KATE HOWARTH’S DEVOTION.

Northland Age, Volume VIII, Issue 25, 9 February 1912, Page 7

KATE HOWARTH’S DEVOTION.

Copyright.

♦ By the Author of “The Heroine of the Mill,” Etc. PAUT 9. CHAPTER X.—(Continued.) The express on on the viscount's re Rad been one of perplexity anil doom. Notwithstanding his sottish n iition, his countenance bepan to ir i hten as the lady proceeded with ■ei hty voluhility. until a t last he :ried : ' You were ri>>bt, as you always are ldo not I now where the hoy v s been Carried, hut I have despatched a messenger to tnd out he-i 1 ha e discovered 1 shall send or you, and what yoi propose will rigidly carrietl out.”

And then titere followed a conversaion which greatly relieve,! I.aly Yorthcnden's mind, nlth .art slie new her lord ton well ever to l>eievc implicitly In ever , thine he said.

• Hut the.’.” she said, with an i -.n-dulous smile, ” how came vou an! •’*ilsoi to disappear 7 You have uot re t told me that.” •* That i K c'.fsv enough,” he answerid. •* I could not eat the chicken, to l told Poison to ta e it to the child of hie t at is ill. You know he lives iu t’ e t ibles, being a married m» n. I let him out by the •ricVct door there in the paddock. That was.race the paddock; for our horoii'h‘ireds, until we got that ,7all built. The explanation is simile enough, you see.” " Yee,” hesitated the lady. '* It drill be simple enough when you have ;old me how you left the room.” ** Oh that is simpler * still,” he Piurh i a d she thought there was i touch of uneasiness in the tone. • I follow#d by that same door. I Tossed to the breakfast-room while , o'i stood for an instant by the ereat window.” ”Tt is strange 1” she said. " And et—” ** What ? M ”N* thing," she returned ; for it struck, her that unless he had seen her by the window he could scarcely uve given an explanation so accurately. “’IVn it seems to me," she went on, is a disappointed tone, "that are no secret places in this pr nd old house, after all 7" " The Lords of Northenden have r*» er concealed anything of that kind f-'.m their ladies,” her husband went on. ” T should have initiated you before," h - * continued ; " but the fact is, we have not been so friendly lately."

”Tet that pass,” she said, genial ly, jponfideut now that he was about to s ttisf) her curiosity.

“ After all,” he said, " there is nothin? much to disclose. You perceive, mv love—”

“You may omit those words.” she interrupted. "Tkn *w their value. Let us get to the secret chambers.” ” Very well,” he said. “ You see glass doors,” and he indicated two sections of shelves enclosed by a " Yes."

“ Well, you perceive when I turn the key, the left leaf opens, and I ta ,r e out a boo':, which proves concl ’-ively that that section is what it arrears to be. The right portion, however, is deceptive. These richly bound books are merely bee n of boo's fixed upon a flat door under the glass covering, opening in the us» al way when I press this little steel plate in its edge, which contains the orifice in which the bar of the lock in the genuine half is phot "; and as he spoke Lord North

enden pressed the small plate, and the door swung open, disclosing a . s f one chamber of about fourteen feet „ ‘Muare, which waß quickly lit up by the lamp on the table onnosite. " You perceive,” he proceeded, " no luxurious hiding-place. This is mere i *y a strong-room, whose existence is ” t suspected by the servants. There w*i two iron-bound boxes, which con deeds and other valuable fa mil dr.*'»m*Btß ; three tin cases contain | l«C matters of less value, and two pb«*!v«« laden with musty papers of j *h> particular us°, so far as I know.” ! ” Vait. what is this—or rather where I ibis lead to ?” inquired Ladv j Vor h«-nden, putting her hand unon a of masonry about four feet in h i ht built up a ainst the left wall of the private room. " Oh, that,” he said, carelessly, " covers the staircase which leads to pome secret, passages and unused vaults. One of th« se passages leads a long way to the high j ban' of the river below which the j lilac water Mill stands. T n 1747 ray I ancestor, Sir Lyulph Hoehton, win] espoused the came of the Pretender, being sought for here by the Royal Ist troops, escaped from the house by this way. I shall show you ■ through it and the others some da>. At present I am rather tired, and iome lett rs must be written for the last post.” Lady Northenden looked thoughtfully down the dark gulf, which descended something like a shin’s companion under its hood. Then she slowly surveyed the whole surround- } LnfM. and calmly left the earthsmelling apartments before her lord, flh " You have gratified me very K nviri»,” i-he said, “ and I am much W obliged to you. We will go all through these sttpteranean has a-res iutne day together, when I have no doubt I shall be interested. In th-* meantime l feel tired, I must hif some re’osp Never mind. When the me sn-irer come* about the boy. hhvise let me now Aid now goot oi ht. Herb ; s after thus we might let on very much tetter "

