THE LADY OF THE RUINS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13606, 27 November 1907, Page 10

THE LADY OF THE RUINS.

■■.J . ".'.'.; :'.■■■ - .V. ' *■ V [PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL" AHRANGEMEXT.]

;.-. ; v BT,TOM GALLON. , Author of "Tatterley." "Dicky Monteitli."

" Fate's Beggar Maid.'* " Kiddy." " a

Rogue in Love." " The Charity Ghost." Etc.

COPYRIGHT.

CHAPTER XVl.—(Continued.)

Leaving Farrer and Gale to listen impatiently enough, and yet with some fear in their minds, to the chiming of the slow hours by a church clock in the distance, we may return to Giles Blackshaw and Lucy, and" to that erratic personage Jimmy Clegg. They had contrived with some, difficulty to make- trains serve their purpose, and. so had arrived late at night at Sunderbury. There, so far as the railway people were concerned, they melted into, the darkness, unrecognised. « Always facing them was, of course, the appalling thought that that ghastly thing .lay at the end of their journey, and had, in some fashion, to be disposed of. The sheer horror of that seemed, in a way, to have changed their lives; seemed to have levelled all ordinary distinctions, and to have made of them simply a man and a woman lighting for one common end. Even Wilfred Farrer had sunk into the background; this . was a matter of life and death, and they dared think of nothing else just then. In some near future life might look upon them with different eyes. At the moment this thing had to be done, and all else to bo forgotten. Giles had urged again and again that the girl should go back to London. She -could do so under the escort of Jimmy ! Clegg; she could leave Giles to face.the danger alone, and to come to her when that danger was .past. But to all such suggestions she merely shook her head and smiled, and said that she would not leave him. So it came about that they were here to-' night, and that they were facing the business together with what bravery they might. " Jimmy Clegg had not ceased, to waver in his mind as to whether or not he had better "return to London; in a dim, half-hesi-tating way he had decided that for the present, he 'had -.better stick to those stronger than himself, lest a -worse disaster befell him. So that he went on in their wake, with inward quakings as to what might be expected of him when he reached the house. The old man Dirk and his wife had by this time ceased to be surprised at anything, and this return of the young couple was met by them smilingly enough. Already they had scented a romance for their young, master, and, of course, they knew nothing of those : tragic happenings" in the old ruin. Mrs. Dirk soon prepared a meal, and the two voung people sat down to it at once, for they had had a long and tiring, day, .and for" one of them at least there was in store a long and tiring night. Jimmy CJegg more prosaically took his meal in front of the ; kitchen fire, ' and wondered what was going to happen to him within the next few hours. "What are you going ]to do,. Giles?" asked Lucy, when they were alone. " What can you.do?" "I have hot yet had time to think, my dear girl,' he said. "It will all depend on circumstances. One thing is certain—that now. this business has reached a, crisis, it must cna to-night, one way or the other." 0 "One,way or the other?" she echoed. "Yes— my victory or in my defeat," he replied. • " inese men who have brought tbe'thirig, down here will not, for their own sakes, and for'the -sake of the brother of one of them, 'say anything; you may piclure them-simply waiting and "watching the newspapers, and wondering when the discovery will ;be made. That is their part./ My part is to get the thing out of the way, and Hi: that they unconsciously will help me by I being silent. Remember that. I don't kjnow"actually where the body is placed; remember that ,I must wait until I see it before I decide -what to do." V.; / "I can't hear to think that you have to he dragged into all this again," 1 she* said. "What! mast, you think of me, when yon remember f that your lite since you have known" me has been one of horror and of fear? ; What must you think of me when von remember that almost ; I ,am touched with blood?"; '. ' ; ' • . \: ". "I «do not remember that, my darling," he said, *■* " I remember i only that, *< strange »sjt may seem,;, I bless this, tragic event: that brought me to you. We'll fight ourselves ' free of it ; yet, and -begin; a newer, better life, leaving it all behind. : -4 To-night,* shall decide." ' /■ . ■'■/!'. -J}.'' '■■;.':':, "You will let me come with you?", she said, as she rose ; from the table.

"Heaven forbid! he exclaimed, ; earnestly '. ■ ■'■ "Mrs. - Dirk [ will look after you; you shall know everything in the ■ morning, \ Wish me luck; you know that I am fighting not' only for myself'but for Wilfred for* you.'" ; ' .'V '•"-'_ " ,'■" ;. r .';',' ! *'*, ,' I know that," she whispered, and for the first, time put her arm about bis neck and kissed ; him. With that : benediction upon him he presently went out, and made his *way i towards the s ruined part- of the house:,' ■'....,. - ..,■. • > . "'• . ■;■■:

