"A SECRET SORROW."

Thames Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 8617, 23 March 1897, Page 1

"A SECRET SORROW."

BY MBS MAY AGNES FLEMTNO.

Author of "A Mad Marriage," " Carried By Storm,"

CHAPTER XXII. (Continued.)

'I started at him in silence, not eon* i prehendin his meaning. * Ahoy, you lubber!' shouted another, i ' Can't you tell us whose colours you tail i under P What port do you hail from P' 4 Newgate, I think,' said an insolent { fellow, who, passing at the moment, had 1 oTerheard the question. \ ' My first imtulse wa» to knock him . down; and the next moment he measured < his length in the mud. A shout of applause from the sailors followed tbis, , while ihe fallen hero bellowed loud'y for the police. Half a dosen policemen cane'; rushing up and fell upon m->, whrreopon | the sailors fell upon them, and a general melee fol'owed. With the determinttion o' dying sooner than be imprisoned again, I fought desperate y; and soon, arccm panied by my faithful champions, the sailors, I was on ike deck of the good privateer Prince "Edward, ' The captain of the privateer urged me to sian indentures, which I ■ complied with—thereby placing myself in the power of one of the. Rreajett tyraata thai ever trod a quarter.deck. I "soon discovered that I had exchanged one kisd of captivity for a won*. Still, knowing that I was in hit power, I strove to bear with what patience I could bis ill-usage, and I had learned patience, I can assure you, in prison. At last his tyranny grew absolutely, unendurab'e. I was half starved, and obliged to <lo the, moat degrading work. One day, having forgotten to do some* thing-—a mere trifle which be told me to do—he absolutely exceeded hinself. I was ordered aloft, and one of the men wastold to administer the " cat" to my naked back. .' The men refused—for the men, with few exceptions, were warmly attached to me—whereupon the brute, fienaied with passion, ordered the kiadbearted fellow, to be tied up along with me, and another man was ordered to apply the ea-b'-nine tails to bis back as well aa mine. Ani they did it.

' I saw him tied up before my eyes, while they held me tight, and whipped until his back was <mo hideoui sum* of raw flesh. Then they took him down more dead than a'ire, and I wae ordered op in his place. Ten thousand furies teemed in that momeat to postess me. ' With the strength of a giant, I burat from those who held me. A heavy merlin* apike lay beside me. lie led it, and ths next moment it went crashing through the skull of the monster. He never stirred again. , r The men, appalled by the awful deed and its consequences, seized me, and I was put in irons. I made no effort to regist. The fearful deed I had commit'ed rendered me ca'in. I did not regret it, but the feeing that I was a murderer lay on my heart like lead. When the ship arrived in Liverpool I was immediately . given up to the authorities. I rem?mber that trial for murder as though it had happened yesterday. The crowd of l.umaafaces, staring at me as though I were some strange aarage animal, is still vivid y before me, And amonj the crowd "J recognised my father, . ' , •' He did not know me. The sailor's dress, my bronzed features and fierce looks, were very different from anything he ever knew of his eideut son; besides he labored under the firm conviction thai I was dead. He wai speaking to one of the jurors, who seemed to have some donbts of my guilt, and I heard him say— •He is a murderer! He deserves death—hanghim!' 'The words- turned my b'opd to gall. At that moment I vowed, if I ever escaped, to spare nei her nor friend foe— all should feel the weight of my reugeanoe. And I have kept my word ! The trial waa over, and I waa condemned to death. I heard my sentence with careless scorn, and listened with a levity fir from edifying; to the judge's solemn address. I paid no attention to the trial; atranue as it may seem, I felt convinced I waa in the hand of fate, and that my hour was not yet come. It was only when I waa commanded to riae and receive the sentence of the conrl that I awoke from a sort of reverie into Which 1 had fallen, and heard the venerable judge, es he donned his bUo'< cap, and ordered me to be taken to the place from whence I had been brought, and from thence to the place of execution, there to be hung by the neck until dead, winding up with the usual formula — 1 And may God have mar?? on your ' Thank you. mv lord. Much obliged for your kiod wishes,' said I, with a bow. A look of indignant horror from the jndgf, and a half-repressed smile from the crowd, followed this I was removed to prison, there to await tbe sentence of the law. The day on which I was to be exeeated arrived, and hope b Ran to deseit me. Every attempt to escape had' been prevented by my bang closely ironed, and I began to think that, after all 1 waa born to be hanged. ' • 'I he fatal hour arrived at hut. The sheriff and his companions entered my cell; my irons were knocked off, and I was marched to the scaffold. An ismense crowd had assembled to ses me make my exit, and I saw at onoe by their faces that public opiaion was in my favour. A groan of disapprobation arose as I ap peared, I heard it, and, at the same moment, my eye fell en the sheriff's fcerse, standing right beluw the scaffold. * In a moment my resolution was taken, burning to that functionary, I told him I ■deair.ed to speak a few words to the crowd. ' The t&aquest was granted. I leaned forward *• it to address them, when suddenly I leaped from ihe scaffo'd right on tbe horse's back, darted through the .crowd, tb*t ,in»olun»arily opened right and left; and before they had recovered from their surprise at this audacious act I was on the kirn?'* highway. Turning in the saddle, I .gave : a cheer of defiance, and then, urging ,my horse onward, I dashed away at a break*?ck speed. • Ike insulted dignitaries of the law a 'ul not long reatain inactive. I was hotly «» -sued, bat I was a desperate man, and f distanced them eft. My horse, passing throuCbadventaresandhairhtedth'aca^s I found myself wandering, a haunted fugitive, in the old «oor, near the home of mytjbiwthood. . . •It was a stormy night. I bid no bone, and I reseivW to spend the night in the old moor manor, »nd brare tbe gkosts I had heard from my mfanoy were its sob ""l threw myself on the floor, and fell fast asleep. Here I«W found by lome of the pirates, who even than held the it as a pace of rendeavoue. It required lit) le argument to make a desperate man join them- I soon grew attached to their wild, free, toring life, and at the death of their leader I was unanimously elected to bis place. • The Waer Witoh and her crew soon became the terror of the hi*h sea. He» wards were offered for our capture, but we on'y laugLed at them. With our fast sai.iuß brig, and picked crew of desper* adoes from all quarters of the world, we feared them not. ■ Sometimes, by way of change, I left iho btii{ iv charge of Mondalvi, and in \ark>u> dUtfttiiei sought adventures. It

