THE NOVELIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1716, 11 October 1884, Page 24

THE NOVELIST.

A STORY OF LAKE WAKATIPU. Written for the Otago Witness-, "SAGITTA," Author of "The Fate of a Pioneer," &o.

grief and sorrow. Her life bad hitherto been unruffled by trials worthy of the name, and all were now eclipsed by one vast doubt, enveloping the happiness of her life in darkness and in mystery. As the acknowledged queen of the two — by the ladies of the district— most coveted men, Lizzy had amongst the female portion of her friends many secret and • bitter enemies, who envied her for the dominance she ha.d gained over what they considered the best matches in the district. Tom Belfast was. on account of his good looks, aided no doubt by the addition of the £2000 reward, reckoned as only second to Disbet, who by his gentlemanly mannerß and the romance which attached to him of being a young duke in disguise, inspired an interest in the marriageable portion of the ladies which would have set aside any other aspirant to their hands.

Lizzy, though not a deep student of human nature, knew the existence of such reelings amongst her lady friends very well, and she refrained, therefore, from showing any signs of undue sorrow except to those intimate friends of her own surroundings who were in the secret of her true relation to William Disbet.

Speculations were rife long before the fate of Disbet could be reasonably determined, whether Lizzy would go into mourning, and what form her mourning would assume, and whether Mrs Tregenning would also don the sombre hue, and whether a memorial stone to Disbet would be erected in the Queenstown cemetery ; and a hundred other questions were proposed, discussed, and— no,' not dismissed. The exaot state of Lizzy's connection with Disbet was not definitely known. Some said that Dißbet had proposed to Lizzy and had been accepted just before he left for the West Coast, and that Mrs Tregenning had gone to Dunedin in order to prepare for her daughter's marriage ; others, and by far the larger portion, credited Lizzy with their own honourable inclinations and predilections, namely, that she kept both he* suitorß "on the string," for the purpose of " showing off " and vexing her lady friends.

All this, of which Lizey was perfectly aware, harassed her a good deal, but had the beneficial effect of diverting her from her chief sorrow. When she appeared beyond the limits of her home circle she was the same aa of old— plain, kind, and amiable to all. When Disbet's probable fate cropped up as a subject of conversation she spoke, without reserve or embarrassment, of the chances of his return or the reverse, like any young lady of feeling might speak under such circumstances, of a near and dear friend. Even the most lynx-feyed of her sex could not detect any slip in her conduct or bint at her real feelings. Lizzy sometimes would be surprised at ber own power of deception, as she chose to call it, but she knew that she was haunted and watched, and that the slightest mistake would be turned against her with merciless aim and purpose. Inwardly, however, the pangs of her sorrow were gnawing at her heart. Tender grief at the lors of a happiness she scarcely bad dared call her own would sometimes melt into that woful bliss which is so balmy a solace to bleeding hearts. It became the support of her desires, beating back the overwhelming breakers of despair, and sustained her in the trials she had to b*ar from the persecutions of so-called society. Sometimes, however, she was compelled to succumb to a nameless misery, which almost obliterated her power of thinking. She had promised Disbet to write unconditionally, whether she received a lettor from him or not, and though it was through no fault of her own that the letter was not handed to the mailman on his return journey to the West Coast, she reproached herself with all the blame for the mishap. At the time eho was fully occupied with nursing Tom Belfaßt through bis illness, and had loft the letter in charge of her mother, to be given to the mailman when he should call, as he nevor failed to do. But it had so happened that upon this occasion he had passed without his customary halt, and so the letter was not sent. This circumstancfl weighed heavily on Lizzy's mind; A broken promise to her heart's love : the thought of it made her shudder. She almost hoped, in her- fevered fancies, that he had died before he would find out she had broken her word. She knew not how, but this simple fact, so easily explained, and for which, in reality, she was not to be blamed in any way, tormented her with a mortifying bitterness, which excelled in its intensity all the tortures of her other heartaches and distresses. It is true she also was disappointed in the same way. But there were many excuses for Disbet; he might have been too far away from the track — no man could time his journeys in the broken country of the West Coast with exactness ; he might have lost bis writing materials, and a thousand other excuses suggested themselves, while she could not plead one — not one.

