[COPYRIGHT.]

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13928, 11 June 1909, Page 1

[COPYRIGHT.]

I

CHAPTER VII.— IN PERPLEXITY. Quoonio stood before hor toilet tablo. a blonder white iobod figure, hor bonu111ill arms gloaming without any adorunu'iit in tho half light of shaded candles and the djing day m tho west. Her throat rose swau-liko from the soit and fluffy chiffons of hor corsago Except when custom demanded it. Quoenio rather avoided tho decolletio s>t\lo of toilette of which she saw s<> much, aud her dress to-night onl> showed the spring o£ tho throat, anJ n httlo triangle of nock, whereon rested a curious and beautiful pendant of Spanish topaz, in an antique sottinu of silver. As this ornamont was unique, tho girl wore no bracelets, or otliei adornments, and stood thoughtfulh boforo hor glass looking at tho sparkle of the yellow stones, which Boomed to tono in with the brown and bronze lights in hor hair, and the clear golden brown of hor eyes. On the toilet table there lay the little photograph she had begged of hoi brotWr some ten days previously, representing a group takon— or snappo<i — on board tho steamer. "I behove I've got "(irosham on tinbrain,' just from having mot Sir Theodore, and hearing from Annabel about that trial. It can't possibly bo the same. Ho would novor daro to conir to England without an enorinous> boaid or somo such disguise. It's only a vague sort of kiok — something in tho shape o tho brow — and as I was such a little kid it's not likely I remember very distinctly, though I fool as if I did. Well, ono thing I shall know to-night. There was that funny mark on his ebooktbat would novor go. He said so himsolf wbeu I asked i£ ho had hurt himself. Ho called it a birth-mark, an>l said it might likely bo his 'doatlim.irk' too. I didn't understand what ho meant then, but 1 do now. Nothing can have changed that, nor tin shapo of Ins noso — tho way it turnoj up at the tip, hko a snorting hoiso'f. On, ho would novor dare' For I suppose they could arrest Jinn still, air! make him finish his time. Ho would never risk that. And *.o many mon have a sort of doullo. It would !>. rather exciting if other people though' the same about him, and bo had to giw [ account of himself. But what nmi'-oiw I'm talking; it isn't my fu^itne 1 <-hall never see him again, but 1 li hope he's safe- somewhere! I never oav drop him out of my prayers! I won der whether — perhaps— they have helped him sometimes — right away aci» vi > the world!" A soft, Bwoot look came into th° bnuht o\os. Little Queonie had deliberately in the lonft ago added to liei daily prayer morning and ovonini; tb simple petition, "Pray (Jod bless m.\ fugitive, and keep him safe, and make him a good man." And as thoro wa> something loyal and tenacious 'n Oueetiie's nature, and the thought, as she grow older sometimes came, "Perhaps he has nobody clso to pray foi him. I'll go ou always," that simp'e petition still wont up from lips an'l heart; only of lato the words "Hindi Gresham" had been substituted for "m\ fugitive." But the hands of the clock pointed to the hour. Queonie woke from her reverie and sped downstairs. Thoro woro to be one or two friends to a quiet friendly dinner, and as aho passed into Jiio drawing-room tho thick hum of voices and laughter assailed her oars. Pcrcj was near to the door, in con- n versation with a lean, bronzed stratum r. The light was quite subdued, as tho day |' lingered vet, and only two shade 1 lamps hoc been brought in. "Ah, here you are, Quoonio! 1 wns just looking for you. I want to jntro- „ duoo Mr. Letbbridge, whose name vom have heard, and be will take you in to " dinner." Quoenio wag never conventional or " stiff. She hold out hor hand to lipr brother's friend, and lifted hor o\o- ]' with that peculiar radiance of glanet '' which gave the impression of a smile (^' even when her lips wore grave. At that same moment dinner was an- t( nouncod, and tho little company filed out of the room and down the stair- t! ca^e, where the blaze of stronger light <( was jus>t a httlo dazzling to tho eyes. '' "Bo thia is your first season, and >ou T aro having a great success. Tell mo, t! what doe 9it fool like?" j~ She lifted laughing e3 - ea to his face; y his waa smilingly turned towards her ; d she looked at him squarely ; sho heaved * a tiny sigh — was it of relief or disappointment ? The bronzed cheek was ( ' smooth, and free from any sort of mark f< or scar. There was an undoubted P haunting likeness in the eyes and browbut that mdst bo a mere coincidence: P and, of course, her fancy would make hor think that sho recognised something in the timbre of tho voice. Of course, no child of ten would cany away so vivid an impression. "Ah, but who told you that? Of course, it's charming to hoar. Hut supposing you are just making it up, ' to bo agreeable?" I«-'I «-' "Would you like me to begin niaK- w ing up? I assure you I have at com- ° mand a vocabulary of Oriental hyper- *>• i bolo that would about take the roof oft « if I wero to give it full scope! Sha'l I give you a specimen of my powers pM ti "Yes, do. But perhaps it will Ik> <-' eafer to wait till wo are out of doors Wo havo really rather a nice garden, f I will show you after dinner. I wish 1 I'd brought my nightingale." r "You keep a tame ono in a cage s '' "No — just an imitation thing, \ou •■ do it by water and a tubo. 1 moan f \ou porch tho mock ono in a tree, aii-l y .»t)U niako tho nightingale song clos-> „ bosido him, under cover of tho daiknoss. It's such fun— l used to do it ;, nt homo when I was small aftor the J o people came out at a party. So man\ t, don't know that we don't 'get night in- {l gales in Devonshire, or that anywa.\ w they don't bing aftor July. And they're .y so excited to hoar mine. I wonder it they would really think one was hinging in a London garden !" "So you livo in Devonshire, do you ?'" "Yes; Percy said jou wero a Devonshire man." "Not that exactly; but Devon&hiio is the one English county I can claim v , to know. You see wo put into Ply- t ' mouth for trading purposes when I was a small, and 1 used to take myself oif fi and explore. Sometimes I had two r>i ° three weeks' liberty ashore " P "You had a ship of your own? 1 Cl mean your — father?" P "My elder brother. Ho started lile *' when our father vied, and had a genius *■' for trade. Mostly ho was out South t ! Amoric way and the Indies and the f Pacific Island's. But ho would go any v , where with a cargo that he knew would 9 fetch a good market. I used to go with l( him on and off as a boy. Later I wa.~ a more with him. If was only when no v died suddenly of fever about ton year; n'^o that I parted with tho schooner, * : and took to my own lino." " Queenie's suspicions were falling t( dead one after the other. This man a was no Gresham — no fugitive from jus- w tice. The likeness, such as it was — and " it seemed to be fading— was a more * accident. As he sat with his profile to- a wards her she saw the straight perfect ' J line of the nose which only resembled c Hugh Gresham by a certain width 'f noßtril at tho base. If this certainty robbed her new acquaintance of a certain amount of romantic mystery, it came with a decided relief to the girl who was not fond of having secrets to guard. t "What is your linef" a "Well, perhaps that word is scarcely I the right ono, but my drawings and ij tastes were all for tho East. Whenever t wo touched in at an eastern port I . used to feel the grip of the desert ain> \ the nomad life '/ot hold of me. t,. ! when I waa m,> .v. n master, and hau * no need to carry on the trading busi- ' ness longer, I realised my property and * went to Africa, and then to India and ' Persia. I tried China, but that didn't 1 suit me. I returned to Persia, and \ I made a sort of home there. I suppose « the love of trading was in my blood, i for I could not remain too long in one < place, and a caravan was a joy to me. , I had become something of an expert ;n , gems, and I was often summoned by \ Oriental potentates to offer an opinion, or to make a purchase, or to seek 1 out some jewel of the kind they wanted. ( It was rather fascinating work. It gave ' me insight into tho life of the East and <

