NOT SUCH A FOOL AS SHE LOOKED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 64

NOT SUCH A FOOL AS SHE LOOKED.

By Gisbobxe. "Oil, dear, I think I hate the sunshine!'' This almost sacrilegious remark, uttered in a weary tone, was excusable under the very trying circumstances of the speaker. Imagine an aspiring young -writer thinking out most laboriously her first story, thinkin<r it out, moreover, in the presence of six horse-hair chairs, a neat-looking fireplace filled with toi-toi grass, and a large glass oval preserving most carefully a stift bunch of wax flowers. Stella Jackson's pleasant face wore a slight frown as her eyes, raised a moment from the blank page before her, fell on this detested ornament. What an eye-sore it was ! Why had it been given to her only brother as" a prize, thus making it impossible for the "family to show it any -disfavour. The object of scorn was specially a<rcrravating at present* Every time Stella opened her eyes after some hard thinking a flame-coloured camellia or a magenta rose ela-rad at her with annoying pertinacity. The vivid colours 'were made more "garisli owing to the fact that the one window in the room was unrelieved- by any drapery with the exception of a white blind, through which- the mid-day . sun ■ shone in uninterrupted brilliancy. . . . Whether or no ,the sun acted kindly in revealing the discomforts of the room, it certainly performed a/ good office-in revealing the occupant. Stella- Jackson s face, though worried-looking at present, was a pretty one, with the charm of a happy disposition radiating from it. She was dark, with a clear complexion, and a pair of smiling blue eyes, wherein could be read sincerity and good sense. Her mouth, far from beins; small and beautifully curved, tended ratfier towards the expansive, and its shape was difficult to guess, because the owner was seldom, able to keep it still for long. Stella rather prided herself upon having a philosophical turn of mind, and did actually show herself to be far-seeing at times. Unfortunately, however, traits in one's ' nature flatteringly pronounced philosophical by the mind-reader are often in the family circle mistaken for argumentativeness, and Stella was one of the-vic-tims to this unnatural fallacy. "Talk of the moon striking one mad ! Itseems to me the sun must be responsible for a good many irritated minds! And to think we made a special point cf securing a house facing it, too! -However, it is no use sighing over what must be borne, and there Ts some comfort in what mother says that the more crosses we have- here, themore crowns we shall have there." With, this slightly irreverent 'remark Stella put away- lier writing materials, andleft the room without troubling to inquire into the difficulty of wearing more than one crown at a time in a future state. < It was evident that Stella- Jackson was, not intended by- nature for a novelist ; in-, deed, in the family -circle, she was often fondly called the "fool."" Not that there was the slightest foundation for such an insult! The sole reason-, for applying that name to her was based upon the fact that out of a family of five she alone had shown no special talent for anything beyond housekeeping. Thus it was that when Ruth, the eldest of the family, was sent to London to study under the best music teachers^ and Jack found it necessary to learn the latest improvements in engineering in the same city, Stella was sent with them to keep house, or, as Jack put it, to wash' and do for them. The family purse being limited, the furnished house chosen had* to be likewise, and Stella had not always a very bright time of it, spending many lonely hours in uncongenial surroundings. Sometimes she longed for the time ■when London, would be able to do without her brother and sister, but not often, for hers was a happy nature, easily adaptable to (circumstances, and one that soon nlhA friends. Tne days were pretty well occupied. Jack hid to be got off in the morning by 9 o'clock, and -Ruth, who taught as well as studied, left an hour later. The house had then to be, tidied, and the late dinner thought out. Long home letters had to be written besides, and countless--sewing done. Wh} - , then, was onr heroine harassed about -\vriti2ig a story, the reader will naturally aßk. Well, it was cue indirectly to Jack. "Here you are, Stella !" he had paid one evening, coming home tired and grimy, "I have brought you home a present." "Honour bright?'' said she. "Sure and safe and certain and flat," replied Jack, who had some expressions in his vocabulary that savoured of the workshop. "What's for dinner? I could get outside of a -bullock to-night." "Your favourite — beef-steak pie. I must run and dish it." She was in the kitchen before the end of the sentence, well knowing the truth of the saying : — We can livo without love, what is passion. but pining? But wheje is the man that can live without dining? Dinner once over, Stella curled herself up in the armchair preparatory to enjoying the contents of the magazine. Magazines were a craze witli her, and the knowledge she extracted from them, tbougl' desultory, was really wonderful. She often amused the family by informing them gravely of such important factss as the exact number of insane females in the British Isles, or the precise time an ordinary man would take to walk round Africa (provided Africa could bs walked round). "What I dislike about articles in favour of housework for girls is their disgraceful hypocrisy," bur&b out SUlla, who had a bad 'habit of making observations aloud on whatever she happened to be reading, a habit deplored by her brother and sister, "Here are three whole pages devoted to a description of the beautifying effects of stove-cleaning, scrubbing, cooking, and so on. as shown in rounded arms, well-de-veloped busts, and erect figures. Umjph !