was on one of these occasions I on* eonnteneSjn and her grandmother. I I took them to the old Moor Manor, where • they remained until the la«t fatal cruise.' He paused for a moment, as though nerving himself for what waa yet to cone.

Kate he'd a glass o f water to his lips. He drank it off eagerly, and then reBurned—

' And now I come to the most eventful ' —to the siddest part of mv dark history —that part which I won d to hea-en I ' conld forget. " 'During one ef these intervals, whilst seeking adventures on the land. I stopped at a little vi'lagft in the south of France. My assumed name of Capt Raymond was • too well known, and as I bad plenty of money to supportthe character, I re jo'vei to adopt that of an English baronet. Accordingly, as Bir Waiter Percy, 1 b«came the one great man of the vUlav c. v • One day, shortly after my axriv»\ w M a holiday among the good people of the village. It waa the feast of some saiat, and a public procession was to take ptaoe. .11 ? necer ie'n • J»"« M *«f »^PVAll the young girl, off the, rillta**-, dressed in white, and crown*** with flowers, went first, boding in thowfcfßd* KsthtedUpere. and ebaitiftf tkt. latwr of the Biessed Virgin. I only gave then a passing glatMse, when my oyt> fell on a faoe the saeat bMBLfal I hare e»er behold. IW« travelledsinoeibr«««h cmsij srlaai, I have seen tho laoriiAing bewatiw of fury-like feaotwionfaimtisi; (Nitrnvtr one so lovely »s she. I will not srtssMt to describe hor to yo«. lam wadeqmale to the task. Bumce it to aav that om (luce imprinted her imago for ever in my heart.

•Dorm* the service that foUowtd taw proeeision, I aevcr removed Mr mm from her f.oe, M ilia atood bala* tt» altar, her hands enxs^d m«skV<w# har pure bosom ; b«r em fixed o» tht !••>, withthelong, dark laskes revtmw Imwlf on her owl ceeek*. Once, a ttw pan of the kymn aba was chaotitjr, ah* niawi her dark eyes, and me* mi bum 4*w*«r ardently opon her, they fell MajK«pjk» the hot blood mantled cheek and MM; 'I was not long in disoovarincv^slkja fair girl waa. Hornataa waa itHaHw Desbrea**, an orphan, residing wit* feat grandmother, an old woman lii—i Wtfl Soraaaas. Madolioe'e p%nata, H«MBs> hadatone time been waahky, mthU «T«| their d^nghtar aQ aaaoaiiml far abof« that of her comsaawns. At tkair - deatb, bar traodmother voek bar to ff aide in hereotUgci, and heravftt tk« aft of Bixteen, I fir,t,ww Madeline. , 1 need not pmaa to tall £mv how «« acquaintance progtaaied. Bmm it ta> ■ay, we both laaraad to lova aaoh otbot —I with all tha iatenaitv of m Impalaiv* natare, and tba with all tba paaain—,»■ abandon of a b«t.bloodoi ohUd of tfc« snntiy somth. (To be Contnucd.)