RAINBOW GOLD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21298, 27 September 1932, Page 15

RAINBOW GOLD

CHAPTER Vl.—(Continued) If Eve knew that Dan was entangled with a girl like that! If he had to admit that he had given Gladys a ring, and made no objection to being introduced as the man Gladys was to marry I Then goodbye for ever to the sweet companionship which had come to him, the most precious thing his life had ever contained. " What's, the matter, Dan ?" Eve asked. " Pipe's choked," Dan muttered, seeking a stalk of grass. " This sun is just about rig'it—warm without burning you. I never had such a day in my life!" "Up there," Eve said, nodding her head to the wood behind them. " That's where the nightingales can be heard." " I'm looking forward to that," Dan answered. " They don't sing until dusk," Eve said. " I'm riot sure that we can got back to London, if we wait for that." "Ah, well!" Dan r.ighed, after the fashion of a man who admits that he cannot have everything. "Have you got to be back to-night?" Eve asked carelessly. Dan only looked at her, but was not able to command an answering gaze. " Because I know a cottage where I could stay for the night." The girl continued. " And I daresay they'd put you up at the inn at Shere; it's quite a famous place." "And'we could have another day tomorrow?" Dan asked incredulously. " Why not ? I've nobody to say me nay. Have you ?" There was a distinct pause, before Dart said, " Of course not." "Nobody out in Australia?" Eve insisted; for it was in her mind that she knew nothing of the life of her companion. except the roving and adventurous side of it. Frankio had more than once dropped jesting hints about a possible wife or sweetheart in the Antipodes; and that pause had been an ominous one. " Xobody at all," Dan said quickly, and y ith an emphasis quite convincing. Carry on, then," Eve decided. They idled pleasantly through the gunny afternoon, and came down into Shere by the old road in time for tea. Rooms were booked according to Eve's plan, and then they inspected the lovely village, with its old church and brook of clear murmuring water. " It's a new world to me," Dan said. " I never knew the world was so beautiful." They dined at the inn, off honest English fare, and as twilight fell walked back into the wood, which was to remain for Dan Prescott an enchanted forest as long as his memory served him. Eve chose a big, branching tree, and leaned back against its trunk. The dusk was closing around them, and the place was very still. " We must keep very quiet," she whispered. " Last time that I was here a bird sang from this very tree." He could see the profile of her face, and catch the sound of her smooth, easy breathing. The wonder of it, that they were alone together, in a world of mystery, seized upon him. From some distant thicket came the first gurgling notes ©f the songster of the night. Eve caught his hand in hers, signalling by a warning pressure the need of stillness and silence. Above their very heads sounded the xesponse to the distant songster, in a flood of joyful melody. It was love that the birds were celebrating, and it was love that shook Dan. * Eve felt the trembling of his hand and turned, fier face towards him. She knew that there was invitation in her eyes; for she wanted him to take her in. his arms and"kiss her, and tell her of the love that was as patent to others as well as to herself. ''l'm a yellow dog!" Dan said hoarsely, casting, her hand aside. He strode apai£, -with clenched hands, the picture 'of misery. In silence, and apart, they walked back to thes village. Eve, like Dan, was occupied with her own painful thoughts. CHAPTER VII There were wakeful hours before Eve Gilchrist, when she retired to the spotless little room in the cottage where she lodged, that, night at Shere. She was a girl with plenty o! courage and a great contempt for any form of deception or shirking of the truth. Self-deception she accounted,the deadliest pretence of all; and now she faced the situation which had arisen between herself and Dan Prescott with a clear mind. She had given him her love; and that was a gift which she could not retract until sfye had proved him utterly unworthy. She had done more; she had encouraged him, as she never thought to encOurage any man alive. She had planned to be alone with him; the inclusion of another girl in the walking"party was it pUre fiction from the beginning. Eve was quite clear about her conduct. She had to deal with a man unusually modest and unassuming, who had clearly set her upon a pedestal in his own imagination. She had done her best, to step down from that inconvenient height, and to indicate a bridge over the gap which separated them. Was it still humility that prevented Dan from responding as she had intended ? If that were so, she could go no further. She would have to leave him in that, lowlier place from which he had not the courage ,and enterprise to climb. And if that were so, she need have no regret, and no shame either. But the alternative was more disturbing, and hurtful to her pride and delicacy. Her instinct told her tin', it was '''' Dan's humility which had driven him from her side, in misery and silence. The shadow 'of some third person stalked between them at what might have been the sweetest moment of her life. It was a possibility which had to be fared and to be provided for. there was comfort in it as well. If she had gi\cn her love to a man unworthy of it, the experiences of the evening would not havo been hers. A rotten man would have snatched at the gift. There was at least the consolation that, Dan had acted as a man of scruple and honour, even supposing that he were entangled with some woman on the other side of the world. But Eve felt that she must know the truth, whatever it might be. If anybody bad the right to object to their close association, then Dan had told her a deliberate lie, and that she could not believe. His conduct made the assumption an incredible one to her. Dan was hampored by some fantastic notion, and noth* ing else, and she would discover what it was and tear it to rags. Having arrived at this satisfactory conclusion, Eve, who was healthy and saturated with fresh air and exercise, fell comfortably to sleep. Not so Dan. He raged at himself and st Wetherbv, tossing miserably throughout the night. Every minute he had spent with Gladvs Clements accused him. How could he ever confess his folly to a girl like Eve. or make her understand the weak good nature which had prolonged it, through two whole days ? He would see that solicitor as soon as he reached the office on Monday. He must have a clearance of some kind, whatever it, might cost. But the very payment of money would be a thing unforgivable in Eve's sight. ~ How could he ever face her on the morrow, after what had happened ? He found the meeting easier and more cheering than he had anticipated could be possible. " Hullo, Dan! " said Eve, looking fresh as paint. " Thanks a lot for putting on the brakes last nighty jvhpn those birds (

