CHAPTER XIV.—HEMMED IN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2604, 10 February 1904, Page 59

CHAPTER XIV.— HEMMED IN.

"A fine young fellow — a very fine young fellow indeed, Helen ; I like him," was Sir Nigel's comment as Tredennis made his adieu and left them standing in the station tea room with Abbas Luttrell. "I no longer w-onder that yo 1 * allowed yourself to become acquainted wit-h him, for he is a gentleman through and through, and I quite believe that he is all he thinks he is. Good blood has a way of showing itself, and I am positive theie is good blood in him."

"I thought you would' say th it. d id. dear, when you came to meet him," said Helen in reply, a gratified smile curving her lips and adding attractiveness to a face that was already attractive enough in all conscience. "I think, after what he has told us occurred at Hildon Castle yesterday, there cm hardly be a doubt that his susjjicions aie correct in every particular." Sir Nigel was of the same opinion ; but as both he and Helen wisely forebore from making any allusions to what those "suspions" really were while Abbas Luttrell was present, that worthy had, ot course, no means of knowing w hat they were talking about ; although he listened with all his ear*, a« the phrase goes-, and was lather suilv ovci b. ing so absolutely ignored. "1 Hi nk it would b? jiysr. ;.s well if we wci'j to bt irt for the C'otlagt now. dad, dt-oi. if you aie ready," said Helen era-