She sacredly preserved the letter to show it to Disbet upon his return, to prov6 to him, with the aid of all the circumstantial evidence available, that she had kept her word, that the mischance was not her fault.

It was a long letter — the first letter she had ever written to him.

It told him of the accident which happened to Lord Stamborough, and the resemblance he bore to him, of Lord Stamborough's proposal and her refusal, of the lost papers and their recovery, of Tom Belfast's illness, and hio ofier of marriage and her reply to it, and numbers of other matters of less intorost, finishing as follows :

" I find, dearest, that I have told you all about everybody except myself ; but I must, however, not let you oil without such an addi tional infliction. You know, dear, how exacting and selfish I am, and 1 almost regret hay ing swelled my letter with uews of others »to its prosr-nt bulk, leaving me bo little room to write of myself. And I had so much to tell you. Writing to you haa put me in such good humour that I could wish to keep on for ever. Thoughts come ready arrayed in words, and ppur themselves out in a flood, that to me ie quite bewildering. It seems to ma as if you

Chapter XIII. HILE the events related in the foregoing chapters were taking place in the terra incognita of the West Coast of Otago things at Lake Wakatipu bad undergone but slight changes, Lizzy Tregenning was experiencing the first lessons of

were present, dearj and at the same time dictating and reading my letter as word is added to word. I almost feel that I have never been in closer communication with you than^ at the present time when snowy mountains rise and broad turbulent rivers flow between us. Not all the snow and icy glaciers of the Alps which divide us can cool my love, and though they may reach into the clouds they cannot stop my thoughts flyiDg to you, dear, nor prevent your sweet presenoe filling out my being with a happiness which, away from you, or without thought of you, I know not. It lives and dies with you. And yet lam very very angry with you, dear. Only fancy ! I got no letter from you ! and the mailman will be here to-mor-row to take over mine. If I knew how I would scold, but drying is easier, and I did that. But t will not distress you, dearest ) no doubt there is some reason for not getting a letter from you, dear, and I can now only think of the pleasure your letter would have given me had I received one, and I find that I am weak and foolish enough to do that. It is so sweet to deceive oneself when one has been disappointed. "But, dearest, I am afraid that I must weary you. I fancy that I have told you all this long long ago, and yet I would not tire to keep on repeating it while life lasts. "Dearest Will, I cannot write 'Goodbye,' but in the hope that you may read it ' Come back.' Your safe and speedy return is the wish of my heart, my prayer in the day, my dream in the night. " Believe me, dearest beloved, to be your devoted and loving Lizzy. "P,S, — My acquaintance with Lord.Stamborough has much altered my opinion of aristocratic life. It is, after all, not so dreadfully stiff and cold a3 I had always imagined. Mother joins me in my prayers for your safe return." - Lizzy loved to read over to herself this letter, intended for her first and only love. She treasured it as a talisman to proteot her against the reproaches of her lover ; to clear her in his eyes of all blame that it did not reach him. She might have sont it with Tom when he went out in search, but, alas, it might be then too late perhaps, and she preferred to deliver it herself rather than impose upon Tom a task she know would be distasteful to him. >3ho looked upon such an act as a profanation of Tom's noble mission. While Lizzy bore her trouble with an even resignation, Lord Stamborough exhibited strange fluctuations of temper. Some days he would be gloomy and nervous, and at other times cheerful and the best of companions. Lizzy finding in her own grief and apprehensions the germs of sympathy with his lordship, was very kind to him, and the unaccountable dislike she had conoeived at their first acquaintance was fast disappearing. When his lordship was in his dark mood she administered such comfort to him as she thought most suitable ; and when he was gay and in good spirits she revived her sinking hopes at the glow of his friendship and cheerfulness. As week after week pasbed by without the slightest tidings coming to hand Lord Stamborough was subject to all the tortures of uncertainty. He was superstitious, and this aided to plague him with anticipations, which were constantly cropping up in his mind only to unfold themselves as empty deceptions, He ever vacillated between the two extremes of dejection and of mirthfulness. Sometimes he would lock himself up in his room for hours and busy himßelf with papers and documents, amongst which those Tom Belfast had fished up out of the lake played a prominent part. It appeared as if he loved to sink into a reverie over these documents. The time which Bolts had fixed as the utmost limit for his return bad now come, and yet he did not appear. Something, his lordship felt, must have gone wrong. He knew Bolts was involved in another scheme, the time for the consummation of , which would be at hand in a few days. During his short stay in Dunedin Bolts bad made the acquaintance of a French escapee from New Caledonia — ;one of the, recidivists description of convicts. This enterprising gentleman had just then returned from a journey of exploitation to the interior of Otago, where the goldfields bad attracted bis particular attention. He had discovered that monthly escorts were sent down to Dunedin from the Shotover and- Arrow rivers, the value of which averaged from 20,000cz to 50,0000z of gold -a money value of from £80,000 to £220,000. He had also partly observed, and partly otherwise ferreted out, that this gold was sent in the charge of two or three policemen, and that the first stage was at Clyde, the township of the famous Dunstan "rush, 1 which unsettled the population of the Southern hemisphere at the time of its discovery, and the richness of which attracted adventurous spirits from the Old World and the New. Our Frenchman had also observed that the gold was deposited in the lock-up— a wooden shanty serving for a prison — that a constable remained on duty till about two o'clock in the morning, and that after that time the gold was left unprotected, except by the lock upon the door of the gaol. In his peculiarly cunning way he had ingratiated himself with one of the constables in chargo, and had fonnd it no difficult matter to intereufc him in his scheme, and with this acquisition there was no further difficulty in the way. Everything was almost arranged when the Frenchman met Bolts, and getting acquainted with him he found in him a determined and resolute character, who combined with his daring a large amount of shrewdness and cunning. When he had assured himself of Bolts' trust- ] worthiness he broached the scheme to him, and that gentleman readily entered into the thing, explaining, however, that he had another goose to pluck and would have to consider before he could give a definite answer. This reservation was made in deference to Lord Stamborough, and Bolts consulted him on the I matter, for he would not act without his con- | sent. His lordship strongly objected, and as he had dominating and powerful influence j over Bolts, the latter consented to submit. When Bolts told his French friend that he had to decline the venture, as the time for it would overlap his previous engagement, that worthy expressed his sincere regret.

