THE LONG PORTAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15002, 25 May 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE LONG PORTAGE.

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

BY HAROLD BINDLOSS, Author or " For Love «md Honour," " A Wido Dominion," " His Adversary's Daughter,"

"The Kingdom of Courage;" " Tha of Boriaventure," etc-

COPYRIGHT,

CHArTER XII.

MRS. gladwtnk's appeal.

Miluckkt was sitting in a wide window- . seat with a colour-box beside her and a drawing of a water-ousel upon her knee. It was a life-like sketch, but she had a great capacity for painstaking, and she was not altogether pleased with it. The bird stood on a stone an inch or two above the glancing water of a stream, its white breast harmonising with the flecks of snowy froth, the rest of its rather sombre plumage of the same hue as a neighbouring patch of shadow, which was as it should be, except that, as Che central object of a picture, it was too inconspicuous. She was absorbed in contemplating it when Mrs. Gladwyne was shown in. The latter did not pay many visits and Millicent fancied she had soma particular object in coming. , Mrs Gladwyne sat down where the sunlight 'fell on her gentlo face and silvery hair, . her delicate white hands spread out on her dark dress. "Busy, as usual, my dear,' she said, and glanced at the sketch. "That's very pretty." __~,. , "I think it's correct," said Milhcent. "Bub I'm not sure it's what it ought to bo in other respects. You see, its purpose is to allow people what a water-ousel a like, and it's somewhat difficult to make the creature out. Of course, I could have drawn it against a background that- would have forced up every line, but that wouldn't have been right—these wild things were made to fade into their surroundings." She laughed. " Truth's rigid and uncompromising—it's difficult to mate it subservient to expediency.',' This was not a matter her visitor felt inclined to discuss. "You're so fastiai--0U3," she said, and added with a sigh : " George was like that, too. Little things keep cropping up that show it—l mean .in connection with his care for the property every day. I'm sometimes afraid that Clarence is different." Millicent could not deny this, but she did not see his mother's purposo in confessing it, and she rang for tea. " Of course." she answered, he hasn t been in chargo vcryjong. One can only learn by experience. Mrs. Gladwyne looked grateful, but there was something that hinted at uncertainty in her manner. " You will finish the book and these pictures some day," she said. "What will you do then!" ■ "I really don't know; perhaps I shall start another. If not, there is always something I can turn my hand to. bo many things seem to need doing—village matters alono would find mo some occupatlOTl." ~ t '. ~-T „ The elder lady considered this. " Yes," she agreed with diffidence; " I'm now and then afraid everything's not quite so satisfactory as it used to bo. The cottages don't look so pretty or well cared for, the people arc not so content— of them are inclined to be bitter and resentful. Of course, things change, our relations with our dependants, too; but I feel that people like the Marples, living as they do, have a bad effect. They form a text for the dissatisfied." Millicent contented herselr with a nod. She did not think it desirable to explain that in spite of the changing mode of thought it is still possible in rural England for a conscientious landlord to retain a measure of good-will Sympathy and tactful advice are appreciated, though not effusivelv, and even a bluff, well-meant reproof "is seldom resented. But when ' rents are rigorously exacted by a solicitor s 1 or banker's clerk, and repairs are cut j down, when indifference takes the place of judicious interest, it is hardly logical 1 to look for the cordial relations that might j 'yet exist. Nasmvth'a tenants stopped and exchanged a cheery greeting or a northcountry jest with him; somo of Gladwyno s looked" grim when he or his friends, tho Marples, prised. Then tea was brought in and Millicent found pleasure in watching her guest. Mrs. Gladwyne made a picture, sho thought, sitting with the dainty china in hor beautiful hands; she possessed the grace and something of the stateliness which is, perhaps correctly, associated with tho old regime. " How quick your people are, she said by-and-by. "You rang and tho things were brought in. Our staff is large and expensive, but as a rule they keep us waiting. Though you paint and go out so much, you have the gift of making a homo comfortable. It really is a gift; one that should not be wasted." Millicent grew serious. It looked as if hor companion were coming to tho point, and this became plainer when the latter proceeded : " Do you think tho life you contemplatewriting books on birds and j animals—is tho best or most natural one for a woman?" A little colour crept into tho girl's face. " I don't know ; perhaps it isn't. It is the one that seems open to me." " The only one, my dear ? You must know what I mean/' Millicent turned and faced her. She wan disturbed., but she seldom avoided a plain issue. " I think," she said, " it would be better if you told me." "It's difficult," Mrs. Gladwyne hesitated. "You will forgive me if I go wrong. Still, you know it was always expected that you would marry Clarence some day. It would be so desirable." "For which of us?" Millicent's tone was sharp. She sympathised with Mrs. Gladwyne, but something was duo to herself. . ' " It was Clarence I was thinking of," said her visitor. " I suppose I am selfish, but I am his mother." She laid down . hor cup and looked at the girl with pleading eyes. " I must go on, though I don't think I could say what I wish to anyone but you. Clarence has many good qualities, but he needs guidance. An affectionate son, but it's my misfortune that I m not wise or firm enough to advise or restrain him. I have dropped behind the new generation; tho standards are differcut from what they were when I was young." This was true, but it was incomplete, and Millicent let her finish : " I have been a little anxious, perhaps foolishly so, about him now and then. I cannot approve of all his friends; sometimes they jar on me, and I do not like the views he seems to have acquired from them. They are not the ones his father held. Of course, this is only tho result of wrong associations and of his having a good-humoured, careless nature; it would be so different if he could be brought under Borne wholesome influence." Sho smiled at Millicent. "One could trust implicitly to yours." It was an old plea, fallacious often, but none the less effective. Millicent was devoid of officious self-righteousness, but sho was endowed with a protective instinct and a compassionate tenderness which prompted her to extend help to all who needed it. She thought that Clarence did so, but in spite of that she did not feel so responsive as she could have wished. " There is one difficulty." she answered, while the blood crept into her face. "I had better own that I recognised what your ideas and George's were about myself and

