THE HALLOW OF HER HAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15125, 16 October 1912, Page 11

THE HALLOW OF HER HAND.

PUBLISHED BT SPECIAL abeakqsmskt.

by GEORGE BASH McCTJTCHEON, ", ' tbor of " Graustark," -Truxton Kim."- eta CHAPTER XXll.—(Continued.) ■' Cabsoll had in his hand the second tele- '■ ■' ' gram from Smith, just received. ' This relieves the situation somewhat, ' he observed, with a deep sigh. " She 3 V' ; dead and she didn't give in, thanks to v '-" ' Smith. Bather clever of him to get a signed statement, however, witnessed by " the prosecuting attorney and the chief of ' police. It puts an end to -everything so far as she is concerned. "Read again, Mr. Carroll, what she had to tibout me," said Sara, a slight tremour" of emotion in hfr voice. He read from the lengthy telegram: «'' She wants mo to thank Mrs. Wrandall for all she has done to make her last few months happy ones, such as they were. ge appreciates her kindness all the mors because she realises that her benefactress must have known everything. _ Almost the last words she spoke were in the nature of a sort of prayer that God would ' forgive her for what she had done to Mrs. Wrandall."' "Poor girl! She could not have known that it was justice, not sentiment, _that moved me to provide for her," said Sara. • "Well, she is off our minds, at any rate," said the matter-of-fact lawyer. •'Now are you both willing to give serious consideration to the plan 1 propose ? Take time to ink it over. No harm will come ''to Miss Castleton, lam confident. There ' will be a nine days' sensation, but. after " ' all, it is the best thing for everybody. You propose living abroad, Booth, so what are • the odds —" "I shan't live abroad unless Hetty re- • • considers her decision to not marry me," said the young man dismally. " 'Gad,Sara, you must convince her that I love her better than—" "I think she knows all that, Brandon. As I sa-d before, wait! And now, Mr. Carroll, I have this to say to your suggestion: I for one am relentlessly opposed to the plan you' advocate. There is no occasion for this matter to go to the public. A trial, you say, would be a mere formality. lam not so sure of that. Why * put" Hetty's head in the lion's mouth at this late stage, after I have protected her so carefully all these months ? Why take the risk ? * We know she ic innocent. Isn't it enough that we acquit her in our hearts ? No, I cannot consent, and I hold both of you to your promises-" " There is nothing more I can say, my dear Sara," (raid Carroll, shaking his head ' gloomily, " except to urge you to think it over very seriously. Remember, it.may mean a "great deal to heramd to our eager young friend here. Years from now, like a bolt i'rom the sky, the truth may ; come out in some way. Think of what it would mean then.

Sara regarded him steadily. " There - ; are but four people who know the truth," she said slowly.- "It iisn't likely that • Hetty or Brandon will teli the story. Pro- ' fessional honour forbids your doing so. That leaves me as the sole peril. Is that what yon would imply, my dear friend? " "Not at all," he cried hastily, "not ;i at all. i—"

"That's all tommy-rot, Sara," cried ' Booth earnestly. "We just couldn't have v , anything to fear from you." With curious inconsistency, she shook • her head and remarked: "Of course, you never could be quite easy in your minds. There -would always be the feeling of imrest. Am I to be trusted, after all ? I • have proved myself to be a vindictive schemer. What assurance can you and Hetty have that I will not turn against - one or the other of you some time and crush you to satisfy a personal grievance ? How do you know, Brandon, that I am not in love with you at this very—" " Good heavens,* Sara!" he cried/ agape. —at this very moment?" she continued. "It would not be so very strange, would it ? lam very human. The power to love is not denied me. Oh, I am

merely philosophising. Don't look so ' serious. We will suppose that I continued along my career as the •woman scorned. You have seen haw I smart under the lash. Weil "But all that is impossible/' said Booth, his face clearing. " You're not in love with me, and never can be. That! ' for your philosophy!" At the same instant he became aware of the singular gleam in her eyes; a liquid, Oriental glow that seemed to reflect lighton. her lower lids as she sat there with her face in the shadow. Once or twice before he had been conscious of the mysterious, seductive appeal. He stared back at her, almost defensively, but her gaze y did not wa\'er. It was he who first looked v away, curiously uncomfortable. "Still," she"said slowly,, "I think you would be wise to consider all possible con-

