CHAPTER VII.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9192, 23 March 1908, Page 4

CHAPTER VII.

TOR STR-ENDS-I-P's SAKE. George Drummond stood in the corri--tor watching the movement of the slim band on the casement. He had a feeling that he would wake presently and ftad that it was all a dream. And with it all was the horrible feeling that perhaps /he was doing something wrong. fWfc- _» taW__& part in some crime? he wondered. Was this girl losing him for tome ignoble and unworthy end? Beyond doubt the hand clinging to the icasement was that of the escaped conrict, and Flora Cameron was anxious for his escape. George stole a quick glance at the .face of his companion, and his heart Jifted. It was impossible to look at .those features and feel that anything Vrong was being done here. The girl freemed to divine something of George's .fee-lira, for she laid a trembling hand uponhis arm. "Try to trust me," she whispered. •*I want you to believe that I am acting entirely for the best. I have thought the thing out thoroughly, and I feel ihat .the angels are on my side. ,-You guess that yonder hand belongs to a oonviotP" " It is obvious," George said. " Well, you are right. That man has ttxoken prison. I have gone out of my ■way to help him to do so. A dreadful -charge hangs over you, but you are innocent." I "Yoa cannot tell what a comfort "KKur opinion is to me," George whisniorod. ] "Too ate innocent—innocent. From your tape and manner I guessed that. fify wo&an's instinct admits of no doubt of It. And, lot me tell you with all the ; earnestness I can, that yonder poor fellow is aa guiltless as yourself, Captain Dnimmond. I am going to ask yoa to help me." George caught the hand extended to •Mm, and carried it passionately to his tips. His whole heart had gone out to ha. companion. In the hour of his need .she was the only one who had stood by £tim and believed his story. And she a trtsnanger, tool " ' -,_,__ ; " I Trill do anything in the world that «ou ask me," he said. "I will do it, tbecaase you have proved yourself to be Si'good and noble girl, and because 1 Teerthat you are incapable of doing ' -anything dishonourable. Pray command tOA. _ -— V 1 George could see the flash of tears in Flora's eyes. Then suddenly the light Vanished, and the corridor was left in total dfi-rknees. Apparently the search_ight hid been turned in another direc-t-Oh; there were people in the garden ;fco, each other. Evidently the wison V-Jders were close on the track. flSiere was the quick flash of a lantern and a wnunand in a hoarse voice. -' ■' " Oh, I do, hope he has not failed," |^o_» whispered. "I must hide myself ,lest Dr Beard should see me. He must fiiot _#c me how; he must not know anyEg of this, business. I will try to see again presently. If you could only f those warders off the scent 1" ...'■' )• ''Show me a way," George said ♦egerty; "1/ will do anything I can. jjßttt to do tfha., I must find a way of 'fearing the house. Is there any door at jsjs end?" , " Oh, yes—yes! The little door unit* r the turret. You must remember phfct door, seeing that you were here so fa .oh as a hoy. A little door with a if ring-bolt. George remembered the door. He p teased the girl's hand reassuringly, jfcad then began to feel his way along v' two corridor m the direction of-the stairs. Yes; this'wasthe way, the recol-jEaotion-of it all was coming back clearly to him now. Many a time in the fcappy days of the past had he played $|__te-an<_-_eek here. He had not the ; KUghtest difficulty in opening the little Boor and entering the garden. For koine reason or other, it had been imperative that he should not be seen with Flora by Dr Beard; indeed, he fltftaered that the convict business was '-' ■ So be concealed from that individual. jteut no suspicions need be aroused if $r Beaad found him in the garden. He easily answer that he had been i-tmsed by the noise of the warders, $-U_ had come down to see what was .'{prong. The thing suggested prevariy ' fefftion, and Georgie revolted against that. Still, the cause was a good one, £_ud it seemed to him that the means v.- S__»t_fied the ends. It was just possible, '; \|JbQO, that the unhappy convict was alii, Nteadyin the hands of the law. Not if : L JBeorgjß oould prevent it, he told himfcelf. He was determined, on this point "* $s he stepped into the outer air, and {looked for any sign of the warders. '• . It was still bitterly cold, and a thin :y ?|KHfder of snow had begun to fall again. ■ For a few minutes there was nothing feat silence and the desolation of the pighb. Then! George could hear footT fcteps on the hard ground, and somepody in uniform came along swinging a y ' H£Snx. The man stopped as he saw George standing there before him. %' you seen anything of a man about here, sir P" he asked. i \ :._•.■ George was thankful to be able to 'tay that he had not. He was also J. ravankful to gather from the question JH_at the wanders had not as yet been . |uooessful in their search. It seemed TO him that he could see footprints leading up to the big casement window' l-iat seemed to light the corridor, but the falling snow and the keen wind • very soon cover all traces. George Itbod there waiting for the next thing •'•-'■ So happen. <.' ■ \-"jt is impossible for your man to get <Wtear away, he said. .'"l'm not so sure about that, sir," .%he officer responded. "He had assist- ' itoce. Somebody managed to lassoo one v' . jbOhe warders and gag him. It's pretty teertoin that the prisoner did not do S__afc. One of the cleverest things I }ever heard of. And the man was not missedl till late this evening. A bit cf ! perhaps, but there it was.

