MARGERY MANESTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13368, 24 December 1906, Page 5

MARGERY MANESTY.

[PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.}

BY OSWALD WILDEIDOK.

[COPI'BIGHT.J

CHAPTER X.

TELLS HOW COUNSELS OPINION 15 SOUGHT. Three days David passed in Pavadue, and then of his own volition plunged into torment; for three days he lived upon Ins discovery made amid the blooms of the Little Man, and at the end sank to the sordid level of commercialism, became the shipowner with ears attuned only to the chink if gold. In a moment of exultation he ventured from the pleasant by-ways of the present into the .mist-veiled paths of anticipation, from Margery Manesty he turned to the life he was about to offer her, and, lo! it shrivelled up even as he took the measure of its length and breadth.

All that yesterday was so good and so big suddenly became dwarfed, pitifully insignificant. Now he began to see the thing of which Michael Strang had spoken. The fleet his fathers had laboured to build and he had been so proud to own was after all but one of brigs and schooners; and now that he came to think of it his house, which had been so satisfying, had been in very truth his home, was by comparison —God help the man who indulges in comparisons half as big as Sieddlemere. Yesterday "in his lire he had detected nought to dissatisfy, no reason for revolt, its quiet had pleased him, so that he had not even known that it was quiet, but now what a meagre, inconsequent thing it seemed. How could lie drag Margery from the stately calm of Sleddlemere to the humdrum stagnation of Wybera? For her sake it was clearly his duty to aspire to a larger. a wider life.

Moreover, though Margery must, in a matter of bids character, rank first, yet he also had himself to consider. It was not just that he should stand still. The Graham lleet had one ship, nay, even less than that, for a beginning, and why should the expansion of the business cease now? Yes, it was clear that Michael Strang was in the right. This was not a doubtful ambition from which he ought to run away, but an ideal to be courted and won.

On second thoughts, moreover, the task would not be difficult either. There was no trade like that of ships and freights for making fortunes and making them quickly —quickly— Ah, there was the rub.

David dug his hands into his palms, his pulse beat, madly, perspiration gathered upon his brow in clammy beads, on the shadow screen of imagination there loomed his father's face, upon his ears the words of his father's parting plea fell brokenly and his own promise given in the presence of Death. Out of the living past they came to help or to condemn. Now indeed he had come to grip with Life, now he was in the throes of a soul conflict, the Good man in battle with his Bad self. This to the man who disdained his home as quiet and his days as commonplace ! Strange how life deals with her children, with what strictest equity she meets them. No sootier had David Graham rebelled against the calm of his home than it became the centre of distraction, no sooner ripened against the tranquillity of his days than he found them , frothing with, agitation. 'U.';

For the soothing of his angered Conscience, the rising of Ihe rouguched road dipping steeply down to the nether plains, he sought at the outset to persuade himself that black was really white, and wrongdoing the essence of righteousness, but conscience is not to be so easily befooled, and at no period in the conflict had he any, misconception as to the nature of the issues involved. He saw distinctly that the expansion which had satisfied his fathers had been a natural process, and that the. thing whereat he himself proposed to aim was revolution; that they had added ship to ship during long years of waiting and accumulation, whereas he would abandon, fleet for fleet: that all their dealings had ; been conducted on lines of methodical caution, and that in his heart there was the madness of haste. He knew, too, not that the end was wrong, but that haste demanded means, as haste to wealth always does, whereby his soul might be seared and other lives gashed and hacked beyond repair. Knew all this without making admission of the conviction, knew, and still staggered onward towards the night. From the beginning to the end there was no respite, the battle was one admitting of no truce. Hour by hour, day after day, the struggle was waged fiercely, with grim desperation, in the sanctuary of his own room, or the completer solitude of the.moors that link the mountains with the sea; at one period a fight for faith, a name, the purity of a flag, at another the agonising conflict of a soul seeking an excuse for sin. Soon love hid her face and fled the scene, and though David still sought comfort in the idea that he .was acting for Margery's sake it was but a shallow fiction, powerless to Help. Ambition only was the compelling force. Through it all. too, he remained alone. In his environment there was no visible change, outwardly all remained as* it had been; Bella waited upon his needs as of old, and Cap'n Dan came and went and talked when opportunity offered: but, save for the tale of his white, pain-drawn face, which made them fear lor his health, they were absolutely cut off from him. His was the isolation of the silent man. A word, a sentence, just the exposure of a coiner of his secret, and a little army all sufficient for his salvation would have been at his command. But though David desired the peace which passeth all understanding, he craved for the wages of sin, and so he set a seal upon his lips, nor removed it until, under the shelter of the night, he took counsel with Michael Strang. There was no hSrm in a chat, he would just ask for a little advice, for a few details, as to how the thing could be managed, and then, if he didn't like it, he could let it drop. A guttering candle held above his head, Michael peered into the blackness of the narrow street, so narrow that only the smallest-of the boys deigned to use it' for hop, step, and jump, and when he discerned the figure of- David Graham at the step he made a great show of surprise, but whether it was genuine or mere affectation cannot be declared. His face was ever a perfect mask for the concealment of his thoughts.

