SERIAL STORY.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12869, 3 January 1906, Page 2

SERIAL STORY.

(By Margaret Shearwood.)

THE CONHNG OF THE TIDE

CHAPTER XXIII. Alec Bevanne was left alone Tip on the rocks, and, restless as the restless sea, he strolled along the shore with movements which suggested that the wind had its way with him and bent him to its will. Beyond the Emerson Inn he suddenly found 1 Frances Wilmot at the edge of the little cove where his father's old dory was pulled high upon the sand. The girl was standing with windtossed hair driven back from her forehead, and her golf cape blown from her shoulders with a motion that resembled the flutter of wings. Joy of the passion of the sea was strong upon her, -as was • shown by the look .of her face when the spray touched it, and by the eyes that watched the inky curling waves, and the gray gulls far and near. She stood, braced with tense muscles against the wind, unconscious of him, unconscious of everything save the stormy bsauty and the thunder of ocean. As he saw her, he stopped for a moment and stood rigid, with his hands clenched tightly at- his sides. Then a quiver went through him, and he' shook witli something that was not the might of the wind; an evil look came to the bright blue eyes as he went to her down the shore path "where fern and goidenrod lay beaten'low by the past fury of the storm. When he spoke to her, it was with a voice that trembled through his effort to appear entirely selfcontrolled. " Miss Wilmot," he said eagerly, " I am going to ask a very great service of you." She turned to him; smiling through the spray. . " "Yes" The rush of the wind and the roar of -the breakers almost drowned his voice and he came close to her before he spoke again. "'My sister Alice" he said quickly, and as he spoke she no longer wondered at his uncontrollable agitation, "is out yonder on the point beyond Storm Cove. She went out early this afternoon', mistaking the tide; it must have surprised her there and out her off from the mainland. There is but one way -to save, her, and there is no one else near. Will you help? I,think that- the Rocket will weather the waves; I'm a fairly good sai'.or, you know, and there is no such sea on as there was yester- . ;day." ■ She ;marvelled- at the length and the carefulness of his explanation, and . answered before his last word was said. ' " Alice in danger? Of course I will come! Quick! Push out the dorr, and I will help!" She looked at the' raging water and the long, white streaks of foam, knowing no fear in the excitement of the moment and the sudden call of need. The man's hands grasped the boat, and;"'with strength that |was not all of muscle, dragged it to the .water, then, when he nad bade her leap in, pulled out. into the waves wifh vehement will. Admiration for his courage and his skill stung her with sudden penitence as • she realised that she had misjudged in the past the man whose love for his sisty: could nerve him to deeds so great. "Couldn't we go on in -the dory?" she : asked, as they drew near the Rocket, which was tugging at her buoy as- she rode the waves,- now on the crest, now plucginn into the -ini'jgh. - " itfo, no!" he shouted b.ick. "There, I have her. Jump I" ' : Obedient to his bidding, yet now half .afiaid, she sprang into the boat and 'crawfed to the helm; the man leaped after Jier, and, with a shout that had a ring of exultation in it, ran up the sail, tugging at the wet halyards with fingers that ■trembled in strong excitement; then slipped his -mooring, and they were away. "So much sail in this sea?" asked Frances Wilmot; courage like this man's was a splendid thing, she said nervously to herself. " She'll carry it!" he cried back. " Fine, isn't it?" The Rocket leaped and plunged, and rose again, lay ahnost-on her beam ends, and went out on the great rolling waves, strain on the girl's muscles as she clung.- to the tiller was almost unbearable, yet with it came the joy of .struggle, and a feeling of triumph as "one breaker after another, crashing against the bow, dashed the- spray from stem to stern and went seething-past; Across the wash of wave and of spruy she saw with wonder the look of delight- in her companion's eyes, and the brilliant spots- of red that stained the pallor of his cheeks. A dull' feeling of alarm paralyzed her hands, and the boat swayed and tossed as a great wave struck her almost abeam. :When, with straining timbers, the Rocket had righted- herself Frances was horrified to see that the mant ;with insane exultation, was making ready to run up the jib. - -cannot- hold her." she called quickly. "You must take my place." He did her bidding, grasping tilier and sheet, and the girl, creeping cautiously .toward tlie bow, faced the shore and saw that they were heacliug, couiee that led past the Inn and past the Warren place, ■toward a point that jutted into the water Itoward the south. Suddenly she -cried ,aloud : ■ <" " " But, Mr Bevanne—you tire mistaken, we need not go! There is Alice running ;along the rocks." ' i • He looked at her. and for the first'time : spoke camly. ." 1 am nqt. mistaken : I have lied." j' " Isn't Alice in danger ?"- ' t [ I judge not, from what- I see." "Why have you done this thing?" Her scorn stung him as wind and surav could not sting. * v Because it is the only thing left to do," he said dully. '"lf -rre may not live together, we must die together: there is no other way.- If we upset, and I pray we may, there wi.l be an end of my misery: that is all." * - Even in her moment- of supreme danger, when she saw the reckless motions of his hands, and knew that everv inch of the mainsail was spread to this storm wind, pity touched the woman's heart, for this man who was as a hit of driftwood in the P"eat tide of passion that carried him whi- ■■ ihev it would. She knew his purpose now : : he had made all ready for the disaster which he knew-might any minute come.

