THE CRY IN THE NIGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21263, 17 August 1932, Page 17

THE CRY IN THE NIGHT

(COPYIUQBT)

By OTTWELL BINNS Author of "The Lovenham Treasure," "Diana of the Islands," "'The Mystery of the Atoll," etc., etc.

CLEVER AND ENTHRALLING MYSTERY STORY BY POPULAR WRITER

CHAPTER XVI Charlton himself had waited for the news of Adrian's arrest, which would thr6W Bobbio Rowthorne into the depths of gloom; but on the second morning, when it had not come, he rejoiced in 6pirit, and drove the car round to tho lady's' flat. " A day in tho country," he said, " will do you a world of good." " Is there any news of Adrian ? " asked the girl anxiously. " From Ransome ? Not a word ! Array yourself in purple and fino linen,'' he said with a commanding air, " and put dull care far from you. To-day we will take the sunshine, and the air, and such joy as tho hours may offer. ' Gather ye rosebuds while yo may,' is tho order for the day." -They started twenty minutes later taking tho road west, and soon wero running towards Reading. " Where are you taking mo ? " asked Bobbie with somo curiosity. " Westward Ho! " he answered with a laugh. " That, you will remember, always brought luck to tho western men." " You mean wo arc going to that placo the other side of Bideford ? " j " No," he laughed, " I have had ancestors—a long line of them. I am going to show you their tombs. Somo of them are magnificent, whilst, tho family portraits should impress you, my dear." " The ladies or the gentlemen ? " the girl inquired with laughter. " Both. Somo of tho ladies wcro tigresses, but their tombstones speak of gentlo virtues; whilst, as for the men, one of them at least went pirating with Drake, and anothor was with Harry Morgan in tho Indies. No one has ever boasted much of him, but he restored the family fortunes, which others had spent in riotous living." Bobbie Rowthorne was amused. " They must, have been a quite terrible crowd." " They were," he owned, " but they were men, and no one, I think, would call the women dolls. One of them in Charles's time, ber husband being with Cromwell, held the house against Lord Goring and a Cavalier army; whilst another held her man's horse in a field at Kensington whilst ho shot a man who had assumed the Charlton women were light. Tho family records are most entertaining, I assure you." " They must be," she laughed. So, notwithstanding tho shadowed horizon, they came happily to Charlton Magna, when the clock in the church tower v vas chiming half after twelve. " Ha}/ an-hour to lunch-time," he said gaily. " And here's tho church. Let us go in," They passed the doorway, but at the entrance to the nave Bobbie Rowthorno checked suddenly. " The church is half-full,'' sho whispered. " There is a service." " It has not begun yet,'' he said. " Tako my arm." " But " sho began, then understanding broke on her. " Oil! " she whispered, her eyes suddenly tumultuous. " But how can—how-: ? " " Special licence issued by His Grace tho Archbiship of Canterbury. I spent most of yesterday securing it." " Butr—" "My dear," he said, with a laugh, "I assure you the arrangements aro quite watertight. And there was a certain promise you made. Ah!—there's Campernowe, and the organist has wind of us. He is just tuning up. You just can't disappoint us all. Ready, sweetheart? Left foot first —so! A proper marching step. Straight ahead] " They moved into the church, Bobbie Rowthorne wondering if it were not a fantastic dream. The organ began to play, the congregation rose from their seats, and like one in a dream, the girl, on Charlton's arm, arrived at tho chancel steps. The old clergyman bowed to them, then asked: "You have the licence, Sir Martin ? '' Charlton produced a long envelope from his inner pocket and thrust it into the clergyman's hands. Mr. Campernowe glanced at it, nodded, and then bent over his servico book, and in a quiet voice began: " Dearly beloved brethren, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony which is an honourable estate —" Bobbie was still obsessed by the feeling that it was all a droam, but she answered tho vital question, when it came, in a firm voice, and was clearly audible when she said after the clergyman, " I, Roberta, do take thee, Martin, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse—" Then for a second there was a little faltering. A thought had come to her suddenly, and her blue eyes shot a ques tion at her bridegroom. Why ?—Why ?—Why ? If Charlton understood, he ignored that silent question and did not appear to notice the sudden tenseness which had come in the bride's demeanour. The service went through to the end, the register was signed, the organist played the wedding march, and they passed out of tho church in a rain of flowers. It was but a short distance across the park to the house, and there, after old Henry had received them, for a moment they were alone. Then Bobbie turned on him, the question that had been in her eyes now vocal. "Oh—why?" .-lie whispered. "Why?" He took her in his arms, kissed her, and answered. " Because, my dear, I was afraid that I might lose you." Understanding came to her in a flash. "There is—there is bad news?" " It is not good," he answered. " Adrian — ?" "Yes!" he answered, reading the question in her eyes. "Ho was in London, I am afraid." "Ob!" she whispered. "How dreadful ! And why did you do this—this thing ? If—if —there will be disgrace. Why did you do it V " Because I love you! There's the whole reason, and I could not be cheated of you by a scruple. You aro mine now." " My dear, I was always yours—since vre met." " Yes. But I knew you, sweetheart. You would have denied me, for my own sake, you would have said. Now—you cannot!" He laughed, as if there were no trouble in all the world. " To-morrow all the world will know, and if you run away from me, I shall follow you to tho ends of the earth." " Run away! My dear—how yoy could do it—knowing that—that, disgrace is knocking at the door—" " Not at my door," he said stubbornly. " Nor at yours, Bobbie darling. Nothing shall bo thrown against Lady Charlton, because of what another may have done. Nothing can disgrace us but our own actions, and in the county, I assure you Charlton Magna pulls its full weight. Wo Charltons carry our heads high—though, to be sure, we have been known to lose, them on tho block, and even that has fed our pride." "You have lost yours to-day!" she whispered. "No! Only my heart. And that went weeks ago. Come, my dear, the household is waiting to drink our health." "Wo are staying here?" aha asked suddenly.

