore it to the owner through the post The girl slipped her fingers into her handbag and gave him the necklace. He was touched by her response to his appeal. It seemed convincing proof 'that she was no more than the victim of evil influence. He told her how to proceed in her quest for the dancing job. Barely had he finished when he saw that a sudden wild, hunted look had come into her eyes. Following - her distracted gaze; Jack observed a middle-aged man-with a stern face and greying moustache. He was obviously bent on reaching Jack's runaway girl. The latter bolted down.a subway which led in various directions and made'pursuit impossible. ' Her pursuer appeared to realise "this. He came to a stop and -addressed Jack. "Young man, what has become of your companion?" .''i ■ -. -*•'•' "I don't understand you," said Jack, Wandly. "A young lady, hurrying for. a train, asked mc the time." He made to turn away, but a detaining hand stayed him. "I don't believe. that girl -is a stranger to you,"' the other declared, sternly. "I shouldn't be surprised if you,

were the young man who helped her to get away on his motor bike."'. '~ Jack had a feeling that this man was probably a detective. And he remembered with.-a..,sensation of .sudden".' panic that he had on. him at that .moment the stolen ruby necklace. That unnerved him a little, yet it prompted quick and successful action. He had broken away from that arresting touch and had boarded a passing and swiftly travelling bus before his would-be captor could recover. Within an hour the incriminating necklace was posted to its owner. Its anonymous restoration was duly acknowledged by the mystified Press. At twelve the next' morning the girl, j discreetly veiled, presented herself at the Coronation Hotel. Her hunted condition ! did not appear to trouble her very greatly. When her veil was removed she looked as fresh as a morning rose. 'She was put through her paces by the manager, himself a dance expert, and engaged. Very soon Myra, the masked dancer, became a big draw. In a dance- dress of sequins that wrapped her in flame when the limes were turned upon it, and the black velvet mask across the; upper part of her face, she was an intriguing figure. She remained a.lovely mystery girl to Jack. His fears for her were never .absent. And one night the dreaded thing happened. It was his custom to cast a watchful eye over the supper room just before Myra was due to make her dancing entrance. And there, seated alone near, the curtained doorway through which she would appear, was the man they had both eluded in Trafalgar Square. He looked more grim and determined than ever. Would he recognise in the masked dancer the girl he sought? Jack watched his face with the worst kind of . fearthat - for another. Could he warn Myra? Was there time '! Whilst he stood hesitating he saw approaching the table a handsome woman of about forty. The grim looking man sprang to his feet. He made a gesture towards the curtained doorway. "That must be Mrs. Puchester," Jack decided. "She probably caught a glimpse of the girl as she was making off and is here to identify and denounce her. They've heard something which makes them suspect the new Coronation masked dancer. Jack forced himself out of the spell of inertia which had seized him. But at that moment the orchestra made the air dreamy with "What'll I Do?" and Myra came gracefully into the room on the arm of her dancing partner. Both diners started forward at sight of her. The woman placed a hand on her companion's sleeve. It was a positive clutch, full of significance to the apprehensive watcher. After prolonged scrutiny of the masked girl, she inclined her head. Jack rushed away. He tore along the passage leading to the room behind the curtains, where Myra rested between the dances. He waited with feverish impatience. The sound of applause heralded her appearance. She was flushed and breathless, - and she started at -seing John " there. "Is anything wrong?" she demanded.

Hurriedly he explained. __ He had a dozen "mad suggestions to make for her instant flight, but was silenced in a dramatic manner. The curtains were s\yept\ aside.: -.and- .into, the retiring room .stepped the grim- man and his dinner companion. "It's Molly right enough," said the woman. "Sure thing," the man agreed. Then, addressing her: "Slip on your cloak, young woman, and come away with us now." "I won't go with you," Molly Myradeclared, defiantly. Jack moved a little closer. Should he spring upon this man, who ■ had recognised him, and in the confusion of his onslaught possibly give Myra a chance of escape? It was an electric moment. Then quite unexpectedly the strain was relieved. The older woman laughed. It was a laugh with a youthful note in it. Her face looked almost sweet and twenty. "There was no need for your running away, Molly," she declared. "Amos is a very persistent man, but it wasn't you he had made up his mind to marry —as we both thought." The girl gasped. But her surprise was not more acute than Jack's, divided between amazement and a swiftly dawning sense of relief. "Then who was it?" she demanded. Amos looked shamefaced. "It was all my stupid, blundering way," he confessed. "You must remember I was just home from the wilds. You and your aunt misunderstood mc." Molly laughed. "You certainly had a remarkable way of wooing, Mr. Cranstone," she told him. "I was afraid you and Aunt Constance would force mc into accepting you, so I ran away." "So we thought. But the police appear to have mixed up your innocent flight with quite a different affair—the burglary at Glebe Hollow. They seem puzzled, though, by the anonymous return of a ruby necklace that was stolen." "Why, that must have been the necklace I picked up from the ground just before—." She glanced at Jack. Enlightment came to him. What an idiot to have supposed she could have been a crook girl! Molly turned to her aunt. "I hope you will be very happy," she said. "As for mc, I believe I'm destined to be an old maid." "Not if I have my way," said John, stepping forward boldly. "And the way of a man with a maid " put m Amos. "It's no great mystery after all," said Jack, close by Molly's side. "It shall be a double event," Amos declared. It was.