Clarence. They were not repugnant— may go so far—l felt that I might acquiesce some time in the future. But of late there has been nothing to show that Clarence desired it." Mrs. Gladwyne gathered courage. "My dear it is rather hard to say, but the truth is that a declaration from a man is riot usually quite spontaneous. Ho looks for some tacit encouragement; a sign that one is not altogether indifferent to him. ■Now, it has struck me that during the past year you have rather stood aloof from my son." Millicent started slightly. Although she had hardly recognised it" before, she now saw that there was somo truth in this statement. Mrs. Gladwyne, however, was not wise enough to stop. "I think that is why there is some risk of his falling into bad hands— Crestwick girl isn't diffident," she said ; and, pausing, went on in a slightly embarrassed manner: "I know the strong regard he has for you, but tljo girl sees a good deal of him, and a man is sometimes easily led where ho does not mean to go." Millicent's cheeks burned. "Do you wish me to openly compete for Clarence's favour— Bella Crestwick"?"

Her companion spread out her hands in protest. "Oh, my dear!" she exclaimed. " I have said the wrong thing. I warned you that you might have to forgive me." "But the thought must have been in your mind." "I only meant that you needn't repel or avoid him, as you have done of late, Mrs. Gladwyne, who looked confused, declared. The girl felt compassionate towards her. After all, she was pleading for what she believed would benefit her only son, but Millicent was very human, and a trace of her resentment remained. It was, however, obvious that Mrs. Gladwyne expected some response. "I can venture to promise that I won't bo openly rude," she said with a faint smile.

"Can't you go a little beyond that, my dear?"

The girl, seeing the look in her eyes, yielded to an impulse which prompted her to candour.