" J'en suis bien f&chtS ! Pardon. Pardonezmoi! Monsieur. Zae language French is so mooch easier, he always come out first, before zoe language Engleosh. Vairy sorry monsieur cannot take part in cette grande affaire ! Mais, monsieur, me fera lo plaisir — voila ! again zee language French j mais, I know monsieur will excusezmoi. I will say that monsieur will have la bontc to help us wiz zee gold, to make heem circular, you know ?"

" Well, I'll try to help you to get rid of it, if that's what you mean," answered Bolts. " Oui, oui ! monsieur. Merci bien ! You Reo I have one mate seuleinent, besides zee constable aud yourself. Vhen vo htwe zee Rold all right, my mate and myself go mining far up zee Arrow River vhero ees nobody, and ?et gold— plenty of gold— you know! 2ee constable stop constable for some time after zee robbery, and zon he re^igner, and ye geeve him hia share, part in money, part in gold, To got ze monay ye moos sell zee gold, and ye vant you to sell him for us. Monsieur knows abat zee gold is all as ha ees found, and per-

sonne can tell him or know him, but he must not be found again in zee same district or ve'll be nabbed, you call it ; and ye, my mate and myself, must not sell too much gold, or ve'll be nabbedt You see, monsieur ? ' " Yes, I bunderstand all that. You 'aye done very well to plan it so far," Bolts told him : "and I am ready to sell vhat I can for you, and you can give me vhat you think is right for my trouble, and vhen I go 'ome I'll buy as much of you as I can', but you must let me have it at £2 an ounce. A fair thing is a fair thing, you know." " Monsieur ees very good, very good indeed," said the Frenchman, with much affability ; " but how mooch gold would monsieur like at zat price ?" " Oh, say 800 ounces 1" replied Bolts. "C'est une bagatelle, monsieur, et ne merits pas qu'on en parle j zat ees, it is not worth speaking of it, et j'y consens 1" said the loquacious Frenchman. "Before wa part," said Bolts, "I will tell you that I don't quite like your plan. You have told me that the gold is in wooden boxes, screwed down and sealed, and all in 'andy little bags ready to be carried away. Now, I fancy you told me that you would break hopen the boxes and take out the gold at the Dunstan,' where the constable leaves off duty and turns in. Well, that's only half tbe trick, you should have lead or hany thing that's 'eavy ready, and put it back into the boxes, and as you tell me that they are rolled up in flour bags, to be packed on horseback, nobody would find out that the gold was gone till the boxes get to Dunedin, you see," " Magnifique, monsieur," cried the Frenchman, " quelle grande idea 1" and with many protestations of undying friendship on the part of the Frenchman, tbe two worthies parted* Bolts bad acquainted Lord Stamborough with all this, and although he did not quite approve of Bolts' action, he was infected by that strange fascination of " being in it," which is so irristible a temptation' to the larrikin, as well as to the criminal. A flaw in human nature no doubt, but one which is seldom attempted to heal or close, and by its tiny opening some of the greatest crimes have crept in, and ruined and. blasted many otherwise useful lives. The time for this robbery was approaohiag, and there was sufficient similarity between the natures of the noble lord, and the lowly hireling — humanity is the same in all degrees and stations, — to lead Lord Stamborough to suppose that, if at all possible, Bolts would "be about." And yet he did not appear, neither came there any news to hand from Disbet and his companion, even from tha search party. s It was this affair, coupled with the hope of an increased reward, whioh Bolts intended to keep from Jim's knowledge, that led him to treat his mate in the manner he did, and resolved him to rid himself of Jim, On Friday night, while at dinner, Mrs Tregenning said : "I have heard to-day reports of a gold escort robbery at Clyde, where tbe escorts from this district and that from Cromwell have been