BILL MARTIN SPEAKS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7423, 9 June 1902, Page 4

BILL MARTIN SPEAKS.

♦ To Ideal Tyre Coy., Christchurch.^-Dear j sirs,— l have, much pleasure in writiv'g you to say how. heartily I appreciate the Ideal tyres which were fitted to ray machine and upon which I put up my seventeen New j Zealand records, and won the several chaini pionship pmes. I was very pleased with I I them— WILLIAM MARTIN. X2992

do. If you go out the ordinary way you can only avoid your aunt by keeping behind her, and I take it that you want to get home first? And you don't want to leave before the curtain is down?' "I said I wouldn't leave before everything was over for three thousand Aunt Jacksons. " So what do you think he arranged, my dear? He said'he would get a good fast hansom round at the stage door, and as soon as the curtain was down he would come and take us through behind. Across the stage, May! Wasn't it lovely? He said there was always a- delay about get?'' ting cabs and carriages at the front door, ana the crowd came out slowly besides, so that with any sort of luck we ought to get a clear five minutes' start of Aunt Jackson." "Well, I think you are the two most awfully lucky girls I ever heard of ! What was it like behind the scenes, Minnie?" " I'm just going to tell you. That wasn't nearly the end of our adventures." "Wasn't it? Oh, Minnie!" "Well, we'll skip the play, till another time. Just as the curtain fell he opened the door and beckoned us out. We scuttled down a passage after him, and Joan, who never forgets to be polite, took the opportunity of gasping out bow kind it was of him to. take so much trouble for strangers like us. . I got into awful disgrace because I said, without stopping to think, that I believed he was really enjoying it, and that he looked like a schoolboy dodging a headmaster. So he did 1 ! But Joan was awfully angry, and then. Mr Cairns — his name is Godfrey Cairns, we found it on the programme — looked round, laughing, and said, * It's quite true, I'm spending a. very pleasant evening!'" "So Joan couldn't say anything after that." "May, the stage isn't a bit- like what you'd think. It was rather dark, . and a i lot of men, carpenters they looked; like — 1 working men — -were carrying things about, and moving huge bits of scenery; and a stout, big man, with ai black moustache, was standing with his back to the curtain, giving them orders, and he seemed rather cross, I thought. I expected, we should see gome actors about, but everyone of them had vanished, and, anyhow, Mr Cairns and Joan hurried me along so that there was hardly time to see anything. He opened a door behind the stage, which led into another passage — what a lot of passages a theatre Las ! — and we had all three just got. inside when Joan grabbed his sleeve to stop him, and I saw a little in front of us> a horrid old lady friend of Aunt Jackson's a prim vinegary thing, who ■used to speak at Women's; Suffrage meetings, and whom we had- met [several times. Fancy that old thing being* behind the scenes? Mr Cairns turned round, and when he saw our faceshe understood in a minute. "• Is that your aunt?' hei asked. " ' No, but it's a great friend of hers,' Joan sadd. 'She knows us:' " Considering how desperate the situation was, I did think he might have done something at once instead of standing there and looking at Joan. Of course, I know she was very pretty io look at, with her hand on his arm and her face turned up-r-but we were im ai hurry. ■ . "As it was, that horrid old Miss Jacobs had seen us, and came bearing down upon us. She always carries those glasses mounted on long handles you know, and as she came she hoisted them up to look at us through. We daren't retreat, so we just stood our ground, <and tried to look as happy as possible. . ' ' "'I think I know these young ladies, she started, with a kind of severe triumph. "Before we had time to think, Mr Cairns chipped in: ' „-,,. "'lndeed,' he said pleasantly, I didnt know you were a friend of my sisters! Mary dear,' and he grabbed Joan by the arm to show he meant her when he 'said Mary, [ 'won't you introduce me?' He looked at her very hard when he said this, and I will do Joan the credit of saying that she took her cue from him splendidly. She said : i ( . " ' I'm afraid there is some mistake. I— Idon't remember—' ; We could see by her face that old Miss Jacobs wasn't quite sure whether we were taking her in or whether she'd made amistake. " ' Your name is Ferrars, I believe, sne said. . " ' No,' Joan said promptly, may name is Cairns.' " Fancy Joan, who never told a fib before, I belike! In spite, of that she didn't turn a hair y just put her back to the wall and fibbed- gloriously. I couldn't have done it better myself. " Then Mr Cairns came to the rescue. " ' I'm afraid you've made a mistake,' he said to Miss Jacobs. "These are my two sisters, and allow me to introduce myself. My name is Godfrey Cairns— l'm the manager here. I'm just taking the girls (to Miss Devereux's room ; she wanted to speak to them, for a mimite. I'm afraid she's rather in a hurry. Excuse us.' And he wafted us on up the passage. There was an open door a few yards ahead of us, with a flood' of light streaming from it. Mr Cairns stopped as we came to it and looked in. " * May I come in, a moment, Miss Devereux,' be said quite softly, '.and bring a couple of friends. I won't keep you more than a minute or two.' " ' Come along with pleasure,' said a cheery kind of voice,; and my dear, I ' was so dying to see her, really herself, that I bounded into the room after the manager, passing Joan. "Mr Cairns began laughing, 'I've got a couple of runaways here, Miss Devereux,' •when suddenly Joan shot into the room and shut the door behind her. She was so scared thai) she forgot to wait to be introduced. " Aunt has just come into the passage and is talking to Miss Jacobs,' she said. ' What can they be doing here?' Them she remembered Miss Devereux, and blushed. ' I beg your pardon, you must think me very rade.' " ' Not a bit. Now, Mr Cairns, introduce us,' said Miss Devereux. "He remembered the name Ferrars, and he solemnly presented us, and then with great enjoyment told her all about us. She laughed and clapped her hands, and said bravo! She quite entered into the spirit of the thing, and We got awfully proud of ourselves, with the most distinguished act--resa of the day taking such an interest in us. "She sent Mr Cairns off to look and see i where the two old ladies had got to, and she made us sit down and talked to us about what we did at home and what we thought of London, and we told her we had never bad such a lovely evening in our lives. And she said that she kneiw our part of the country, because she stayed with Mrs Robinson at Urloe Park — don't you remember when Mrs Robinson first came down, May, I people said she'd had a lot to do with- the

