THE SECRET OF BIRS BUCHAN; OR, SILAS BARRON'S DAUGHTERS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1664, 20 January 1904, Page 4

THE SECRET OF BIRS BUCHAN; OR, SILAS BARRON'S DAUGHTERS.

BY J. D. REID (Kaleid escope). Author of “Mabel Vyner’s JLiove,” “Tried By Fire,” “When Jack Cornea Home,” “Hector. Glen’s Last Song,” ©to.

[Ain Rights Reseeved.}

CHAPTER XV. (Continued.}

Gordon, who seemed to ba well acquainted with the interior, went straight to Morgan’s room. It / was empty. They left it and searched the whole house without sucoess. Convinced that Morgan was absent, they returned to the latter’s room, followed by , the 0J& woman, whose first uneasiness appear-* ed to have increased during the search* Although there was no place in the room capable of affording concealment to a man, yet Gordon appeared inclinedto turn it upside down. He was about to drag the bed from its place when an exclamation from Freeman caused him to loc>k round enquiringly. The latter held towards him a folded slip of . paper bearing his own name. He opened and handed it to Freeman, who glanced at it and read—- “ Not this time yet, George Gordon.— B. Morgan.” “Escaped!” cried tho coastguardsman, hoarse with rage. “Wha could hae warned him.” - (

‘You know something about this,” said the artist, turning to the nowtrembling old woman. “Speak.”

“Ay, speak out, or it’ll be the worse for ye,” added Gordon, whom the escape of his enemy seemed to have deprived of all self-control.

Quivering with fear, the old woman: explained that a confederate of Morgan’s from Aberdeen had warned him. of their approach, and that the smuggler had fled Peterhead way. “He knows every cave and lildlngplace on tho Buchan coast,” explained Gordon, “but I will bunt him down. Are you ready to follow me, Freeman?” “Come on,” was the answer, and on the instant they strode from the house, leaving Grannie Tait in a condition of inexpressible relief. , Rapidly leaving the village, they struok a path leading aside from the beaten track, and close a Jong the shore. Skirting the Hawklaw, they, left the sandy beach of Oruden Bay behind them, and entered the wider line to the northward —a coast-line rooky, precipitous, and rugged as any in Scotland. Here Gordon paused in his rapid advance, and turned to his companion. “Noo,” he said, “oar wark begins here. I have only this to say—mind your feet. Ye have a 000 l head and a stoqt heart, and ye wifi need them both to-night.” , Freeman nodded, and without further words the search began by the coastguardsman leading the way straight into the black defile, at the end of which a narrow ledge, turning abruptly to the north, led along a wall of p-erpendicujar cliff descending sheer into* the sea/ already fretting far below under the impulse of the rising storm. Following this ledge for some distance, they arrived at a point where it ended abruptly, all further progress being apparently barred. Beyond where it ended the cliff sank straight down not a single fragment projecting from; its. face, and Freeman began to entertain doubts regarding Gordon’s ability m a S uide - • , / ■ The latter, however, kept steadily ott until, he. reached the extreme end of the Ledge. There he stopped andiawmod the. artist’s' approach, which, bwiiig* to his uhexperienoe, bad been slower tbaat that of his companion. As Freeman came no be found the

explanation of Gordon’s action. Right B,t the end of the ledge, just where it gropped into the sea, yawned a black, Irregular hole, opening into the face of fcbe cliff, so forbidding did it look that & momentary feeling of repugnance took possession of Freeman. Going in there seemed like entering the mouth : 'Without hesitation Gordon produced from one of his capacious poo 1 " its a '* gmall hull’s eye lamp, lit it. and drawing and Cocking his revolver an example followed by bis companion—said in a low tone —• “He has not had much cl a start and may bo here. Keep clo>e behind me.” 3Ete entered as he concluded, and was Instantly followed by his companion. • Within the gloom appeared impene- - trahle to the latter except where the yellow light of the lamp fell upon the rocky walls and floor. As his eyes became accustomed to the obscurity, however, he became conscious of a faint light, pervading the cave, and that appeared to come from its upper or landward end. By this light Freeman Was enabled to realise in some measure the horror and dangers of the place—dull on, well-like holes opening in the floor, and from the black throats of which came the moan and dash of water far, far below; gruesome shafts and whispering tunnels, leaving the main Cavern on ..each side; treacherous declivities, ending one knew not where — all the grisly aids to horror that lurk where the sunbeams and the blessed daylight may not follow. Suddenly, on turning a. bend in the cave, Gordon uttered an exclamation and instantly extinguished the lamp. , Both stopped, and the coastguardsman, laying hia heavy hand on Freeman’s shoulder, said, in a voice that shook with earcitement—“Look yonder.” The artist obeyed, and felt his heart quicken. lA± a distance so great that it appeared no bigger than a dinner plate, shone the upper end of the cave. Froan it the light shone down until it melted into almost complete gloom where they stood.

