A DESPERATE STRAIT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3556, 9 May 1922, Page 66

A DESPERATE STRAIT.

By

Clare Jerrold.

'.Copyright.) Marion stood in the dark dairy almost afraid to breathe, while outside the door two gruff voices vainly attempted t-o talk in wnispers, all unconscious of a listener. “it will be the making of us! Holt will take us for two piontlis as his men, and then settle us each on our own land. Why ! we should be fools to refuse, and after all, what does he want? Just to take possession of his own; for, curse it, the girl belongs to him, whatever she may say.” “Well, but how are we to do it. If ; t can be done gently I don’t mind, but—” Something startled the plotters at this juncture, and they slid quietly away into the starlit night. When she was sure they had gone Marion came out and laid supper, thinking hard all the time. What did it all mean? Robert Holt, the black sheep of the country side, wanted to get hold of some girl who “belongs to him,” and two of their farm men were being bribed heavily to secure her! Who could it be but her cousin, Dorothy Drayton, who had lived with them, at the. farm ever since her drunken worthless father had promised her as a married slave to a man no better than himself? When John Drayton had announced to Dorothy that she was the property of Robert Holt, having been his last stake at cards, the meek child had fled in terror to her uncle, who had ever since refused to part with her. / At supper Alarion was silent and thoughtful, for she felt that she. must wait, and in the meantime keep Dorothy with her. But at night she was in such a state of excitement that she got no sleep ; she fancied she could hear stealthy movements about the house-, she was sure someone was whispering ; she heard • a cry. Then she jumped from her bed, and entered the next room where her cousin lay. A,ll was still, and Dorothy was placidly sleeping, yet Marion could not free herself from the idea that quiet footsteps were traversing thei passages. She left the bedside and stood listening in the middle of the room, a dim white figure standing faintly against the faint light of the window. Suddenly something warm and stifling was thrust over her mouth. With a leap she tried to escape, but iron hands grasped her arms from the back, her breath failed, her head surged, and she lost all consciousness. When she came- to herself her mouth was still tied up, her hands and feet were bound with something strong but soft, arid her whole body was wrapped round with a thick rug outside which she could detect the rustle of straw. She was evidently in a cart being jolted aloffg a rough road. Alarion had little fear in her nature, and indeed she had much less cause for fear than Dorothy would have had in the same circumstances, so, mingled with relief at the thought of her cousin safely asleep, came a sense of humour at the. mistake which had been made. After what seemed to her hours, the cart stopped, the- tail-board was taken out, and strong, but not ungentle, 4 hands drew her from her surroundings. She was still treated as a bundle possessing neither limbs nor life; and felt herself carried up a number of steps, tnen deposited upon a bed, and a door closed upon her. With an overpowering feeling of terror she struggled violently and got her feet free, perhaps she thought they had been purposely loosened. This gave her hope and shq pertinaciously worked at her hands until she slipped them from the cords. Eagerly she removed the obstruction from her mouth and eyes, only to find that she was in the midst of black darkness. When she had recovered from this shock she put her bare feet to the floor and commenced a hand survey of the room. It was small, and empty but for the bed, and a chair upon which lay a bundle ; the door had no handle, and was fast locked. Disdaining -cries or hysterics Marion returned to the comfortable bed and waited. She must have slept, and that heavily, for when she awoke, daylight was softly entering through the unshuttered ■ window, the bundle had resolved itself into a complete suit of rather antiquated clothes spread upon the foot of the bed, while, a basin and jug of hot water stood upon the chair. Alarion examined the clothes; they were fine and white, smelling of sweet lavender, while the black silk dress had the cut of at least thirty years earlier. “However, it is safer to be up and dressed than to remain in bed,” thought Marion ; so she rose and took advantage of all that had been supplied her, quite unconscious of what a quaint, bonny picture she eventually made. As she stood looking from the window into a tiny, grass-grown yard, the door opened silently, and she was startled by a rough voice bidding her come down to breakfast. Turning sharply she saw an old but powerfully built woman in the doorway. Marion stood to consider her; should she- obey such a summons or not? She decided not to quarrel with a servant, but to save her strength for the real encounter. So she followed her guide downstairs, through a long, oaken diningroom, into a delightful little octagon morning room opening upon a Peglected lawn. Breakfast was laid for three, and two cien stood by the window. One she recognised, her uncle, the disreputable old drinker and gambler, who had not scrupled to regard his daughter as a marketable object. The other, a man of about thirty, she had never seen before. Both uttered exclamations as they wheeled round to look at her. Drayton’s was a fierce oath. Holt’s sounded more like a murmur of pleasure.

The latter advanced, holding out Ins hand and saying, “Good morning, Miss Drayton ; you must forgive the summary way in which your father has brought you here,-but he is ill and in need of your service.” With something like a scream of rage the old man broKe in, uttering an oath between every two words. “We’ve been deceived, Holt, deceived ; she is no daughter of mine; she is iny brother’s child, the minx ! She thinks she will be Alls Holt and take my girl's place. ” Holt turned upon the other fiercely, bidding him be quiet; but the old man, whose brain was fast going under the burden of his dissipations, raved like a maniac, whilst Alarion stood against the wall scornfully watching both. “Look here! if yon don’t be quiet I shall put you out of the room!” said Holt in a quiet masterful way which Alarion remembered afterwards. “Well put me out,” yelled Drayton, “but not before and he rpshed at Alarion with every intention of striking her. With a bound Holt caught him by the shoulders, and white with rage flung him upon the floor, where he lay breathing in gasps, the blood trickling from his temple. Robert looked from the prostrate reprobate to the girl, his chest heaving. “Are you not his daughter? I am—yes; I am a villain; but 1 never knew what was being done until it was too late. They used my name, but I swear to you that I did not bring you here. If only I had known in time.!” Alarion’s heart softened to this man who had retained some sense of honour through all his degradation, but she merely said, “Let us pick my uncle up.” They put him upon the sofa and bathed his head, but he did not recover consciousness. “You must send for a doctor, and you must send a trap to my father’s*house, with a note to bring my cousin.’’ Without a word Holt obeyed her, and soon Drayton was in bed being nursed by Alarion. In the afternoon Robert asked to see her, and when she came to him he announced his intention of going to live at the village inn, leaving his house and housekeeper at the disposal of herself and her friends. And Alarion looked with real appreciation at the man whose character was so black, but whose actions were so gentlemanly. John Drayton, almost imbecile, lived for some months, being taken to his brother’s farm as soon as he could be moved, and Holt called about once a we«k to ask after him. Dorothy found no cause to fear this man whom she once dreaded, and to her parent’s distress, Alarion began to admire him. Idleness and the possession of too much money had led Holt into card playing: now that the motive was gone he dropped the amusement indifferently, and under Alarion’s influence began to cultivate his land. Later she became his partner in that and other work.