SHORT STORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13278, 10 September 1906, Page 3

SHORT STORY.

THE ROGUE'S CONFESSION.

She was called Firefly, and was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. 'Beau Tucker at the impressionable age of 14. Beau Tucker was ,an irresponsible 6camp, travelling with a small theatrical company and living literally from hand to mouth. Firefly was a niece of Mrs. '.Beau, an orphan, who had distinguished herself even before she entered such doubtful company, as a wild and truant schoolgirl, her old grandmother having lost even the semblance of authority before she was five years old. "; • ' ; The life of her uncle and aunt, travelling from one little Canadian, ; town to another, was exactly to her taste, for they did not attempt to ' teach'her,; anything, and she found it very ' amusing to 'wear fantastic, shabby dresses, and sing songs, or. act impossible parts, on. the odd little platforms,in the glimmer of <oil footlights. Her clear, high voice, as piercingly .'sweet as the trill of . a bird, was a great attraction in (lie programme, and ' when 'Rule Stephens joined the company— with ;; 200 dollars to lose— Tucker boasted that he" possessed "the smartest," cleanest, darned good show in Canada." •'. Little Firefly criticised Rule, Stephens with the frankness of "15." h He was a silent young Canadian, with mild blue;eyes, big shoulders, and. an inscrutable, smile. , • "I'm afraid you're too tony - for us," said the girl; "can't think why ever Beau took you on!" ■ ' Rule, having been in the company for three weeks, suspected that his , fast dwindling 200 dollars had been the sole attraction, but he did not say so. " You're not truly like me and my folks." continued the girl. '" You wasn't born for the road. You look like—like young minister, or a feller in a. dry-goods store, wrappin' up parcels for old ladies." "Why?" asked Rule. "I quit going to school when I was just a kid—isn't that wild enough. Firefly'/ I was two years in the North-West Mounted Police—isn't that all right? I've not got a respectable relation or friend in the world " "You've got me!" interrupted Firefly impulsively. " Of course, I'm not respectable. 1 don't want to be! Rut I'm a true 'pard.' I'd stick to you, Rule Stephens, if you was being hung," "Thanks," said Rule drily. They became great friends. Although the- young man soon recovered from his stage-struck fever, he lingered on for the delight of studying Firefly. He treated her, and thought of her as a child, for she seemed unconscious of growing up. Beau Tucker and his wife respected her youth and ignorance, and she never dreamed that they were mean and scheming, that they had practically robbed young Stephens of his two hundred dollars, or that the life they led was not the most deligntful and free life in the world. " Are you going to spend all your days taggin' from one little town to another"?" said Rule one day. " Wouldn't you like a settled home?" " No." answered the girl ; -" I should hate washin' dishes or blindin' myself with crochet work, or sit tin' round talkin' to comp'ny. I love the road !" "Wouldn't you like to be rich asked Rule, glancing from the worn old fur cap on her wild, dark hair, to the worn old snowboota on her pretty feet. .'' "No, sir!" cried Firefly. "It's terrible dull to be rich ! I always want to be free, like the birds. I'm a little heathen,-Rule —a little savagebut you loveme just the same, you rogue !" She "laughed and blushed, looking up into his face, the insolence of a spoilt child mingling with the half-awakened self-con-sciousness of 16. Rule Stephens looked keenly into the sparkling eyes for a few seconds, then he stooped quickly and kissed her cheek. ..' " You're right, little Firefly I am a. rogue he exclaimed, with sudden compunction, as she sprang away. "•'"'l'm glad you are," said "Firefly.* 1 * ,'• Five years clipped away. - - "■ Rule Stephens one summer afternoon was strolling down a' busy street in San

