CHAPTER. XXXVII.—Continued.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12438, 16 December 1903, Page 6

CHAPTER. XXXVll.—Continued.

"Not just yet. I would like to see Madam Sylvester a moment, if we can find her ; but lirst tell me" — and the beautiful face instantly lost its lovely colour— "have you heard again from — from — Earle ?" "Yes ; I had a letter clay before yesterday, and he is not very well*, he writes ; the doctor docs not think the climate exactly agrees with him," Mr Tressalia answered, his own face growing grave as ho saw the brightness die out of hers. Editha sigjied, and the old grieved look returned to her lips. "Would you like to read this letter ? I have it with me," he asked,' considerately. . . tk No, co ;?L oould not do that. Tell me, please, what you like about him ; but I cannot q.uite bear to read his own words just yet, 11 she said, with unutterable , sadness. j "My poor little friend, your lot is a hard one," he said, softly. "Don't pity me, please — life is hgrd enougo for us all, I think," she returned, qiiiickty and bitterly. Earle thinks he will have to have a change as soon as he can get away," Mr Tressalia continued, "and" asJks if I will resume the charge of Wycliffe for him. Shall I tell you all that he says about ' it ?" ! "Yes, yes ; go on," the poor girl • said, eagerly, though every word was fresh torture to her. "He says he cannot live longer away from you, Editha : it is killing him, and he must come where he can see you cmce in a while. He writes, "'Ask her if I ma}'. I will say nothing that shall wound her. t~ will be iirm and strong ; but, oh ! I am so homesick for a look into her eyes, for a clasp of her hand. Ask her, Paul, if I may come.' " "No, no, no" !" burst in a low frightened tone from the girl's livid lips. "He must not come. Write to him instantly and tell him so. Mr Tressalia. I could not bear that of all things in the world. I will not see him. He must not come. I will hide from him. Why must I suffer so ?" The' words .ended in a low, heartbroken sob. vShe had clasped both hands . convulsively around her companion's arm in her excitement, and was now shivering and trembling so that he was greatly alarmed. The" brightness and exceeding beauty that had been hers when he first saw her had only been the result of a momentary excitement after all. He had flattered himself that she was really better and stronger, both in body and spirit, but now he saw that her poor heart was just as sore and wounded as ever and that~ her fatal love was still eating at her vitals. Earle, "he knew from the letter he had so lately received, was suffering in the same way, and what these poor, tired ones were v.o do all their future was a sore trouble to him. "Be calm, dear child," he said, in low, quiet, tones. "Earle shall do just as you wish. Come and walk with me until your nerves are a little more steady." He unclasped those locked fingers -from his arm, and, drawing one hand within it, led her away into a retired path, and talked gravely of other things, until he saw the wild look fade from her eyes, the hand on his" arm grow cfwiet, and knew that her intense excitement was gradually subsiding. But it 'hurt him deeply to hear every few minutes a deep, shuddering, sobbing sigh come from her pale lips — something as a child breathes alter it has exhausted itself with weeping and fallen asleep. . He would gladly have restored happiness both to Earle and her it he could have ' done so, even to tlie sacrificing of his own life, but he could not — each must bear their own burden. It seemed as if they had been beset on every hand with troubles during the past few years, fulfilling those words of Shakespeare's : "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions." ' "Earle lias had an adventure. Shall I tell you about it ?" he asked, when at length she had apparently grown q,uilc calm, and intuitively knowing that she would like to hear more. "If you please." • "There has been an attempt made to rob Wycliffe, and but for his calmness and bravery great mischief would have been done." "Ah ! he v/as always brave ; but —but I hope he was not injured." Editha cried, a feeling of famtnei's stealing over her. "BKss you, no ; else he would not now be talking of a change. He not only prevented a robbery and protected himself, but he has captured the robber.'' • "I am sure that is aood news," she said, now deeply interested. I "And, Editha, who do you sup- | pose the robber, proved to be?" j "I am sure I eanuot imagine ; 'and yet you cumot mean " "Yes, 1 do mean it," he answered, reading her thought. "It was no other than that wretch who robbed your father's house several years ago, and for which Earle suffered the penalty. It was Tom | Drake, that man whom you met j afte*r your visit to John looker's, :

and who afterward entered your house the second time and compelled you by his mesmeric power to go away with him." ■Editha shuddered, and yet .she could hardly believe her ears. She had always been afraid of meeting that dreadful man again, and now to know that he was away in England -.oni a captive, was a great relief to her. "It does not seem possible," she said. "It is righteous judgment that he .should at last be taken by the n very one who unjustly served out ' the sentence that ought to have been pronounced upon him threefold," was the stern reply, j "Tell me how it happened, pleai-e • —that is, if you know?" t "Yes ; Earle wrote a good deal about it. It seems . that the fellow did not deem the United | States a sale place for him after ! John Loker's confession was made public— the description of himself 'was too accurate for that — so he fled to England, and has undoubtedly been carrying on his nefarious operations there ever since. About a month after I left sVycliffe, Earle , was awakened on night by the sound as of some one stepping cautiously around in his dressingroom. His revolver was in reach, 'and he instantly secured it. The : next moment a man passed into • his room. It was not a very dark night, and as the robber glided between the bed and the window, his figure was clearly outlined, and Earle, aiming low, fired at him. He fell with a groan. It was but the work of a minute to strike a light and go to the prostrate man, who was too badly vounded to make any resistance, and he found that his "fallen foe was none other than his and your old enemy, Tom Drake." "What a strange adventure ; and — Earle was in groat danger," Editha whispered, with a .leepdrawn breath. "Yes ; but the strangest of all is vet to come," pursued Mr Tressalia. "Instead of giving the wretch J up to the authorities, as any cm- ' else would have done in spite of his fearful sufferings, he onjoined strictest silence upon the servants, i-alled in the old family physician and swore him to secrecy, and is now nursing the wretch back to health as tenderly as if he was his own brother." ' "This is just like Earle's nobility; he is 'a noble of nature's own creating !' " said Editha, r.dii'jringlv ; and her face glowe.l with pride for this grand act of one whom she so fondly loved. "Was the man very severely injured ?" she asked, after a iroment of silence. "Yes in the thigh : he v/il] probably be a cripple for life, Earle says.' 1 "IT»w sad ! What w.'l be done with him when he recovers <"' "Earle did not write what his intentions were, but ne will prorbably be transported for life, where, with a ball «md chsiiu attached to him, you will uc« or need fear him any more." "Poor fellow ! The Rngl. J «;,'i laws arc more severe than our oxw 1 , then," she said, with a "If the laws of Lhe .Tr>iied States were more stringent, a:u: the penalties for extreme cases more severe, your pi isous w ouki not be so full, and, i'l mv cpinicn there would be less mis-chef done," Mr Tressalia replied, :lio.ightfuliy. At this moment some one .spoke his name, and, turning, they saw Madam Sylvester and her brother approaching. Pleasant greetings wc-jo exel nng- . Ed, and then they all soughi s^c ts at a little distance near a fountain for v few moments 1 conversation before returning to their hot.':!. (To bo continued.)