" What there is to be said had better bo spoken now," she rejoined. " I have confessed that I knew what was expected —Clarence showed that he knew it, too— and that the idea was "not repellent to me. But sinco he camo back from Canada there has been a change in both of us. How or why I can't explain. I am as anxious for his welfare as, I have always been— but wo havo drifted apart. Perhaps this will not go on ; I will do nothing to strengthen the estrangement, but there is nothing else you can ask from me-" Mrs. .Gladwyne looked regretful, but she made a 1 sign 01 agreement, and rising came towards tho girl and took ono of her hand*.

" What I could do' I have done, badly perhaps," she said. "I can't blame you; I am only sorry." She went out in a few minutes and left Millicent in a thoughtful mood. Looking back on the past she recognised that sho had beon fond of Clarence—which was the best word for it— that she would havo married him had he urged her. Ho had, however, hardly been m a position to do so then, and she remembered that she liad in no way regretted the fact. This was, she thought, significant. Then tho change she had mentioned had gradually come about. She saw his faults more clearly, and while they still grieved her it grew increasingly difficult to bflievo that she could eradicate them- What was more, during the past few weeks she had once or twico felt scornfully angry with him. She had tried not to yield to the sensation, and now sho wondered how it had originated and why she was less tolerant.

As she considered the question a shadow fell upon the sunlit lawn, and looking up she saw Lisle approaching with a creel upon his back. She started at the sight of him, and once more felt her cheeks grow hot; then she smiled, for the halffcrmfd suspicion that had flashed into her mind was obviously absurd. He saw her next moment, and strode towards the window, which was open. " We got a few good white trout, fresh run," he said. "It occurred to me that you mifjht like one ot two of them." He glanced at the long French window. " Can I coma in this way?" Millicent laughed to conceal a slight discomposure, "I'vo no doubt you could do so, but out of deference to conventional prejudices it might be better if you went round by Iho usual entrance." _ " Charmed," said Lisle with twinkling eves. "That's easy." "" Would you sooner have it hard? " That wasn't the idea," he informed her. "I only felt that a much greater difficulty wouldn't stop me getting in." "'if one of my neighbours made such speeches they'd sound cheap. From you they're amusing." ' He affected to consider this. "I suppose the difference is that I mean them. Anyway, I'll walk round." She gave him seme tea when he came in, and afterwards admired the fish. " They're well above the average weight this season," she said. "Wo had two or three that would beat them," Lisle declared. " Miss Crestwick came along and corraled tho finest?" "Was the explanation essential?" Millicent inquired. Lisle spread out one hand deprecatmgly. "That was a bad break of mine. So bad that I won't try to explain it away." "I think you're wise," Millicent told him with a trace of dryness. On tho face of it she was pleased with his answer, but the fact ho had mentioned caused her somo irritation. Bella Crestwick, not content with monopolising Clarence, must also attempt to beguile the Canadian. It was curious that the latter seemed for the moment tho more serious offence. The girl was insatiable and going too far, Millicent thought. Then Lisle, seeing her silent, said, " Remember, I'm from the wilds." Sho smiled at him reassuringly. " After all, that isn't a great drawback, and I'm grateful for the trout." Then, somewhat to his surprise, she leaned back in her chair and abruptly chanced the subject. " I wonder what you think of a tacit promise?" His face grew thoughtful; she liked his quick chancre to seriousness. " Well," ho said, " I don't know if my opinion's of much value, but you can have it. Supposing two people allow each other to assume that they're agreed upon the same thing, it's binding upon both of them." " But if only ono actually makes his . wishes clear." '

" In that case the other has the option of showing that they can't be acceded to," said Lisle. " Failing that, in my view, he can't go back on it." Then his eyes gleamed with amusement. " I don't often set up as a philosopher." Millicent was a littlo vexed 1 with herself for asking him and did not quite understand why she had done so, unless it was because she had not altogether recovered her usual collectedness after Mrs. Gladwyno's visit. Why she should be interested in this man's opinion was not clear, but she thought he was one who would act in accordance with it. She was afterwards even more astonished at her next remark, which she made impulsively. " You havo seen a good deal of Miss Crestwick, one way or another." He considered this gravely. " Yes," he said; " I like her. For one thing, she's genuinely concerned about that brother of ers."

