"STAR" TALES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10927, 17 November 1913, Page 3

"STAR" TALES.

aTAR 3APPHIRA. (By -;V. JS. NORRIS.) Author of " Lord Leonard the Luck Joss," etc. [All Rights Reserved.] A sudden summer shower had covered the pavoinent of Regent Street. v-ith innumerable bobbing umbrellas, beneath ono of which Violn Fleming, who had walked all the woy from Islington to save the omnibus fare, hastened to wards the famous jewellers' shop whither she was bound. Not that any purchase of jewellery was her errand. Gone forever were the days when he fond father had been wont to :;ako bor to Gongreve's, and tell her to choose her own birthdav present—gone in -dlig mercantile crash which, scarcely a twelvemonth back had converted tho opulent Mr Fleming into a pauper, and had despatched him to Islington lodgings, to rapid physical and mental decay. The shab-bily-dressed girl with the dark blue eyes and tho pale pinched fnco would scarcely have been recognised by her former associates; certainly sho dad not wish to be. It was, indeed, dread of recognition that had caused her for a long time past to shun the West End of London, and she was only in Regent Street now because her father, who had broken tho gold rim of his pince-nez that morning, and had been near shedding senile tears over the mishap, had said, in the fretful tone which had 1 become habitual to him, "Take them to Congrove's; mind you take them to Congreve's. I won't have my glasses ruined by some bungling fellow here!"

It was something to be able to gratify one of the poor old man's whims; it was impossible to gratify most of them—impossible even to supply Ma immediate needs. The breakdown of his health had been accompanied perhaps mercifully for him, by'partial loss or memory and total inability to deal with figures: so that he did not know, as his scared daughter did, how minute were their-joint resources. He did however, realise that he was very poor! very i 1, very uncomfortable, and he +i + c S % unfortunately, remember t lat it lolu had not, in consequence of some silly trivial lovers' quarrel, seen fat to,break off her engagement to Hubert Armitage, she would have been a rich man's wife now. He harped peevishly upon that grievance as he never would have done had he retained possession of his faculties. Harassed \ iola often had to .remind herself—it was not. always easy to -believe itthau the ev.er indulgent father of happier times was virtually dead. Mear> while his surviving body' had 'to be cared for, had to be nourished, and.here was next to no money left! .enough to pay the doctor, not nearly onou gh to pay for the medidni ffi oenina tne pedestrian When she had entered Messrs Congrove's busy establishment and Lad °£ cured the, attention of a rather supet ciiiou, yomig assistant/the cruel -n SHiftly and bitterly apparent to h*r Surrounded by gold and silver and mi c ous s to n e S) jostled by well-dreK men and women, who were there to twenty of them had ever earned, she ielt her sympathies go out to Socialists, Anarchists even to those who. without poluicdiias, break in and steai «ny, it you are hungry and shirring, is A any worse to Jay hands on what does not belong to you than it is for a nation which needs expansion to appropriate a slice of neighbouring ter- "\ OI T .. t~ mar auding nation, provided it be strong and adroit enough to carry out its. coup, mar count upon general applause; it is the inconvenience, not the immorality, of pettv larceny that we condemn when pickpockets are sent to pick oakum. And these reflections of hers resolved themselves by degrees into a definite overwhelming temptation which might lav* been overwhelming, had any possibility of yielding to it existed. ;

Iu an instant the possibilitv presented itself. At the back of the'shon some clumsy customer, stumbling against a glass oaso, overturned it, and the crash drew away everybody's attention, including that of the young assistant, who darted forth to lend a aand in picking up scattered valuables. Loose upon the counter before Viola lay a number of rings which her predecessor had been examining; just a flick of the finger and one of them dropped* into the open umbrella which hung by its crook from her wrist.

Presently the assistant was back and was saying, in. patronising accents, "Oh, the little repair—yes. May take a day or two. P'raps you'll call in for the glasses'when you're passing." He did not offer to send them, nor did he inquire Miss Fleming's address, though he took her name. He had recognised her, no doubt, as belonging to the class of persons who do their own errands. Viola walked away without haste, without trepidation or shame. The whole thing had been so swift and easy and simple that she actually found herself wondering why she had not done it before, but'if she was conscious of nothing more than that in connection with her misdemeanour, she was to discover that want and misery had not deadened in her all liability to emotional shocks; for in tho doorway she almost brushed against a young man who made an undecided movement, as if to take off his hat, and, lifting her eyes, she encountered the suprised, commiserating gaze of Hubert Armitage—Hubert, with whom she had so foolishly fallen out, whom she had never in her heart ceased to love or regret, yet whom, under the changed circumstances, .-she would not for all the world have attempted to recall to his allegiance. One may, at a pinch, steal rings; one does not, even in the last extremity, make appeal to the pity of a discarded lover. It was, indeed, an aggravation of the offence which he had not committed tjfor it was not he who had brought about or desired their severance) that he should presume, without any appeal at all, to bo moved to obvious pity by her forlorn aspect. So she pretended not to see him. and passed out into the street, where there was now a dazzle of sunshine upon glistening puddles and wet paving-stones. Cautiously Viola raised the point of her umbrella until the circlet which lay concealed within its folds fell into her palm. She had not examined it, and did not venture to do so now; but, whatever might be its value, it could not but represent some abatement of her dying father's privations. For the rest, she had not far to goin order to rid herself of her spoil and receive its equivalent in cash. A certain silversmith's shop, situated in a side-street, and of unpretending exterior, though familiar to temporarily embarrassed ladies of fashion, had already been visited by her on several occasions—had, in fact, provided a market for her trinkets up to the very last of them—and she had confidence both in the discretion and the liberality of the elderly proprietor. " I want to dispose of a ring, Mr Tim'os," she announced, on reaching her destination. " It—-it belonged to my mother. I don't quite know what it is or what it may be worth."