By E. C. BULEY Author of " Sea Urchin," " Calcutta Luck," etc.

(COPYRIGHTJ

A THRILLING STORY OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE

made me feel sloppy. Some men would have spoiled the rest of the picture by getting emotional, you know; and I should have had myself to blame." Dan took the hand which she held out to Mm in silence. " A long hike to-day," Eve went 011 briskly. " And no nightingales. I never knew they were so infectious." " Thanks, Eve," Dan muttered. " It's like you to talk that way. I'll not forget." Tlicy walked through Peaslake and through pinewoods to the summit of Pitch Hill, where a great stretch of country expanded before their eyes. Dan could even see, through Shoreham Gap, the glint of the sunlight on the Channel. " You must have wonderful eyes," said Eve. " I could just see that through glasses one clear day when I was here." They kept on the high ground with Leith Hill and Friday Street as their objective. Evo talked about herself, and the awful jobs she had held, before chance threw her into touch with Medlicott. She made little confidences; and Dan was drawn to reply in kind. The girl's ears were alert for some hint of_ a tie in Australia, but nothing of the kind was dropped. Dan's life out there seemed like an open book. On the pages of it were written records of hard work, of unassuming effort and even heroism. " You seem to have had no time for girls ? " Eve said with a laugh. " It's always some other man in your stories." " Girls had no use for me," Dan said. " My partner Wetherby attended to that side of the business; when we were in town, or anywhere. He always made me feel hopelessly out of it." " Oh, he was that kind of man, was he?" Eve said. "He'd got a way with him, as they say?" " Huh! " Dan assented. " And he's off gallivanting about New Zealand on his honeymoon, instead of attending to business." " You seem peeved with your partner ? " Eve suggested. " Perhaps I'll tell you about it some day," Dan said vaguely. " Just now I don't want to think about him," Eve turned over her mind all she had heard about Dan's partner —a man with an aptitude for interesting the other sex, and a man about whom Dan did not care to think. On this foundation her vivid imagination built up a little romance. Dan was unhappy, because Wetherby had robbed him of the love of some girl who had attracted him in Australia. That would account for everything. A man of Dan's disposition would think it wrong to transfer his affections elsewhere. He would imagine himself heartbroken. Even when lie had found a worthier object for his love lie would believe that constancy to the old idol was demanded of him. The theory cheered Eve and comforted her. It would be her own fault if she co"uld not rid her companion of such silly ideas. And for a bright girl like Eve Gilchrist, 110 guess could well have been further removed from the actual truth. Mr. Cairns, when Dan called upon him on Monday, was vaguely reassuring about the result of his mission to Hillingdon. " The girl's mother is taking legal advice," he said. " And I'd rather deal with any decent solicitor than, with two women like that. Mrs. Clements broadly hinted her relief that there was no such person as Wetherby." "What's that?" Dan demanded. " She suggested that you and Wetherby were the same person; which is very natural in the circumstances. Those are a bit unusual, you know, Prescott." " Well, what's going to happen now? " asked Dan. " I expect I shall hear from the lady's solicitor," Cairns said. "If he's a man of good repute we can probably arrange matters