(And again the shining shield of the cave’s mouth appeared the form of a man, dwarfed by the distance to the size of a boy of ten. That he was leaving the cave was apparent from the rapid changes in his appearance —‘now outlined from head to foot, a silhouette against the white light, now sinking till “only bis head could be seen, bobbing up and down, and again showing like a black lump, as he followed the inequalities of the uneven floor —he was making all speed to reach the Outer air. “Morgan,” hissed Gordon between his teeth, ‘T have him. Come on but he careful.” So saying he led the way cautiously up the cave. They had not gone many paces-when Freeman in his turn uttered an exclamation. “What is’t?” asked Gordon, turning Hastily. ‘There are two,” replied the artist m astonishment. v It. was true. Following the first figure was a second, dodging and bobbing up in a fashion exactly similar to the one preceding it. '■ “It cannot be the man who warned him,” muttered Gordon to himself. “It Cannot be his shadow either.”. “Shadow.” repeated Freeman, who Ead heard the last sentence; “no, it is not a shadow. It is a man, or,” he added jestingly, “a ghost.” “Hush!” said Gordon, hastily, “do Uiot talk like N that. I do not like it.” “Surely you don’t began Freeman. . , • “I ken what ye wad say,” interrupted Gordon impatiently, “an dinna want to hear it; but I wad just like to tell ye that for " a man to say that sic things are not is to put himself in the place O* God, who alane kens for sure.” Sflenoed by the rebuke, Freeman followed the other up the cave. j&ud Still the first figure danced and Bobbed against the white mouth of the cave, and still the other—man, ghost, cm* shadow —followed it.

V CHAPTER XVI. • ABOVE BIRS BUCHAN. ' t Tr> spit® of the impatience animating (Gordon and his oom pardon, they were compelled to continue their progress up the cave at a very «low rate. Anything approaching haste otr speed would inevitably hare ended in disaster, so numerous were the holes, cracks, and rugged depressions scattered over the floor of the cavern, and which the faint glimmer reaching them from its mouth did no more than render dimly visible. They had, perforce, to exercise the utmost caution in picking their way in the darkness, and feel rather than see the path. Even with, ah 7 their care they had several narrow escapes. Freeman on one occasion losing his footing, And only prevented from shoota ng headlong into a blank deft at. the foot of a doping deaeent by th® quick aid afrordedby Gordon's ready hand. ■}i£: Sength tfley feaoned a pmnt which they were forced to bidtj. in »n lim. tom'-a**' to

side of the oave, the floor seemed to fall away in ,a sheer descent, to what depth they could not guess. Beyond the lip or rock upon which they steed, all was black as ink for a distance of some 30 yards, beyond which distance the rising floor again caught the faint from the entrance. To have attempted to go on in the darkness would have been foo'hardy, and, for the reason which he had already given, Gordon was averse to using the. lamp. There seemed to be nothing for it but to wait. That the coastguardsman thought so was made apparent by his action. Looking for same seconds around him, he selected a rugged splinter rising from the floor, and seating himself upon it, unooexed his revolver.

“We must wait here for a little,” he said, addressing his companion, the dim outline of whose form he could barely distinguish in the gloom. “I dare not light the lamp until yon two move on.”

There was a curious inflection, suggesting uneasiness, in his voice as ho spoke. It was evident that the mysterious shadow following the first figure was still exercising his mind. Freeman sat down beside him without speaking, and, as if by mutual consent, both turned to watch the movements' of the smuggler—for that it was Morgan they did not doubt—and his eerie attendant.

They were still there, but in the interval had approached much nearer to the mouth of the cave. Although the first figure had slackened speed considerably, since they first observed it, yet the one behind had not lessened the distance between them. That remained exactly what it was before, neither more or less. At times the first figure would move more quickly, and then again hardly at all—even stopping at times altogether. But whether it went fast or slow, whether it stood still or want on, its double kept its position. Watching the two black forms jogging and bobbing against the white shine of light, themselves lost in the whispering gloom of the lower cava, even Freeman experienced a slight feeling of the uncanny order steal over him. As Morgan drew near the outer world, his pace slackened into a crawl as regards speed, and the stoppages made by him grew more frequent. His action might have been due to the feeling of assured exit from the cave, but was more probably prompted by caution, and a desire to ascertain . whether the coast was clear or not before emerging from - the shelter of the rooks. As for the pursuing shadow, it seemed to have no volition of its own. to be solely controlled by the movements of the man it followed, imitating him, in everytiling. Sitting on the hummock' watching the uncanny pair, Freeman became conscious that the hitherto breathless ulterior of the cave was being stirred by an indraught of air stealing up from the seaward end. At first so slight that he scarcely fedt it on his cheek, it increased, and grew , in strength every moment. And with it* came the breaking of that strange spell that seems to fill utter silence with voice®, heard not by the oar. but by the soul. They had