i am -sure I hope so,” said his laughter, as his eye fell upon the xordahip. ‘‘ I have tried to make a- .|>ottle mends for the injury—” “ Ha !” he cried ; " would you griu Vve will say no more of that, at me ? Would you dare to whisper » ried his wife. * Goot-night. to me of the gallows ? Who are you And she turned as she reached the _ wh() are yoU ? j don > t know your ■lour opening into the hall. grinning . face. Ah ! Would you— Good-night, ’ he said. would you ? Don’t attempt to tear bailing the French' maid, who had Uie to pieceß , If you do ru have not yet arrived, Lady Northtn len re venge—do you hear ?—revenge ! ” had enlisted in her personal service And the madman drank another very smart upper housemaid. Ibis gi asß f u i 0 f raw brandy, canering drl. on this nivlit, was instructed to we irdiy in the pale moonlight streambring her mistress information when j n g luto the old-fashioned room, his Ion! hip went to his private •• Ha, ha ! but this is merry,” he apartments. went on, shaking his strangely-clad At twelve o’clock the information head .. .. Ha . ha ! but tbis is select! •.v: s brought with the unsophisticated There you arfe, Father Redcap—and addendum, ” And oh, ain’t his lord- you§ sinewing. I don’t like your .ship tipsy ! ’ men, Bluewing. They swarm over a I his, of course, would have been the ni a n so—over a man so—over a man. ’ ;l,,se reproof under other cir- Qh ( j see \ The man is here —that’s cumstances: Lady Northenden was j it. The hour has come, and the man so full of her own thoughts that she ii s here.” omitted this duty—indeed, the infor- j «* . for ?’ do you ask Father mation assured her of that freedom , Redcap. You "know—to do the deed, of action for which she had been j what deed, Bluewing ? * A deed praying. I without a name,’ good Daddy KedBisniissing the girl she prepared to j cap. A deed without —no, no, he has carry out her plans, when she unac- n 0 n arne. And if he has no name, c .untably fell asleep. Two o’clock he lias no right to live, he must die was striking on the turret clock —die! Ha, ha, ha ! That’s it ! Die, .vheu she awoke, and some time more die, die, and be— Hush, hush ! Let lapsed before her fire burned up a- me see j*» rain and she was thoroughly warm. The listener stood like a stone 'hen she donned a long robe de statue watching her d ri nk maddened chambre of white cashmere, trimmed husband. By the light of her own round the sleeves and neck with some j knowledge every word of his ravings oft white fur. Her dark hair and , was perfectly intelligible to her. All dazzling comnl°xion were s°cn to j that she waited for then was the degreater advantage in this costume jnouement. and as she raised her globe-protected j “ Send him to sea,” continued lamp on high, she might have been 1 Lord Northenden, " and trust to

iken for some hesoic vestal virgin j i uc k; No, no ; not such a fool, nt for the mature rotundity of her .Never must the life of doubt return.

fnrm and limbs and the deeply pas- Her way must never be thought of. sionate fire glowing in her great , No, there is but one way out of it—'ark eyes. ! death, instant death. Death levels

Silently she crossed the room and jail, and I am to-night the leveller, opened the door. All was still. She ! “ Bl ‘t how—but how ? Let me see. hurried along the corridor and came ; • I have it. In that room, in out upon the floor of the picture gal- 'the iron chest in the strongroom, : s lery to find a flood of pure bluish 'a stylus—a stilefto that belonged to moonlight streaming in through the one °f the Borgias. The hilt is of stained glass windows. jewelled gold, the blade of Toledo