stage? Some of them said she'd been an actress, liven. " And Miss Devemix ended up by saying that she should be awfully anxious to know bow we got home, and we must come and see her the next morning, and tell her all about it. "Fancy, May, wasn't that lovely? I thought she was just the most delightful person I had ever seen, and I told her all about everything I could think of, of home, you know, aad the awful meetings aunt took us to, and she laughed ; and then sho showed us all her things, and got her maid to let us see her jewellery, and the stuff she painted up with, and heaps and heaps of lovely clothes. "Then Mr Cairn* came back and said that Aunt Jackson and her friend had posted themselves by the stage door, and looked as if they meant staying there. He suggested sending the hansom round, and making a rush of it back through the theatre. ; _ '"Oh, no!' Miss Devereux said, 'I have a much more interesting and exoiting idea. You shall have a couple of cbaks, and gd out under their very noses as me and my " Wasn't it sptemddd? She dressed Joan up in the most lovely black satin theatre coat, with steel embroidery, and muffled up her face and head in ai fleecy, silky thing. And I bad a long cashmere cloak, and a white soft shawl over my head, and. we promised to bring them all back the next morning. Then she gave me a little ihandbajr to carry 1 , and said, laughing: There are Miss Devereux s jewels. "Only, of course, it was really empty. Mr Cairns went in front of us, and he stopped just" a* the door, where there was a funny little sentry box kind of place, with a man inside it, andi he said, so that the two standing by could hear: "•Is Misa (Devereuxs brougham there; she's just coming.' f "Th«n he pretended to look out at the door, and said it was all right, and held the door "open for us, and we went so close to aunt that my bag knocked her cloak. It was glorious ! "Mr Cairns came out and put us into the hansom, and as he said good-night to Joan, he held on to- her hand a minute, and asked, suddenly: "'How did you know .my name?' "I chuckled "to myself an the far corner. " Joan blushed — I could see her by the street lamp — but she said; * We— we saw it in the programme.' "'Oh, of course!' he said. 'Do you know, I never heard it sound' -so nice before.' "We got horns in lots of time, and flew }nto bed, and put out our lights even, before aunt got home; we heard her come, and she stopped; at our door to listen, then opened it suddenly and looked in. We both pretended to be asleep, so ihe came in and looked' all round at our things. But we had put our wraps away, and 1 - locked up Miss Devereux'g things in our boxes. She must have made up her mind then that Miss Jacobs 'had made a mistake, for she never said anything the next day. Perhaps she didn't want us to know how mean she had been. " We started off the next morning without a word to Auni Jackson to -Miss Devereux's house. It was out at Maida Vale ; such a bright little place, with dainty light-colour-ed'papers and curtains, and flowers in the windows, and hall, and everywhere. v Just the very opposite of aunt's tall dreary house. "She showed us a lot of photographs and albums, and curiosities, and when we thought we ought to be going, she wouldn't let us, but said we must stay to lunch, that Mr Cairns was coming, and he. would never forgive her if she let us go. "I sadd, 'Well we're going home tomorrow, and I vote we defy Aunt Jackson, and stay.' I could see Joan wag dying to stay as well, so we stopped. "Miss Devereux told us something about aunt too. It seems she and Miss Jacobs were heading a kind of crusade against theatres, and they used to go poking about trying to get hold of information, to put in articles. She said 1 she .thought th«y must have got behind by some mistake, or under false pretences, as they had . certainly come without, Mr Cairn's permission, and that he had made a great row about it after we left. "We stopped a good part of the afternoon, too. Miss Devereux showed me all her birds, and pet dogs and pictures, and Worcester china,, and the time slipped on at an awful rate, and I never thought till afterwards that Joan was in the drawingroom talking to Mr Cairns all the time! "Do you remember that Oxford man who came down to read with the vicar last summer? And how he used to look at Joan in church? Well, when we went back to the drawing-room, Mr Cairns "was looking at her something like that, and 1 have my suspicions. " When we said good-bye, Miss Devereux said she should soon be down at Urloe, and we must be sure to come and see her — she • would drive over and call as soon as she came. Wasn't it sweet of her? She told Mr Cairns that 1 wanted to go on the stage, and' he laughed 1 and said he would think it over, but I'm afraid he didn't take it very seriously. We daren't tell Aunt Jackson the truth when it came to the point, so we saM we'd been out shopping — we did do some shopping on the way horne — and we were so sorry to have missed lunch. For a minute she looked as if she was going into the question, then she turned away and took no notice. "She saw us off at the station next morning, but somehow I dont fancy that she'll ask us up again to stay with her. " Joan has been as quiet as a mouse ever since we got back, and it has been so dull and stupid. The only interesting thing happened the morning after we got back, when a parcel came for each of us by post at breakfast, mine was a box of the lovell est sweets — if I'd known, you were coming I would have kept some, May — and Joan's was a box of the sweetest roses you ever