LUCKY MR. LODER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16970, 2 October 1918, Page 10

LUCKY MR. LODER.

• M dW THOME, Author '"-When, Was Dark," "A Los . ""C&yipo,v"'stc. v? i i " ! - . . i

: COP.yRJIGHT, . " • " ; '-' v , mm,/' ■ . ! chapter, .llt^(Cpntipupd.).' . r , p«gmiie' liad got dovf» fropa. ii? mo ' and was surveying. this- wild -and loyel; , wilderness' with 'a ' set, mojionlpss ' face : The drjyj&t M tip .fiftj}»»4n' ; '.tjjo' iqaorninj ; light it did not take much (liscftr;)i»eu,t ti f see that he was an old naval uaait—w«: l .beading. °W .to ' wfeel and lining '< pipe.'!'• heard a slight noise behind tie. ; Oh the short, aromatic turf which boy , .dered ,% .js>.a4 piwk" was kneeling. P« long .body was bent forward in » grace'fu curve, his "thin hands held up to th« glory of jt-Jje sun, which turned .them r« and transparent. , And- J? Well, in my own way, I wa« worshipping, too. We seemed people iu a new world, without relation to anything that had. happened before, ''.silent Upon a peak in Darisp," The "Asiatic rose, quite imperceptibly, and took me by the arm. His touch was ■ friendly. -I knew that somehow or other .during the last twelve hours I had got into ik goad jjrAceft. ''Is it not beautiful?" he said, ei ' s on the roof .of tie world?" . i I nodded. I could hardly answer him. " Assuming you to be conventional Cliristiao/' hp went on—"doubtless most honourable religion—you must be acquainted with the pious words: Where every prospect pleases And only man is vile. Man I .'" he concluded, with a singular intonation. I followed his long arm and pointing finger, and there I saw a monstrous silhouette against the glowing western sky, looking, in the reflected light/like a black paper upon a faded rainbow. There were long, grim, machicojajigd wallsj a £i'eat> rpiuid structure with a pointed roof, towers, a gateway like that through which the stern figure !of the Florentine passed "among tho people lost for aye." CnMfc turned and gave an order to tie chauffeur, who descended And let down - the back of Uie car. "We are pnly three miles now from Admiral's Sledding, hp. said you will find la demoiselle a? ton j cceur there." i And then, as the Car started, this human enigma held out .his hand* ''Let us bo honourable friends," he said, simply. ' . I had noticed when we firpt got into the car tWt it was'" very high-powered wd almost silent. We fed started off from Exeter at » great rate. Now we wfiii -very ,slowly and gently down a long decline in the road. We were rolling into a basin or declivity in the moor, for straight ahead the oppofito side began to rise nigh into view, fringed with pines, among' which I saw a solitary granite-' tower. Then, as thg road fell away and wpi tipfran to na.w through a nlantation

we pegan to pass inrouga a niamauoir of yfaipg, feathery copifers—wl)ich gave .the' immediate a curious, toyshop «ir—J: saw a stretch of water open-' ing oijt, au oblong lake of brown water some two acres in extent, And beyond it a long, low, battleraented^ house of grey. granite, with many chimneys and hospit-. able blue smoke. "•-*• The chauffeur sounded the horn—once., We turned into a broad- "sweep of harij gravel which circled the lake, .and <as we drew .up in front of the central porch I saw the admiral and Molly standing there. The fijm was full upon; the house. Molly'? eyes— Oh, well, JL'll leave it at that, lam not much good »{■ .description any way, and when .it come? to Molly I fail Altogether. She^was just the darling; of all darlings as she held out her hands in welcome. After a bath and a shave, which didn't take vetjr/|png-, a gong -abuijde^ agd Iwent down to my fot hreakfast in - ®P' : admiral's old , house. The room was 'panelled and hung wj(b portraits. Th? long windows were wide open to the lake and a fire of peat and elm logs, the most perfect combination in the world, glowed upon an open hearth. ' ' " Mutton hamj-rprohably you won't know it," said the admiral, "fed, killed, and smoked on the estate—that soused carp is from the lake, Did yon have a good journey!" • " Excellent, thank you,"sir." _ ; "And nothing happened?" he said, quickly. "There was no out-of-the-way incident at .all?" » ' . " Nona,"' I answered, realising once more why I was here. " Very well. I'll leave you and Molly for half-an-hour. and then we must get to work. I see you have changed into knickerbockers—-good, you will want them." ; He. got op and went toj, quickly and briskly, as a man does who has muchto do. I was.left (done with my girl- _ "No regrets'?" she cried, with a wile, "Are you etiJJ as keen as ever, Jack, dear?" " Mad keen— ready for anything ' " Well, , there will be/ lots to do. The time is yet near now." Her voice trembled and's great longing came into her eves. '/Night and day, day and 1 night/' she- said passionately, "j. pray j ■for our success!"

Thus, jfi-om the very first moment, the note of tragedy and warning came into that quiet place. I podded. " This morning," J. said, ".on the brow of the moor, Mr, Chark showed me." "Ha «there," she whispered, 41 a slave, , of shame, but a slave in whose heart hope ' betts high, for he shall not bp a slave Jong! We shall conquer this blind and evil thing they call the Law, and he shall be free to do the great work that' lies before him!" "It is to be soon, then? He knows?" She raised her hand a little. )' I can tell you nothing, darling. II is all in uncle's hands and he will tell you all that you must know." ; We talked for a little longer, and then we went out of the windows and -walked I by the side of the deep brown water. "Nobody knows how deep it is," she said, "It is believed to be an old volcanic crater of .incalculable age. It is full of great wise, fish— of them have ' rings in their jwppa which were put there more than a hundred years ago.' I feed them sometimes at evening and they come end look at me." ' | The admiral came out after us in a cap and leggings, a stout stick in his hand. "We start in five minutes," he said. " Get a stick, and bring your man, pugmire with you." I rap into the house, sent a , trim maidservant for Piigmire, and was ready at the ' appointed time. FitzSpain and I started off together, Pugroire walking a, little behind us.. We went to the back pf the house, through some large kitchen gardens, and then mounted v & winding pathway among the pines which clothed the side of the basin in which the house stood. After some three or four minutes, we - emerged upon' the moor, again. A narrow track led away through miles of scented heather and spicy and purple, an emperors robe for the . moor The admiral took my arm. " I have Retired from the service for three years now," he said, " but I still keep up a certain -unofficial connection with the Admiralty. I don't know whether you are aware of jt, but my special branch of the Service was gunnery. In fact, I became known as an expert, on quick-firing guns, and several of, my small inventions bring me jfl a, very considerable revenue, By the courtesy of the Admiralty—for much of this moor is Crown land—l have a very complete jpachine-gun range a mile away from the house. We are going there now. ' Hew, I constantly experiment with a new type of machine-gun which dispense!; with the old water jacket and is altogether an - innovation. At times I have twenty or thirty gunnery experts from Plymouth' g to help me in my experiments. At others,' I J cap, carry them out my&jlf with the. I assistance' of our friend, Chavk—who only , | appears as my valet in London and who n knows a great deal on the, subject." 1 ■ " Ah," I said, " I thought so when he' 1 came with roe to the gunmakere to buy my 1 pistol s" and I told him of Urn occurence ■ I with the punt-giih, . .| (To 1* continued Ml Saturday nejt,} Ifi