passed the deep well-holes from which i came up the sigh and moan of the sea, ; and till now had been wrapped in i silence as deep as death. But with the 1 coining of the air current, the dim coni fines of the cave appeared to fill with ! weird, unearthly voices. Strange sighings, whisperings, a,nd meanings floated ' around and overhead in the darkness, I until the aroused imagination peopled | the cavern with unholy things, gather- . ing for evil. The shining shield of light too, that lay in the mouth of the cave above them began to lose its brightness, ; deepening the gloom around into utter | night, and, noting it al, Freeman felt ■ a slight shiver creep over him as he j turned to his companion. I “Can’t we move yet?” he asked. I “A minute more,” replied Gordon, out of the darkness. “Yon twe arc almost out, curse them.” j From the tone of irritated impatience in which, the words were spoken, it was i plain that Gordon liked their position ! as little as did the artist. Both looked ! up the oave again. j The first figure was now within a , few feet of the entrance, the other some thirty behind. Both were motionless, the first evidently scanning the ground beyond the cave. After a time the leader moved on. Hardly had half a dozen paces been taken when the smuggler wheeled round like lightning, and a sharp shout of angry challenge came ringing down the cave. There was a second’s pause, and then the quick flash of a pistol lit up the j darkness a gleam of lightning, and | the echoes, roused into thunder, came rolling down into the black recesses, filling all the air with their continued clangour. At the same instant the wanderers saw the figure nearest to them • spring high into the air, and falling, ; disappear from sight. The smoke Imrsg i for some seconds in the entrance, and ! when it melted away both the figures I had disappeared. i “Come on, noo,” cried Gordon, from whose mind the evidence afforded by the effect of the shot appeared to have removed a lurking feeding of superstitious fear. | As he was speaking he rapidly lit the lamp, and flashed its light into the cleft before them. .A, very brief inspection convinced them that they had acted wisely in delaying the passage. At only one point was it possible to cross with safety—along a ledge projecting from the Jefb- ; hand wall of the cavern. Everywhere else the rock ‘ sunk sheer down to a depth- varying from 20 to 50 feet. Had they gone on in the dark their fate would have been, swift and sure—instant I death , on the jagged fragments of rook that strewed the bottom of the shaft. Freeman shuddered when he thought of of this obstruction they progressed more rapidly. What with the gleam of the lamp and the steady increase of light as they ascended, they were enabled to avoid the numerous dangers lying in their way, and, within twenty minutes after leaving £ho olert, reached the spot where they had seen the second figure fall. Although fairly hid from the entrance, and perfectly level, Attaining nothing in the shape of eith* holes or

S rocks capable of concealing a there was nothing to be seen. cavern was empty, and as Gordon flashed .. the lamp around him without finding a trace of either a dead or wounded man, he experienced a momentary return ox ! the eerie feeling that had beset him at ’ the bottom of the cavern, i While he stood looking about him in ! something approaching bewilderment, | Freeman’s eye was attracted by a ( patch of darker hue than the surrounding rock that, lay on the floor. He stopped andl touched it. It was blood. “Ha,” said Gordon when, summoned by his companion, he turned the lamp on the gruesome splash clotting on the rocky surface, “lie’s been badly hit, whoever he was. Morgan does not often miss when he fires. But where could tha . creature have gene?” No answer to this question was forthcoming, and, after a further search, extending to the very entrance, they set the matter aside in favour of the more pressing work claiming their attention, j and left the cave. As they emerged from it into the open ! air they found in the. changed aspect of ; sky and sea a full confirmation of Ger-. [_ don’s, prophecy of some hoars before. ; The sunlight had gone and the sky was overspread with heavy masses of cloud, I angry and sullen, that writhed an,d rol- ! led as they were swept along by bne I wind. Althought it was yet early afternoon, darkness was falling fast, and already the farthest features of the landscape were growing faint and indistinct. Sweeping inward from the sea, the deepening gale howled and yelled among , the rocks and over the grey, levels bej yorud. The sea itself was fast rousing ! into wrath, and the swing and shock oir j the billows on the rocks below sent the ; white spray flying’ over the upper cliffs. : With the gathering storm, and rising tide, the night threatened to be a wild one, and the coastguardsman smiled grimly as ho noted the fact. ) . “Ay,” he said in answer to Freeman’s j look of enquiry. “I’m weel pleased to j see this. If a storm comes on in earnest it will keep him oot of maisitr of the caves, unless he’s a’ the more anxious to he drooned.” I “Almost a good thing if he were,” replied Freeman, as he turned with the other to ascend the slope to the northward of the cave. “I’d rather that he got catched,” returned Gordon. “It would be nothing slioi-t of heart-breaking were he to escape the hangman,” and as the speaker I concluded he struck- along the pathl 1 skirting the cliffs at a pace that speedily, 1 precluded conversation. For the next hour not a word was spoken. As rapidly as the conducting of an effective search permitted. Gordon pressed on through the gathering storm and darkness, and Freeman, either respecting his companion’s mood or feeling himself disinclined to talk, kept by hLs side in silence. As they went on the path grew more rugged and toilsome. The rugged boul- . ■ ders strewing the top of the cliff, .the slippery declivities shooting sheer over the rock face into the sea below, arid the numerous inlets cutting into the granite walls, and at the * bottom of which the pent waters writhed and raged in foam, all combined in rendering, their progress slow and laborious. At times a smoother stretch opened be*