without any unpleasantness or publicity. The girl has a genuine grievance. " She has been badly treated," Dan agreed. " I made a mistake, but it would be a hundred times worse mistake to marry her." " That's out of the question, of course," Cairns said. " She'll not break her heart, though she took to you very easily, I should say. And she's been made to look foolish in the eyes of her friends, too." " You don't have to rub it in, Mr. Cairns." Dan said. "I seem able to think of nothing else. Up to the time I left Australia there was no woman alive who could say I'd done her the slightest wrong. And I never intended there should be." " And now, after a week or two in England, you've given a ring to one of them, and fallen in love with another?" Cairns suggested. "Tough luck!" "If you know that, you know how much I want to be clear of the first trouble," Dan said. " Pay what you like; but let nie> bp sure I'm not going to hear any more about Gladys Clements." "Don't you see?" Cairns said. 0 The next move is with this fellow Wetherby. If lie backs your story to the full, I can take a high line with the other side. 1 doubt if they have a caso for breach. You are not responsible for Wetherby's letters and he is not responsible for your ring and your masquerade. I can settle with the air of being magnanimous, and for a reasonable sum." " Suppose Wcthorby cannot be found," Dan suggested. " It is time he turned up if Sladc has dono what I asked over in Sydney." " Why shouldn't ho turn up? " Cairns asked. " He .holds a big share interest in this mine, doe;,n't he?" " Look; I'm trying to get this business at Hillington settled," Dan said desperately. " You tell me it must hang on until we hear from Wetherby. What I'm asking you to do is to settle it, and to leave me to deal with Wetherby later. Never mind what it costs. That's Don Wetherby's funeral. Square it up at once. Assume that Wetherby is keeping out of the way, and will stay lost until the trouble he has made has all blown over." Cairns looked at him with accusing eyes and a forefinger wagged in reproof. " You are keeping something from mo, Prescott," lie said. " Come across with it, whatever it is. The worst mistake you can make —that any client can make—is to have secrets from his legal adviser." " I'm not keeping back anything that I know," Dan replied. " I'm only imagining something. It's just a guess about Wetherby." " Out with it, then." " Promise that not a word shall pass to Medlicott," Dan stipulated. " I may be all wrong; and even if I happen to be right I don't want it to go any further." " What you say shall go no further, of course." " Well, somebody raided the mine by aeroplane, and swooped off with the best of the gold. Wetherby and I exposed that find and we covered it up again. Slade reports that Wetherby is in New Zealand on his honeymoon, which started months ago." " And you think . . ." *' He got me out of the way," Dan went on. " He played that trick with my photo; I wondered "at the time why he was so keen in getting my picture taken. I'm tied up here; and he was the only other man who know just where to go for that gold. What do you think yourself, Mr. Cairns?" " It sounds very feasible to me. What do you intend to do about it? " " You get me clear of this trouble," Dan said. " Once I know that my hands are free, I'll attend to Mr. Gordon Wetherby." (To be continued daily) Tourists interested in Maori lore will appreciate " "Where the White Treads." Leading booksellers, or Herald Office, Auckland; 9s, post free. Woods' Great Peppermint Cur® ]for Children's Hacking Causa.