robbed, on Tuesday morning last, and bo far no trace of the depredators bas been discovered." Both Lizzy and Lord Stamborough looked up surprised, and ipoured forth a number of questions about the particulars, quite beyond the power of the lady to answer. " All that is publicly known is that the gold was placed in one of the compartments of the lock-up, and that guard was kept at the door till two o'olock on Tuesday morning, when the constable reported 'all right' to his senior officer, and went to bed. In the morning the .lock upon the door was found to have been tampered with, and upon entering, the floor of the lock-up was discovered strewn with the fragments of the empty boxes, which bad contained the gold." "Stupid blundering," ejaculated - Lord Stamborough; who, when.ho found both ladies' eyes turned upon him, repeated : " Stupid blundering -to leave so large an amount of such easily negotiated treasure unguarded, at the very time when robberies are usually committed. Is the exact value of the escort known, Mrs Tregenning ?" ' "It is stated that there were 66,0000z. of alluvial gold in the boxes, equal to about £260,000 worth, a small parcel ot amalgamated gold, about £3000 in notes,— chiefly single notes — and several small parcels of jewellery forwarded by private parties, which bas not been interfered with," replied Mrs Tregenning. "Is that not rather nn unusually large escort?" again asked Lord Stamborough, "Yes, the amount is greater than usual, but not as compared with that of former years at the corresponding time of tbe season," remarked Mrs Tregenning. " The miners are now busy with their washings-up for the winter, and the plentiful rains of the last month or so, have made water abundant, which always leads to an increase in the yield of gold. The robbery has been well timed, and so far as can be judged, well planned. There is no clue by which the depredators can be traced ; and what is still more' surprising that in the other cell of the lock-up, — it contains only two cc Is — there was a prisoner, who heard no noise of any kind during the night." "That is certainly surprising," thought Lord Stamborough. "Is it possible that this prisoner should be in the plot ?" " No, that suspicion has already been propounded and dismissed," said Mrs Tregenning ; " but it is rumoured that certain information is in the hands of the police at the Arrow, which would appear to furnish a clue." " The police at the Arrow ?" somewhat uneaßily asked Lord Stamborough ; " but is not Clyde more than fifty miles from the Arrow ? How could anything crop up at such a long distance in so short a time ; and the two places are connected by a very indiffereat road, I learn." ' " I cannot say of what,nature the information is, or how it happened to crop up at the Arrow, but I believe there is some truth in the roport," said Mrs Tregenning. Lord Stamborough neither eat nor spoke much after that. Could it be possible that Bolts had returned, and by some chance missed^ him, and have gone on to the Arrow to meet his French confederate? This was scarcely likely ; besides, where was Jim ?he would certainly have made it his business to meet his lordßhip. However, pros and cons suggested themselves in opposing crowds, and after a short silence, he said/. — " I do not know how it is, but these acts of daring — a3 long aa they are unaccompanied by bloodshed or violence — have a strange fascination for me. For after all, making certain allowances for the deficient moral development, and defective training, of which marauders of this kind are, generally spaaking, lbs outcome and the result, they only reproduce in another phase, ' the catch- , who-catchcan-principlo,' noticeable in all money making achemos. The difference is only one of degree, not of kind. Sharp practices unspeakably meaner, which are not oven relieved by any display of daring or courage, are perpetrated every day with impunity and success, which in every respect are more demoralising ia their effects upon the victims as

