THE ATONEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15551, 7 March 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE ATONEMENT.

A STORY OF MODERN . ( ' ADVENTURE. BY JAMES BLYTH. Author of " A ff»«*rdous Wooing:," etc. COPYRIGHT.'. CHAPTER (Continued.! I reach Ki) up through the reeds and grasped Tom's hand. "Before God," I said, "I won't. I know of no reason why Miss Pettingill should have eorae out this morning on the wall. I did not ask her to do so; I did not tell her where or for what I was going out; I did not even tell her that I should be out and about by soon after six. I know no more about this than you do, Tom." "Then," said Tom, "I reckon there've been a decoy duck. Now who ha' been playin' decoy? " 1 could think of nothing but that Stafford had sent some message to Ruth, franked by some token of her brother's. I knew that the girl was so unsuspicious, so trustful in general, that it would hav« been an easy thing to deceive her. Again and again I blamed myself for not having warned her of the words I had heard upon the marsh. If I had told her, proved to her, that there were plots abroad whereby she was to be kidnapped, and brought aboard the dirigible, she might have been more awake, might never have wandered forth upon the river wall upon that August morning, that August morning which was, if I were to believe Harold Milbank, the morning of the crisis of an Imperial peril! Oh, lord! Here were once again the vain regrets, the helpless grief of folly! One expects such moments of repentance in the evening, perhaps, but when one is brought up against them at about ten in the forenoon, on a pleasant August mornj ing, with the rustle of the reeds and the ripple of the river in one's ears, one is inclined to think that the world is out of joint and to rage accordingly. I raged. "What' can be done, Tom ?" I cried. "Tom! you are sure the dirigible has not been on the island for the last week Tom chuckled. I could not blame him.

Now I think of it, I believe that if I had been in his position I think I should have chuckled. . . "You know me, Master Jack, and what I ha' told ye," was all that he said. It was a sufficient reply. -I did know him, and had heard his reports. I leapt to my feet, "I can't bear to ' do nothing!" I cried. ; I did, Tom had been on the lookout. ilf the dirigible had been on the trij angular island he would have seen it. 1 "Here," said Tom, "come you home and see what ole granny ha' got to say. She know a lot, she do.* Come you home and 1 ses- what she ha's got to say." Rover, having ranged throughout the i reed bed and decided that he could not i remedy the fact that the scent had gone i by water, came up with a very damp and > active tail. I patted him. I love dogs! i H? seemed to wink at me. I believe no 1 did, for I am certain that dogs often try i ; to convey their meaning by their eyes . since they know they cannot use their , tongues in a speech which is intelligible , to poor human beings. "Come on,' he : seemed to say, "Come on!" j I patted him again, thrust the boat off . I out of the dyke, and pulling sharply, with , Dick in the stern, was able to reach the , staithe at the farmhouse before Tom and , Frank got there. They ranged up., though, before I had . landed. "Now," said Tom, gripping my hand, "you come and hev a nearin' with

' Ole granny. She know a lot, she do." . We entered the farmhouse kitchen to- ' gether, and found old granny seated in . ner straight-backed chair looking stern , and vexed. | "Granny," said Tom, "Master Jack ha' I . come to ax ye about Miss Ruth." I I I saw the old woman close her eyes ' I for a moment. Then I paw the eyes open, I and there was more fire in them than ■ bofore. ' "I bain't a witch," she said. "Master Jack want to ax Juno Rivett. She've done 1 aiagic for him afore now." It was then that the first suspicion 1 whispered in my mind. I went to the old lady, and took her 1 hand in mine. "Yes," said I, "June ' Rivett has. Shall Igo to Juno and ask I her if she can help me to find a guest ' of Judith Pretiyman's ?" > | The old dame sat without a quiver oil J her face, but I thought that the hard, • parchment-like skin warmed for just a ' second. ' j Somehow I felt that Granny was keep--5 j ing something to herself, and it annoyed ® | me. " Very well," I said, seeing that , she did not reply to me, "I have the means

° of obtaining information." | j The old woman looked at mo, and there! was an appeal in her eyes. But I could j pay attention to no appeal from anyone 3 who was, as I bolieved, keeping back 3 some material facts in connection with r Ruth's disappearance. Gratitude for a 3 saved life, for kind and sympathetic treatment, must all go as naught when p the uneasy passion of love intervenes. 3 I left the room without any clear notion 5 of what I was to do next. Then, as it k chanced, my hand touched the magic bag 5 which still hung suspended from my neck 3 on the eelekin—l mean, when I say that j my hand touched it, that I pressed against it through my clothing. ' I seemed to feel it tingle to the j pressure. The skipper ought to be warned that his sister could not be found. Was there ' really anything in this magic bag business y more than there is in the ordinary J sausage of commerce? It had seemed so to me once, but in spite of my former experience it was hard for me to credit ' that such mumbo-jumbo hanky-panky j tricks could be real. £ Some silent influence kept on .bidding me try. It could do no harm to try. Try then, try! I made my way up to my garret and B laid myself down on my bed. I was weary, both physically and mentally. And still the inward silent voice kept on

