HIDE AND SEEK.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1756, 1 November 1905, Page 7

HIDE AND SEEK.

THE STORY OF A LOST RING. The house party was engaged in a game of hide-and-seek. His Grace ..the Duke of Wrexford, although no longer a young man, liked nothing so much as a good romp, and his friends and guests entered into his humour, though it is probable that if their host had been a mere commoner many-- of them would have “seen themselves hanged first.” As a rule hide-and-seek was a great success; the Castle lent itself to the game splendidly, and flirtations were quite possible in such a pastime. Today, however, a cloud had settled on the party, and no one suggested the Duke’s sugestion 'with much enthusiasm. except Lady Annette Erskine and Captain Siaundeson, • who it was obvious were “much taken with other.” An extemely awkwad event had happened, especially for Colonel Grenville, who introduced' a young fellow called Milward to the Duke. Irene G'renville admitted as much to herself as she sauntered listlessly into the library and made a pretence of hiding herself in one of the alcoves. The Duke had been telling them the night before of certain interesting jewels which belonged to him, and. before lunch he had brought them into the Baron’s Hall to show to her father, whose hobby was antique and rare jewellery. * . On the occasion only Colonel Grenville, Irene and Horace Milward were present. Lady Annette and Captain giaunderson were strolling in the grounds,- and the rest of the party were amusing themselves in various ways. _ " ... After they had duly admired) the jewel®, the Duke pointe to a magnificent diamond ring in a very old settins;. “That,” he said, “is the most vaulable of all and the most interesting, I think. There is a portrait in . the east drawing-room of the Duchess of Wrexford wearing this very ring. She lived in the sixteenth century, but there is a record of the ding which shows that it was in existence" at an earlier date than that.” \ “By jove,” said Horace, taking it up—“it i® a splendid piece of work! And what a iriagnificent diamond, eh?” Irene could see him now as he had stood leaning against the table and

half turning to hen, sure of her interest and sympathy in his admiration. There was a grotesque looking china dragon standing near them, and a moment before he had been pulling faces at it behind the Duke’s back—S little vulgar, .Irene had thought, but undeni ; bly amusing. The Duke turned to the Colonel. “Would you like to see the portrait?” he asked, pleased to see them bo' interested, andi with a glance induing the other two in his invatation. “Thanks, I should very much,” said the Colonel, andi they all moved to the-door. But as they were going out jMilward had stopped. “Yoi/ are never going to leave all there rings and things about like that, your Grace P” he asked. _ “B?m,” said the Duke dubiously, gunning his finger through his heard, “I never thought of that.” ‘‘Well,” said Horace, “if you like, I’ll stay here and have a look at the portrait another tame.” The Duke’s face cleared. “Yes. yes, that- will he the bestmuch obliged, Milward.” ‘Not at all,” said Horace, and they left alone. They were gone about a quarter of an hour, and then Irene went to her room, and she had the rest of the story at second-hand. It appears that the Duke and Colonel Grenville returned to the Baron’s Hall andi found Horace Milward ■earching frantically under chairs and rugs. The jewels were still in the tray of thei despatch box, hut in a strange jumble—rings pendants',, and bracelets heaped up together. . Horace raised a scared face as they .came towards him. \ “Oh, I ©ay,” Ihe exclaimed, “I’ve had an awlful time since you went away! After you had gone I bent over the tray to look at the jewels again, and my watchchain must have caught a corner of the tray and upset the things, and now I can’t find that diamond ring anywhere. I’ve moved the tale and lifted up this rug”—pointing to the Persian carpet—“and l I’ve hunted under all the chairs round here—”