ti Jigencies." " I'll take chances, Sara," he said, with an odd buoyancy in his voice that, for the life of him/he could not explain, even to V"- himself. "Even admitting that such should turn out to be the case," said Mr. Carroll judicially, "I don't believe you'd go so far as to put your loyal friends in jeopardy, Sara. So we will dismiss the thought. Don't forget, however, that you hold them in the hollow of yoar hand. My original contention was based on the time-honoured saying, 'murder will out.' We never can tell what may turn up. The best laid plans of men and mice oft" Sara settled back among the cushions with a peremptory wave of her hand. The loose, flowing ' sleeve fell away,' revealing her white, exquisitely modelled arm almost to the shoulder. For some strange, unaccountable reason Booth's eyes fell. "I am tired, wretchedly tired. It has been a most exhausting day," she said, with a sudden note of weariness in her voice. Both men started up apologetically. "I will think seriously of your plan, Mr. Carroll- There is no hurry, I'm sure. Please send Miss Wrandall in to me, will you ? Perhaps you would better tell Hetty to come in as soon as Vivian leaves. Come back to-morrcw afternoon, Brandon. I shall be much more cheerful. By the way, have you noticed that Dicky, out in the library," has been singing all afternoon as if his little throat would split. It is very curious, but to-day is the first time he has uttered a note in nearly five months. Just listen to him! He is fairly riotous with song." Booth leaned over and kissed the hand Ble lifted to him.. " He is like the rest of • v us, Sara, inordinately happy." A slight shiver ran through her arm. '' He felt it. " I am so afraid his exuberance of spirit • may annoy Vivian," said she, with a rare smile. ''She detests vulgarity." The men departed. She lay back in the chaise-longue, her eyes fixed on the hand he had touched with his lips. Watson tapped twice on the door. " Miss Wrandall could not wait, ma'am," j he said, opening the door softly. " She will call again to-morrow." "Thank you, Watson. Will you hand me the cigarettes?" Watson hesitated. " The cigarettes, ma'am?" "Yes." "But the doctor's orders, ma'am, begging your pardon for— "I have a new doctor, Watson." "I beg pardon, ma'am!" "The celebrated Dr. Folly," she said, lightly. CHAPTER XXIII. SARA WEAND DECISION'. When Smith returned from the Far • West, a few days after the events nar- ' rated in the foregoing chapter, he repaired at once to Sara's apartment, bringing with him not only the signed statement of the " ; Ashtley girl, but the well-worn and apparently cherished prayer-book that Lad . been her solace during the last few months V. • of her life. On the fly-leaf she had writ- , ten: " I have nothing of God's earthly | gifts to leave behind but this. It lias . . brought me riches, but it is a poor thing .in itself. I bequeath it, my only earthly ; possession, to the kind and merciful one who taught me that there is good in this " bad world of ours." It was inscribed to .■ " Mrs. Challis WrandalL" ;

" She made me promise to give it to you with my own hands, Mrs. Wrandall," said Smith, in the library, putting as much amotion into his voice and manner as he thought the occasion and the audience demanded. Miss Castleton and Mr. Booth were also present. " She was a queer girl. I never saw one just like her, believe me. Just after she signed that paper I had a chance to bo alone with her for a minute or two. She asked me to stoop over so's I could hear what she had to say, and she made me promise not to say a word about it until after she was gone. Well, it will surprise you just as much as it did me, what she had to say with her dying breath, so to speak." He paused for the effect. "What did she say to you?" demanded Sara. "Well, ma'am, do you know that that girl knew all along who it was that went up to Burton's Inn that evening with your husband ? What do you think of that?" There was not a sound in the room. Even the coals in the fireplace seemed to take that instant- to hush their blithe crackling. Smith's listeners might have been absolutely breathless ; . they were so rigid. Each had the grotesque fear that ho was about to point his finger at Hetty Glynn and call upon her to answer to an accusation from the grave. The next moment they drew a deep, quivering breath of relief. The detective went on, almost apologetically. " I tried to bluff her into tolling me who she was, Mrs. Wrandall, but she wouldn't fall for it. After a little while I saw it was no use questioning her. She was as firm as a rock about it. And she was pretty near gone, I can tell you. As a matter of fact, her heart went back on her suddenly not 10 minutes later, sort of surprising all of us. But she did manage to whisper a few things to me while the others wore conversing in the hall. She said that she saw another girl with Mr. Wrandall about a week before the murder, a stranger and a very pretty one. He kfiew how to pick out the pretty ——I beg your pardon, ma'am. That sort of slipped out. You —"

