“THE HONOUR OF HIS HOUSE.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16531, 15 September 1921, Page 2

“THE HONOUR OF HIS HOUSE.”

OUR SERIAL,

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FRED M. WHITE.

CHAPTER X\TU. SUE MAN WHO KNEW, Saltburn stood there with a strange feeling that he was cub off from the rest of. the world and was alone in it, the only one of his tribe. And in n certain sense it was true enough. Ho bad always boasted that b: had nqver made c friend, and indeed, ho had never had the opportunity. Rut. now ho felt as it were in a hind of dream and as if he needed assistance. For the first time in liis life he was conscious of a feelioc which ho had never experienced before. It wasn’t exactly fear‘nor illness, and it was unpleasant, and Saitburu, would have been glad to bo without it. Then it flashed upon him what it was. Fie bad heard people speak of j this thing, rind hitherto ho had put it j down contemptuously enough to weak- J mindednsss or mere fancy. He was nervous, that was what was I the matter with him. Nervous! He. j William Saltburn, who always boasted j that he feared nothing, either in this ; world or the next! At any rate, there it -was. It was a most unpleasant feeling, and one which set Saltburn’s heart beating faster. His ]ip« were dry and there was a certain throbbing sensation in his throat. Perhaps he was overworked, Saltburn told himself. Hitherto he had always laughed at an idea like that. It was lib boast that he could toil twenty hours a day, and he had proclaimed aggressively that four hours* sleep a night was enough for anybody. Anybody who wanted more was not worth troubling about. Still, here it was. He was a l>ttlo dizzy, a little unsteady, and he did not like the way his heart was fluttering at all. Ho had the peculiar fear which always comes to the physically strong man when, for the first time in his life, bo becomes conscious of his own bodily identity. He tried to laugh his fears aside, he j tried to force bis thoughts into another channel. He concentrated bi 6 attention upon his money, but there was precious little consolation in that direction ju.-t now. ile. was going to lose liis money, at any rate. the greater part of it. People would laugh at him. In the City they would say that William Saltburn was a back number. They would sneer at him, and pity him, and declare that he was old-fashioned and out of date. He knew this because he had done the same about other people. Why should this man Sherringborne escape all the consequences of his folly ? What had lie done that he ' should And himself in his present strong ; position? Sherringborne hud no brains, j Hc vuis just a pompous, self-satisfied ! individual who found himself in hie j present position becauso he happened ; to bo born to a great historic title, ! and into the possession of large esJ tat.es. He coukl never have attained 1 Cabinet rank at all but for the accident of fortune. He made a fine figure-head of course. He was very imposing and very courtly, and he had a certain heavy eloquence which read well in the papers. And yet, there be was. absolutely master 'of the situation. There was no credit clue to him. If there had been no such place as Borne Abbey, Sherringborne would have left the Ministry in disgrace long ago. The point wanted no arguing. And yet, here Sherringborne was, wrapped in the purple, and with scores of people cleverer than himself waiting upon his lightest word. Saltburn was filled with a certain blind, unreasoning anger as ho passed Sherringborne’s great house, blazingfrom top to bottom with lights. He saw* the stream of people moving up and down the steps, he could see the gorgeous array of liveried servants in the hall. There were men in demure black, obviously secretaries, crossing the lighted space swiftly bearing bundles cf papers in tbe»r "hands. A Foreign Office messenger came up presently with a dispatch-box. Near the bouse on either side a policeman stood, to that it. seemed to Saltburn that here was a man whose position was semi-regal. The whole thing was almost laughable. And yet Saltburn didn’t laugh. 110 was beginning to underhand things. iV as it possible after all, that Sherringborne was a great and more gifted man than most people believed him to be? Hitherto Saltburn had held a poor enough opinion of the politician. He regarded him, and rightly, in most cases, ns a frothy, telf-opinionated person whose only capital was his selfconccifc and hi?, sublime audacity. There were exceptions of course, and Saltburn had met them. But ho had never looked on Sherringborne ns one of ' these. At any rate, he was going to see for himself. One© he moved his foot in the direction of the house, all his nervousness and hesitation left him. He was not in the least afraid of Sherringborne. He held the latter in the hollow of his hand., and ho would let him know it soon. H© pushed his way into th© lia.ll, and handed his card to one of the servants. ** Take that to your master.” he said abruptly, “ and tell him that I want to see him at- once.” j The name on the card was not withi out its effect. But there was no ini decent haste on the part of the liveried | servant. He passed th© pasteboard j on to th© hall porter, who, in turn. banded it on to somebody else, and at j the end of ten minutes an assistant j secretary appeared, full of polite reI grets, and an intimation that his lordship was too busy to see anybody. “If you will make an appointment, sir " the secretary sakl. Saltburn fumed inwardly. But- he saw that it was not in the slightest I use to bluster. Tho secretary was perfectly polite, but be met Saltburn’s eyes squarely enough. There was nothing to gain by display cf violence. And, besides. Salt-hum would see that he made himself felt presently. I am a busy man myself,” h© said, j “ And I know how valuable timo is, i bat really, f must ask Lord Sherringborne to b© good enough to see me for a minute or two.” The secretary bowed and vanished. Ho cam© back presently with the request- that Saltburn would follow him. He found_ himself presently in a library lined with hooka, and at a large tabic Sherringborne was seated. Ho smiled blandly enough at his visitor, but ho made no attempt to rise, neither did he hold out liis hand. Ho appeared to be perfectly at his ease ; he had that large bland manner 1 which generally goes with a man who feels himself in the presence of an inferior. “ You wanted to see me? ” ho asked. “ Well, yes,” Saltburn said. “ I r ant you to give me a little information if you will. Now as to this Japanese business '*