" No! Wo are going back to London. I knew you would want to be there, and that is all ar.anged." " But if they should find Adrain ?" she asked tremulously. " Then we shall' fight—for his soul. At least he will not be triendless. So lift up your heart, Bobbie. So long as we own each other, littlo else matters—and you are mine, really mine!" " But if—if disgrace comes —" " We won't recognise it. We will ignore it." That is the way to compel the world to your side." " But—oh! After all you have told me, wo must go to London, and get in touch with Adrian." " Yes, of course! As I told you, that is what I have arranged, and Dick Had* Icigh is on tho look-out for Adrian. Come, my dear! Luncheon calls, and to bo late for a meal ts counted a sin by old Henry. Your arm—" They passed into the dining room together, and as she seated herself in the placo of the mistress of tho house, looking up the table to where Charlton stood, through tho cloud in the girl's blue eyes glowod a sudden pride in her man, to whom she, herself, was- all. CHAPTER XVn It was on the afternoon of that same day, that Manoel Castro suddenly announced his intention of returning to town from Brighton. " I explained to you, my friend, there is a little matter of business that I must do, sinco in a weeJc I return to Macao where you also go, to see the place where the great Camoens wrote the Lusiad, in which he says—" Adrian Rowthorne intervened rather hastily. He thought that by this time lie must have heard all that the great Camoens had ever written, and though ho was probably mistaken he had no thirst for further knowledge. " But what is your business, Castro ? I never seem to havo quito got the hang of that." There was almost a lightning change in Castro's face, and the light in his eyes was a revelation. It made Adrian Rowthorne blink; and he thought to himself that there were depths in Manoel Castro of which he had not dreamed, the man from Macao laughed softly. " That, my friend, I do not tell you. But when we stand in tho Grotto of the great Camoons, where a year ago I stood with my father to make a holy promise, you shall hear. This afternoon I go to your great London." Adrian Rowthorne, whom rest and comparative abstinence had made more his own man than he had been at the time of their meeting on the Embankment, looked a little worried. "Mind il I don't go back with you, Castro 1 Brighton suits me better than town and I would like to wait for you here." 44 My friend, but for tho fact that I might have appeared rude, I should have proposed that to you. I shall go to London alone, and I shall bo back here to eat breakfast with you in tho morning, with all my business done." " But—please, don't hurry for mo. I know Bx-ighton, and can find friends if I need them." Manoel Castro laughed a little oddly. " But I shall return quickly. It is just the case of the time and tide together, and my business Will bo accomplished in the very moment of their meeting. There are great things that take but a short time to achieve, and in the—what is the word ? —Ah! I have it. In tho psychological moment much may be wrought. I take the train at four, in a short time I shall be in London; I shall dine; and afterward I shall go to the rendezvous where my business will be completed. You will wish mo the great luck, my friend ?" "Of course. All the luck in the world ?" " I shall have that. See—" he lifted the gold swastika trinket on his watch chain—" I wear the protection against the evil eye, and the bringer of good fortune." "Oh! If you believo in that, Castro," laughed the otlcar, " you must. Though how on earth any sane man can think—" " Hush, my friend. You do not comprehend. It has never ye£ failed me." (To be continued daily)