sently, "for I am quite tired out after our Jong ride, ar.d shall be glad of the opportunity to get into a teacown and slippeis. I suppose the vehicle you have brought," { jßhe added, turning to Abbas, "is in reodiaess to take us at once?" "Quite in readiness, Miss Foirester." "Thank you. Then we will go to it with- \ wit any further waiting. Dad, dear, please jpay for our tea, and let us go." j Sir Nigel complied with the request, and , then he and Helen -went out together in ! lAbbas Luttrell's -wake to the waiting ' .Vehicle, finding, in spite of that young toan's assertion that it ■would not hold- more than three, that it was a large, roomy j /conveyance, obviously hired for the occa- ' Bion, since the equipment of the Cottage boasted of nothing more dignified than a email dog-cart, and that, in addition to •this fact, it boasted both a driver and a groom. I Helen -was about to make some remark ' relative to these discrepancies, when the j remarkable swarthiness of the two atten- i idarits attracted her attention and forced \ in unpleasant truth upon her. j "Don't betray any excitement — don't I make any remark, dad, dear," she said ! tinder her breath as she pressed Sir Nigel's ! pirn warningly; "but just look up quietly und notice the driver and the groom. ' "Good heavens! A couple of East - Indians 1" "Sfc — h — h ! not so loud. Yes, of course ! iihey are. We are in the hands of the ! Philistines and no mistake, dad, dear. | ?There can't be any two opinions regarding I jMr Gideon Luttrell's little game now, I j fchink.^ He really is 'a seeker after the | •Huby,' and he is putting us into safe i fcands, from his point of view, wMlst he ' .prosecutes his search for it. Sh— h— h ! ! not another word. We don't want Abbas ' 'Luttrell to find out what we have noticed, ' or oui liberty will be restrained as soon j as we reach the Cottage, and — who knows ? , —even worse may happen if we are not careful. We are dealing with a race of j assassins, dad, dear, and we must be as ' vriSe as serpents." j "Oh, bhis is awful!" said Sir Nigel in * scarcely audible voice, and with a face , Jike the __ face of a dead man ; then he ' i>ut his arm about Helen's waist and held ! tier close, and whispered in her ear as he I helped her into the waiting vehicle, "Don't j b» afraid, Helen; the old dad's here, my precious girl." ; She did not reply in words, merely gave him a look that told him plainly she was b soldier's daughter, and laughed reassuringly as the Indian driver chirruped to jthe horses and drove away from the station ■•But her look had said as plainly as words could have done, "Stratagem is the card ito play now. Remember, Jack Tredennis ' ds cGming to-morrow, and if we throw these people off their guard, we can easily |jet him to see that Gideon Luttrell never leaves the Chase with the Great Ruby, 1/ j li'j finds iv." I Meantime the carriage rushed on ; up the streets of Penvarney and out into the I farm districts beyond, and so, by rapid Btages, to the lonely section where the Cottage lay, deep set in a wooded hollow frith a stretch of wild waste land spreading out before it, a thick plantation behind, and, to the west, c far-off glimmering sheeo of silver blue that was the sea. \ The twilight had been steadily fading as they drove along, and it had sunk down into a wan greyish something that was neither light nor dark, and yet partook of j the elements of both, by the time they reached Lonewood Cottage and reined in before the little red-tiled creeper-covered ' wholly isolated house that was Helen's (heritage from her dead-and-gone mother, j The sound of the wheels upon the gravel brought old Margaret Millet and her daughter to the door, and presently Helen : was in the arms of her old nurse. I "Eh ! bless your sweet face, but it's like sunshine after storm to see you again, ■ any bonny," said she as she embraced her formei nursling and wept over her, after 1 the fasiion of her kind. "It seems but yesterday that she was but a wee wonder ! eyed mite in her old Margery's arms, and , now it's a woman grown she is, Sir Nigel, and lovelier than the day." "Yes, the time flies rapidly, Margery, and one's youth soon goes," said Sir Nigel in reply. "I hope that eveiything is in j readiness for us, as we are both very tired, ! and I am sure that Miss Eelen would like ■ to lie down and rest a while before i ifinner.? "Oh, yes, Sir Nigel, everything's in J.pple-j)ie order, sir, and the luggage has I been carried up and put in the rooms. Miss Helen is to have the blue suite (you know, my bonny; the one that looks westward toward the heath, where the sunsets- are ,' always so beautiful), and yours, sir, is j the suite adjoining it in the rear. I hope you approve of the arrangements, Miss ■ Helen, dear?" i "Very much, indeed, Margery, particu j larly as there is a connecting passage be s fcween the two. I am an awful little coward a night," she added (a statement Which made Sir Nigel stare), "and I always j like to have father within call Oh, this ! is Betty, isn't it?" as a meek-looking middle-aged woman entered the room and, baying first flashed a glance at Abbas liuttrell, came smilingly forward. "Kow do you do, Betty? It is ages since I saw , you last." j " I em. very well indeed, mis «," replied ' fietty, in a somewhat nervous manner. * Would you like to go to your rooms?"' . "Yea, thank you. Come, dad, dear You Will excuse us if we are not very sociable to-night, Mr Luttrell, and ask to have our dinnei served upstairs. Neither Sir Nigel Dot I feel quite equal to dressing after our tiresome day, 50 we will dine alone on this first evening." Then, not giving him time to. reply, she jnotioned Betty to lead the way upstairs. -Th^ suite assigned to her had alway been her favourite one — two pretty little rooms jpapered ir> blue with curtains and bed hangings of white cretonne sprinkled with Bprays of pale blue cornflowers and little JorJas of maidenhair fern. The suite which