*‘l bog your pardon,” Sherringborne | waid coldly. “T am afraid I don’t j quite follow you.” Saltburn hesitated for a moment. Should lie meet this man with his own . weapons, or should ho take him by i force, *o to speak? Still, it did not i much matter either way. Salt-bum i was too sure of bis ground to have any doubts as to the result. “ I thought I spoke plainly, v ho said. “7 am speaking about, this trouble in Tor tins. I have just bought ; a paper* which rays that Japan has threatened hostilities, and that- there has been a big navel demonstration off Si Lucia. Oi course, tho suggestion that shots have been exchanged is all nonsense.” “So J should imagine,’ 1 Sherringborne e-aid blandly. It was quite evident that Saltburn was going to get no assistance here. Sherringboroo was absolutely patronising. His manner was scrupulously correct, and exquisitely polite, but there was no mietakih" tho fact that Sherringborne was speaking to a man whom lie regarded as his inferior, and he was taking no special pains to cloak his demeanour. He Jay back smilingly in his chair now, with the lips of his long white finders pressed together. Ho gave Salt-burn the imprespion of the man who is slightly bored, but who is far too much of a gentleman to say so. “ People who publish papers always , magnify, you know, Mr Saltburn,” h 6 j said. “It is their business to exag- ■ gerate these things. As a responsible I Minister of tho Crown, nobody deplores j these sensational reports more than i myself. It is a theory of mine that j sooner or later one of thee© irreaponj sible, cheap papers will embroil us into j another Continental war. But, fortunately for us, Mr Saltburn, this is a free country. We are net bound to believe what th© papers say, you know. ’ ’ All this with the most perfect sang troid, and polished good-humour. Saltbum was forced to smile, though ho was inwardly raging. He began to wonder if be had made a mistake, Tao it possible, after all, that Sherringborne was really the strong and brilliant man which the Government Press made him out to he? And yet Saltburn had seen him in v ’ er . v different- circumstances to these. And ho might be a fooman worthy of anyone’s steel. it might be that he had all the advantages. At any rate, Saitburn told himself bo was not going to stand this sort of thing. That s all very well,” ho said bluntly. *’ I didn’t com© here to talk about th© morality of the cheap Frets l want to know" if this thing’s true/* Sherringborne smiled irritatingly. My dear Mr Saltburn, how can T tell ? ’ ho asked. “Are you asking mo as a Minister or a private individual?” “I don’t oar© a rap which it is, so long as I get the information,” Saltburn said. “Very well then,” Sherringborne said vs it Li th© same smiling good humour. “I will try’ and answer in both capacities. As a. private individual, I know just as much or as little as you -do. In fact, I know less, because I bax-en’t seen the pa per w, and you have. As a Minister of the Crown, I know nothing. You see. this is my private residence, and though circumstances compel me to transact all sorts of business here at all sorts cf hours, I only work here for my own conreni- ‘‘ Meaning that I am an intruder?” Saltburn asked. ‘‘ Oh. I didn’t mean it quite that way. Ira sorry T gave you that impression. When th© House meets touight, xv© shall have nothing; fresh to disclose, .and, up to the present moment I have not a single official lino from the seat of the trouble.” Saltburn gritted bis teeth together. Ho would hare given much to take Sherringborne by the shoulders and shake the secret out of him. That Sherringborne kno<v all about it. Saltburn never doubted for a moment. He had not said that he knew nolhing, be had only insisted upon the fact that ho had no official information. He was treating Saltburn now as he would have treated a. question from the Opposition in the House of Lords. “Oh, that isn't good enough for me,” Saltburn said. “ Como, riy clear sir', you know all about it. Do yon mean to toll mo that th© Government hasn’t been expecting this for a. week or more? I’m not quite a fool as far as politics go. Why, Japan would nob have dared to have gone in for this business without, at any rate, the moral support of England. And you might as well own up, Sherringborne. You might just as well tell me that Ho cam© over just now to give you th© latest information/* Sherringborne smiled quit© blandly. Probably he was bitterly annoyed, blit, at any rate, he did not show it. “My friend. Prince It-o, lias been here to-day,” he said “Ho cam© to discuss a little matter of business, certainly, but you may be surprised to hear that. Tort In® was Hot so much us mentioned. I shall have to get you to take my word for that, Mr Saltburn. I am very sorry, but there it is.” It was beginning to come home to Saltburn now that he had a man to deal with. It was impossible, too, to carry the matter any further in inis direction without tolling Sherringborne i pretty plainly that lie was deliberately telling a lie. And there was nothing to gain by a course like that. It xrould probably result in Saltburn being politely kicked out of tho house with an intimation not to return again. Still, there xiere other methods, and Saltburn would not hesitate to adopt thorn if necessary. 4t Oh, I am not saying you are wrong/* he said ungraciously. “But I am here asking you more or less a favour. If this thing is true, it is a serious business for me. end it- will entail a lo&s of money. Chi the other hand, if I know exactly bow matters stand, then I shall be able to act promptly in Hie matter. I am not asking you to betray official secrets.” One© more Sherringborne smiled blandly. “Of course not, Mr Saltburn,** he said. “ You are too thoroughly a man of the world for that. I am sure you would never suggest. such a thing. And that is why f am sorry that I can t help you. As T said just now. T have no official information, and therefore, speaking as a Minister, T am a.s much in the dark as you are. And don’t let me detain you. I know how busy you arc. And if, at any timo I ran bo of any service to you, don’t hesitate to lot mo know.” OFo be continued.)