"But thai, was much later. s In the dread. '■■-' what *he Imust meet and touch,' in the knowledge Of the strong necessity there was ; upon him to get rid of this .thing, for his very life's sake, he sat for a long time after Lucy; ad.;< gone to her room, striving to make up his mind to cross the courtyard and enter the ruins. So. that it was quite late—well towards the small hours of the - morning—when ■ presently he let himself silently out of the house, '[ ana* got courage enough, to cross, that dreary, dark-looking building wherein his work lay. ; And as he crossed 'the \ courtyard, ; without once looking biick,' a figure , stole ; out .of , the house,-and;,, keeping to-the shadows of -the walls,, crept after him, and entered the ruins almost on his heels. And that figure , was, Lucy Doveioh. anxious, only for •■ his safety,': arid,'ready to brave anything in his service. ' ;': '' ;-/-/ ■; ■:"■' ■■■■• ■'•' -. He knew nothing,, of course, of anyone being in , the ; place;. his business ; was to search until he should find .the body, and make .up his mind then what to do. So that when, on entering the place, he heard the steady thud,' thud of.knocking below him, he waited' for a moment, scarcely daring to breathe, and casting about , in hiu mind for someone who might by any possi- ■ bility; have come to the place. .The noise wejnt on; monotonously, and 'when it paused once, he '; thought 'he heard the muffled ! sound of voices below. He went towards a j door he had not seen before, and opened it, | arid }he noise came up to him more strong.: lythan ever. , '.'.;'....'.;■■ .':■.; •■ ;.*•■ "j • That movement on ■ his part bad ' given Lucy the opportunity to steal away up the. fit airs towards the, room in which she had previously been, and there, opening the door," she came suddenly and bewildcringly upon a. place fully lighted, and upon a woman kneeling beside an improvised bed in the 'corner. Even as ■ she cried out, the woman sprang to her feet and revealed hernell as Jane Ingles the man on the bed. was Wilfred Farrer. Meanwhile, the two desperate men below were working like demons by the light of that small lantern. Martin Gal© was ehovellinir away at the heap of rubbish like a madman, flinging it savagely on the thing that lay in the opposite corner of the room, and always he cried out for more stuff wherewith to bury it., Randal Farrer was hacking at the very walls and at the ceiling with a pick he held. The two men; were smothered in' dust, and were bathed in sweat, but they seemed to notice nothing of that. ', The mound grew in the corner, and presently, the men stopped to lean upon the pick and shovel, and to gaze pantingly at each other. "I dare not pull any more down," said Farrer. "I might bring the building down upon us. .'See, the stuff,reaches almost to the ceiling; it will only look as though part of the ruin had fallen in. No one will search.",* "A good night's work," growled Martin Gale. "And the man who gave it to us-— the man for whom' we have toiled like this —I wish we had him here! .By, heavens !' be should lie there with the other man till Doomsday!" '-'"':■'/'■ ~ The man of whom ; he spoke stood, actually n ttt -.'the foot of the stairs, - watching . them,, and. instinctively knowing what work th*v had been about. A great relief was in " his heart;: he knew now that this thing was .with,, and' himself a free man. He ' £ t ■' t ?,- r ? lta «* bis steps, and as he did, ..» stumped unon the stairs and almost

fell! Randal Fairer; dropped his pick, and cried out with what was almost- a shriek of fear: — :

"What was. thatV" ~ ,;, 'Martin Gale picked" up the lantern and held it aloft. He answered in a -hoars© whisper! "There was someone on tlVJao stairs," he said, with a grim nod. ' Someone who lias seen everything. Come on; this night's work is not ended yet v : He dropped his spade with a clatter, and dashed out of the place,' crying to Randal Fairer to follow. Giles had gained the hall, and lie looked about him quickly for some place to which to retreat; the men were hard upon him. Scarcely knowing what he did, lie raced up the stairs, hearing them coming after him, hearing them shouting to him to stop. And so came to that room into which but a few moments before Lucy had gone, burst i» there, hotly followed by the others. In that surprising fashion they all tumbled helter-skelter into the room where Jane Ingles stood, and where the helpless Wilfred Fairer lay upon the bed in the comer.

CHAPTER XVII. THE LAST HOPE.

That sudden meeting in the room where Wilfred Farrer lay was so totally unexpected, that for a moment or two those who met there stood looking at each other in total amazement. For, in the first place, of course, neither Randal Farrer nor his friend had any idea as to the identity of tho man they had followed up the stairs, nor did they know that Lucy was in the building. And, on the-other hand, Giles Blackshaw was equally surprised to find the girl there, and, above all, to discover the missing boy and Jane Ingles. Lastly, of course, Lucy herself had no idea that those two men were anywhere near the place, and she had but just discovered Wilfred and the old woman. .