" Good evening, Mr. Graham, good evening; this is indeed a pleasure," lie suavely exclaimed, smiling sleekly the while.. "You'll honour my home by coming"in, won't vou?" ;*

Responding with alacrity to the invitation, for lie feared the overlooking of prying eyes, David joined his host in the gloomy hall and followed him into the sittingroom, where, though the night was chill, no cheering firelight glowed and their shadows ran up the walls and lay along the. ceiling. Another word of welcome, the offer of a chair, and Strang was about to seat himself also, but, after a moment's hesitation, he grudginglv declared that the occasion demanded a little more illumination, and proceeded to light the lamp. Then he turned the ba'-k of his chair to the rays, so that his face should have the shade, and besought the reason.of the call.

David shifted uneasily, and, after a halting attempt, blurted out: " Well, the fact is, Mr. Strang, I've been thinking about 'the lino business, about which we've been, talking lately, and I would like a little further conversation on the subject." "Ah, exact'ly," Strang replied, with something which was surely first cousin to a sneer: " you want advice, and so, like the worthy gentleman in the Scriptures, let me see— —Nick—Nick— no, Nicodemus, ah, that was the person, you come by —well, never mind, Mr. David, you've an eminent precedent to plead, and better by night than not at all. You come in the night in search of light, ha, ha, not bad that, is it? Ha, ha! Well now, in what way can I serve you?" David opened his lips to reply, but they were parched and hot and the words he wanted hung back; the speech he had marshalled for the occasion had tied. But Strang would not see his "confusion, and soon he had himself pretty well in hand again.

"Well er," he stammered, "the more I think about it the more inclined I am to your opinion that Ailerdale ought to be equal to a line as well as Branstav or Metherport, and—of course voull understand I'm not very particular about it, but still if it can be done I don't see why I shouldn't- attempt it. Now what would you advise as a start? I'm afraid I can't hope for much out of the methods on which my''—no, his father must be kept out A the business "on which we have hitherto worked, and I've thought that you might not mind telling mo how you—that is—a— telling mo a little of the methods employed by other houses."' •

_ There was no mistaking the sneer on the thin lips now, no mistaking the flash of unholy joy burning in the cruel eyes: out when David dared a look the face of the man of whom he sought guidance was beaming with benevolent'pity. "My dear young friend,'' Strang rubbed his claw-like fingers round and about each other, "I quite understand you, quite. I may say that I am not at all surprised to hear you prefer such a request, it is most reasonableyes, most reasonable; in fact, if you will permit me to sav so, it is exactly the request that a youth with the world at his feet might be expected to make, and Tconsider that it does you extieme credit.' 1 David's heart beat responsively to the master touch ; there was at least one person in the world by whom he was understood. " Now, let us see,"' Strang went on, ' let us see how and where we stand. The case, I take it, is simply this. You are the owner of an estate which has been worked by your ancestors upon a philanthropic rather than upon a commercial basis. Hitherto—you will pardon me saying it, won't you?—hitherto you have been, so to speak, in leading strings, but now you have reached an age which justifies you in untying the knots and assuming a position of independent control, and as any other brainy young man of business would do, you are inquiring whether the old way has been the right one, that is all." David's head was erect now ; eyes aglow, lips parted, he was gazing into the charmer's face. Thus the serpent and the dove. "It goes without saying," the purring voice went on. " mat you are inspired by the very worthy desire to maintain the traditions oi your house, and, speaking as one who has had some practical knowledge of ships and sailors, I venture to suggest that this can still be done, and at the same time that you, as owner, can obtain that which is your due.'' What, David, surely not a smile ! " There have been occasions when your father and 1 have not seen eye to eye, but. my dear Mr. David, 1 always honoured him, and I have always cherised his memory. But, after all, deeply though I respected his aims, my judgment compelled mo tc regard him as a mistaken man. The fact is, Mr. David, your father allowed his heart to run away with his head.