A finer effect was seen when she steel, thin as a needle and finely reached the great staircase. The tempered. The point, the rumour bright moonbeams were floating in a goes, was poisoned ; but that charm thousand tints of crimson, green, gone. Ha, ha, ha ! 'Never mind; yellow and sapphire upon the wide the dagger cannot fail. One punchall, the silent men in armour, the ture an 1 all is over. Now, then, to bright steel swords, spe*ars, and proceed, and after that we will rest battle-axes which went to make the and be ut peace." family trophies affixed to the neutral- He approached the secret door, and tinted stone walls and the fine, lofty his wife fled clown the vault staircolumns of porphyry. way, taking her lamp with her inBent upon a mission of great mo- tending to hide in the passage below ment, this woman Was unconscious until he had retired.

of the wonderful kaleidoscopic effects After a short pause she concluded of which she formed a part. Hurry- that, he had changed his mind, and ing on she entered the library, and rtt irn d to the upper chamber. The halted before the secret entrance we moonlight now came only from the have already seen opened. library. Thinking he had retired alThe key was in the loc . —the only together, she was about to free hermisgiving she had, fort nately, re- self, when she saw him return, his moved by that fact. lamp in one hand and a broad dagger evidently snatched from one of the trophies in the hall. His whole aspect had changed. His face was bluish red, and yet ghastly pale in the hollows. His eyes glared, and he trembled in a way that gave a distinctive i arne to the delirium arising from drink. “ That is betler,” he cried, ” one cut and all is -over,” he whispered, brandishing the formidable weapon in the air, and r in the close vicinity of his own throat. Then to his wife’s utter amazement he went over to the window-seat nearest the chimney, on her right hand, and began' in un almost helnless manner, as she thought, to feel about the cushion for something he had evidently lost. With an oath of impatience he turned away once more, and began wiping his forehead, upon which great globules of perspiration stool, with the same brilliant yellow, red, and

She opened the do f ' r ■ ressed the steel plate, a nd saw th • faise shelvesrevolve Tac\. Filtering the strong room, it struck her that there must be some way of closing these doors from the inside. Her eye fell upon a kind of lever fixed to the interior, by the means of which, after bringing the edges of the doors together, he drew them close effectively, the little bar of the lock entering the orifice in the steel plate. Satisfied that she was locked in she looked around and perceived that the moonlight penetrated the room from the windows opposite. She then found a space from which the eye could command the whole library. It appeared to be over the tops of the false books ; hut to prevent the eye being discernible from the other side, a board of at least six inches wide kept the face from approaching too near the glass.

green Indian hand erchlef we have before. Thrusting this into the girdle of his dressing-go vn, be threw the bronze lamp he had placed on the seat so violently on the table as to put the light out, and then with a wild cry he recommenced his re- ! search in the moonlight, wh ch had gradually become le.-;s bright, as ’ some clouds obscured the light from the moon. 1 | Presently th© unsteady searcher ! gav© a cry of_triumph, and the hid den witness beheld so nothing that • puzzled and nearly appalled her. Something like a black shadow seem- ‘ ed to spread over the broad surface of the thickness of the wall in the ancient embrasure, and into that 1 shadow her drink deme ited husband appeared to vanish, for in an instant the moon shone out brightly again upon the massive r se.vood panel, and the room was empty. Lady Northenden was too shrewd to hesitate long over an occurrence so supernatural in appearance as this undoubtedly was. Rushing from her 1 (oncealment she examined the window, but the inside bar was down. Rhe was turning away disappointed, when her sharp eyes caught sight of i the fragment of an Indian hxndxeri chief lying, as she thou ht, upon the crimson velvet seat. She was about to touch it when she saw it was stained with blood and drew bacx • as this thought came to her—- " The man is a murderer after all ! ” r After facing the evil in this way, i she clasped the fragment in her hand, ■ and found that it was detained in the joint of the panel. A new light i came with this at once. • She began feeling about the lr,ase ' of this panel until she had the satisfaction of touching with her finger a 1 small circular spot which seemed 3 more prominent than the surrounding , surface. Pressing it, she saw the ; wood gradually ascend in its frame- - work, until the dark base of a stair--1 case was visible in the thic ness of ; the wall. > Without a moment’s hesitation she [ sprang through the opening 1 rushed up the steps. She never t t,topped until s-he had reached the end of a second flight. She was provid--3 entially just in time fur as she glan-