" What do you think of him ?" " Not much," Lisle answered candidly. " I've no use for a man who needs a woman to keep him straight and look after him. But one feels a strong respect for the woman, even though it's obvious that she's wasting her time." " Is it wasting time?" " It strikes me like that. A man of the kind mentioned is bound to come down badly some day." Millicent sat silent awhile. The conversation had taken an unusually serious turn, but she wondered if ho were right. She had, she thought, allowed Clarence to assume that she would not repulse him when he formally claimed hor and that—so this man from the wilds declared—constituted an obligation. She could not contest his view, but Clarence seemed more interested in Bella Crestwick than ho was in her. Then she wondered why the girl had made so much of Lisle, unless it was to use him for the purpose of drawing Clarence on. If that were so it was almost a pity the Canadian could not be warned, though the latter was, of course, out of the question. "I'm afraid I'm not very amusing todav," she'said. He smiled. I'll go the moment you would sooner get rid of me, but even it i you don't say anything, I like sitting here. This place rests me." I

"I shouldn't have imagined you to bo of a very restful nature." . " Oh, he said, " there's a kind of quietness that braces you." He was less reserved than the average Englishman, but he felt the charm of his surroundings more keenly than the latter would probably have done. Everything in the room was artistic, but its effect was deeper than mere prottiness. It was cool, though the autumn sunshine streamed in, and the girl had somehow impressed her personality upon it. Soft colourings, furniture, even the rather incongruous mixture of statuettes and ivory carvings, blended into a harmonious whole; and its owner made a most satisfactory central figure as she sat opposite him in her unusually thoughtful mood. He felt the charm of her presence, though he could hardly have analysed it. "There are lakes in British Columbia from which you can look straight up at the never-melting shows," he went on. " You feel that you could sit there for hours, without wanting to move or speak, though it must be owned that one very seldom gets the opportunity;" "Why?" Millicent inquired. Lisle laughed. "As a rule the folks who visit such places are kept too busy chopping big trees, hauling canoes round rapids, handling heavy rocks. Besides, you have your food to cook and your clothes to mend and wash."

• "Then, after the day's labour, a man must do his own domestic work ?" "Of course," said Lisle. "Now and then one comes back, to camp too wet or played out. to worry and goes to sleep without making supper. I'm speaking of when you're working for your own hand. In a big logging or construction camp you reach the fringe of co-operation. This man sticks to the saw, the other to the axe, somebody else who gets his share of the proceeds does the cooking." • "And if you can neither chop nor saw nor cook?"

" Then," said Lisle dryly, " you have to pull out pretty quick." "It sounds severe; that's co-operation in its grimmest aspect, though it s quite —everybody must do his part. I'm afraid I shouldn't be justified if we adopted it here."

" Co-operation implies a division of tasks." Lisle pointed out. "In a country like this they're many and varied. So long as you draw the wild things, as you do, you'll discharge your debt. "Do you know that it's the kind of work the community generally pays one very little for?" "Then it shows it's wrong-headedness," Lisle informed her, and afterwards glanced meaningly round the room. " But haven't you got part of your fee already ? Of course, that's impertinent." " I believe we would shrink from saying it, but it's quite correct," Millicent replied. " Still, since you have mentioned the drawings, I'd like your opinions about this ousel."

She took up the sketch and explained the difficulty as she had done to Mrs. Glad-

wyne. "It's right;.don't alter it," said Lisle. "It's your business to show people the real thing as it actually is, so they can learn; not to alter it to suit their untrained views."

He laughed and rose somewhat reluctantly. " After that I'd better get along. I havo to thank you for letting me in." She let him go with a friendly smile, and then sat down thinking about him. He was rather direct, but the good humour with which he stated his opinions softened their positiveness. Besides, she had invited them, and she felt that they were correct. He was such another as Nasmyth, simple in some respects, but reliable; one who could never be guilty of anything mean. Sho liked the type in general, and she admitted that she liked this representative of it in particular.