Meauwhi.e, Alice Bevanne was .over the wmuiug shore Uio . Warren house, 1 musing as she hud uevti run before, yet with speed tUat seetneu m her but a snail's puce. Wet grass caugu; at her damp skirts* and stayea her steps; scrub pine and juniper readied out detailing lingers to hold her back. Hero was u;e high rock where i'aui Warrca and she h;u; . sat. enthroned as king and quetii whea sue . was six years old, with Aiec for raau.ei i or for rival monarch, as the occasion tie- ' nianded, in those sweet hours of stolen play • of which nothing was ever said at- Lome; [■ and just beyond was the cove where, the » haughty footsteps of the retreating quean [ having led her too lear the edge, she hau ■ fallen into the water, Paul Warren piuugi iug to the rescue. These and myriad other i pictures caino back to Jier as the swift feat I sped over root aud pebble; bringing to the 1 swifter spirit only a nightmare conscious--1 ness of standing still. ! Near the boathouse in tho cove she found ' Paul Warreu who was examining wharl ' and shore in order to see what damage had been done by the great storm. He lifted ' his head and.iooked at her hi amazement, j wondering what alarm could so transform ' the quietest face he knew. "Air Warreu," gasped the girl breath- [ lessly, " something is wrong,—there is dan- . ger,—you must go out"— \ Dumb with wonder, he looked over the ' waste of water, following the direction ia , "which her finger pointed. \ "It is Alec; he is not himself any lon- \ ger, and he has taken Miss Wilmot out in ' the Rocket, I do not understand, but | see!" Cut on tho -water, rocking, sinking, rising again, Paul Warren saw a white rag of sail, forlorn and far as a lost hope.. ■ " In a sea like this 1" he cried. , " Go quickly! I will come with you, for you know that I can row. The "wind is beating them in toward shore, you see. , Alec—Alec does not know what he is doAt his side, inspiring, suggesting, calmI ing, the girl worked a3 one to whom the , magic vision has been, granted of the one ' right thing to do. The oars were close > at hand in the boathouse; as he pushed ' r out the dory, the woman stepped into the [ water at his side. 1 "I dare not let you go!" he panted. " "I dare not stay," she answered. ) Paul Warren, did nojt see in the face of Alice Bevanne, her fierce joy at sharing ■ the- danger of the being whom she .loved. Even when she spoke, he hardly heard her, though he mechanically obeyed.the voice full of the quiet courage" and self-possession j of the girl's daily life:— ''Head up a little! You can save her; , the Rocket hasn't capsized." j An awful energy of passion lent to the arms of the man a strength as the strength „ of ten, for, as they met and breasted the j waves, rising, gliding over, sinking in the j trough of the next, fury such as he had s never known descended upon him. It was t a moment when all the inheritances of his 2 life met- and clashed, and the fire smoulder--3 ing for generations blazed up all the m6re • fiercely for the protecting ashes that had B ' covered it. To reach this coward and fling him into the sea, to rescue the woman he t loved, ridding the earth of the presence 1 j of this vile creature before it, could .again x befit for the tread' c^-ner-feet, this* was the one swelling desire of his heart. He j was not thinking,—the tempest within him x was too strong for that; but through his s mind, borne as dead leaves are borne by \ a. furious; gale, were drifting old words, . old] memories, old pictured scenes. His father's death had come back-to him, aad, like a cry in his ears, more .vivid to sense f than the scream, of the gulls as they [ lo'jw-ed the trough of the waves hunting their r came the words which had bade biro r fight out the Bevanne brood. The elder \ Beyanne's pitifuHy weak love-letter came t Uphim as a call to action, for each phrase