Francisco.. Time had added strength and weight to the face and figure of the young Canadian. He was still unmarried, and lie glanced at the people he passed with the expression of a lonely man in a, crowd. Oddly enough, he . wa» thinking of th« old lazy days -in Beau Tucker's company, when he suddenly met the eyes of Firefly! He stopped, and the colour glowed under his sunburnt skin, for the tall young lady - at whom, he was staring blankly returned his gaze with amazement and recognition in her beautiful, pale face. She had been walking slowly with languid grace, but the step with which she went forward to meet him and the way she stretched out both hands were quick and as imped sivc as of old. , '•Rule Stephens! Is it possible!" slit cried. Firefly he exclaimed in the same breath. "My name in Florence Hillyard nowadays," she said ; "I have not "been called Firefly for over four years." '" You are so changed tall—so indescribable," murmured Rule, unable to find words to express his joy." "No, I'm only rich," said"Florence Hillyard, glancing down at her delicatelytinted dress and exquisite pink rose? with an expression of contempt. "Do you rej member hearing of my old grandmother whom I deserted to join Beau Tucker's company? We were reconciled several months before she died, leaving a small fortune to me." " What are you doing in California?" be asked. " Travelling—seeing a little of the world but not alone, Rule!"-—with an angry flush. " My legal guardians are old friends of my family—an American colonel and his wife, the very embodiment of narrowminded conventionality." " Why not give em the slip'.''.' asked Rule. " Impossible !" said Firefly. "They haunt me like a couple of shadows. My only escape would bo marriage; but if I many against their wishes I lose my little income." " You would be seated to do that?" asked Rule, with whimsical surprise and reproach. "You.would be afraid to live the old life as a wanderer on the open road?" "I am not afraid of anything," said Florence Hillyard proudly. "I long to be free." "Do you think you could give up your pretty dresses, and your jewels, and your roses " Gladly." " Do you think you could trust your happiness to —a rogue?" The remembrance of the day when she | herself had called him a rogue flashed info Florence's mind. She dropped her beautiful eyes demurely, but not before ho had seen them flash with mirth. "Tell me about yourself, Rule," she said, after a pause. "What are you doing in 'Frisco?" " I'm on the tramp, Firefly, he answered, with his old inscrutable smile. " You look well for a tramp," said the girl, with a doubtful glance at his light summer clothes and goldi nugget scarf-pin. " Oh! I had some luck at cards in Sacramento last month," he said quickly,' an-' swering her expression; " but fm still on the road—still a vagabond. You'd better have nothing to do with me, Miss Halyard. Your American colonel and his wife will disapprove—may I com© to see you?" Firefly laughed at his brusque, contradictory "words. ; Then she looked up at hiiai with the frank affection that he remembered so mil, and answered " Yes." Rule had spoken the truth. The American colonel and his wife did not at all approve of his visits. Florence's childish, but wholly sincere,, opinions on liberty and equality had never caused them any real anxiety until the advent of her old friend. I "If Florence marries without my eouI sent she forfeits her income," said tlie | colonel, mentioning the subject to Bute Stephens; with ill-assumed indifference several weeks after making his acquaintance. • . • "Miss Hillyard does not seem to care a, cent about riches," said Rule. • "That's a pose, my dear boy!" exclaimed the colonel, with a laugh, "a silly girl's^l'ectation !" . V "I guess not," said Rule coolly, "for Miss Hillyard has promised to marry Viae —a tramp, a rogue, a ,ne'er-do-weel — because, she loves and? trusts me."' " What V cried the colonel springing from his chair. "The girl's mad! She's raving! Upon my soul " , Word.'} failed him, and Florence suddenly entering the room and ~ glancing from one man ; to : the other,- boldly .gave her, hand to Rule. , -

"I presume you're wrong, colonel," ah© y said, " for I'm not raving at all. I've made jg my choice. I know I shall loss;my Utile fortune I've a strong man to work for me. I knoW that I'm giving; up comfort and luxury—well, I shall have 1 love;; in exchange. lam content." * .» •; With an expression of exultant pride and admiration her lover drew her hand through his arm. * ' ? ' ' ■■', \ "We'll tramp the world together," he said. - ■' ■ " . •' ■■■'■. Firefly was married to Rule Stephens '; on the following day. '.■'■■-'■•" •"" ; She hid a very vague idea hows her new | life would begin. Rule's "luck at cards in ,'.. Sacramento" had 'evidently, enabled him to -t j spend money freely during his visit to Sin ! Francisco. His gifts to herself liad been j confined to bunches of flowers, but" on the | morning ;of their -wedding he clasped a I stringof beautiful pearls round her throsA. "i< / "Where:;are we going, Rule? she asked ;' as the}' strolled .through the r enchanted -; streets," only conscious of their own happiness.i: :-' : '■ ',•■'.-■';"'* '%?■ ,'■. £''.• '/:./■' ■-"-''.. -i; »'. ../iTo/Xos', Angeles,, the , garden of- < California!" he answered. ~ '■;, '■ ' ;" * .;■■ } .\' "Shall we tramp?" she asked. Rule looked iat lief" thin, : dainty shoes, and thiiii, muslin dress. ' , \ .„- " I guess you'd better pack:your trunks and .we'll go on the train—for race," la ■/'.' answered, smiling. • Later in the day. as they sat side by side, speeding towards the south,'he:looked at her nervously, with puckered brows. "What is the trouble, dear ?"/ his - bride murmur>i!d.: •*'"'' „!,.••'".'/ * "I have a confession to jmake to you. Florence he ; answered - grlfjly, " but I'm such a coward!" . - ; . ; "What is it?" she asked quietly. "Do you forget that your husband is a rogue and a vagabond Do : you realise that he may have deceived you shamefully? Do you know that he has lied to win your love?" ••' •» ... -:■ .-:; -. "I know that he is poor-and lonely. I know that he is free and brave— is ; "enough," she answered.. . "Oh, my little Firefly, you are. cruelly deceived !" he exclaimed. , "Tell me the truth," she said, with a look of fear in her beautiful eyes. "I am not a poor man," he answered; 1 " I am mot a wanderer on the face of tllie j earth. lam rich— honestly, vulgarly, conj ventionally rich! I have never tramped a i mile, except for my own amusement, since iI left Beau Tucker's company. I worked :j my way to Chicago, and it's there we shall •- I have to live— run my commonplace busi- f| ; ness. When I met you, my bird—my wild | bird !— did not dare to tell you the truth. I longed to test'your courage. How little I dreamed of wounding you like this j Florence drew away, the hand he grasped . in his. For a few minutes all the romance of her marriage was blurred in the teaitr that rushed into her eyes. She turned listlessly to look at a winding white road <■■ in the far distance. But the road was very long, and night was coming on. Rule ventured to again take her hand, and she did not resist. "Can you ever forgive me for being rich?'" he said, remorsefully. She looked into his eyes, leaning back in her seat, weary, but at ease, while her fingers lightly played, with the pearls at her throat. "Fm afraid— rather glad," she whispered. ' .'■•'.:.■' ■■ j Peggy Webling, in M.A.P. ;/.',■■ J...."! 1 !, g ■■"*"-'-' 1 '