" Never mind. I understand. Go on." " Right after that he told her he was through with her. Chucked her, that's the sum and substance of it, for the new one, whoever she was. She raised a row with him about it, and he laughed at her. For nearly a week she spied on him, and she saw him out in the car with the

stranger at least half-a-dozen times. Now comes the queer part of it, and the thing that made her keep her lips closed first-, right after the killing—the murder, I mean. She laid for him in front of his home on the very day of the murder and swore she'd do something desperate if he didn't give the other one up. He took her to a cheap restaurant on the west side, and she was sure that- several waiters saw that they were quarrelling. To get her out, of the place,.' induced her to get in his car, and they went for a ride out as far as Van Courtlandt Park. The police never got on to all thiu. But she lived in terror for a few days, believing that the waiters might remember them, although neither of them had ever been in the place before. When she was ta"ken up for examination, she still wondered if they would be called on to identify her. Nothing doing. It was right then, Mrs. - Wrandall, that you stepped in and said that her alibi was sufficient-, and staked her for life

out- there in the West. She says she saw the other girl after the murder, but she wouldn't say where it was or when. Of course, she couldn't swear that this girl did the job up there at Burton's, but she was pretty nearly dead certain she was the one who went up there with him. She was just on the point, of telling the police about thi3 girl, to save herself, when you helped her out of the fix, and then she got to thinking strange things, she said. This is what she said to me, there on her deathbed, and I want to tell you it gave me an idea of character that I had never come across before in all my experience. She said that if Mr.?. Wrandall hero could be fine enough to befriend her, knowing all you did, ma'am, about her and your husband, it oughtn't to' be hard for her to help another erring girl by keeping her mouth shut. And that's just what she did. She kept still. That sort of reasoning was new, to me. But, when you stop to think it over, maybe she was right.' A word, from her might have sent a -creature to the chair. She had had her lesson in charity from you, Mrs. Wrandall. and, while you didn't mean it to have that effect, you undoubtedly spoiled the best chance we'll ever Lave to get the real woman in the case."

There was a moment of tense silence. Booth -was the /first' to risk the effort at speech. " And she wouldn't say a word more? She gave you nono clue?"

" Not the faintest idea, sir. She took that girl's name to the grave with her." "Her name! She knew her name?" cried Sara, leaning forward. " She heard it a day or two after you had set her free, Mrs. Wrandall. Don't it beat all? Now, don't you see what might have happened if we'd let the police put the screws on her out there? Why, the chances are a hundred to one she would have broken down in the end, and told who this other woman is. There is where we made a fatal mistake. But it's too late now, confound it."

" Yes, it's too late now," said Sara, relaxing in her chair. " I'm telling you this, although maybe I wasn't expected to. She made me promise not to tell the police. Well, I guess I can keep that promise. You ain't the police." "It is' a most remarkable story, Mr. Smith." said Sara, " but I do not see that it leads us anywhere. We are quite as much in the dark as before." '

The detective studied the pattern in the rug at his feet, a defeated look in his eyes. "I suppose I might have forced her to tell me, Mrs. Wrandall, but I—l didn't have the heart to bully her. I suppose you'll always have it in for me for letting the chance slip?" "I think I have already told you, Mr. Smith, that I am not at all curious."