*' I admit that there are ships sailing every day out of Allerdale under-manned, unseaworthy, and with poorly fed crews : but your ships are not merely well-manned, they are over-manned; your ships are seaworthy, and they could be made equallv so at an expenditure which would put several hundreds a year into your pockets; and as for your crewspooh !— they are not only properly fed, you are gorging them, pampering them to a ridiculous extent. " You have asked for my advice —here it is. Give your men plenty of salt junk and duff, but don't run to Eccles cakes and brandy snaps; have enough sailors, but not too many, they are only in each' other's way, and if a ship does 20 down there are so 'many more lives needlessly wasted"— a capital stroke that, Mr. Michael Strang, capital" and don't waste money on repairs that are not called for, the ships won't sail any better for it, they won't carry moro cargo, aud they won't float any longer in a storm."

Greedily, David listened to. the advice tendered him, but his heart beat madly against its walls as he heard this other voice proclaim the completeness of his surrender, the renunciation of all the principles he had promised to protect. " You abandon nothing, you merely modify, make the old conform to the new, Strang in cold, even tones assured him, and then lest he should betray his own eagerness* and scare his prey, he suggested »that,' having regard to all the circumstances, it would perhaps after all be better to let the matter drop. Better to let another have the fortune and the honour, better to go on in the old, old wayas though the old, old way were something 'to be despised— than risk the loss of that which David seemed to value. No! Very good. Mr. David would think it over, very good. Certainly He might call again for another chat; and any experience he, Mr. Strang, had acquired was.at his service. It was very likely that a few points in addition to those lie had mentioned might recur to him, and if so he would be happy to pass them on. Good night. Good night, forsooth! 'Tis Michael Strang that bids good night! And after that?

Listen to him now, with the bolts of his door shot home and David Graham on the outer side. Listen to him as he stands aloes in his. bare miser-like room, with the yellow glare of the lamp licking his sallow face. "He'll think it over; oh, yes, he'll think it over, and he'll go my way when he's done his thinking. He wants to make money and still remain as saintly as his deeply-respected father—and—l've—told him—how—to—do—it. A little innocent counsel on the judicious manning of ships and the treatment of crews; by-and-by we'll talk of the trimming of cargoes and the advantages of insurance; after that of other things. . .■'. And then I'll. crush him—crush him—crush him." The man ground his lied into the resounding boards. " I've waited for this hour," he continued in a high-pitched voice, "waited for it years and years, waited in longing and always with confidence. The Graham tribe has had its day. and now mine has dawned. For years they have flaunted their flag of righteousness In my face; they have made their money, and the addle-pated public lias fawned upon them, patted them on the back and sung itself hoarse in their praise. while I have got naught but kicks and evil looks. But at last the tables are turned; this is my hour, mine, mine, mine. When David Graham leaves my clutch his name will be a thing on which men shall pour their curses, and the fame of the father shall be forgotten in the infamy of the son." Slowly his speech ended, he turned and began to pace the' boards. Once lie paused to extinguish the lamp and relight the candle, and then back to his walk again, over the floor, chair to settee, and back again. Thus, until the candle flared upward and then sank feebly down into its socket. As Michael Strang groped for the door, he muttered— " To-morrow I must begin to look for my tools." (To be continued daily.)