This was a fortunate discovery* iput not what the lady had come in search of. Turning to the staircase leading below, she cautiously descended, hesitating step by step until she was certain that no noxious gases were present. After a time shi was satisfied with her search. Sh? ix e ted to find a / well-furnished room underground. She found nothing but empty vaults, and lrn ”, mysteriously ventilated, sepulchral smelling passages. Sh- ddering from having surprised a small regiment of wild-looking rats she precipitated her retreat, and lind almost reached the top of the steps before she perceived that another Ii —ht than that supplied by the moon shimmered on the iron-bound boxes from the space left in the false bookcase. There was a light in the library, and a man. Her heart beat rapidly, and yet not from fear. She told herself that the man mi: t be her husband, and she never feared him. Placing her lamr> on a low step, she noiselessly ascended and approche 1 the " spying ” place. Lord Northenden attired in a dres-sing-gown stood near the table, swaying as drunken men only can while still keeping their feet. In his right hand he held a bottle on lii?h, and in hiß left a tumbler, into which he poured some strong yellow liquid. ” Cognac,” whispered to herself ; and then she saw him pour the potent raw spirit into his mouth. He had been mutter'n? before, now he commenced to talk a’oud. With everv sentence his voice grew louder and harsher, and still he kept swaying about and leaning very much over to one side —very much after the manner of a captive balloon bending before the breeze. ” Curse her, and her impertinence ! I Why does a h e interfe r e ? Rhe has wronged me bevoid all forgiveness, ! let me tell her that, and I am about jto he done with it. ' Confide in ser- ] vants,’ she said. Confou id her ! I’d | rather believe in them than in her ; | and who the deuce is she, eh ? Who lis she ? Why, only a servant. I I tr ok her from the ' itchen myself and | T nud't to know —hies” \ou, I ought Ito no-v. Ha, ha ' Ho, ho, ho!” Here be broke off In his delirious /

ted into the circular stone chamber illuminated by a swinging lamp, her Urink-maddened husband had his broad-bladed dagger raised to strike to poor insensible Freddie's heart. We ha. e already described how she tore ttie dagger from his grasp and then rushed to the narrow casement, attracted by the pale face pressed against the opaque pane—the affrighted face of poor, heroic Katey standing on the giddy ledge outside. All this occupied only a few seconds. The face was the face of an angel, and it disappeared as such faces might be expected to disappear. One moment a white, heart-liKe form with laige wistful eyes ; and next the face of the silver moon sailing high in the heavens.

The viscountess was not much given to dreaming of angels. Matter-of-fact like, she ran forward, hoping to find the strange witness of what ap- . e ired about becoming a tragid/. n his witness having vanished she i threw the narrow casement open and j peered into the depths below. The moun earns played upon a little scarlet spot, a quivering mass lying : within the intertwining branches of a young walnut tree. I She was a out to cry “ Are you |hurt?” when her interest turned to horror. The strong right arm of her mad husband encircled her neck, crushing the breath out of her body after the manner of the Spanish garrote. This caused terror enough, ! for strong woman as she was her assailant had the advantage ; but that terror increased to the deepest horror j when she found that the temporary man’ac had regained the dagger, and I was about to plunge it into her owa I breast. I "The secret dies here !” he yelled ; and she was conscious of the descent of the knife—so wonderfully minute is human perception in such emergencies—when she heard a silvery voice say : ” Do not kill that woman, you bad man.” The knife fell from the grasp of the would-be murderer, and he threw his wife from him with considerable force as he rose to gaze upon the now conscious Freddie, who was sitting up on the rough couch. I "Ha !” cried the madman—"that i face again ! Will it never cease to haunt me ?” Then, with an awful unearthly shriek that thrilled through the house and the heart of every inmate he rushed from the secret chamber, leaving the boy terror-stricken, and Lady Northenden fainting on the cold stone floor. CHAPTER XI. NEIjLY HOWARTH IS INSPIRED, AND SPEAKS. Lady Northenden never knew exactly how long she remained unconscious. When she came to herself, the boy, whose timely intervention ad undoubtedly saved her life, was sleeping placidly, the illness consequent upon his injuries doubtless weighing him down to this envious condition. V The great lady looked down upon the fair child, and for a moment a great, pity welled up in her heart for the poor waif, whose hair was matted with blood from the wounds received during his two falls from Black Prince, the honest animal which had been pressed by Poison into a cowardly and nefarious service. This boy had just—under a greater nower—saved her life, and yet she hated him after that first little bit f womanlv yearning and love. There was something in the expression of ’vs face that reminded her of her. own barker boy, and the memory of that madly loved child banished all other love and pity, until her thoughts • rought her back to the fate she had r' etched out for this obnoxious lad. Closing the window against the co'd morning air, she desrenied the secret stairs, to find the panel still open. If Lord loud cry had awakened any of the household, they had soon turned to sleep again. Tier own apartments were soon gained. Opening her pri ate cabinet be aaplied those stimulants which science has discovered for shattered nerves.