fore them, and they made way faster, but in the main anything approaching speed was impossible. But whether rapidity of movement was attained or not there was not a sign of faltering or hesitation shown by Gordon. He did not even once manifest impatience. Heedless alike of fatigue and the storm, now howling around them in full-fury, he pressed on, and, resolute, dogged, his brows knitted over his gleaming eyes, his face set like a flint stone—a grim embodiment of merciless revenge Freeman, although lie had less cause to hate the miscreant flying before' them up the coast, was no less determined, and possibly of the two would

have been the last to abandon the pur-

suit. To him the freedom of Morgan ''meant danger to Grace,- and that consideration precluded the possibility of indecision. His dark face was very pale, and in his ©yes there was a look not of anger, but of cold, unalterable resolve that spoke him of the two pursuers the one most to be dreaded by the fugitive. h Darker and faster the night came down; wilder and louder the tempest raved and deepened over the shore and out on the wild fury of the sea unheeded. Again and again the shrieking blasts caught them, threatening to hurl them bodily into the clefts and ravines with which their path was beset; again and again the thunder shock of the great waves made the - rocks quiver under their feet, sending the hissing columns of spray over them like rain—-alike unnoticed' and ignored. Straight oh as if led by an unseen agent of Nemesis, they kept their way, .one of them at least, Gordon, sure that the end was near at hand.

. Oil, unhalting and unresting, went the avengers of blood, the storm and turmoil without finding echo in the darker passions clamouring within their breasts. . Past Slains Castle, towering on its cliff above the Dangliaven raging and seething below; past the Helllum, that roared and hissed as it hurled its leaping pillar of white spray into the darkening sky; past the Dun Buy, rising grim and stark, with its lesser follows, above the foam and madness of waters at their feet—past rock and cliff and cave—till at last they two heard again together the deep-throated thun-def-'roll on, Birs Buchan shaking and echoing in the distance. Suddenly Freeman, whose eyes, to the imminent risk of his neck, had been steadily bent in the direction of the sound,, stopped abruptly, and laid his hand on his companion’s arm. “Stop,;' he said; “do you see nothing?” / ,

“"Where?” asked Gordon, glancing at him. .

“Yonder.; below The Bullers,” replied the artist pointing through the . gathering dusk in the direction of the cave.

Gordon shielded his eyes from the flying spray with his hand, and looked steadily in the direction indicated. “I see what I take to be Mysie, on the top of the rocks,” he replied. “Was it that ye meant?” “No,” replied Freeman, in a low, excited tone. “I saw her, too, see heir now, for that matter, but what I referred to was • the man we saw in the cave. He disappeared among those rooks above The Bullers.” Gordon’s eye flashed. .

“Como on,” ho said; then suddenly

stopped with a - quick exclamation. “I see him,” he cried, “an’ look! look rnbehiind hini is the shadow.” » It was true. Indistinctly seen in the y rapidly increasing, gloom, they coujld • discern the form- of the smuggler

threading his way among the rocks, and -at some considerable distance behind, tracking him with all the unwavering pertinacity of a bloodhound on a fresh

trail; was the shadow —the man whom lie had shot in the cave. In a vary few seconds the two figures had vanished behind the rocks, and only ’the solitary form of a woman—Mysie, the watchers knew- —was visible, standing ailone- hby the splinter that had - sheltered,‘them on that awful - might . when the-unknown schooner went down. -Ity>r some moments Gordon stood starS. lhg -at the point, where the smuggler and - the other had disappeared as though ho

could barely credit the evidence of his eyes. “Well,” he said, drawing a long breath, “if anybody had told me that a man eould lose as much blood as yon man has done, I would not have believed him. But let us move on.” Freeman nodded assent, and they resumed their advance in . the direction of Birs Buchan, the blood of both quickening its flow at the near prospect of the inevitable conflict. “Mind,” said the ooastguardsman, turning his gleaming eyes on those of Freeman, “I want him taken alive if that be possible at. But if it’s your life against his, shoot him like a dog.”