The first thought in the minds of the perspiring, dust-covered men who had been toiling below was that here was a trap, into which it had been intended they should fall. They glanced round quickly from one face to the other, -is though seeking to understand how it came about that these people had been brought together in this fashion. Martin Gale first voiced that feeling. "A trap, eh?" he exclaimed, hoarsely, glancing from the girl to Giles. " And this woman"—he pointed to Jane Ingles fiercely as he spoke—"this woman at the bottom of it. Well, what's the game?" " I know nothing of it," said Jane Ingles, who, for her part, seemed almost to stand at bay against them all. "I did not know there was anyone here. I came down with your brother"—she spoke to Randal Farrer—"and I have nursed him here. , You know that already. I know nothing of these people at all." " My coming is accidental," said Giles Blacks'haw with a smile. ", I do . not know,. gentlemen, to what I owe our arduous labours to-night; it can scarcely be on my account, I think. But you .have worked well."

" You dog!", exclaimed Gale, thrusting .himself forward. "I suppose you think now that you have the last word on this matter, but you are mistaken. What has been.done to-night has been done not for your sake, but for the sake of that wretched boy who lies there; for tho sake also of my friend, Randal Farrer. We have not done yet with the man who killed Dawson Varde"

" Is it not time that you ceased to talk in that strain?" asked Giles, contemptuously. V The game is nearly played out, gentlemen," ho went on, "and it seems that you, for some purpose of your own, are , now. bringing it to a-close. Surely the time has come," he went on, sternly, "when, for the sake of young Wilfred Farrer here, we may set aside old difficulties, and be done once for all. with this hunting of innocent men. Dawson Vardo was my enemy, and there is no sorrow in my heart over his death. The death is done with—let us remember the living. If you will meet me fairly, I am heart and soul with you in covering up this matter, and in getting this boy out of the difficulty in which he has placed. himself. Mr. Eandal Farrer'"—he turned to the elder Farrer quickly— once tried to do me a very grave injury,* but you did it, as I : honestly believe, with the very best purpose in your mind ; you wanted to help this brother of yours. Now, by a strange chain of events, it has come round to this—that I am equally eager to help the boy, and in doing that to help yon." "I recognise. the justice of what you say,'* said Eandal Fairer*, grudgingly; after a moment's hesitation. "The thing has narrowed itself down to this"he gave, a' glance at Jane Ingles as he spoke "that there seems to be no further fear of pursuit; that we stand to-night, committed to one thingthe bushing up of this tragedy. For my part, I sicken now at the thought of all 1 have gone through. I never.want to see this place again, nor to hear any word connected with it or with you. I speak plainly, but I mean ■what I say." " Stop a bit," broke in Martin Gale, whose moody eyes had been fixed upon the girl since he came into the room— " stop a bit! *■ I don't quite think we can dismiss the matter so casually there is another word to be said. This man here, who has thrust himself into our affairs— or' been dragged into them, if he cares to put it so—what " proof have we that we are safe from him, or from what he: may. say We took him out of the streets; we know nothing of him." ' "And will know nothing," retorted Giles. "So far as4you are concerned, Mr. Gale, I should like to say that I desire nothing more to do with you; I have no great' liking for you, sir. Mr. Farrer here is the chief person.concerned I 3m dealing with him." "Not so fast," exclaimed Gale, insolently. y " There's another matter ,* what becomes of this young lady, whose guardian,is dead?*' ■ "This young lady will answer for herself," said "Lucy ,'■ quickly. "My - future is. settled already. In any case, Mr. Gale, as you have before been reminded, it'could not concern you. You were an acquaintance of my guardian; personally, I know nothing of you.". , " I'm not to be set aside so lightly," said the man, with a bullying shake of his head. "You and I have already discussed this matter, and we may, perhaps, have a chance to discuss it again. You have fallen into the hands of this boaster here" scowled .across at Giles as he spoke"and 1 suppose you imagine that is the end of the matter. I think, however, that we shall probably meet again,' my dear, in the near future." He turned away, and lounged towards the door. Jane Ingles spoke for the first time. "And what are you going to do with him?" She pointed to the bed on which Wilfred lay, and beside which Lucy was on her knees.

" " I'm going to take him away with me," said Randal Farrer, in a,low voice. "I shall, if possible, get him out of the country—send ' him somewhere where he • may begin life again and may forget what has happened." The man spoke in the same grudging fashion as before; it" was evident that his quarrel was not so much with those who stood watching him, as with that grim Fate that had'played this trick upon him, and spoilt his young brother's life. Indeed, so much was that evident that at last he turned to Giles Blackshaw, ■ and spoke, perhaps for the first time in his life, what was really in his mind. " "We played a vile trick on you, Mr. Blackshaw," he said, "no = matter what my. friend says to tho contrary. I think you're safe now, from my heart I pray yon may be; but at -least yon have the satisfaction of knowing that you have won. ■ You've played the strong man ; you will in all probability, if I know anything of you, play the strong man to the end. I do not understand what has brought Wilfred down here; I can only guess that yon have befriended him, and for that I thank yon."

(To he continued next Saturday.)

PUBLISHED : BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.