SWEET SHAMROCK

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 243, 15 October 1931, Page 20

SWEET SHAMROCK

1 BY A. GOWER STEPHENS \ ("The Rod . Pagan") v %

CHAPTER XXVlll.—(Continued.) "Do you mean that she is • going to marry him?" \ . " Yes," answered Phyllis, " they must be married, by this time; Mr. Blake wouldn't wait a minute more than he could help." " But," I said in perplexity, " she was engaged to marry me. This is my— our ring." .. . . ' > ■] I '■ ■ ' "I know," said Phyllis. "But it is true, Peter." _ Suddenly I felt lucid and calm;, my heart ceased beating loudly. r y . '• " Tell mc all about it, Phyllis." : ' " I can only tell you what Shamrock told me, Peter. Of course, I saw Harry's telegram. It said. he . was coming at four o'clock, and he came. I don't think Shamrock knew why lie was coming; the telegram didn't say. She asked me if I knew, and I said. it must be about lier, and I told her she wasn't ; being fair to you, since she was. engaged to you— and she, wasn't being' fair to Harry, either! She said I had said that before —and so I had, Peter. And she asked me to .promise to stand by her, whatever iiap.pened; and. of course, I said I would. " We were waiting for him liere, arid she met him at the door. I heard her ask him had anything happened, and he asked were you here last night. Then I went out and left them; he took no notice of me. " I don't know what happened then; but Shamrock told me upstairs • that he asked her to marry him, and she refused; ■ and then he had , a weddingring, and he put it on her finger; and when J. came in she was wearing it; and he told her that he had a car waiting at the bottom of the street,"and she must go away witli him and be. married at once; and —she*went away."' Phyllis began sobbing again. . "Oh, Peter 1 he is very fond of her, and she always liked him, and he has such a strong will; he must have overpowered her in some way—she couldn t help it, .Peter. She did everything he .told her — she was in a dream. "When I came in Harry said, 'We're going to be married, Phyllis; we're not going to wait any longer.'•' And the ring on her finger, and I said, ' Oh Shamrock!' and she came to me and hugged me. We were both crying, and I whispered to her was she sure she waS vdoing right, and she said, 'Harry wants me!'

" Then he said,...'lt's the best way. .Phyllis- We will write to you:' And he was holding her hand, and -he put his arm around 8 her, l and tried to take her away then. I didn't know what to do. I asked her to wait while I got her hat, and I kept drawing her away. " She said, ' Wait, Harry — there's something I must do first,' and he asked her what it was, and she said she must .say good-bye to Granny; and t he said 'Will you promise to come : straight back?' and she said, 'Yes, I promise. Then he let her go, and she came up to our room and wrote, your letter, and then she went up-to Granny, and then ■ she came down again. It all seemed to happen in five, minutes. "I went upstairs with her, and she wave me the letter, and then she told me to go down to Harryf So I went down, and he said to me ' It's the best way, Phyllis. And all I could say was that I hoped he good to her, and he said faithfully, I will, Phyllis,' and I< am:sure-lie meant it, and I know lie will "be good to her. We waited a minute while he walked up and down the. room, and then she came down, and he took her hand again, and told her. to come, and then she—she went, Peter!" Phyllis-stopped sobbing,-and tned to ■dry her eyes. "We must make the best of it, Peter. She was going away without her hat—without anything at all—and I ran and got, a hat from the hall, and gave it to her, and she went away carrying it in her hand. She ne looked back. When I was sure she was gone I went up to , Granny, roor ok Granny was just rocking herself to and fro, with her hands clasped, _ and crooning something all the time; it has been a'"great shock to her. 1 went up again just now; I felt anxious about her; and all she would say was 'Lave trie be; Phylli?. None of the aunts saw anything, by a great mercy ;, but I think Aunt Baby, suspects —though I don't know how; she cairie m a little while-ago and asked me where Shamrock was/,and, she must have seen me crying. I said I didn't know, and she has been on the watch ever since. Oh, Peter, try and forgive her. It s all done now, and we must make the best of it.- I'll have to make up my mind to 'tell the aunts—it will be a frightful blow to them, because I know they-' air liked you, Peter, and such a thing as an elopement was the last . thing they thought of." . What else Phyllis said I did not know. My mind was calm and lucid; all my faculties seemed preternaturally lceem I remember noticing things in the sitting ■room that I had never noticed before; my eyes were held by a large stain on the carpet, disfiguring the faded pattern. It looked like an ink-stain that had been only half obliterated. It had left only one bud of four, and more than half the rose was covered by the greyish blot. I wondered who had overturned the inkwell.

"Thank you, Phyllis," I said abruptly. "I had better go now." My gaze was caught by mv hand holding the envelope with the ring. I put the envelope in my co&t pocket &nd "turned, to the dpor. Phyllis did not look up; ■she was crying again. 1 I reached the" hall door; I was met by Aunt Euphemia and her cats. Evidently 'Aunt Euphemia had been waiting to speak to me/,, She .greeted me with a .cheerful smile. "Is it not a lovely evening, Mr. Stafford?" she remarked kindly. A.''Yes, Miss O'Shea," I answered .mechanically, trying to pass her. "I was going to tell you about Cleopatra, Mr. Stafford," commenced Aunt Euphemia. "A most' singular circumstance—entirely corroborative—but you are going away without your hat, Mr. Stafford," continued in surprise, coming- out of her thoughts'to peer at me' closelv. "You do not seem altogether well, Mr. Stafford. "Phyllis!", she called -suddenly. ; I could make no answer; I was walking onward to the gate. I felt Aunt Baby watching me as 'she leaned eagerly over the balcony. . Her "Adieu, good Peter after ;me.' ; Phyllis came; running with my hat. I took it blifldly ' and i walked out the gate . and on. .v. -.;..