And when we missed the warder as well, we began to suspect things." "I hope your man was not any the worse," George suggested. " No, sir; it wasn't what you might call violence exactly. A bit bruised and cold from lying there so long. It was a very neat dodge, but one might expect that kind of thing from a prisoner of education." So the escaped convict was a gentleman, and a man of education, George thought. Well, he might have expected that, after what Flora Cameron had told him. The man with the lantern had not the faintest idea of the identity of the escaped prisoner, and it was obvious that he was telling the truth as he said so. Behind a helt <X shrubs George could see other lights flickering. He hoped that the convict was hiding close somewhere. It would be just as well, George determined, to find out exactly how many warders were present to-night, so that if one was left behind to watch the fact would be known. There were four of them altogether, and they were playing a game of grim hide-and-seek in the bushes. " Are you quite sure that your man came iv this direction?" George asked "Quite sure, sir," the other said. "The snow helped us a little, and our gentleman had not yet- got rid of his prison boots. Then the snow came down again and baffled us. I expect you know the place, sir, seeing that you live in the noose?" "I don't live in the house," George explained. " I am a visitor here. All the same, I know the place very well indeed; I have known it intimately from a boy. I suppose you want to discover if there are any good hidingplaces here?" ># "That's it, sir," the other exclaimed. " Outhouses and all that kind of thing." George wanted nothing better. As a matter of fact there were many places in the grounds where a prisoner could hide for a long time, and George indicated some of /them. He did so m a loud voice, so that he might warn anybody. There was a sound of scuffling presently, and tho noise of a blow, and George felt his heart beating painfully "Got him!" somebody cried. "Got him, clean and ; clever. This way, mates." „. . The cry of exultation was quickly turned into a growl of discomfort, as the figure of a man, held by two of the warders, emerged into the ring of light made by a lantern. It was clear from the first dance that the captive was no escaped convict. The man was tall , and powerful, he had a black beard and a pair of powerful dark eyes. He was quite well dressed, with a suit of rough homespun. There was a sardonic smite on his face. " Shot at the pigeon and killed the 1 crow," he said. <r What am I doing here? Well, I guess that that's' none of your business. You can't prove that I'm doing any harm, and even if you could, you are not policemen. My name, eE? Well, it's James Marston. "James Marston the poacher," one of the warders growled. "Most people suspect me of being 'a poacher," the dark man said coolly. " I have had to suffer under that ref roach for years. As a matter of fact 'ye never been convicted of poaching, and, what's more, I have never been before a magistrate on suspicion." " But you are trespassing," George said. "I am perfectly well aware of the fact, Captain Drummond," was the quick reply. "Trespassing is not an offence, bo long as you don't do any harm. I lost a dog, and I am looking for him here; I expect he has been caught in some poacher's wire. You will find that Dr Beard will not object ; to my being here." The man set his hat more firmly on his head, and vanished into the night. George knew the man very well indeed, and his reputation. He would have liked to detain him, but there were more pressing things to occupy his attention. The warders were all busy again looking about the grounds, though with fainter hopes of success. "Well, lads, we'll just go through the plantation at the back of the house again," said the one who appeared to be the leader. " I suppora there is no chance that our gentleman has made a. bolt of 'it and got into the house somewhere." " I think you can make your mind quite easy on that score," George said. " Only a trained burglar oould break into the Moat House." " I suppose that's about right, sir," the leader said. " A good look, mind, lads, and then the best thing we can do is to get back to the gaol again. It's long odds that our man has found his friends by this time and got -clear away," George returned to the house and closed the door, satisfied that he had done his best to carry out Flora Cameron's wishes. The convict had managed to give his pursuers the slip just in the .nick of time and he was hiding somewhere close by. But would he come back again? It looked as if that was the intention, especially after what Flora had said. And if he did come back, and all the 'doors and windows were fastened, how would he manage to let Flora know that he was at hand ? Tired as he was, George resolved to sit up and watch. His own window was open, and there was a good fire in his room. Perhaps Flora would be waiting in the corridor to know whether the prison wardens had been successful or not. The house was quiet enough now, and very dark. It was fortunate that George was familiar with the way. The little green door opened quietly, and George fastened it on the inside. Very gently he made his way up the stairs, and in the direction of his own room. There was no light in the corridor, and he had to fumble his way along as best he could. He could see slits of light under one or two doors, denoting the fact that the occupants or more than one bedroom had not yet finally retired for the night. / George waited a brief space to see if Flora would appear. He did not dare tb give any loud signal of his presence, and there was no Bign of Miss Cameron. Well, perhaps she would come back when she felt that it was safe. And it would be easy for George to put his light out, and leave his door open. He could lie on his bed and doze, trusting to his quick hearing to bring to him the first signal. Many a time had he done the like in South Africa. He laid his finger on the knob of his door, and

turned it. He turned it twice,_ and pushed at tho door, steadily, but it did not give. The door of the room was locked on the inside. It was a startling, and not too pleasant, discovery. Even now it did not occur to George that perhaps there was somebody in the room. It was just possible that the bedroom door had a spring lock; perhaps at one time the bedroom had been used as an office, the owner of which did not care for the eyes of servants prying about. George turned away, and hesitated for a moment in some perplexity. " There* is only one thing for it," he muttered. " I dare say I can manage it without those warders seeing me. It sounds almost like a farce, but there is nothing else to be done."