CHAPTER Xm. A TVTW& PBOTBST.

It was late at night, but Gladwyne sat, cigar in hand, in his library, while Batley lounged beside the hearth. The wood fire diffused a faint aromatic fragrance into the great high-ceilinged room, and tho light of a single silver lamp flickered on the polished floor, which ran back like a sheet of black ice into the shadow. Heavily - corniced bookcases rose above it on either hand, conveying an idea of space and distance by v the way. they grew dimmer as they receded from the light. The room had an air of stateliness in its severe simplicity, and its owner, sitting just inside the ring of brightness, clad in conventional black and white, looked in harmony with it. Something in his finely-lined figure and -moulded face stamped him as one at home in such surroundings. A decanter gleaming a soft amber colour stood near his elbow, but it was almost full. Gladwyne, in many ways, was more of an ascetic than a sensualist, though this was less the result of moral convictions than of a fastidious temperament. The man had an instinctive aversion from anything that was ugly or unpleasant. His companion, dressed with an equal precision, looked different; more virile, coarser, though except that he was fuller in figure and a little heavier in face, there was no particularly salient point to suggest inferior refinement. "No," said Gladwyne, with a show of firmness; "tho lino must be drawn. I've already gone farther than I should have done.' sf - Batley laughed. "I'm rather sorry for you, Gladwyne— don't seem to realise that a man can't very well play two widely different parts at once. Your interfering Canadian friend would describe your attitude as sitting upon the fence. It's an uncomfortable position; one that's not often tenable for any length of time. Hadn't you better make up your mind as to which side you'll get down on?" Gladwyne looked uneasy. The choice all his instincts prompted him to make was not open to him, except at a cost which he was hardly prepared to face. He" was known as a bold rider, he bad the steady nerves that usually result from a life spent largely in the open air, but, as Batley recognised, there was no real stamina in him. " You are going wide of the mark," he answered. "What I have asked you to do is to let tho lad alone. The thing's exciting comment. You"—he hesitated— " have made enough out of him." " I think," said the other coolly, " I was very much to tho point. If you don't recognise this I'll ask: Suppose I don't fall in with your request, what then?" Gladwyne examined his cigar. It was not in his nature to face an issue boldly, and his companion seemed determined to force one. "I've asked it as a favour," he said. "No," said Batley; "I don't think you did so. You intimated your wishes in a rather lordly manner." This was true, but Gladwyne grew uneasy under the man's cold smile. He had, in a fit of indignation, expressed himself with some haughtiness, but he knew he would be beaten if it came to an open fight. It was unfortunate, because, so far as they went, his intentions were good. " Besides," Batley continued, " I'm not in a position to grant favours which may cost me a good deal. My acquaintance with young Crestwick is, of course, profitable. What's more, I've very liberally offered you a share." A hot flush crept into Gladwyne's face. He had acted, most reluctantly, as a decoy : to.the vicious lad; but he had never bene- '■ fited by it, except when now and then some j stake fell into his hands. The suggestion that he should share in the plunder filled him with disgust, and he knew that Batley had made it for that purpose; to show his power. " You're taking risks," he said. "There's legislation on the subject of minors' debts, and some of your deals with Crestwick were made before he was twentyone. He's still in his trustees' hands, and, if he mado trouble, I'm inclined to think some of your transactions would look like. suffer a good deal sooner than advertise yourselves through the law courts.. : "Crestwick isn't one of us, Gladwvnne objected, with a lift of his head. Batley laughed. "Then, as he aspires to bo considered one, he'll go even further than you would do. None are so keen for the honour of tho flock as those who don't strictly belong to the fold. There's another,, point you overlook—a person can't very well conspire alone, and inquiries might be made about my confederate. That, however, is not a matter of much importance, because I imagine Miss Orestwick would not allow anyone to point to you. I might suggest that her money's safe, and in some respects she's a prepossessing young lady." ffo be continued on Wednesday next*)