CHAPTER X-^IX. Three hours here are blotted from my life; I do not know what I saw, what I heard, what I did. I.must have walked up one street and down another, on and on and on. But I was walking in sleep, entranced, obsessed, with an abnormally lucid mind that saw everything and remembered nothing. In my head somewhere was the knowledge that I had lost Shamrock for, ever. That thought* sub-_ merged every other.' •' Automatically, mechanically, I must have protected myself from the countless oppositions and accidents of street traffic. Once or twicS,' I .think, people spoke to me; but I do not remember; I must have kept walking. When I came back to myself, it was quite dark. Suddenly memory returned; I stopped; I found that I was standing near tho end of my home street —at a corner that I had been accustomed to pass twice every .xlay. I began tp remember. I noted the darkness and the street ; lamp.' I looked at my > watch. It was nearly-nine o'clock. -.j My mind ranged back over everything; j The last .thing I remembered Hvks Phyllis; funning after me'' with' my liat. I put' my hand to my head; 3I "was hatless; I must have dropped the hat somewhere. I noticed that my boots, were dusty;' I must have walked far. My skin felt 1 clammy; I must have been sweating, freely. And I felt fatigue.;. ; Well, all was over. I had better go homo and rest—though...l did not feel that I could rest. I must pick Tip the threads of life anew." A life without Shamrock —how strange!'" Was it better to end everything? I did not harbour that.. long. A revolution had been worked in my mind, but the tides of life were flowing within me. I was young; I was strong; I would recover. And all the time, J- knew that I was not facing facts; that I was evading them. I could not let''myself ithink of Shamrock married to Blake. When that thought kept coining,, ! tried hard to push it away. I opened my eyes wide and strove to realise myself." I am Peter Stafford. This is Wattle Tree Avenue. I live at Number 'Twentynine. lam going there now. And suddenly, as I stood, I heard the Banshee. There was .no mistaking the sound; J. could not confuse it with the street noises, it was a sound ,>withinr-jny brain, not from without. { V- ■*/ Not, this time, a fierce cry or a,, loud cry, but a soft, wailing cry, that seemed almost a sympathetic cooing. This time T really "believed that there was a Banshee; I felt that- she was grieving for ,me, yet encouraging me" I waited a minute till her .yo,ice A stopped, then I walked along. v' I came to our house—the suburban houso where I was one of a dozen lodgers, mostly young men employed in' the city. It was distant from, the city;, I had chosen it for the sake of quiet and agreeable surroundings. I came to the steps by which, we entered from the street, and I noticed a figure seated on the steps. I came close, and the' figure arose.

T was ■walking past', it, when. a small voice said, "Peter!" I looked' at the figure; I tried to 'brush away the facts, and to add this monstrous apparition to my stock of knowledge. /"{\ ¥ ■ That was Shamrock's ?.how could this be Shamrock? ' # , She appreciated my , condition; she must have read me like a book, for she spoke again in that small voice: ■'Peter, it's me!" I gaped at her. The memory of all my wrongs returned to me. bad suffered too much ;• I could not, I would not, endure more. I would slay this heartless apparition. With serious dignity I tried to mpve past it."My mind was made up, but mybody betrayed my mind. In , spite of myself I could not move. past. I stopped involuntarily. Shamrock was far beyond polite formalities. I heard her unforgettable voice. "Peter, I want you. Forgive me—and take me." But I was' slow to understanding; I fought against conviction. I blurted out, "Where is Mr. Blake? Didn't you elope with him?" Shamrock answered humbly—to all appearance. "I tried to, Peter, but I icouldii't. 'As soon as I got in the car with 'him I knew that I had made a dreadful mistake.. When we were turning a corner I' jumped out and ran for my life. T fell and hurt myself. Look at my poor knee, Peter!" V l '.' I said seriously. • "Why did you do.it, /Shamrock?" ... . 1 , She answered simply; "I don't know, Peter. He just made me. But I fouijd out in time." •• . '.v : "Where is lie now,?" J asked. "I don't know: tried- to follow me; but I was too quick. I lioppcd ,<into.'a tram and came straight here. Oh, Peter," she said pitifully, "I have been waiting hours and hours. I thought you would never come. I don't know what your landlady thinks of me. I knocked and asked if you were in—just to make sure—and then'l waited and waited." My gaze turned to the pretty culprit; my last defence of pride crumbled. My arms went out; the next instant Shamrock was weeping on my breast. She, raised a tear-stained" face; she liad lost : her handkerchief again. ■ . "Lend me your handkerchief;

.1 gave it to her, and she dabbed her. eyes. Once more, and quite'distinctly, I heard the Banshee cooing, and. understood her satisfaction. I felt conquered—and triumphant. s I spoke tenderly: "You have eloped with me now, Shamrock." She answered . submissively, "Pm so glad, Peter." I 'lokeod. .at my watch—nearly half-' past nine. I thought quickly and decisively. I said: "You can't go back to the- aunts. I can't bring you here. There is a garage in the next street; wc can get a car there. We will -go to the minister, of my church; he lives next door to the church. He knows me well; he will marry us,, now, when I explain the circumstances., After\th'at—<" I hesitated. ' T " ■' Shamrock said: "Can't we go for a long ride in the car somewhere, Peter — right away from the city?" "We can get a touring car," I answered, "and travel all night to—to Paradise." • . "I would love that, Perer," said •Shamrock. "I loveK .you,- Peter" —she stopped, rose on tiptoes, put 'her arms around my. neck, drew liy head down.to meet her lips 'in a long kiss, and released me—"a million per cent!" I solemnly swear that the Banshee was cooing deliriously as we walked away together, hand-in-hand. . - , ..SHE-ENJfc•