Being completely recovered, she put on a heavy travelling dress and cros*l the picture gallery in the direction of the corridor from which Lord Northenden’s apartments opened. v,, ith no attempt at concealment she * noc' ed but received no answer. Opening the door of the ante-room, he entered, and found h=r lord-lying n a couch with his head hanging j er the pillow. : “ He is li e!y to have a fit of ! • oalexy if left there,” she said. " Well, that is his look-out,” she ' tinned smiling. " All I want re his keys, and here they are. Very convenient, I must confess.” These useful instruments were indeed banging half out of the gentleman’s pocket. She took them awaj, iescended to the library, closed the secret panel carefully, and then pased into the paddock. She tried a dozen keys to the wicket. but without success. At length she came to the right one, and pasd out into the copse through which hivp seen Poison head his horse, and Katey that night wander. Turning in the direction of the r o-:ei masonry, she soon came to ' e walnut tree which grew beneath , , rr v- o a ement of the private chamber The red spot was now very conspicuous, but far beyond her ■each. Ladv Northenden was not the wolan to despair. She returned into he hous , passed through into the •®<nilar garden, and from that place carried upon her own strong shoulder a light garden ladder. By its means he gained possession of poor Katey's unconscious form. After returnin'* the ladder she placd the poor insensible 6hild on a bed n a spare room near her owa a-

oartments. Then she carried Freddie from the secret chamber to the next snare room, and the servants wondered in the morning when they were told by their mistress that “hearing a cry in the hight,” she loolfcd from her window and saw these children thrown from a cart in which two people sat and who drove rapidly away upon being rid of their juvenile companions. Most of the servitess remembered the cry, and so concluded that all the rest of the story was truthful. The amiable Viscountess of Northenden drove over early in the morning to Halshaw Moor with the still insensible Katey. Her first visit was to Dr. Mann, who examined the child and sai(T s-he had sustained very serims injuries indeed—just such injuries as a child would have suffered from falling from a vehicle in mo- , tion. Nelly Howarth and Aunt Eliza were in great tribulation when the carriage drove up to the door. Their sorrow was, however, turned to joy —of a kind—when the peeress carried in the missing little girl in her own arms. For notwithstanding thfc injuries, from which the children were suffering, the happiness of the poor woman was almost complete when tenderly told that Freddie was safe under the roof of Hoghton Hall, where he might be left and nursed until his recovery, since poor Nelly ha'd her hands more than full, with John still insensible and Katey now in a similar condition. Neither of the women paid much attention to the tale told of the cart and two persons by the voluble viscountess. The first object of the latter was attain Q d. Freddy Howarth remained under her roof, in her power, for a long period after this. It was long before John or Katey recovered, and when they did they had to turn to work at the mill. Dan could not assist them just then for he was nearly ruined by the failure of a firm, and signing a bill for a friend. With sore hearts the poor people then consented to Freddie’s prolonged stay in Liord Northenden’s household. But he* usually lootfed so bright and happy when he came for the season from London that they whispered to themselves that it was all for the best. (To be Continued.)