“Oh, well,” interrupted the Duke cheerfully, “it can’t e far off! If it had rolled out in the other direction it would e lying in the middle of the hall, so if the three of us look for it we are sure to find it.” They all looked carefully for the ring. Poor Horace grew more desperate every minute, and Colonel Greville, who was inclined to eb stout and did not enjoy creeping about on all-fours, began to get testy and rather red in the face. But it was to no purpose. By tacit consent none of them suggested ringing for a servant to assist them in their search. They all felt that it would he better to keep the thing quiet. Unfortunately, the Duke’s niece, Mrs Desmond, a lively young women, came into the hall unobserved, and stood for some minutes watching the extraordinary antics of her uncle, and his guests. Then she burst out laughing. “Why, Colonel,” she cried, “whatever are you doing ?” >. Colonel Greville struggled laboriously to his feet, and his temper rose to boiling point. Of all things in the world he hated to be caught at a disadvantage by a pretty woman, and for the fiftieth time he muttered maledictions on the head of the unfortunate Horace. Mrs Desmond joined gracefully in the casting sympathetic glances at Milward which seemed to console him a little. But when the gong boomed out the warning that lunch was due in ten minutes the ring was still missing. Colonel Greville walked upstairs and knocked wrathfully af. his daughter’s door. “Once for. all, Irene,” he said when she had let him in, “I will have no nonsense between you and that fellow Milward! I only wish I had not been fool enough to introduce him here! I’m hanged if I’ll ever answer for anyone again! What was that rubbish you told me last night about his wanting to marry you when he had enough money ? Never heard of such a thing —in my time a man would have been kicked out of the house if he had made such a proposal as that!” “But, father,” said Irene, completely bewildered, “you agreed that we should keep our engagement to ourselves until Horace got on in the service—you know you did!” “Bngagehient,” blustered the colonel —“there shall he no such thing!” And then he told his daughter all that had happened, growing more and mor<s incoherent as he remembered his undignified attitude and the awkwardness of the whole situation. Irene sighed now a® she looked out of- the library window and thought of her obsiinaie old father. She saw plenty of trouble before her, hut she was quite determined to stick to Horace. The worst of it was that he seemed .to avoid her. and she had not been able to ge t a word with him alone. It had not been very pleasant at lunch. Mrs Desmond, of course, had told the story of the lost ring and of their fruitless search with much volubility, and whilst some had expressed their concern and sympathy, others had remained silent on the subject, as though they considered it a rather delicate matter. Horace had looked very proud and almost stern, with an expression rm his face that Irene had

never seen before, and which, all her love, so that she was ready to fight his battle for him in the face of the whole world. The Duke had been genial and cheerful as usual, and had made a point of speaking to Horace in his kindliest manner, addressing him as “Milward” and asking his opinion on a variety of subjects. The Colonel, however, had been as surly as politeness would admit, and Irene’s face burned as she remembered how he had avoided speaking to Horace during the meal. And now they were playing hide-and-seek, and Irene had pretended to he in the best of spirits, for she was not going to let anyone think she entertained a doubt that the ring wonld be found before long. At the same time it was very mysterious. It was not as though the Baron’s Hall was crowded with furniture —there was no hole or corner where anything could be hidden, and the only things in it were two or three Persian rugs, some carved tables and chairs, a variety •of quaint china jars and dragons, and some interesting weapons. Horace said himself that he had never left the room, so it was no question of a servant’s dishonesty. Just as she had reached this point in her sad reflections she heard the door cj.en at the end of the library, and pres« ntly Milward passed her hiding-place, holding a letter in his hand. Here was hei chance of telling him how much she believed and trusted in him. She came forward eagerly. “Horace!” she said, holding out her hands. Milward stepped back. “Hook here,” he said bitterly, “isn’t life a strange thing? Here’s a letter from a lawyer telling me that my uncle George, whom I told you about, has died and left me his estate. As if I wanted it—now.”

