THE WILL AND THE way.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14698, 4 December 1909, Page 2

THE WILL AND THE way.

[Published by Special Arrangomcni]

BY BMNAIU) CAPES,,. Author of "Tho Secret in the Hill/' "A Atoguo's Tragedy," "Tho Green Parrots." "A Castlo in Spain," "A Jay of Italy," " 'J'ho Lako of Wine," lite., Etc. [Copyniour.] CHAPTER XIX.—SURRENDER, Le btrang was Jiving irom day to day in a sort of waiting exultation, now uicainy, now restless, but nevur ill his lieait uoubting that iho condition winch hu hud imposed upon his Jove would come to no fulnlled. ' That was no self-com-placent sentiment, but a.n emotional intuition, subject to his .strong determination to tako 110 unfair advantage ol circumstanccs in tliia bid lor a beautiful priM. At the Bame time, if there was uprightness in his attitude, there was assuredly pride in proportion, fie was 110 man to piny the love-sick suitor —to sigh "a wottil ballad made to his mistress's eyebrow,"—to let his chosen believe that she could " have her lion roll in a silken not and fawn at a. victor's •feet." Ho was of the masterful order of suitor, compelling, protective; and a woinnn who desired him must be content to play tho womanly part of submission. There was a. lovely kindness in bib nature to compensate; and aJso a lovely reason —but that was of less importance. Reason is the last requisite for philandering; though it does very well for later on When tho knot is tied. • So he waited, believing that in the end sho would come to him; suffering, in his resolute self-rcprCAsini; way, for the ordeal he had imposed upon himself as much as upon her. Or was it so indeed? Nov/ and tlien the ipialm would seize him. What if she were intentionally keeping away to show him tho baselessness of his surmise? Jiut it never stayed to convince, Destiny had so surely marked them out for one another, 'l'ho "unities" in this drama of their lives, called for their wedding bells, and romance could in no wisfl else be vindicated. lie laughed over the word, but very kindly. After all, he was romantic to a degree, if only ho could afford to let himself go. That time might come, perhaps, when perfect confidence, and piyfect tranquillity, and perfect understanding were established between them. In •(lie nieanwhiloj the practical complications 'of the plot, called for his unbiased alienI'tion, and it was solely for the reason that ';his lovc'fi delay to. suiTumler herself to ■his hands embarrassed the issues it was '.his design, and his ripe design, to bring about., that he deplored her seeming reluctanco to yield. So he told himself; and all tho time, his heart burned hot for the, poor, unhappy child, so helplessly isolated in her misery. I'or every day added to tho account of her torture, he sot a new ..figure to tho sum of the reckoning to be called by-and-bye, and swore, that Rcdding should pay it to tho uttermost '.farthing.

For by now ihc man's villainy was a proven thing, and the occasion for surprising arid denouncing him only lacked the co-operation of his principal' victim. It hud bccome necessary to move, ill one direction, with extreme caution and secrecy, and the path was only clear, that co-operation granted. For the refit, the ways of Destiny had been marked by :t rare and wonderful grace, sn that, it seemed, the awards and penalties at the end would a.lt be according to desserts; and thus it had happened because the man having command of the sentence upon the weakest sinner was the very man most mercifully and lovingly inclined towards her. "

Jiverything was ready, therefore, for the unexpected descent; only a young pathetic figure /blocked the way. ' She was not to be ridden down; Mr Robert Le Strang, commanding, would neither have her lured over to his parly, lie had said how i-he was to come, if she was to come at all; arid, though, of course, he put it on purely practical grounds, Sergeant Roper was not so blind as to demur. Only he ventured to point out that every day added to the risk of discovery—that they could not for ever keep close the fact uf a certain witness having tonic into prominent, evidence.

"Very well," naid lie Strang, "give mo up to tho last moment you can afford, and then, if there have been no developments in that ono direction, wo will recast our policy. . lint yon must tee as well as 1 do the importance of our securing, if possible, this decoy."

It was an unpleasant word to use, and ho bit his lip over it; but it was necessary, on moral grounds, to dissociate tho girl from any wilful complicity in the wrong which the was only awaiting her desperate opportunity to repair. And with that compromise (Sergeant Roper had 1.0 rosL content.