" It is a star-sapphire, set in small brilliants, ma'am," answered the greyheaded man whom she addressed; "a rather unusualy fine specimen." Then, after subjecting the white, softly lambent gem to closer scrutiny, he raised his eyes above his spectacles, gazed gravely at the girl, and resumed, "I should not like to say upon the spur of the moment, Miss Fleming, what this ring is actually worth; but the price—marked in plain figures, as you see —is seventy-five pounds." He indicated "rhe tiny ticket which Viola had insanely omitted to remove, and the blood rushed to her pale /.>:•-,oeks while she faltered out a very explanation. She had j\.st come froin Oongreve's, she must

j havs picket up one of their rings by J mistake and left her own upon the \ counter; eo stupid of her! " But I'll i take it back at once." | ''Yes, Miss Fleming," agreod old ! Timbs, with a touch of sadness in his \ >oice; "I tlu.uk you should do that— J '*,«j once." I jflio implication that otherwise she j You Id bo -apt to find herself in the I alutchos of tho police was not lost upon Viola, 'who sped away, covered with confusion, her only desire now being to eseapo the possible consequences of an act of mental aberration, it had really been that; for a moment's reflection would have told tier that, easy though it may bo to abstract a small article of great value, receivers of stolen goods are not to be met with at every turn. Timbs, oven if momentarily deceived, would have had no option but to denounce her when enlightened by the inevitable hue and cry; as it way, lie, of course, knew her to be a thief, which was humiliating enough. But Timbs, who Avas not unacquainted with her straits, and who was evidently sorry for her, might now be trusted to hold bis tongue. By good fortune, nobody in Cougreve's shop could have witnessed that rapid malversation of hers.

Upon the whole, it must be accounted as good fortune for Viola that one person could, had lie been so minded, have borne testimony against her; for if Hubert Armitage hacl not distinctly seen her sweep the star-sapphire ring into her umbrella things might have Eme worse with her than they did. ong ago the young man had forgiven her treatment of him; long ago he had repented of the huffiness which had caused him to say, in answer to some undeserved reproach of hers, "Oh, well, if that's the sort of fellow you think I am you had better chuck me and have done with it!" Ho had been promptly taken at his word, he hacl gone off in deep dudgeon, and his secret hope that Viola would relent had not been fulfilled. Then, while he was absent in Ireland with his regiment, had come poor old Mr Fleming's financial disaster, after which be had understood that if overtures for a reconciliation were to be made they would have to come from him. Gladly would, he have initiated overtures had lie known wliither to address them ; but information'upon that essential point was not to be had. Nobody could toll bin: what bad become of the Flemings; nobody, perhaps, had had tho curiosity to inquire. It was supposed that they bad fjone abroad somewhere. So be had legun to fear that he would never set eyes upon his Viola again, when, turning into. Congreve's to buy a wedding present for one of his cousins, he found himself within a few yards of her. Viola it undoubtedly was, but so white, so thin, so wretchedly clad, so visibly reduced to penury that his heart, which was a soft one, was wrung. He was in the act of advancing to accost her when an incident which he could not help witnessing gave him startled pause. Horrified ho was not (he divined that, if she had been tempted to steal, it was not for her own profit, poor dear!), but he was a. good deal taken aback and alarmed, because it seemed to him that immediate detection must follow. Thus, ho obeyed his first impulse, which was to lot her get out of the shop as speedily as might be, and this, from one point of view, may have been rather unwise of him. His next step, however, showed some readiness of resource. He marched briskly up to the counter and said to the assistant:—

" 0h ; I'm awfully sorry, but I took that ring I was looking at just now to show to a lady outside, and she has carried it off with her. It doesn't matter, because I was going to buy it, anyhow. I forget what you said the price was."