murmuring, "Try, try, try." Impatiently I opened my shirt so that I could follow the ritual prescribed by old June. I took the bag and pressed it to my forehead, and willed that Eugene Potin, my blood-brother, should hear me. "Do you hear?" I kept asking. "Do you hear. Potin?" And presently I beard his voice. " Ahi, M'sieur! Yais, 1 'ear. I 'ear! Vot ees it? You speak as eef somesings vere vary bad." "Thank God !" I cried. "Potin, is the chief with you? Where are you?" "I am in ze great 'all! Ze chief ees not 'ere ; je is in ze boat'ouse! I can send for 'im." "For God's sake tell him that his sister has disappeared. Is Stafford with you? Or is he absent?" " 'E ees in ze 'angar I sink. But Gingaire Billee and George are not 'ere. Ze skipper was asking for zem dis morning. and I do not sink as Stafford felt comfortable! But 'e is 'ere! I tell you zis zough. I sink he go away to-day." "Thank you !" I cried. Then another thought came to me. It might be of vital importance for me to be able to summon Potin and the Buzzard to me at a moment's notice. If my idea was correct, and Stafford meant to kidnap Ruth aboard the dirigible he would not come down to marsh with the aeroplane, but would find his way down by boat and on foot. The aeroplane would be left in the hangar. Supposing, which God forefend. I were unable to prevent Ruth from being shipped aboard the dirigible, I might at least be able to follow her in the aeroplane if I could get word to Potin in time. 1 knew the little Frenchman 1 Was as full of courage as an egi? «a of meat, and it would go hard with us if we did not catch up the heavy dirigible with the Buazard. "Potin," I said, "be on the watch all to-day. I may call you at any time, day or night, to come to me with the Buzzard. You can do that if Stafford is awav, can you not?" "And eef 'e is 'ere. my friend," protested Potin.. "I weel go to you despite zis so crand Mistaire Stafforrd! Hein? Call me wiz zis extraordinaire Jnessagerie of old June, and I weel come ! Farewell! I so to tell ze ekippaire." I "rang off," if one may use so modern a term in connection with so antiquated and old-world, so unbelievable, a system of intercommunication at a distance. I was about to go downstairs again when

I felt the iinglingon my chest which, warned -me that the other' end of the "wire" was in operation. -Again, 'I dragged out the bag and held it to my fosehead "Ze skippaire &' going to you!" said Potin's voice. "And 'e too suspect Mistaire. ze grand Stafforrd. lam commanded to vafcch zis polisson! Aha! I veel vatch 'eem! Ze skippaire is not iroself; 'e is vary strange You will see, my friend. I veel- remember to be on ze alert for you! Till zen good fortune! Hein?"

So the skipper was coming. I was glad to hear it. I. bad much to ask him, for it was no time far finicking now. Harold Milbank warned mo that the crisis was imminent, Pettingill would have to choose whether he should obey his backer or defy him for the sake of his country. Fool that I was to think that I could teach the skipper his duty! To my dying day 1 shall feel some shame whenever I remember my parting interview with that pliant gentleman, the chief of the submarine smugglers. How would the skipper come ? The wind was now fresh, ana from the WestHe could reach the farmhouse in the Dabchick as quickly as by any other means, I ran downstairs and looted out across the marsh. I put my binoculars to my eyes and soon I saw the mains'! of the little cutter rise. In a space of time that proved the skill of the waterman or watermen aboard, the mains'l was trimmed, the jib hoisted, and with a following wind straining out the boom at right angles to the lines of the yacht, the Dabchick came roaring down towards Breydon.

In little. more time than a- motor-boat would have taken to cover the distance, the cutter luffed up to the farmhouse staithe and the skipper leapt ashore. I never saw a greater change in a man than that which stared at me from the skipper's face. Formerly, _ although there was often a sternness, an imperative commandingness of expression, noticeable about him, he was often gay, genial, and humorous. There was la icie de vivre in him. But now it was as though a man twenty years older than the Raymond Pettingill I knew confronted me. No sign of mirth, no dash of muraour, no glimmer of ligjit-hearted was discernible in him. Yet there was an added nobility, a look'■as though he were prepared to give his life in a good cause which made him even more impressive than he had been before; There was a look of "kismet," of a willing obedience to an inexorable decree of Destiny which illumined, transfigured the man. % He ran to meet me, and gripped my "hand.