His endurance was not put. to too severe a test. On the very night of the conversation which had thus dismissed him, satisfied and dissatisfied, the surrender, which Le Strang had so long desired and looked for came about with dramatic effect.

tic huil wit up laic,—lie was never an early sleeper—hi his lonely room, brooding, with a sharp hunger at his heart-, over the tortured and torturing ways of Providence in securing its ends for the fairest propagation of the human racein forcing men "to learn in suil'ering what, they touch in song." His mcoU inclined him to darkness and mclancholv, to which the atmosphere of the night contributed. The wind wailed outside his window, driving the rain in fitful spasms upon the glass, it was past midnight, and nothing broke the stillness otherwise save the occasional whizz of a motor or lattlc of a cab down the caip'.y street. All the household was long'abul, and he was quite alone. lie felt. for the moment, intensely isolated in a world of human sympathies, emotional, sociable, gregarious. A desire, such ,»a he had never felt before, to know the swc;:to of wjmradcvhip in their mo>t poignant form, came upon liin'i ovcrpoweringly. What a wonderful and awful change had these last few weeks wrought in him! J[e thought of Samson and Delilah—he raised his eyes and looked about him guilt.ly. "Delilah, my little sinful maid!" he whispered—'" ii you would come and shear my locks for me !"

A boum of wheels turned into the street—approached—cea'cd with a rattle and jingle of harness at the wry gate of his lodgings. He thought milling about if, until he heaid rapid icet mounting the steps, and, immediately afterwards, a low tap 011 the hail duor. "Strange," lie muttered, rising. "I had supposed we Were all in."

Some thriiHrg intuition informing his actions in the instant, he went very softly into the passage, and unfastened the bolt;, without noise. A flaw o! rain drove in as ho ewung open the door, and with it, it seemed, the white apparition of a woman. She was in the passage, entreating him, appealing to him, with a voiceless agony, before ho could command his reason. Her face was deathwild; fi dew 'of .wet sparkled in her brown hair. , He"p.ut a 1 hand upon her naked arm. "Hush!" he whispered; "tay nothing. Is the cabman paid?" She fumbled for her purse. He stopped her, led her inlo his sittingroom. went out and paid the man, returned, shut the hall door, then his own, with extreme quiet, and stood and faced her. CHAPTER. XX.—CONFESSION". In the very act, he saw her con. .i.:n, and, darting forward, caught her in his arms as sac .iwayed. She clutched at bis shoulders, stood staring it'moment, then, slipping down to the floor at Ins buried her face in her lianas, and lay breathing convuluively. lie waited a little lor the first emotion to pats, then spoke, deep and lesoliitc. ■ "At last, chilnl! —at last! So the burden has become more than you can bear?"

Lower and lower, as if her shame were crushing her. A wing of her hair brok'o loose and hid her face from him. With a sigh.he knelt and wove his arms about her neck and shoulders, striving to raise her. She struggled to repulse liim. "Not that!" she whispered, "You don't know me—l'm wicked !" She strove, but he was stronger. He took her, flushed and torn and weeping, into Ilia arms and bade her lie there, lor not else would he listen to her. She lay then, panting and dishevelled, but turned her face from him. " Now confess to nw," he urged, strung all through with passion. " Have I not. known the truth from the first! But. by the fulness of your shame shall you earn absolution. Confess to me." " Have mercy!" she implored. " I was mad—l did not know what to do or where to go-only to you. Oh, save me from him —save me!" In her agony she bent to him; he caught her to his breast- and crushed her there, and set his lips to hers. Her struggles but inflamed him. He ceascd, only to hide her face upon his shoulder, and speak to her if she wevo a child. "Did I hurt yon? But, there—now yon know how strong I am—how savage to hold and help. You urn mine, little Ruby—all your body and all your soul and all your cause are mine from this moment. Now, tell mo. what new villainy of his has driven you to this?" She shuddered in his arms; she was quite helpless and broken. "He tried to murder his wife tonight," she whispered, awfully; "to poison her. And—and—oh! merciful God! even that is not the worst!" The enfolding arms possessed her, controlled and reassured the terror within. " Tried to murder his wife, did he?" he repeated, in a steady voice. " And what could be worse than that!" " How can 1 My it!"—a shivering spasm shook her—" so horrible beyond words! But it was; she declared it true." " Tell me. Ruby." " Oh, what have I done—what have I done to make it possible—the price of his silence—l was to pay it, with myself. I had never dreamed of his contemplating a thing so hideous; but that I understood it all—why he had never asked me for money!" Her broken utterances sank to silence; but ho had hoard enough to umlewtand. Mechanically, as he held her, his hand caressed the tumbled hair. There was that ill the deadly quiet of his face which baled ill for someone. But still he measured out his voice in tones of ice. " You must tell me the whole—do you understand? .1 am here to save you." His touch, his force of command, stilled the shuddering nerves. After a time she was able to falter otit to him the story of the evening, with all its grotesque and ; horrible details. He listened, with a face of stone. Only, whenever the terror in her threatened to break bounds, ins hand was there to steady her, to caress her back to the paths of sanity and hope. And. when she had finished, he gathered all that wild despair into his charge afresh, and spoke and wjoHied it into reassurance. " Poor child!" he whispered, with his lips, to the hot half-hidden cheek ; " poor child! A cruel burden for these soft shoulders. A stern, hard taskmaster, Ruby, to mako your release from it so conditional on your submission to his will. But it had to be so, for both our sakes, my bird. To force you would him been to condone tho sin. For you Mys bsen 2 sifflpr, little girl, Ixmvec

