CHAPTER XXX—Continued.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 12761, 14 January 1905, Page 6

CHAPTER XXX—Continued.

Mrs Cartaret had nat been un,renerous to her nephew in times p^st ; he realised that if sko discovered him here, with that damnin o- evidence of the forced locjk, ho neqtl never expect another idollar from, her. Mrs Cartaret had covered halt a dofcen paces before the dim rays oi the candle enabled her to see that the desk was o;pen. She paused with a quick dry ol fear her hand pfressed to her heart; a look of new-born terrorhad leaped into her face. Clarence Garfield saw the white lips mo,ve. "Some one has been at tlhe bu/reau !" •She cast a quiclc glance irolundFor an instant the man behind the pictured figure of Judas lspariot was afraid that sne some' one might be hiding badk of the tapestry*—might discoVer him; it was su-eh an ob,vious hiding place, as he 'uncomfortably realised. But, to his relief, Mfcs Cadtaret advanced quickly to the bujreau, as though her one thought was to discover whether the letter, on whose safety everything depended, was gone. She placed the candlestick an. the open 1 desk, and, putting out a hand, tried one of tJie drawers. A jook of partial relief passed over 'Mrs Cartaret's face as she founjd that the drawer was still lociked ; b|Ut ttfiere was a nervous haste in her manner as she selectfrorn her bunion a key 'curiously shaped at the handle, and inserted it in the lo.clk. •Elverythingi she ; vakie'd in life hung njppn her finding the letter witliin that drawer. If it were g Ome —stolenr—all her denials would be useless ; the house of cards she haid 1 kept standing for more tihan a sciore of years must fall. Nothing could save her. It would be useless to deny her crime then1 — the crime that, if dragged into the light, must humiliate this pjriotud woman to the diust, might bring her douibtless within the chit'ches of tihe law. It was ciurious that, in all the fears that haunted her, this woman thought simply oi I what the donseqliences of disJ covery would mean to herself . she {did not think of Enid at all— I Enid, whom the blow would fall and criu&h, too. ... Mrs Cartaaret turned the key in the lotk, but she did not pull open the 'drawer at first. It was as though her courage suddenly failed hen. She dreaded to look and find it empty, borne one had been at. the bureau, had r.ethaps stolen her keys, and, if so., might have taken the letter and relocked the drawer. It could only be Gordbn *Cartaret's daughter. I Gordon Cartaret's ilaughU-r ! This sin of hers that had faken fits inception from her desire t<; ttivenge herself on Gordon Caita:et ' —how strangely like fate it 'vas i that, after her guilty se -n't had ! slept in silence all ihese y» ays, it 'should be discovered by his 'daughter ! j She nerved herself at l.\st to pull open the drawer. A cry oi joy broke from her ; for a moiment her face was transform-id in 'the look of swift relief. TK^ letter was there ! j The letter was safo—her secret j was still uitrevealed ! Let this i girl tell what she might, she cbu.d pro,ve nothing. j She would deny the girl's talc' — deny every word. Who coiuld prove anything after twenty-thlree years ? What proof hald Gordon Carrtaret's daughter ? A sleepwalker's muttered talk ! She woidU refute it. Rush mare's mcmoJry of that change of name between her and Julia Webb ! RAishmore himself admitted to her 'he was mistaken. The girl could j prove noUrmp". ! Mirs Cartaret lauighdcl almost j hysterically as she took the fadod letter from the drawer I—an1 —an old letter worn almost ragged along the creases where it had been folded. j 'If this had fallen into an enemy's hands I might halve had I cause' for ft-ar," she irfutterdcl, as she sank back into the chair by Uhe bureau. "But when I have de.stroved it —t —" ( ! She held it toward the flame of the candle with trembling " hands, . j glancing, as she did so, across the J vlim hall to where, on the wall, j hung Gordon Cartaret'a pbrfcrait, j a gleam of triumph in her face. j And fust at that moment, to ( her unspeakable horror, a hand reached out over her sli'ouMer and ! snatched at the letter, while the 'candle was knocked olvcr anti ex-. tingjuished. . i i The man behind the tapestry had, stolen out from his hiding place on a resistless impulse. He had j watched her face as she took the , letter"from the drawer, heaa-id the. low-muttered words. That letter would make him master of her secret, part her in his power. At all costs he mirst have it, he told himself, acting precipitately on the impulse before he had time sanely to reason his action out. : As his hantt grasped the letter, antl, with a downward motion extinguisfce'd the litfht, Mrs Cartaret trirnetf with a short, sh'attp cry, an-Vl ffrced her eyes on Mm. Garfieldn'a'd tootpCd that, in the d'arik, she would not recognise him. It startled him him to find how the .light lingeredv—it startled him im-

■ neasaireably to sec her widejpened eyes fixed intently upon him, and the accusing face that looked oddly gray in the "dim ' ight. It all happened in an instant, m his hurried snatch at the letter he had not bargained for her ■inn grip on it. The letter pared in two by one of the woim { , reases, . and a fragment came away in his hand ; her tenacioTis lingers still held the rest. But he retreating across the hiall be!ore he quite realised the fact. • There was a loolc in the gmy ace that claim ted him. He dared aot go badk to snatch away the ;)art of the letter she still held, iler look frightened him, her sil- , nee frighteiud him ; on an imixulse of panic lie lied quickly to ;he door, although he knew that - he had recognized Mm, and knew, ,00, that he had only possessed iimsclf of part— perhaps a valtneIrss part — of the letter. He d&jred .',ot g,o back to steal the rest. He .sojpecl desperately that the fragment he hand scoured would give him the clue. Tf it did not—*— As he reached the door he east one hairried look badk. Tn the .lim light he saw his aunt sitting in the same silent attitude, her face turned toward him, her eyes following his. retreat. How. ..trange it was that she did not ry oiut, raise an alarm ! But there was no sound from the wuiet figure. ~ He passed through the door, and • loseid it. Outside he paused and listened, (.■very limb trembling. All was sil'•nt" within. He made his way juickly to his room. There he looked at liis plimfcler,. It was just at the top of a r.heett— about a third part — and it only contained as address aud a -late. He stood staring at it. 'Fool ! fool ! His maid impulse had lost him everything. All his -rouble had been for this*— a value- ; ess scrap of paper ! He was no nearer the secret now than before -and his a.unt had recognised iim. Fool ! fool ! "I may as well pack my things. I shall have to clear out of Eidgeitiare Towers the first thing tom'oxrow," he toW himself, still staring at the fragment of paper. "I shall never dare to show myself here again> — I shall never hiajve the chance."