well as upon the knaves, because they are never, or only very seldom, punished." "Your argument would k surprise me to » much lese degreerif it came from otia who had lose than you, my lord," said Mrs Tiegeioning. " But you know, mother," broke in Lizzy, for the first time during the conversation, " Lord Stamborough expounds liberal ideas, and be, after all, is only consistent. I am' so little of a politician that I find it extremely difficult to distinguish between liberalism, ultra liberalism and communism ; and I must admit, that hio reoent argument bas added to the confusion with which these terms always fill my Blind, * " I beg your pardon, ladies," said Lord Sfcamborougb, "but you both must, have nristrader* stood me. I do not intend to defend escort robberies any more than business peccadilloes. What struck me was the resemblance in the nature of the vice and the crime, between which justice— which in this, case is truly blind — makes no distinction. My sympathies are with poor human nature in general, but they do not apportion themselves according to the prevalent notions of right and wr6ng. lam prepared to make every allowanoe.for the better qualities' of man, even if they display themselves in the closest connection with bis crimes, In this sense I consider it a less criminal act to rob an escort, risking the consequences, than under the guise of honesty to cheat a customer in the ordinary way of business, because r; there is an immunity from serious consequences. I have limited myself to a case-of what is strictly called business, leaving out of consideration such meannesses as fraudulent - bankruptcies passing base coin, and thousands . of /'ether shortcomings, of which the law does, take cog nisance." •• / ; >. • ; ; " Your view of crimes and vices iB then not in accord with that of those philosophers of the present day, who look upon all the shortcomings and moral delinquencies of- man very much in'the light of ailments?" asked Lizzy, " No, I cannot understand how those philosophera put aside the force of circumstances. Allow me to illustrate what I mean. Taking, two men equally diseased in their moral natures, and both equally necessitous ; let one find a purse of money, and the other say a set of false teeth, for which be haß no earthly use — not having enough to do for his owti/ For the set of teeth a reward is offered exactly equal to the sum of money contained in the purse. The man who found the money retains it, although a reward,' less than the amount in the purse, is offered for it, and he is v aware of the fact. The other- man with the 'teeth, returns them and receives the reward: ■ Is he, according to these philanthropic 'philosophers, sound? Why, we only need to reverse tho casea to obtain our answer !" • ■ " Oh," cried Lizzy, ■ " your illustration savours of fatalism !" " Yes, Miss Tregenning, I am very mtich of a fatalist, I cannot shut my eyes to experiences that have occurred around me, ; and P have noted that all these occurrences divide (themselves into two great classes. Occurrences which we have brought about by our actions, and those which happen in 1 spite of air we may do to prevent them. From these two divisions the life of man is made up, without necessarily depriving him of his • free will I .' " ' " "But, sir," Baid Lizzy, "thinking of the untoward detention of her letter to Disbet, "as a reasoning man, you could not 'wish to have supreme control over everything which may happen? That would be usurping the prerogative of the Almighty 1 ' You noaoubt remember that in Greek mythology the gods even were subject to and ruled by fate !" ; " I have, of course, no such ambitiousdesire. In my viewß of fate there is room fpf,.a"ruler, who, directs it, for purposes which ( we cannot understand, and without depriving us' ! of free win." , "••■: • Although Lord Stamborough^was. fond of such discussions, the