Sir Nigel was to occupy connected with his by means of a short passage, and there was one large airy room — the biggest the Cottage boosted — which had baen fitted np as a sitting room for both. The vases on the mantel, the dressing table, and the pretty ii:exp3asive little barab-'O stands that were scattered about, were all filled with freshlygathered Sewers, and there vras a pile of books and illustrated papers upon, a convenient tab!?. " I hop& you will find everything to your liking, Mis-s Helen," said Betty Millet as sha ushered her in. "Mother ?nd I tried to make ifc look bright and cheerful ; but the notice was so short we hidn't time to do all that we wo\iid have liked to. Shall I stop and help you with your unpacking? or anything pise?"' " No, thank you ; I shall get along very well alone, and I am too tired to think of unpacking to-nigh fc. Please see that dinner is served early, and in the private sitting room. That's all : you may go." Betty's eyes, lifting, met hers ; a red flush stained her meek face, and she retired in some .confusion " Why, Helen, "whatever is the matter?" said Sir Nigel. "You were positively curb with the woman, and I always thought you liked b&r so much, and Dear ny , child ! What in the world are you hanging that towel over the door knob for?" "Tc keep treachery from enjoying its favourite pastime of spying through keyholes," returned Helen in a low voice as .«he turned the key in the lock and walked across the room to him. "Dad, dear, do you remember the fable about the man who found the frozen adder and warmed it in his breast? That is what I have been doing for a long time, and I have only just found it out. Margery Millet and her daughter are a couple of ingrates, and they have gone over to the enemy." " My dear Helen, you can't possibly think that? Why. old Margery was ;>r pleased as Punch to see you, and I am sure her eyes were full of tears when she- took you in her arms. " " Crocodile tears, dad — or at least I think so. Heaven knows, I hope I have wronged her by the thought ; but once or tvnee when she was miking so much of me I had a suspicion that it -was all put on She wasn't like her old self, dad, dear ; there was an air of unnaturalness about her, and more than ones I saw her look furtively over at Abbtis Luttrell. We are in the hands of the Philistines in ieal earnest now, djd. dear, and if Jack Trede-inis fails us, I dan't know what Me are to do." Sir Nigel groaned. 'We ought never to hove consented to come here with that fellow Abbas in the house," he said. "We were the veriest fools alive to do it, and Heaven alone knows how v,-e should have fji\d if it had not been for this unexpected meeting with young Tredennis. I shall be gad when to-moriow comes and brings him to us again." "So shall I," returned Helen. '"I begin to see the folly of my ways, dad. dear, in relying so much upon the shrewdness and tho fidelity of Jemima Ann after Margery and her daughter have proved treacherous. Even if she tm*ns out on hi (he very .soul of fidelity she is, after all, only a child, and no match iv eithc-r strength or craftiness for a man like Mi Luttrell. It seems to me that we are surrounded by enemies on all sides, dad, dea,., and that without Jack Tredennis we should be in a very bad way indeed." But she had reason to change her mind upon that point before long, as you shall presently see. That night when dinner was served in the little sitting room and Betty Milled came up to wait on them, she seemed to have thrown off entirely the restraint she had put upon her words and actions in the beginning, for more than once she was openly insolent, and bustled about in an aggressive manner that consorted oddly with her meek countenance and her mild eyes. The door communicating wit'i the outer passage was her principal mod.' of giving offence. She would leave it ajar in spite of Helen's frequent requests that it should be closed, and she used every pretext as an excuse for opening it (and leaving it open) during the course of the meal. "Well, I never ! Such a fuss over nothing !" she said, after her attention bad been called to it for perhaps the sixth time. "As if a body had nothing bettec to do than to think of a door and to run and shut it every other niomeni-"' ''It seems to me that yo\i ore forgetting to whom you are talking," said Helen indignantly "You setm to forget that thus is my house, and that you may only stop here just as long as I choose to allovv you." "Well, as Mr Luttrell says you have no other place to live, you will be coming here, and, of course, mother and I will have to get out of it, so we are quite resigned to go,' 1 was the amazingly impertinent reply. '"It doesn't matter much ; Mr Luttrell lias taken us into his service, an^ promised to give us a better home somewhere else." "Leave the room, you insolent ingrate, and never dare to come into it again," said Sir Nigel, rising in a towering rage and pointing to the door. "What is England coming to, I wonder, when servants have the audacity to talk like this? Leavo the room at once." "Oh, very well ; if it t»uits you it will suit me," returned Betty, and then — why, then, a very startling thing came to pass Elevating her voice so that every word was distinctly audible, she began to abase ihi baronet and his daughter in round term? — telling them that now they were poor they were no better than her mother an 1 herself, etc. ; and while still abusing them, took from her bosom a bit of pasteboard upon v/hich something was written, and held it up before her. "You are breaking our hearts by suspecting us," Sir Nigel and Helen read. "The Luttreils sent some Indian women to fill our place in case we would not work hand in bund with them, and we have had to appear to over to their side to be near

yoii and s^rve you. XT I r e are ml'"m l '" rvPI T v here, and I daxe not speak as a friend.' 1

For or.c momt.ll. lli-3 bit o: pj- v uoiu'd was held in view, the holder of it coin^ on Avitli her veibnl abuvj the wliule tircc : then it v, as tLru&t ou^ of again, and with a loud, "Such airs from people '.ho haven't got a penny to bless themselves with, when a rich gentleman like Mr Luttrell treats one like an equal !"' Betty bounced out, of the room mid. tli2 door behind her.