Chapter VIII. The Search.

Otago Witness, Issue 2078, 21 December 1893, Page 4

Chapter VIII. The Search.

When the cold rjey daybreak waa Bt-n|?Hing- tlvnng^ Mi- rooms Edith sighed

and opened her eyes. Her beautiful limbs trembled as she rose to her feet. " I have had a dream," she murmured ; " I have seen him — been with him. He fell, and two men carried him into a Chinese den. He is ill."

" Father, wake up."

Jim opened his eyes, and saw Edith standing by the bed in the room which had been allotted to him. He thought at first that his short slumber was broken by a dream, so spirit-like looked the face that bent over him in the uncertain light. " I have found Arthur 1 " " God be praised 1 " cried a joyful, quavering voice.

"No, he is not here. He is ill, lying somewhere in a Chinese den in the alums. He called me as he fell outside the door, and I went to him. Don't look at me like that — lam not mad ; lam not ill ; I tell you I have found him."

" Djarie, you've been dreamin'."

" Perhaps I have ; I do not understand. But I hiorv that it is true ; I know that I can find him — I should know the men and the place." AU day she reiterated this cry. Jim tried in vain to sooth her and dissuade her from the search that she declared the would make that night, and let the police and himself search instead. It would only waste time, phe said. Bcirg a detective with them if he liked, but she would go.

During the day Jim brought a detective to interview her, and he respectfully urged that she would leave the matter in the hands of the police, who would manage the search quietly, and avoid anything like publicity. But the beautiful lady resisted his arguments with always the same answer :

" No, lam resolved. I will find him myself. I hare been stap by stap over the way."

The day was ended at leDgth. The plan decided upon was to meet the detective at tha studio at 8 o'clock. That officer had been inclined to ecofE during the day ; but when, punctual to the minute, he stood in Arthur's studio, and saw the tall, hooded figure standing there in waiting, so calm and so earnest, the situation grew interesting. Women were queer creatures and had curious dreams sometimes.

"Are you ready 1" she asked. Jim and the officer were both ready. Jim's heart thumped against his waistcoat with suppressed excitement. Both men watched Edith. She was as pale as the marble statues, but her great eyes shone with an unnatural brightness. A strange tremor passed over her, and she sighed, slowly moving forward and turning off the gas.

" This was his last act before he left the room," she said, then she went swiftly down the stairs — so swiftly that the two men following could hardly overtake her. She paused for a moment on the outer step, dropped her head, and suddenly turned to the right. Old theatre-goers were burryiDg up the steps of the Royal as they passed. It was a fine night, starlit and clear, and little groups of men in evening dres3 were chatting in the lobby befora entering the theatre. Carriages' were rambling along Bourke street, but Edith, neither glancing to the right nor to the left, hurried on, and presently turned aside from these bright pictures into a poorer part of the city. " She's leadin' straight for my house," said Jim. " Along this very road my boy used to come. Lord, what a pace she's goin' at ! Don't walk so fast, dearie 1 " pleaded Jim. " You'll knock yourself up." She stopped suddenly, as though she had been struck. " Don't speak to me," she cried angrily, " follow me, but don't speak." "Best leave the lady alone," said the detective, " she seems to know where she is goiDg. She looks like a bloodhound on the gcent."

They followed closely, but silently. Presently her footsteps seemed to lag.

"She's getting tired," said the detective, conscious of a sharp pang of disappointment, for he wanted to see this strange quest through ; but Edith, closely wrapped in her hooded cloak, kept elowly on, and presently Jim began to make smothered exclamations and to nudge his companion.

" He stopped here," said Edith, pausing abruptly.

"He did ! " cried Jim. " Oh, lady, he did ! She'll find my boy for me I This is tfce house where we lived since he was a little baby."

" This grows interesting," said th 9 detective ; " but take care, the lady will fall."