With the departure of the detective the three conspirators fell into an agitated 'discussion of the revelations he had made ; so grave bail their peril appeared to be at the opening of his narrative that they were still in a state of perturbation from which they were not to reepver for a long time. Their cheeks were white and their eyes i were dark with the dread that remained even after the danger was past. Hetty's arms hung limp and nerveless at her sides as she lay back in the chair and stared numbly at? her friends. " Do you really believe she knew that I was the one?" she asked, miserably. " Do you think she knew my name?" she shuddered. " What if she did?" demanded Booth, with an assumption of indifference he was not vot able to feel. " She was a brick to keep" it to herself. The danger's past, dearest. Don't let it worry you now." " But, Just think of it At any time she could have told this story to the police and-*- Oh, wasn't it appalling? I thought my heart would never beat again!" We never knew till now how closo wo were to the abyss," said Sara, drajving the thin wrap closer about her shoulders. Suddenly she laughed. "But why contemplate the disaster that didn't occur? Wo are more secure than ever. This girl was the only one who knew, because no one else could have had the .same incentive to spy upon him, Hetty. She is dead. Your namo isn't likely to be shouted from the housetops, for the simple reason that it is safely locked up in a grave." She hesitated for a moment, and then added: " In two graves, if it makes you feel more secure." The others looked at her in open astonishment. . Booth was frowning. Sara glanced at his stern face and her eyes fell. " If that sounded cold and unfeeling, I am sorry, Hetty. It was my unfortunate way of trying to convince you that there is nothing left for you to fear." She left them a moment later, bending over to kiss Hetty's cheek as she passed by her chair. " Now, you see what I mean, Brandon, when I insist that it would be a mistake for you to marry me," said Hetty, in a troubled voice. " We could never be sure of immunity." " You refer to tliat remark of hers?" " She is a ntrange woman. I sometimes have the feeling that- she wants to keep me with her for ever. I feel that she will not let mo go." "That's pure nonsense, Hetty," lie said. " She wants you to marry me, I am positive." He may have fought his tone con- J

vincing, but something caused her to regard him rather fixedly, as if she were trying to solve an elusive puzzle. He took her by the arms and raised her to her feet. Holding her quite close, he looked down into her questioning eyes and said very seriously: " Yon are suspicious, even of me, dearest. I want you. There is but one way for you to be at peace with yourself Shift your cares over to my shoulders. I will stand between you and everything that may come up to trouble you. We love one another. Why should we sacrifice our lovo for the sake of a shadow. _ For a week, dearest, I've been pleading with you; won't you end the suspense to-day—end it now—and say you will be my wife?" ■The appeal was so gentle, so sincere, so full of longing that she wavered. Her tender blue eyes, lately so full of dread', grew moist with the ineffable sweetness of love, and capitulation was in them. Her warm, red lips parted in a dear little smile of surrender. , "You know I love you," she said, 'tremulously. ' '• He kissed the lovely, appealing lips, not once, but many times. God, how I worship you," he whispered, passionately, "I can't go'on without you, darling. You are life to me. I lovo you! I love you!" She drew back in his arms, the shadow chasing the light out of her eyes. "Wo are both living in the present; we are both thinking only of it, Brandon. What of the future? Can we foresee the future," she said, gravely. "The future that ie your future, not toy own. Is it right for me to bring you—'" „ " And I am thinking only of your future," he said, gravely. " The future that' shall bo mine to shape and to make glad witfr the fulfilment of every promise that love has in store for both -of us. Put away the doubts, drive out the shadows, dearest. Live in the light for ever. Lovo is light." "If I were only sure that my shadows would nob descend upon you, I—" He drew her close and kissed her again. "I am not afraid of your shadows. God be my witness, Hetty, I glory in them. They do not reflect weakness, but strength and nobility. They make you all the moro worth having. I thank God that you are what you are, dear heart." " Give' me a few days longer, Brandon," she pleaded. " Let me conquer this strange thing that lies hero in my brain. My heart is yours, my soul is yours. But the brain is a rebel. I must triumph over it, or it will always lie in wait for a chance to overtlirow this little kingdom of ours. To-day I have been terrified. I am disturbed. Give mo a few days longer." "I would not, grant you the respite, were I not so sure of the outcome, he said, gently, but there was a thrill of triumph in the tones. Her eyes grew very dark and soft, and her lips trembled with the tide of lovo that surged through her body. " Oil, how adorable you aro!" he said, straining her close in a sudden ecstacy of passion. Hie doorbell rang. They drew apart, breathing rapidly, their blood leaping with the contact of opposing passions, their flesh quivering. With a shy, sweet glance at him, she turned toward the door to await the appearance of Watson. He could still feel her in his arms. A drawling voice came to them from the vestibule, and a moment later Leslie Wrandall entered the library, pulling off his gloves as he came. "Hello," he said, glibly. "I told that fellow down stairs it wasn't necessary to announce mo by telephone. Silly arrangement, I say. Why the devil should they think everybody's a thief or a book agent or a constable with a subpoena? He knows I'm one of the family. I'm likely to run in any time, I told him, and Oh, I say, I'm not butting in, am I, Miss Castleton?" He shook hands with both of them, and then offered his cigarette-case to , Booth,first selecting one for himself. Hetty assured him that he was not de trop, sheer profligacy on her part in view of his readiness to concede the point withoufa word from her.