'(Eugene told me," he said. "Anything new "No!" I replied. When I had descended into the kitchen 1 found it empty. 1 had caught sight of the boys, Tom, Dick, and Frank, on the river wall, and did not doubt that they were still hunting for signs of Ruth. The old farmer was still scouring the marsh, muzzleloader on shoulder. Granny had withdrawn to some upstairs chamber, 'possibly to Rose. There was nothing fresh for me to tell my darling's brother. "Of course it's Stafford," said the skipper. "But the man is at headquarters. He can't be mixed up in it personally." "He wouldn't," I said with a 6neer. "He has handed over the work to two of his men, red-headed Billy— Billv, Potin calls himand George are not at headquarters. They've worked it ,was the red-headed man who nearly killed me, and I fancied I saw the shine of his topknot the other morning. They've got her, but where on earth they've taken her beats me. Can't you do anything to force this man to surrender her

"I could, but you don't know what's at stake. My God, Haakon, it's simply infernal! I daro not cross the man now, not for the nest twenty-four hours! I daro not."

My lip curled in contempt. "You fool!" cried the skipper angrily, "you don't imagine that I feap for myself ! You don't know what is at stake!" he repeated. "But, Haakon, lam glad to come here to you again. I know you are thinking bitterly, of me now. Put that aside. In the future if we should never meet, again, .what will you say of the man who kidnapped you, of the captain of the submarine smugglers? Will you call him a villain? " He spoke so earnestly that I could not put him oft with a light answer. His words sunk to my heart. No, I had no unkind thoughts of him apart from his laissez fttire policy in the matter of his sister's abduction. I held out my hand and he gripped it. "No," I said, "I shall think of him as a gallant man, and a gentleman. I tell you frankly that what weighs on my mind is that you say you have to obey your backer. Will vou do so at th." cost of your country? I can't believe it!"

"Wait till to : morrow or the next day to find you answer," said the skipper, with great solemnity. "1 do not think that you will blame me when you know my reply to the riddle. I should like yon to think kindly of me, Jack ! Something tells me, and old June as well, that Ruth will be rescued by you, ,and that you two will lead a happy life together. Lord, yes, man! I know all about your love affair, though you were fool enough to think that I did not. lam glad Ruth has found an honest gentleman to love her. My dear sister!" He stopped | speaking and remained silent for a minute! or two. Then he tossed his head, and ! turned to me with a brighter look. > : 'Uome," he said, "tell me everything about the disappearance. I may be able to give you a hint, although I cannot spare the time to help you in your search, and I dare, not, dare * not, tax Stafford with his treason just yet, Jack." He turned to mo ana caught me by the : shoulders with both hands, "Within 1 twenty-four hours I shall have given my ! reply to you— to my _ backers, j 1 shall obey my backers in even' respect. ■ But do not fear that I shall betray my country. If you do not seo me to-morrow by nightfall, look for a letter I will leave for you with old June Rivetfc. And I believe that you will not be ashamed of having been my friend. Please God, Jack Haakon, you will suc- ! ceed in rescuing Ruth. And remember j this, that you are liberty to call on any of my men to help you. to use any of my ' property—always excepting the Otter." . He spoke the word "Otter" with an inj finite contempt. I guessed at once that I he had some notion that I meant to call on Potin for help if I found it advisable. Raymond Pettingill was no fool. I have never met . a man so worthy of respect in all ways as he, if once one can forgive "his defiance of the Revenue.

I told him briefly all that we had discovered of Ruth's abduction.

Ho did not interrupt me, or offer uny advice. »

"I believe," he said, at the end of the story, "that Ginger' and George have got her hidden somewhere near and that Stafford will come and get her aboard the dirigible to-nightyea, to-night! Never mind how I know it, but you may be sure that the attempt will be made tonight. I myself am going to make an attempt to-night. My dear Jack, tonight will see the fate of empires in the balance."

He checked himself. It was curious. I dared not tell him all I knew, all I

had heard from Harold Milbank, and it seemed as though he were equally fearful of informing me of all his knowledge or his plans. Yet somehow I was assured that we were both working for the same end.

"I've done no good," lie said at last. "I feared I could do none. Only remember that to-night is the psychological hour. It may have been worth my journey to see you to tell you that. Good-bye to you, Jack! Good luck, and long years of happiness to you and to Ruth. ' He shook my hand hurriedly, as though ho dared not trust himself to hold it long. Then ho turned swiftly and ran aboard the Dabchick.

The cutter cast off and swung round to tLi i north, and soon she was beating and sailing close-hauled up the Wensum on her way home.

(To- be continued on Wednesday nest.)

At a, certain college in the North of England the male students were not permitted to visit the-resident lady boarders. One day a male student was caught in the act of doing so. and was couit-mar-tialled. _ The head master, addressing him. said : " Well, Mr. Blank, the penalty for the first offence is 4s, for the second 10s, for the third £5, and so on up to £10." In solemn tones the trespasser said : ." How much would » season ticket cost? " '