No price had been named, nor cou'cl the missing article be at once identified ; but,, after consultation with his superiors (the young' man behind the counter was able to say:— " A star-sapphire ring, set with diamonds, I believe, sir? Just so. That will be seventy-five pounds, sir, if you please." It was lucky that money was'plenti* ful with Hubert Armitage; lucky also—since he was not anxious to give his name—that he had just been to his bankers to cash a cheque for £IOO. He counted out the required number of notes, observed that he wouldn't trouble to take a receipt, as he always lost those things, and immediately strode forth. So that was all right, and Viola was safe! What was less satisfactory was that Viola had vanished. He loitered about the entrance for a minute or two until it dawned upon him that, in whatever direction his beloved's steps had been bent, this was the very last that was likely to attract them, and he was fain to get what comfort he could out of the estalished fact that she was in London. It was something, though not very much, London being a rather large place. At all events, the futility of perambulating Regent Street in search of her was patent. Yet if he had turned to the left, instead of to the right, he would in all probability have met her. Not long had he quitted Messrs Congreve's premises when she hastened in, with the ring in her hand and _ a confused apology upon her lips whioh was at once interrupted by the smiling assistant.

" Oh, that has been ma'am, thank you. Sorry you had the trouble of coming back. The gentleman told us that he had given you the ring, and he lias paid for it." '"what gentleman?" the astonished Viola was upon the point of asking; but checked herself. " A tall young gentleman.in a blue serge suit. I suppose?" she said, interrogatively, and received the answer which on the instant she had. dreaded and expected. Hubert had seen her, then!—and had adopted this heroic method of rescuing a distressed and disgraced, friend of former years 1 It must be owned tliat she was not in the least grateful; on the contrary, she was very angry indeed. So like him to behave in that impetuous way and fling a large sum of money to one who—as he might have guessed—would starve rather than be beholden to him. "There has been a mistake," said she sharply. "The gentleman had no business to pay for the ring, unless he wanted it for himself. I certainly don't want it, and it doesn't belong to me. Give it back to him, please." But there was a difficulty about that, inasmuch as the purchaser had left no clue to his identity. The assistant, reinforced by an elderly colleague, argued for a time with the incensed young lady, and both of thorn had the air of being respectfully amused at her acerbity. Possibly this was not the first time, in their experience that, a, gift of jewellery had been refused with indignation, only to be subsequently accepted. In any case, they were firm as to its being out of the question for them to retain an article which had been bought and paid for, and they ventured to suggest that, since, the lady knew the gentleman, while they di'd not, the simplest plan would be'for her to settle the matter of ownership with him. There was apparently nothing else for it. After all, his address could be found out, Viola supposed, and then his ring should be despatched to him by post without loss of time.

To obtained the address of a wellknown officer in a. crack cavalry regiment ought to be a simple affair enough; but circumstances—her father's last illness and death amongst them —placed obstacles in Viola's way, and it so fell out that more than a year elapsed before she could get any

news, direct or indirect, of Captain Armitage. She herself was, of course, still more difficult to trace. Hubert instituted, investigations; but, " these proving fruitless, he was reduced to waiting upon chance. He had little fear of her ever getting wind of the service that he had rendered her (for ho,did not think that she had recognised him in Congreve's shop., and nothing was more improbable than that she would return thither); only he knew her well enough to be aware that pride would almost certainly cause her' to give him a chilling reception, should he hit upon her whereabouts, . and when, after some months, he set forth on a fishing and shooting expedition, to Canada,.it was not so much because he had abandoned hope as because he had an inkling that time and absence would be more likely to tell in his favour than advances which, if summarily. re» jected, would leave him no alternative but to take "No" for an answer.

Tho two met ultimately in the most commonplace maimer imaginable. Shortly after Hubert's return to England ho was asked to shoot at a Norfolk country house, and one of the first persons whom ho saw in the hall on his arrival was Miss Fleming. Viola', 'nov* under the guardianship of a somewhat reluctant aunt, who had felt that one cannot decently allow one's penniless relatives to starve, was restored, to social existence, and if she did not look particularly pleased by this unforse?n encounter, pleasure, not to say, exultation, possessed her soul. The opportunity for which she had waited so long and so patiently was hers a-t last I With an air of polite indifference she greeted her whilom adorer, spoke a few careless words, and then moved away from his vicinity, apparently unconscious of the agitation which he mad© no attempt t/> conceal. But at tho dinner-table, an Jiour or two afterwards, when she was seated facing him, she gave him an unwelcome shock of astonishment; for upon the third finger of her slim, white hand there glowed a beautiful star-sapphire ring, which he could not but feel a little dismayed to behold in that situation. She had not sold it, then ?—had perhaps never meant to sell it? The suspicion exhibited her in a new and distressing light; for it had not occurred to him until now that she could have purloined a gem out of sheer feminine greed for pretty things. Anyhow, the calm gaze with which she met his troubled eyes'from time to. time seemed 1 to say as plainly as possible that she no longer cared at all what his opinion of her might be. He was go discouraged that perhaps he would not have tried to obtained speech'of her later in the evening if she had not, with great calmness, walked across the drawing-room to him and invited him to accompany her into the library. '"' Because I have something to say to you, if you an spare me a few minutes."