I replied some look upon the face of tlfe sqn; when his eyes- had rested on Frances I Wihnot; and Paul Warren cursed himself , that he, who had: known the strength .'of > man's hopeless love, had not measured by, it the extent of the woman's danger. Ejo ( old; passions hunted like unleashed hounds within his soul, and the memory of love's [ and its hope were driven out'bv ( elemental fury. ££ % -was no easy task set that day for tKc i strong arms of the man, as he battled w#ji , the-irrestibie might of the sea. Nearer j&d I nearer came the black hull on the water, t driven shoreward by the strong east wifia, I -wliijle the dipping white sail more .than ; on|e seemed to disappear. A thing of » nerve and muscle, with no sense save that : of vision, Paul Warren strained toward I that white "rag whose rising- and falling - on j the waves meant cruel Tantalus hope. Each f time he lost it, his heart dragged down as t with the weight of chains, down to the : depths of the sea, of whose glories this ;. woman had told him with laughter. The L memory of her words brought him only , pictures of her pale face and tangled hair • lying among, those dim, rich things of shadowy green and gold. Now they were near enough to discern clearly the figures in the boat, aad aa tie [ possibility of rescuing- the woman he loved ■ became niore strong, the white anger within • him burned higher in uncontrollable quiet. ; Ah, his father had /been right, and lie, in his ignorance, had not known. Between • him aad the tossing, careening Rocket, he [ plainly saw his father's face, and he heard him soy: " Young rattlesnakes are as poisonous as old ones." \ Surely; the heel of than ; was" meant *tp crush ouT venomous thing?. Paul Warren's motions were slower as i the supreme moment drew near. Masterfully, with deep breaths,';he took strokes, and. .crept closer and clqser to: the wild sailboat -as..she< fallowed' to leeward. Tho eyes ,of .the-madman at the helm -were fortunately turned awny, but ■ Frances Wihnot, facing the greatness of death, yet full of the certainly that wind ' nor wave could wrest her from her place at the heart of life, looked and saw her > lover coming to her over the waves. It i was the face of one who felt himself able t> wrest'e with death itself and plnck back the life he loved. -.. The girl bent toward , him, and her eyes were full of ioy that > omnipotent love should come to her thus > on the tide of the sea. Then the: sea which- had wrought her s danger offered her a slender chance of > enfety. fur. more through a fortunate acci- - denr of wind and wave than by strength of-..paul Warren's arms the. dory touched i for-a brief moment:JJie jside of the Rocket. "Spring!" cried" Paul","''and France?, with

,•; a movement too quick for fear, did lib j■: bedding. Tuc appealing touch of die girl's i ■ wet- hair as the wind blew it across hi.s i face tingied through him, and he found the . angry ocean hard to fight than was his oesire io Uikc her only for on instant in . his arms. Then he saw that Alec Bevanne ; had turned and was facing him, the blue ; eyes a.l alight with anger. A madman's ; irenzy came upon the man left alone in the Rocket, and with the skilled swiftness of . a cat he leaped into the dory, almost cap- • sizing it- by his sudden weight. He laid his hand upon Frances Wilmot's golf cape, . and his headlong motion betrayed the insane i hope of upsetting the boat, dragging her with him to the depths. To Paul Warren . came a sudden access of fury that was a3I . compact of strength; in an"instant's time , he had lifted the blender form of the ia- . trader in his arms, and had flucg him into . the seaw A horrified cry rose from tho two women, and Alice Bevanne's bold upon the oars loosened as she made a swift murement to follow to her brother's rcscoe. or I to claim his fate I (To be continued.)