great the allowances you may plead. You have besn a sinner, and must confess. For the moment forget all the rest, Ruby, and make your heart clean to me. Have you been a sinner!" Site turned her face from liini and whispered "Yes." "What!'' he said, "persuaded you to it in the first instance';" "My wicked cowardice." "You feared poverty beyond words''" " Oh, yes—yes." " Do you now ?" " Not if you will help me." "What! Will you be poor for my sake?!' She did not answer. "Put your arm about my neck,'' he said. She hesitated; then obeyed "So," he said, "answer me." " I will be poor." she whispered. "For my eake?" he insisted. " For your sake," she answered. " Are you my lover, and not mv friend?" he paid. "Gall me 'Rob,' as my friends call me." " Rob," she murmured. " For your sake, Rob." " For your sake, Rob." " Loving yon as I do—sav it." "Must Ir " Yes." "Loving you as T do." " Give me your lips, Ruby—there—so now you will be poor for my sa!\e, and T t-ay you shall not be poor. I am a man of mv word, and I say it. Read mo that riddle, you child. No, you cannot: but. il, has an answer. Now, in the full loveliness oF our confidence, in the full assurance of my strength, tell me the whole truth about this matter—the hold that accursed hound has over you. Whisper it to me, so that not even the shadows may hear." Ho held iicr close to him whilst she ■spoke low and tremblingly; and at the end ho fondled her, smiling. "Why. that is just no more and just no less than T supposed. See what a perspicacious husband for this little wife. She must be careful in the future to daro no secrc-is from him. And is that all, and have you no excuse, to oiler?" " Oh, no, no! Not one." " Not tho beguiling of the serpent?" " He said that if I spoke he would burn the evidence, and then attest his knowledge of its' existence, swearing that it had never been committed to his keeping, but that if it had been destroyed by other than my step-father, I myself must be tho guilty and remorseful one. He would epure no means, he said, to niin and convict me. Oh, don't lot him! Don't let. me ho sent to prison!" She clung to him suddenly in a passion of self-abandonment. His eyes were full and his heart fire as he held and confronted her.

"To prison !" lie said. "No harsher bonds than thete, you baby. My God! so ho would'burn the evidence, would lie? J can believe it. He has scotched it once already. Do you guess how';" " .No. 1 cannot." " The better, 1 think. You wiil know soon. ■, Thank heaven tfieve aro keener wils than yours upon his track. He will be down in a day, with the wolves at his throa. Grea Hod, J say! this villainy transcends all bounds. jAiy fingers itch for him. If we,can have him on attempted murder! But the reptile va* tunning the.e. We'll see what Jioper says." He bad been speaking as if to himself. Now the fury (lied out of his eyes; his arms enfolded his love with infinite tenderness. " I\ow lest, my little one, my child." he Murmured. "1 am here, as I said, to save you. I have been waiting for you to cume. The issue lieu on my hands. I tell you that for your dear hope and comfort. bear nothing any more, i'our punishment has been great, but it ends to-night. You have confessed, and are foigiven, Itnby." She lay weeping quietly, at peace at last in the strong surety of his protection. For minutes he heid her so. "Do you know," lie said presently, in a strange soft voice, " that this is the first time I have felt love for a woman, Ruby ?. ■. llow many, years of unclaimed passion"' go 'to make' up its account, do you think? Now it is so rare and precious a thing to me that I must treat it like delicate glass. A' rude touch, and it is chipped. Wherefore, if you understand, niy little vestal, I am going in a moment to consign you to the ca.ro of the Abbess of ali Vestals, Aliss Primrle, whe lives close by. Did you know sho did?" " Yes; she told me." " Very well, I must do this, for all my mad longings, for our two moat particular sakes. 1 shall see you to-morrow. For to-night we must part. Come." He unclasped her bare arms from about his neck, and rose to his feet, lifting her