present one had' taken a turn, but little to bis, fancy. He" discovered himself speaking words whioh made' him shudder as they entered his ears ; ' and/when he had to admit that they were dictated by the foroe of inward conviction they filled him wi h overwhelming terror. Was he," who', was actually the murderer of the girl's happinesp, not a, devil doubly dyed, to discuss such a subject with her ? Could he still hope "to find happiness in her company? He had been an eye- witness of her grief during the past few weeks, which grief was the result of his action, how then could be tell himself that it' was' done I for his happiness ? His egotism had blinded him. Our individuality restrains our sympathies within certain and natural boundaries, but when these boundaries become so contracted that our individuality fills out tho whole^spaco within them the most abject egotism asserts itself. Such an individual looks up to his identity as tbe centre of the universe, and, ignoring truth, duty, and right ts others, considers hia own affairs the sole aim of bis actions, ' Under the semblance of conscientiousness and impartiality he recognises the comfort and'wellbeing of others only in so far as they contribute to his own pleasures and content. Ordinary egotism knows only its own sensual gratification and is totally incapable of higher enjoyments ; yet self-love may and sometimes' does exert itself in beneficial directions, but only for the cake of self-glorification, and looks with envy and malice upon similar efforts emaqating from others. Lord Stamborough's egotism was of a very intense kind. After a short pause in the conversation Lord Stamborough said : , "We tire you, Mrs Tregenning, with our homespun philosophy, and I beg your pardon if I have wearied you. But since the account you have given us of the escort robbery has interested us all so much, I have decided to go over to tho Arrow tomorrow and see ! what I can further learn about it. As I have already said, these marauding acts attract my attention in a peouliar degree, and I believe that.l am not singular in that respect." % ' Lord Stamborough thought that it might be possible that Bolts had been delayed by some I unaccountable occurrence, and a desire to have a finger in the robbery he knew was more than Bolts could resist, and it was therefore possible that he might have-gbne to the Arrow. . He had little apprehension of any miscarriage of Bolts' mission, nor did Lord Stamborough fear much from a collision with the search party, for Bolts would either, adopt means to make it harmless or would contrive to keep out of its way and remain unseen. Still in spite of these arguments of his cooler moments, he was racked by misgivings and uncertainties at other times. \ , r Lord Stamborough bad during his stay at Mrs Tregenninp's farm never been absent more than a few hours at a time on visits to Queenstown, and both mother and daughter were not a little surprised when he announced a, journey to the Arrow, which would take nearly a whole day. He .still continued, to walk every night to the creek at the corner of Mrs Tregenning's farm, and his excursions v/ere now looked upon by all who knew of them as a phase of eccentricity necesßary to a lordly existence. , , . i Lizzy, in order to divert herself as much a* possible, occupied herself a considerable portion every clay about poo? Mrs Belfast, who was in good health g.ad enjoyed Miss Tregenning's

ootnpany very much, especially now that her son was absent. She never tired of praising Tern, and lost no opportunity of reminding Lizzy of his excellencies, for of all the people in that quiet neighbourhood she had the highest opinion of Lizzy, and her dearest wish was to see her some day her daughter-in-law. When Saturday morning came Lord Stain-" berough started on horseback for Arrowtown in search of his henchman Bolts. {To be continued.)