"Nipping wind," he said, taking his stand before the fireplace. Where is Sara? Never mind, don't bother her. I've got all the time in the world. By the way, I think the colonel is a corker, news from your father?" ' " I daresay you have later news than I," she said, a trace of annoyance in her manner. •_

"I though perhaps he had written you about his plans." "My father does not know that I have returned to New York."

" Oh, I see. Of course. Um—um ! .By the way, I think the colonel is a corker. One of the most amiable thoroughbreds I've ever come across. Ripping. He's never said anything to me about your antipathy toward him, but I can see with half an eye that he is terribly depressed about it. Can't" you get together some way on—"

"Really, Mr. Wrandall, you are encouraging your imagination to a point where words ultimately must fail you," she said very positively. Booth, 'could hardly repress a chuckle. "It's not imagination on my part," said Leslie, with conviction, failing utterly to recognise the obvious. "I suppose you know that he is coming over to visit mc for six weeks or so. Wo became rattling good friends before we parted. By jove, you should hear him on old Lord Murgatroyd's will! The quintessence of wit! I couldn't tak? ii as he does. 'Expectations and all that *ort- of thing, you know, going up like a hot-air balloon and bursting in plain view. But he never- squeaked. Laughed it off. A British attribute, I daresay. I suppose you know that he is obliged to sell his estate in Ireland." Hetty started. She could not conceal the look of shame that leaped into her eyes. . " I—l did not know," sho murmured. " Must be quite a shock to you. Sit down. Brandy. You look very picturesque standing, but chairs were made to sit upon — in, whichever is proper." Booth shrugged his shoulders. " I think I'll stand, if you don't mind, Leo."

' I merely suggested it, old chap, fearing you might have overlooked the possibilities. Yes, Miss Castleton, he left us in London to go up to Belfast on this dismal business." There was something in the back of his mind that he was trying to get at in a tactful manner. "By the way is this property entailed?" " ' "I know nothing at all about it, Mr. Wrandall," she said, with a pleading glance at her lover as if to inquire what'stand she should take in this distressing situation.

"If it is entailed ho can't sell it," said Booth, quietly. " That true," said Leslie, somewhat dubiously. Then, with a magnanimity that covered a multitude of doubts, lie added: "Of course, I am only interested in seeing that you are properly protected, Miss Castleton. I've 110 doubt you hold an interest in the estates."-

" I can't very well discuss a thin"- I know absolutely nothing about," sho said succinctly. ' "Most of it is in building lots and factories in Belfast-, of course." It was more in the nature of a question than a declaration. The old family castle isn't very much of an asset, I take it." "I fancy you can trust Colonel Castleton to make tho best possible deal in the premises," said Booth, drily. "I suppose so," said the other, ressigncdly. "He is a shrewd beggar, I'm convinced of that. Strange, however, that I haven't heard a word from him since ho left us in London. I've been expecting a cablegram from him every day for nearly a fortnight, letting me know when to expect hiin." Hetty had gone over to tho window and was looking out over the darkening park. " Perhaps he means to surprise you, old man," said Booth, with a smile that Leslie did not in the least interpret. -

(To be continued daily.)