The writer forgets T to mention -the .chappei hands, housemaid's- knee, and other do», raestic horrors consequent, on the same WOTk." „ . -...-, Ruth was deep in her harmony, andf Jack equally busy over some plans, so that: no notice was taken of this remark. Stella relapsed into silence. "Here is the very thing for me," she cried a few minutes later. "Listen : ' Prize of five guineas offered for"- the best, story not containing more than. 500 words. The writer's own name must be affixed, andonly women may compete.' " Ruth, koked up in mild surprise. "Bui. what could you write about, dear?? and the pitying- emphasis o.n the word "you" was scarcely flattering. "Ah, there is more in^me than you would, think," calmly remarked Stella. "No !" exclaimed Jack, in a tone of pre-. tended astonishment. "Well, really, Jack, 1 do not think thfit a person with no literary powers whatever can afford to- laugh at me, .especially, .one whose intellect is not strong enough to keep him awake during a sermon once a, - week," said Stella with. dignity; ... „, "That reminds me," interposed Ruths "You slept for half an hour last- Sunday,Jack, with- a broad smile "on~ your fate- alt ' the time. , If you must- sleep, try and do>ifj reverently, as befitr the ,sacred building:, you are in." . ' . - After the laugh had subsided: Stella con--- - tinued, figurately winking: at herself.- "But ■ to return to- my • literary abilities^ You kniowt ■ I am really a very beautiful character,- anct capable of noble- things. I" only -want' 'bringing out. For one thing, I can stand, ridicule, and that is a trait generally agreed upon as absent in the average English manor woman." Jack, who knew this was intended, .for., & hit at him, Jook it meekly. "It. is nob ' a bad idea at ajl, Stella," he said.. "You" could label the yarn, ' Pick of the -BasketCheap and Isasty,' like the. rubbish .stuck outside the shops, and your humility, mighttouch the judge's heart. Then thLii of the five guineas you would have to spend on us all !"' " . .. j. - The -n'couragement might have, been warmer and more disinterested, Stella-.con-sidered, but outside opinion weighed, little with her, and her mind was made -up. quite firmly to try for the prize. „ Unhappilly thoughts disappeared as" quickly as pencil and paper appeared, and for a v week 'ths , young writer Valked about wild-eyed fend absent-minded. As she deemed. the even-, ing the time most prolific for ideas,., she was hardly safe to come near after . dinner, and her brother and sister did not appje-.-ciate the change struggling genius had, wrought. , . t - Not long after this two • excitements., qck curred on the same day. ' The quarterly re? , mittance uom home arrived, ,and proved^ more generous than .usual, and. the."same[ "evening Jack brought 'home asti'anger witb' ' ■ him to dinner. . -,-'...' '.'". "" " Mr Winthrop^ an old schooi-fellpw/' he said, introducing: him in an . off-hand ' way,' . "happens to be in London for <a week; sfuek me up in the Stfantl -just as I came . out- of Coutts's' bank, where I had been t cashing the draft:" • -- - The stranger, who was tall and swarthy,with rather ,a swaggering air, showed his teeth in a smile that Stella took an instant dislike to ; there was such a strange dearth, of gaiety and goodwill in it. "Artificial smiles disclosing, artificial teeth generally conceal wicked, artificial heart's," philosophised she, addressing this, sweeping condemnation to the. roast mutton before proceeding to place that dish in front. of her unwelcome guest. • . Whatever bad impression Mr Winthrop's smile had produced was partly dispelled: by his entertaining conversation during dinner. He had apparently travelled ; a good deal, : and had many agreeable stories- of other, lands at his finger-ends. Now and then, he darted a_ furtive glance round the room, and Stella, always very observant, thought she had never seen such shifty eyes. '• I do not like the look of that man, Jack," she whispered to her brother later , on, when Mr Winthrop and Ruth were examining some music , together. "What made you bring him here?" , . : " I don't fancy him much myself," .he , answered in an undertone,' "but he ap-' peared so overjoyed at seeing someone who had baen ' at school with him, and asked:, .so prassingly if he might not look in upon' us, that I had not the face to" refuse."' • "He looks like a sharper, or worsen' beware of him, Jack," whispered - Stella; as she moved away, having already -notedthat the stranger's eyes were fixed, suspiciously on them both. After supper, Jack said, "Don't trouble , to stay up any longer, girls^; Mr Winthrop, wants to have a little business talk with^ me that would not interest you in the: least." Stella looked surprised, and tried to catch her brother's eye, but the young 'man avoided the mute inquiry. The girls then took the hint, and after bidding the stranger good-night, left the room. "What do you think" of him," Ruth?" asked Stella, as she kissed her sister .good- - night in the passage. " Oil, he struck me as being rather interesting," answered Ruth in her superior voice, " and I was astonished at your cold behaviour to him.; he must- have"~noticed it." "I am sure I hope he did," muttered r Stella, as she moved away. As she lighted the candle in her tiny bedroom, her thoughts were still with the stranger. " Now, I wonder what it is that makes me feel so uneasy? Why should/I think that man capable of doing any harm to Jack?" The vague alarm she felt, far from being dissipated by this reasoning, in- 1 creased more and more as the time went on and there was no sign of Mr WinthropL departure. " What can they have in common to talk about?" mused Stella, and, as sleep was impossible in her present state of mind,' she blew out the candle and stood in a listening attitude at the open door. She could hear the murmur of voices across the passage ; and was it only fancy, or did sh» hear a slight click V

Creeping to the parlour-^por sh~e put Ber ear to the keyhole just as the words, " Well, Jackson, you- give me no alternative," were Uttered in a cruel, calm voice. As a cry of " Coward, murderer ! " escaped the lips- of her brother, Stella thrust open ihe-door, and struck the out-stretched arm Y>f Mr Winthrop, who stood with his back ( to her^pointing a pistol at his host's head. Crash) bete-noir in the window was shattered into .atoms, and the gaudy flowers existed no longer. Tn the confusion and smoke the stranger made for the door, and was down the street like a flash. "By Jove ! " gasped Jack, sinking into a chair with a pale, scare face, "what a despicable villain ! You cime in just in the nick of time, Stella/ old girl; another minute and' you might have had to scrape , me off the wall." j " Don't speak of it, Jack," almost sobbed ,- Stella, who, woman-like, directly the crisis ( •was safely over, had passed through a reaction of feeling, and now became as trembling as she' was calm before. Ruth, who by this time had joined them, shuddered, "Don't keep us in suspense, Jack, but tell us what happened." ;i "- ".Well,", said. Jack, slightly recovered,] "that man" is a scoundrel. - I met him just -W-I'came out, of thVbank door, arid, s fool that I "was, I happened to* mention the fact that I had "been cashing a draft. He saw his* chance -and acted "accordingly. I was" 'completely taTfeh ' in* by "his suave "manner and' pretended" affection, and, when"he'appeared so anxious to come home with me, leaw no harmMn asking him. Needless to say," he 1 came with the fixed purpose of robbing me, "and was quite equal to bloodshed, if necessary. The confidential business talk lie asked for was merely a ruse on his part. After, you two left the room, he demanded a loan that would have pretty well swamped the^ remittance, and when I indignantly refused, "he produced a pistol, which he "always carries about with him, 'for luck,' he cayfi. Having no" alternative with a. steel barrel facing me, and thinking compliance with his wishes preferable to death, I was about to hand over the money, when Stella interfered with his little game." "It wag <a mercy we got rid of him co easily;" said Ruth. "Yes, I don't think he will trouble us .gain," answered Jack. " Stella is too much for him. 77 j " What an adventure ! " exclaimed our s heroine, picking Up the remains of the much-depreciated glass shade and trying not to show any sign of 'joy, as she did so. "Why! it is the very thing for my story, j I shall write it all down the first thing to- ; morrow morning. I grumbled for lack of J a subject, but little did I jdream at what , a cost I should get one." And in spite of obstacles she kept her wprji~ with/ the foUqwing result : — fa rpke "prize of "five* guineas offered last month to any, lady Jor. the best story of 500 "worSs. has been won' by Miss Stella , Jackson,- 'Barnes, London- , ' I