He followed her wonderingly, and, as soon as they wore alone, she came straight to the point.

"Here," said .she, removing the ring from her finger and holding it out to him, "is your property for you. I have been wishing to restore it to you ever since I was forced, much against my .trill, to take charge of it, but nobody seemed to know where you were." "Nor could I find out whore you were." the young man returned eagerly. " I have been longing to hear, because . . . though perhaps it would have been no good if I had ! Why you call this ring my property I can't think."

"Oh, only because it is," she answered, with a touch of disdain. "Don't trouble.to exercise your inventive powers, for I know exactly what happened. lam quite aware that you took me for a shop-lifter, and no doubt you meant to be very kind when you paid for what you had not bought, in order to save me from. prison. Only I should have thought you might have taken into account the possibility of my having brushed the ring into my umbrella by accident and that you might have expected me to take it back the moment that I discovered what I had done. As a matter of fact, when I did take it back. I was told that a gentleman, whom 1 easily recognised by the shopman's description, had represented himself as having given it to me. Not a very pleasant position for me to be placed in, considering that thev were ignorant of your name and that they refused to keep a ring which they had sold ! Of course I had to admit tnat I knew you; so what reason could I give for declining to communicate with you? Well, it has all been most disagreeable; but ft is over now, thank goodness! No: I don't want any apologies or explanations, thanks." She had to listen to them, all the same; for Hubert threw himself between her and the door for which she was making, and nothing could have exceeded his abject contrition unless it were the ardour with which ho pleaded to be allowed " just one more chance.'' He took upon himself the whole blame for their rupture, although in reality it had not been his fault at all; he related how he had vainly sought her high and low; he drew a moving picture of his desolation; finally, he declared that even if he had entertained an unwarranted suspicion concerning her, he had thought none the worse of her on that account. "Of course it was clear to me that you were awiuliy hard up. and—and 1 knew it wasn't only your own wants that you had to provide for. All I can say is that if my old governor had been ill and in need, I should have done the same thing, or something _ precious like it. without, thinking twice."

" Would jou " asked the girl, perceptibly softening. "Well, I'm giad ! I'm forry! Since you bay that, .1 forgive you." But when he would hnvp daspi-'c! lior i.u his firms, she sprang hack, with, "Oh, no! thal'b quite over and doir>

with. We can't begin again as if nothing had happened.''' " Why not?" ho demanded. "Is it that you haven't really forgiven me?" She smiled and sighed. "Oh, no; it's I who alii unpardonable, not you. I am not only a tliief, I am a liar into the bargain. 1 did steal tho ring. There was the excuse that you guessed -father was ill and I was at my wits' end. Still I did steal it, and if old Timbs, to whom I tried to sell it, hadn't detected at once what I had been abo.it and frightened me, I shouldn't have taken it back to Congi eve's. There ! now you know what j am !" " All., but I knew all along," observed Hubert, with much, composure, " and you needn't have confessed, though I'm jolly glad you have. Tho fact is that I saw what I saw in Congrove's shop, and there couldn't be any mistake about it." "So you know I was telling you 8 lie just now?" " Well—yes, I'm afraid I did. But I wasn't put off, was I?" "You ought to have been. Lying is even worse than stealing, don't you think so.P" "H'rn! that depends. Some lies are much worse than others. If, for instance, a girl were to tell a man who worshipped her that she didn't care for him when she did, I should call that a very bad sort of lie." "Well, I haven't been guilty of it. I haven't said a word about caring or not caring. Only please understand that bygones must absolutely be bygones." "Oh, all right! I haven't any particular use for this ring, you know; it isn't exactly the sort of ornament that I should care to wear myself. 1 wonder whether you would mind keeping it in memory of a poor devil whom you won't marry, but who will never marry anybody but you." With a quick movement he contrived, despite her resistance, to slip the ring- on to her finger once more; but she vehemently refused bis gift, and a wrangle ensued, in the course of which there arose some laughter and likewise a hint of tears. "You aren't reasonable," the girl protested; "really you aren't! How could I possibly accept such a present from you?" "It it comes to that," returned the young man, " you're a bit unreasonable yourself. Come, Viola, let's be reasonable, both of us, and compromise. Since you're so bent upon my taking a ring that I don't want and that you've had for such a long time, I'll agree to take it on one condition. I must have the hand too." The star-sapphire still gleamed on Miss Fleming's hand, and her hand rested in Captain Armitage's, when some .officious person peeped into the library in quest of the absentees.