She staggered, so that both men sprang forward. She did not fall, however, but slowly led the way into the darkness of Lifctla Bourke street, and from Little Bouvke street through innumerable alleys — dirty, dark, and silent, and in silence unbroken her two protectors pressed close behind her — so close that had she taken a fahe step their hands could have held her. The narrow footpaths were lined with small, low hovels. Some had their windows boarded up, others had broken panes. Now and again a dark object glided away through a doorway.

" A man was murdered in this house I " whispered the detective to Jim, and suddenly at the door of the wretched tenement Edith stopped. "He went in here," sh9 said.

The detective knocked, and the knock, resounding through those apparently uninhabited quarters, caused doors and windows to be suddenly opened, and dark objects to appear and disappear as mysteriously. A Chinaman, who seemed to live in darkness, opened the door. "Show a light," said the detective, and making no protest as he recognised aa officer of the law, the Chinamau smiled blandly.

" Did a gentleman come in here about this hour last night ? " asked Detective King.

11 Him welly tired ; him sit down, then him go "

He pointed where Edith was going through a low doorway into a yard. She was breathing hard, like a woman in a deep sleep, and crying to herself. Jim would have comforted her, but the detective held him back.

" Leave hor alone, man — see it out. Dream or no, she remembers something."

" Oh, my husband ! " she said, " your poor stumbling feet through all these dark ways hour after hour."

Through a labyrinth of alleys she led, and the hovels grew thicker. Chinamen with their stealthy steps were flittirig everywhere. Occasionally one would give a peculiar cry of warniDg, and doors would be slammed in the distance, and figures would flit quickly

through back passages and yards, like rabbits fleeing to their burrows.

"My boy must 'a' been dazed to wander these ways," said Jim pitifully. As the night grew later girls passed them by, and followed their movements with heavy eyes. As the clock struck 11 Edith stopped again, and the detective opened the door of one of the innumerable opium dens. A girl lay on a couch alone smoking. Her dress was dark and dirty. Adorned with neither collar nor ribbon, her hair hung undressed about a white wan face. Through a cloud of smoke her sad eyes looked at them with troubled interest. "Is anything wrong 1 " she asked wearily. "Did a gentleman come in here last night 1 " asked the detective.

" Yes — a tall fellow. He was drunk or ill. He came in and went out again without speaking. Wont the lady sit down 1 "

Bat receiving no answer she said gently : " It's a fine night."

" Have you been out ? " asked the detective, who seemed to know her.

For answer she pointed up. Through the skylight of that dreadful hovel the stars were visible.

" Good night," said the detective, but Jim lingered and added ;

" God bless you I "

They followed their silent guide, whose feet lagged as though at every moment she must fall. Suddenly she gave a loud cry, and rushed into a house.

Startled, the inhabitants rose to their feet. The room was dim with opium smoke, but through the choking haze could be seen a handsome girl smoking a cigarette. One quick glance at the lady, and she dropped it and tried to hide it with her foot. There were several Chinamen sitting about, and three or four women. Edith looked like some beautiful goddess in this dreary, dreadful place. The women stared at her breathlessly. The dark faces of the Chinese turned to her curiously. " These are the men I " she cried, " who carried my husband in I "

" Gentleman welly bad ; sent for police," explained one Mongolian. " Fell down last night ; think him drunk— him not drunk 1 "

" Edith 1 " came a cry from an Inner room, and Edith rushed past, followed by Jim and the others who stood curiously at the doorway.

On a couch at the end of the small room lay Arthur, his beautiful eyes wide open, his cheeks flashed. He was raised upon his elbow, s taring with a strained glance at the door.

With a cry of triumph and love Edith was beside him.

" Here, clear out," said Detective King, shutting the door behind Edith and Jim, and addressing himself to the occupants of the house. " You'll get into trouble over this I " But with much jabber and gesticulating the men declared they were not to blame, that the gentleman had fallen down -drunk they thought, and seemed to sleep all night and all day. " To-night him wake up and cry out, and me send for police."