with him. Her sweet Unshed face hung in shame, before him; he tried to put up her hair for her, to reorder her tumble...! plumes. " I have newer yet asked you," lie said—" that wretched woman—how did you escape ?" "Sho left me." she whispered. "I beard her go to her room and lock herself in. And then—T don't know how I came—l. was mad with fear and horror. I remembered that you " "Yes. yes—recall no more of that. Yon flow straight and true, my bird AYe'll think of her to-morrow, and her part in this affair. Now we most find you sanctuary; but the Abbess will be in bed. How shall wc wake her without waking the street? Do you know her rteom ?'■' "Yes, it is in front, on the second floor." " Then wc must, stone her, iwor martyr. There is no help for it. But first—

it. is hard to part with you—yet tlieee voices may penetrate to sleeping ears, is tlseio any harm, Ituby? \Yc aro plighted man and maid—dear trustees for one another, !. cannot let you go at once. How do people make love r'

For all the tragedy of her mood she could not forbear, a little tremulous smile at the question, nor a throb of pride over he powe to move the deep heat of his magnificence.

" Hut perhaps we have been making love," he said. I don't know. As n term it is commonplace—a little vulgarnothing to represent that inexpressible ecstacy. Trust me, sweet—come to mo once more—one last- good-night in silence before we separate."

til a. little lie put her cloak about her, and, leading her with stealthy caution, took her into .the dark-blo\rti street. The rain had ceased for the moment, but the sleek shine of the pavement promised coldly for sill; stocking and gossamer shoes. There was no help for it, however; and, after all, the way was short.

But when they did reach the vestal bower Le Strang uttered an exclamation and stood aghast. It was under repair, it appeared, and the whole of its trout was a network of scaffolding poles. He conned the situation bewildered. It was near 1 o'clock in tho morning. "Which is her window?" ho asked of Ruby. "Can you make it out?"

" It ought to be there," she answered perplexed, " where that fence of boards is. But I can't see it."

They went into the patch of garden in front; and he set to fusillading the woodwork with such small stones as lie could find. He did not dare to throw beyond, for fear of breaking the glass; but his efforts, thus hampered, failed to evoke any response.

"I wonder if there ib a ladder anywhere," he said in desperation, glancing here and there; and his eyes in tho act were suddenly aware of a face looking in upon him through the railings. It was a flushed and rather sleepy face, surmounted by a very muddy crash hat; and there was a suggestion about the elegantly-attired figure beneath as if is found the temporary support of the railings grateful.

" Locked out?" said the stranger. Le Strang nodded: and instantly a bright idea struck him. " You don't feel inclined to swarm up one of .those poles, 1 suppose?" said he— " a man of your youth and agility. It's moro than 1 can manage." The subtle flattery, in the presence of beauty, told. The stranger released his hold of the railings very cautiously, a.nd came into the front garden, where he took of! his hat and looked at it critically.

. '.'.Blew oil—out of cab," he explained, " and I wed after it, and the cab wed on. You haven' seen a cab pass, have you?"

" Not for hours," said Le Strang. " Oh!" said the stranger " Wish pole?"

Le Strang signified the, one, and immediately, fo their surprise, the inebriated youth, first putting his damaged headgear on tip «"?ss. went up it like a cat. Lo Strang halted him at the fence of hrords, and lu: climbed it and vanished. In a moment his facc reappeared over the o.f! S e. " Here's a window open, re called down. "What name?"

" Please to tap on it " said Le Strang, " until you wake the occupant; and then say ' Miss Vnnborough.' " _ They waited in execsdve perturbation, conscious of divers and mysterious rounds above, Onro a terrified IMo scream leemed to forsbode catstrophe; but it was lint repeated, and was succeeded by remonstrant murmurs, which ceaeed of a sudden. The stranger looked over the hoards.

"She's coming down to open the door," lie said, in a tone of high disgust. " T say, you've asked a good lod of IDC, you a new—" and ho came over the fence, and slid down the polo into a puddle.

' Sr> was in curl-papers, you know," he said injuriously, as lie cot up, drippin?. "Don't you ;'o doing that sort of tiling aqaiu, yon know." A sound of withdrawing bolls startled him. lie snatched up his I:=t and fled. (To be continued.)

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