Freeman nodded again without speaking, and afterwards they went on in silence to where death itself hovered in the twilight oyer Birs Buchan. As they approached the eyes of both repeatedly sought the lonely, girlish figure, perched on the summit of the stormswept lock and in spite of the excitement engendered by the near vicinity of their enemy the hearts of both men experienced a thrill of pity for the desolate creature whose love and faith were so deep and yet so hopeless. It was plainly apparent that she was too much absorbed in her own fervid imaginings to have observed aught that was passing around her. She stood with one thin hand resting upon the rocky splinter, the other tightly clenched and pressed to her bosom just below the throat. Her wan face was. turned steadily in the direction of Birs Buchan, and the great eyes, filled with sick, pitiful longing and pain, shone 'spectral in the failing light. The “raised,” listening expectancy that had characterised her aspect when Freeman first met her w 7 as there now, only it was deeper and more intense. His heart ached as he watched her.

Halting under the rock, Gordon, his voice growing hoarse in his excitement, briefly explained his plan of action. Freeman was directed to go. out on the cliff beside Mysie, in order to meet Morgan should he attempt to double back on being driven from liis shelter in t,he upper end of the ravine, of which The Bullers promontory forms ono arm. The ground to the North, being comparatively clear, was left unguarded.

61 Wo will run him hard,” said Gordon. “Ay,” was the stern answer. Gordon half turned away, then suddenly stopped and extended his hand. “There’s danger in. it.” ho said, meaningly. “He’s a dead shot.” “So am I,” was the grim answer, and without another word they separated. As Freeman ascended the rock he was for a moment at a loss to decide whether to approach the unhappy being before him or not. Remembering her last frenzied attempt at self-de-struction, he dreaded' the effect which his appearance might have upon her.' But there was no help for it. To remain where, he was might result in the escape of the ruffian whom he and Gordon had pursued so relentlessly, and that,-he felt, he must prevent at all hazards. .

. There did not appear to exist the slightest cause for his fear. Mysie seemed utterly oblivious of his presence, and not even when he went close to , her and stood by her side, did she deign to look at him. Her whole distraught soul seemed engrossed in watching and listening— watching the wild expanse of foaming sea roiling in on the black cliffs in the dim gloom; listening to the hoarse roar of the surf and the .deeper organ note of Birs Buchan, filling and penetrating all the air with its awful mockery of wrath and agony. Ear and eye alike stralining to catch somo indication of expected friend or enemy, Freeman stood silently beside his. sclent companion. She did not know him then, he saw, and he was glad that it was so. Around him the wind yelled and shrieked* until to the artist’s excited imagination, it seemed filled with demons rejoicing over near death and the more awful possibilities that wait sin beyond the gate of the grave. Mingling with the hello wings and shoutings rolling up from that pit of horrors in front there came too ever and anon an almost inarticulate suggestion of spoken words —words laden to

faintness with unearthly promptings to bloodiest cruelty and crime. Suddenly Freeman saw the still figure at his side start violently. He glanced at her face, and his heart almost stopped beating, so awful was the horror impressed upon it. She seemed not even to breathe for some moments, the very soul in her listening to some message of dread import. Then with a quick juovement of one suddenly confronted with that from which their very being shudders and recoils, she flung up her hands and shrieked—

“Binna ye hear them? —dmna ye hear them?” sho screamed, her voice hoarse with tho terror upon her. “They’re laughing o>wre the lives they will 1 have to-night!—the shrieks o’ the drownin’ men! —lost! —lost! lost!—body a,n’ soul. Oh, God o’ mercy!—see!—oot yonder! what floats below tho clouds, blackenin’ the very face of the sea. !-—Oh! —O'-o-oh!” and with the ery breaking in her throat to a suffocating moan, the miserable woman sank on her knees and hid 'her face in her hands. Brave as he was from tho heart, Freeman felt his hair rise on his head. Mad or not mad, Mysie saw and heard the things of which she spoke, and knowing as ho did the possibilities of even the next few moments, the horror of the whole thing made his flesh creep on his bones.

A shot —another, and yet another, ringing dull and muffled from the lower rocks.