its haunting mysteries, and it added materially to my _ fortune. Tune yas wlion I never anticipated returning to England " "Hut you aro English, surely " "Oli, yes: ire English are ovorvuhero, Von know to the disgust' and chagrin of our Teutonic neighbours 1 1 I'm of English stock right enough; but I did not expect to suffer from tho nostalgia, or whatever is the right « ord — which drives so many fellows home, even when they know that they ran live so far moro comfortably .n tho places they have made for ihemM'lvos m far off lands." "But you did? That's rather a toiidciful thing about England, don't you think y Wo grumble and growl at oui climato, and declare that the country i . just going to the dogs, but '' Their eyes met, and tliev smiled. "One has to come back all the same," h" «aid ; and then his eyes gloomed over I*l a curious fashion, and ho added in n much lower tone, "those who can." Aud instantly Queomo's thought* flrw out towards one fugitive who i iiiiht novor return to his native not without running a riifc v Inch ho Mould scarcely dare to do. Was ho. too, suffering from this strange I i >s>stont longing? Was ho eating out ills hoart in some far distant omint!»r s'oking, perhaps to drown the acho tv I unremitting toil — or giddy pleasure '- Her faco, too, became so curiously rtavo and thoughtful that her eom-j-in ion's attention was arrested, and I o had to speak twice before he gained l.crs again. "I suppose I may not ask of what — <r of whom — you aro thinking p That would bo an impertinence from r tran<_jor." "iisftin their eyes mot. Again an ox*r»ordmary sonso as of recognition ■ une its spoil ovor tho girl. • "' ,^°?' t niintJ toll »ng, you in tho ! -".t. she said, "I was thinking of tho friend— far away now somewherev. ho sont me the ornamont I nr> ' taring."

(To bo continued.)