CHAPTER XXII.—Continued.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13162, 12 May 1906, Page 6

CHAPTER XXll.— Continued.

The envelope bore the Antwerp -postmark of the previous day, and had he not had reason to suspect some fraud, he would have been quite satisfied that the few lines had been penned by St. Hilary's own hand ; each stroke, and curve, and flourish bore the impress oi the^-impetuous dash with which the major was so familiar, and when he held it to the light, there was' no i sign, however slight, of the tracing pencil that must have been used had it been a careful • imitation. If it was not St. Hilary's own workmanship, it had been> done by some one who had practiced his style till the perfection attained would have b^flied an expert. The letter occupied two pages of note paper, and ran thus : (h JVIy Own Darling Little Dora : I shall , be with you now in a few days, unless I have to follow the villain, I am searching for to the other side of the Atlantic. We; have reason to believe he is in the town, and he may try- to get away on one of the North" German I/loydsV If he does I. shall be on his "track. But I will let you know before I sail. You need not .reply to this, as I shall most likely bave left before this reaches you ; and if I do. not find him at the end of his. journey, I shall give him tip for the present. I begin to think' that a stranger would have a better chance of finding him than I have, for I dare say he remembers me, : and perhaps laughs in His sleeve when he sees me looking for him while he is safely 1 hidden behind some disguise or other. "I am glad Maj: Lugard is with you. You must let him' take my place in everything till I return. I am afraid poor young -Dacre thinks himself hardly used, and I wish now I had not asked you to postpone the marriage ; and if you like to make him my son-in-law; before I return, I shall not be sorry. Then- we can go down to Ravenskerne together." The letter ended with a few fond words, and there was nothing in it that the colonel might not have written ;it was dated' from the Hotel de Ruyter, a large establishment in 'a, well-known thoroughfare, and ; except for the suggestion that * Dora need not reply, Maj. Lugard might have accepted it as genuine. " "That looks like another subterfuge to gain more time,", he said to himself, "and if it is, it will fail signally. I will take Fletcher with me, and if we do not find him . at the Hotel de Ruyter, we can search the lists of passengers going out by any of the ships leaving for America ; and if we do not find him, then we must offer a large reward without the delay of a single hour." "You will not let him go again ?" Dora's pathetic voice broke in. "If he must go, let him take me with him." "He shall not go, if I am in time to stop him," the major said. "Make your mind easy on that score, Dora. I shall send a telegram, and follow it without waiting for an answer, and I will not come back without him if I can help it." Mary knew by the look Dora, gave him that "she was thinking how strong, and brave, and prompt he was, how willing to dp anything for her sake ; and she found herself wishing that Leonard could have gone instead.