At once Freemans fear vanished, and he was wholly himself again, as lie ■wheeled round in the direction from whence the sounds came.

rHa was no more than in time. Flying like a deer up the rock, his face livid and distorted by mingled rage and fear, came Bruce Morgan. Although Freeman made an instant movement to intercept him, the smuggler scarcely looked at him, but, dashing past, ran straight out on the circular wall of rock surrounding Birs Buchan, and which at the outer or seaward side narrows to less than a yard. At this perilous point Morgan ha tied, and turning round, drew from his belt a long glittering knife. Bracing himself squarely on bis feet, and regardless of the ceaseless spray coming over the rock, to fall in a hissing cataract into the hell-cauldron beyond, he stood at bay. In utter surprise occasioned by the apparently suicidal action of the smuggler, Freeman was about to advance on the latter when a shriek from Mysie, followed by a stentorian shout of warning from Gordon, made him pause and turn.

Tho coastguardsman was rapidly ascending the rock, revolver in hand. Bjut before him, and almost upon the artist, was a figure before whom the latter involuntarily recoiled. It was Barron.

Barron, in the very extremity of madness and murderous hate. His eyes were on fire, his'face white as chalk, except on tho right side where the blood covered it, issuing from a deep wound in his head. .The shadow of the cave was explained. Swift ag a spectre he came on, and was past iMysie and Freeman before they could even think of arresting him —past them and out to whore that grim figuro awaited him, knife in hand, on the tremendous edge of the roaring chasm below.

Further and further out, nearer and nearer, till only a few feet lay between them.

An instant they glared into each other’s eyes, and then the world left them,, as amid the redoubled wrath of tho tempest, sheer over the horrible gulf below, tho hate of revenge matching the hate of madness, their weapons clashed in meeting, and they closed — for death.

CHAPTER XVII. AFTER THE STORM.

So rapid had been the movements of the two demented, and as it now seemed doomed wretches, in the interval between their first appearance at the beginning of the struggle, that Freeman experienced a temporary feeling of paralysis. Had Morgan come on the scene alone, it would have been no more

than the artist expected, and he woujd have been ready on the instant for active hostilities. But tho discovery that tho tracker who had followed the smuggler all tho way up the coast was no other than Barron, with tho further revelations of the inextinguishable hatred existing between those tw r o>, whom he had hitherto regarded as close friends, staggered him completely. True, Morgan had sworn revenge against Barron in Grannie Tait’s, but then Barron could not know that. The only explanation of tho latter’s action possible lay in that strange mental warp which loads tho insane to regard as their bitterest enemies those dearest to them when in their right minds. Barely a second sufficed for the passago of the above reflections through his brain, but, brief as the period was, it was sufficient to bring Gordon to his side. Tho coastguardeman’s face was white with excitement, and his breath was coming fast and heavy. In the quick glance Freeman gave him he saw that his left shoulder w r as bleeding. “Aro you hurt?” he asked, raising his vodco in order to be heard above the roar of tho storm.

“Not much,” returned Gordon, his eyes fixed on tho struggling figures out on tho cliff. “A bit cut from Barron.”

“From Barron?”, repeated the other. e: Ay; I saw them fighting but when I went near them, Barron fired and hit me.” “Can’t we get them out of that ?” cried Freeman, upon whom the imminence of the peril threatening the combatants exercised a strange effect —a feeling that was almost pity. “No,” was the reply. “We can not. They have brewed tbs ale, let them drink it.”

Freeman looked out on the cliff and saw that Gordon was right. In the darkness of the near night to have gone out on the rocky height, wet with spray and slippery with foam, would have been madness —a risk too great to run in the cause of a friend, muoh less one to face for foes, and such fees as the two indistinct shapes wrestling and tugging on the outer lip of*l3irs Buchan. He would have shouted to them, if only to relieve his pent-up excitement, hut voiicc of man could not have been heard against that gale at a yard’s distance. Yet, as he heard the hollow roar thundering and booming up from the black abyss beforo him, ho could not repress a shudder.

Although the fight had lasted as yet barely a minute, it was already apparent that it would not be a long one. As clearly as could bo seen by the excited onlookers the first mutual assault had lessened greatly. In the intervals between the flying clouds of spray that came hissing up the sea face of the cliffs and swept lashing into and over the chasm, hiding the dim figures of the fighters from sight, the watchers could seo plainjy. that madness and passion, weariness and loss of blood, were doing their work on both. Their blows came slower and with less force, their mutual clutch of each other had relaxed, and they began to slip their footing. The marvel wag that they had kept their feet so long. Their faces were lost in tho darkness and only tho shadowy outline of their forms could be distinguished. The end was close now, and tho watchers, held their breath in momentary expectation of tho final act in tho tragedy. _ < All at onco Mysie, whose existence both Freeman and Gordon had forgotten camo swiftly forward and stood between them. Her face, even in the gloom, showed whiter than that of a corpse, and her eyes were burning like lamps. Her teeth were hard set and her clenched hands pressed to her breast. Something in her expression-—a look fixed and oruel, with which was blended a strange admixture of horror .startled Freeman greatly and induced him to watch her closely.