“Why not?” asked Irene, the tears that had risen at his rebuff dimming her eyes. “Why not ? I thought you said that when you—that you ” Horace came nearer and looked a't her very tenderly. “I said a lot yesterday, Irene, that won’t hold water to-day, I could never ask you to marry me whilst there is the slightest shadow on my honour.;. Yes, dear,” he went on as Irene made an impetuous movement, “I know you believe in me, and I thank you for it with all my heart, but it doesn’t alter the fact that other people don’t.” “But the ring must he found,” said Irene piteously. “Think, Horace—jusfcv think again of how it all happened !” Milward shook his head, smiling sadly, and they sat down together in the alcove. Meanwhile, in other parts of the castle, the Duke, gallantly assisted by Mrs Desmond, had organised a more than usually energetic game, and, in spite of a somewhat languid start, every one had entered into the fun, and the cloud that had hung over the party at lunch seemed to be dispelled. The question of the moment was, Where has the Duke hidden himself? For, owing to his intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of the castle, its owner generally succeeded in baffling all the searchers and reaching “home” before he could be caught. They were standing in the billiardl- - looking aimlessly round, after having examined every Mrs Desmond thought, she saw a movement cf the tapestry hanging in the quaint little gallery that ran on one side of the room. Raising her voice, she turned to the others, saying: “Well, it’s no use looking here any longer. I think we had better have another good hunt in the bedrooms,” and so manouvred them out. Once in the corridor she gathered them round her. “He’s up there in the gallery,” she cried. “We’ve got him tjiis time! There’s no other way out except through the door.” . They all moved triumphantly towards the little door, and Lord Weston, throwing it open, ran up the stairs. “It’s all up, Duke! You’re caught at last!” he exclaimed.

But they had not reckoned on the resource and agility of their hest. Springing over the railing of the gallery, he hung a moment by his hands axd then dropped on to the floor of the billiard-room. He was out, of the room before they had scrambled down the narrow staircase and was running down the corridor as hard as he could. But there were several young people in pursuit, and the Duke was a middle-aged man, so that, although he had a good start, his pursuers were close on him by the time he reached the Baron’s Hall. The old butler stood aside as his master rushed past him. The chase was nearly over now ; Lord Weston made a grab, but his Grace dodged ihim, swerving to one side. At the same moment his foot slipped on the polished floor and he came down heavily against the china dragon that had witnessed the morning’s hunt. Duke and dragon rolled over together; but, whilst the Duke picked him self u° with a hearty laugh, the dragon, alas, lay a melancholy sight—in several pieces. Many were tbe expressions of sympathy ; hut, as the Duke declared himself to be unhurt, attention was directed to the pieces of china that had once formed such an attractive monster. “What a pity!” said Mrs Desmond. “I was always so fond of the poor old thing, though he did terrify me out of my wits when I was a child! I I Used

to imagine that he had swallowed lots of little girls, and that he kept, his mouth open in the hope of catching some more.” ■ _ “There’s nothing inside him now, any way,” said the Duke turning over the china with his foot. “Yes, there is,” cried Lord Weston — “I heard it rattle!” And, taking up the headless body he shook it, and out tumbled—the diamond ring! There was silence fort a moment as "they all gazed at the diamond, which lay blinking at them as .though it enjoyed the joke. Then Lord Weston picked it up. “Well,” he said, handing it to its owner, “this beats all!” “Where’s Milward?” asked; the Duke.“He’ll be glad to know its found.” “I’ll go and find him, Duke,” said a voice, and every one turned to watch Colonel Greville hurrying from the hall. No one offered to go with him; they allknew that the old man was bitterly reproaching, himself for his hasty judgment —his altered manner towards Milward at lunch could have had only one meaning. * The Colonel, after searching for some time hit upon the library, and found Irene and Horace just as they had admitted despairingly to one another that the ring seemed to have vanished past all hope of recovery. They looked up a little defiantly, as though they expected an outburst from the Colonel. Ir stead, he turned to Horace and held out his hand. he said, “you will be glad to hear that, owing to an accident, the diamond ring has been found, and,” he added, like the gallant old soldier that h 3 really was, “l expressed an opinion on the matter to my daughter which I feel calls for an apology now, and—er —er —I regret extremely that—er—” Milwaad, in answer to an appealing glance from Irene, seized the Colonel’s hand and Shook it heartily. “That’s all right, sir,” he said, “I quite understand! • Atnd now tell us where that ring managed to hide itself?” The Colonel told him how the dragon had revealed the secret. “Of course,” exclaimed Horace, “the thing must have jumped down the monster’s throat when I upset the tray. No wonder I couldn’t find it.” And then he turned to the girl at his side. “Irene!” he said, and this time he held) out his hands to her. Irene placed hers in them, and-the Colonel escaped.—“S*.