She did not appear to • notice his scrutiny. Unwinking, unwavering, her great eyes stared out through the darkness to where that grim death struggle was being fought out with all the relentless ferocity of savage beasts.

At last, with a suddenness that was startling in spite of the intense expectancy with which all three watched the conflict, the end came. Barro-a, who

obuld bo distinguished bytes smaller and slighter hgvtre in spite of the darkness, lost his footing and fell forward on his hands and knees. Instantly his antagonist, blind to all save the satiating of his revengeful hate, seized his foe by the neck and Sung his arm high in the air for the last decisive blow.

Before it could fall, Mysie, something perhaps of natural instinct stirring iu her stormy heart, snatched the revolver with which Freeman was nervously toying, from his hand, and wxtii a quick cry’ fired straight .at Morgan. As the keen flash cut the gloom .they saw him ptagger -and sink on his knee. At the ‘same instant Barron recovered himself quite as quickly, and with a shout of despairing rage that rose high above, the noise of the tempest, sprang after his escaping foe. glanced over his shoulder, an'd seeing the other close upon him, strove to compel his fainting powers to increase of speed, shrieking the while in a very agony of fear. With answering cries Mysie fired shot after shot at the smuggler, who, in the frenzied strength of his dying hate, was rapidly overtaking his victim, while Freeman and Gordon simultaneously rushed out on the ledge to meet them. It was too late. When hut half-a-dozen yards distant the rescuers saw Morgan seize his flying enemy ? who, turned on him in a las 1 - frantic effort for life. There was a brief struggle as the smuggler -dragged the other towards the brink af the chasm, locking his -arms round him in Jdie iron clasp of death. Reeling over Bio edge, t m* awful voices rose , high ahovo the storm piercing the shuddering .night and blending thedr burdens of exulaut .revenge and unmeasareab i o agony with the clang and roar and thunder of wind and sea.

A furious .■drift of ©pray flew up over the faoo of the cliff and swept along the ledge in a blinding thrashing rain. ■When it had passed the struggling forms had vanished.

And then as the shuddering watchers drew back to where Mysie knelt behind the splinter, moaning dice one in the death agony, it seemed to them as if the ominous ■ thunder-voice of Bits B-uchan had become suddenly charged with the hoarse ‘rejoicings and laughter of demons, answering derisively the shrieks of madness and fear that fled out on the sea and up into the sky, from which ' light had wholly faded as darkness and horror made the hour their own.

’ Faint and. far -over the eastern sea shone at length the pearl white wings of the dawn. Morning was coming, and Before the first radiance of her face the storm voices crept westward and away. INot swiftly, indeed; not as though scared from an unfinished task, hut rather with the slow exhaustion of sated rage'. They , muttered hoarsely among the rocks and oaves, they moaned over the troubled water* np and over the cliffs, flying with the flying shadows till the far distance swallowed them in whispering silence. And as they fled, touched by the living finger of the new day the world Broke into song. In. the brightening stv where the rent cloud wreaths were flashing "in to silver and burning int-o red and gold, the winds were singing, mingling their high harp notes with the deep-diapason of the eurf rolling in enow along the 'shore. Inland the wet woods were stirring in the wind, and shaking from their bare, brown network the memory of the rain, while the crawling mists went in and out among the trees.

Broader and higher rose the white day dome up the sky, buijt by the beams of the yet hidden sun, wheeling up .below the horizon. Tlie stars waned before it in the black, and died in the cold steel-grey, one by one, score by score, till the last of them, shinning low down in the west, went out with the last of the shadows and day was again over all. And then as the first keen spears of tho sunlight shot level along the heaving sea on the path of the morning. Mature, pitiless in her beauty and her cruelty, lifted her breathless face to the sky and laughed out in very gladness.

What recked Nature of the unutterable agony hid in the night just gone? What cared she for shriek and moan of man—for the lives scattered and broken into nothingness, like the foam of a falling wave? Naught, and. loss than naught, as over the deep sea graves of the dead,she smiled into the. eyes of those who loved them, and whose hearts were breaking . vhose souls lay prostrate before the bitter mystery of pain.

Of those to .whom the tempest brought death-on its dread, wings that night shore were two, at least, for whose fate no deep sorrow was felt, -or was likely to he. These two, I need scarcely say, were Barron and Morgan. Amid the horrors attending their last ■moments, concern, and perhaps even pity, were awakened in the breasts of tho two men who saw the end. In the case of Freeman’s more chivalrous nature these feelings were strong enough at tho time to prompt him to save them, had that ''been possible. But it- was not, and after the first shock of liorro.it had passed away, he even experienced sensations of relief that the punishment of tho unhappy wretches had been taken out of his hands. Try as he -would, ho could not forget that Barron was Grace’s father, and for that reason the task of bringing him to justice was a hard one, crime-stained villia.ll as he was. For tho fate of Morgan ho felt no regret, although lie did not join. Gordon in tho savage satisfaction expressed by the latter over it. He could not bring himself to exult over a. dead enemy, whose courage, at least, had been a.s great as his own.

However, it was all ended now. The men wero dead, and could neves- again harm anyone. Far down in the black throat of the dread guif, among tho dim recesses of its submerged caves, they wero hidden, to be seen no more of man. Never again, till the last trumpet blast shakes the aShigiited world, shall their faces appear oii earth. Bins Buchan keeps its secret and. its prey, and its voice of terror does not break their rest.

When the pursuers realised at last tlia.it those they ©aught had passed beyond their reach, they turned to leave the place.. There was no need that they should remain longer there. Now that the - excitement ,of the chase had died they began to feel the influence of hunger and fatigue, and reso-ivod to seek ■shelter and rest at once.

As they took the first few steps of the journey-—Freeman uttered a sudden exclamation and stopped. “Good 'heavens!” he ©aid, “Mysie 1”

•Ti-ocd, I clean forgot her," returned Gordon, quickly. “Whaiir can the poor thing be.” Freeman peered anxiously around him without answering. An instant apprehension seised him that Mysie, maddened by the scene she had witnessed, had committed some act of rashness. It was almost with a shout of relief that he discovered her lying—a limp, inert, figure—-behind the splinter. Both hastily approached her, and Gordon, stooping, turned the lamp on her face.

She was not unconscious, as they had expected to find her. Her eyes were open* but fixed and set. in a look dreadful to see —the look of one who had passed through an experience of more than earthly terror —a terror that had frozen the soul into stony quiet.

“Mysie,” said Freeman, taking her hand, “Dear Mysie.” Her eyes flickered a little, and then she looked up with a long shivering sigh. “Coin©, Mysie,” ho repeated, raising his voice to be heard in the uproar of the storm, “eeane home with us.” Without a word, but clinging firmly to Ids arm, she rose to her feet and let him lead her away. She seemed to have no will of her own, but moved in a blind mechanical way, like one walking in sleep. As they passed down the cliffs, her foot struck against something hard. With a sudden movement she stopped and picked it up. It was Freeman’s revolver.

For perhaps a minute she stood with it in her hand, then,, with a low shuddering cry, thrust it hurriedly upon him, and he felt her slight form tremble violently. It was evident that the discovery of the weapon had revived in her all the sick f ear and excitement of the terrible scene she had so recently witnessed.

■ After -a littjlo slid- recovered herself somewhat, and went l bn with her silent companions. Only mice again did she pause, or~ occasion them fear of an attempt to escape. This was on the brow of the rise overlooking the cave. There she turned, and leaning -one hand on

Freeman’s shoulder, stared into the darkness, through which the increasing forces of the gale were roaring and clanging with the fury of contending fiends. What she saw and heard her companions could not guess, but more than once in that brief interval they feft her start and quiver as if in deadly fear. •- -

At last, in response to their united entreaties, she consented to move, and with -one long, steady look into the inky blackness, resonant with the hollow roar of the cave, and shadowy with whirling clouds of flying spray, turned again with the two men -and vanished in the night, leaving all the evil forges of storm and gloom to rave and • inadden round Birs Buchan, till the tempest died and the morn came in music of laughter and mocking loveliness over the sea.

Oame to shed its splendour of sun and slcy, to pour its music of wind and wave around one-lowjly home, from which the light of the brave life had gone, the lovo of a, warm, true heart vanished. Following,-no, leading of devilish pas-, si on, at no dictation of self, had his life, been wasted. Lost it was, given it was,,, perhaps, , but at the call of highest)

humanity, in noble fearless effort t© aid and save his. fellowmen, and though tears might blind eyes and grief wring the hearts of "those who loved him, yet pride could lift its pale face and smile when men spoke of Sandy Bain.

Such was the one recurring thought of the- stricken father as he sat in fixed, teai'less grief in the little kitchen of his hitherto happy home, and tried to realise the magnitude of the blow that had fallen upon him. His noble son —his Sandy—was dead, but_Jhe had died doing his duty—died a© a true man should; and again and again the poor crushed heart, bleeding out, drop by drop, prayers to Heaven for aid in its sore agony, tried to think of this and feel comforted.