LOVE, THE CONQUEROR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17571, 23 June 1925, Page 14

LOVE, THE CONQUEROR.

NEW “ STAR ” SERIAL. |

By

CARLTON DAWE

Author of •• Th* Templatlon of S?lmn." ;j~ “ rOuryale in I.oncion.” “ Vir- rM. jrin ia.” * A Tangled Marriage.'’ “ Stranger Than Fiction.” &c. fey

CHAPTER. XU. (Continued.) ‘•Von need not be, 55 be assured her; ‘■'and o! course there is no necessity io strain, the situation.'’ .She gave him a quick penetrating look, ono which he met rather falteringly. “Just carry on as though nothing had happened, f must think out a solution to the problem.” “A solution might have been found had you listened to Derry’s appeal.” “Put wc must, with Air Glegg at the head of affairs.” 'A ou don t trust him.’* “I never did. nor could I ever understand your infatuation.” “I had hoped for great tilings through him. great things,” he repeated reflectively. “And still hope:” “Of course. The market’s a bit slack at present—fluctuations, and all that. “You refer to Darling’s silver mine. That, I take it, would hardly have in e n clod nla 11 e rs. ’ ’ “It uas Ah- Glegg vho opposed the suggestion ?” “You see. Glegg is, first, and loremost, a. business man.” How she hated that eternal phrase! “Naturally he ivonld not advise me to touch a thing, tiie solvency of which might be doubtful.” She opened her eyes. ‘‘To bo quite candid, lie was suspicious of that silver mine from the first, and subsequent inquiries have confirmed that suspicion.” “In other words, ho has been trying to find out things?” •‘And apparently with some success.” “Then Derry’s evidence is of novalue ?” “In such matters, how is it possible to accept him as an authority? AY hat does he know of mines or mining?” “Or men?” ‘‘There avo touch a serious matter. What after all do we know of our visitor’s antecedents? May we not have taken a little too much for granted?” “This attitude is new,” she said coldly. He felt that lie was a poor devil's advocate, absolutely unworthy of his illustrious client. He grew flustered : shame smote -him cruelly. He was pleading against his better nature and his better sense. For lie had liked. Darling; there was something about the man. that had made a direct appeal to him, lie thought of him as a manly, self-reliant fellow who. had heAvn his own path through life, and Avho now” walked it fearlessly, head erect-. Aioreover, he was sure the man fully appreciated their hospitality and their friendship. His gratitude tor kindness shown was sincere if not effusive: looks, words, -fictions, all proved this. He thought lie had found j in him the secret, of Derry’s regard: at one time was sure of it. . . . and i even dreamed strange dreams. *T think 1 ought to toll you that from inquiries Glegg has made —cabled reports be has received from Australia ” “Glegg, Glegg. Glegg!” she almost shrieked. “Nothing but. Glegg! Hoav f hate the man and, his loathsome name !” Startled, he looked at. her. Melodramatic outbursts of this - nature- Avore so rare that his astonishment merged on incredulity. •• My dear!” bo protested. “ What right had lie to cable to Australia about Air Darling?” Two bright spots burned on her cheeks. Her body seemed to stiffen : of a sudden she ay ns defending. “Did you tell him to?” “ T, no: never thought of it.” ‘ Then it was a piece of gross impertinence on bis part.” “T think he did it for the best, I'm sure lie did.” “ And J feel equally certain lie did it for some purpose of his own. Air Darling ought to knoiv what his alleged friends are doing behind his back.” If (Hogg's information is accurate, AFr Darling Avould appear to he quite capable of looking after himself.” “ He would need be/’ “And y.u must not judge too hastily. (Hogg, a.s a man of standing in the City, could not possibly be a party to the flotation of n.ny company Avitliout due inquiry. .In the course of bis inv.-.stigatious certain facts have come to his knowledge which, make it imperative that his inquiries should he. carried further. This is a perfectly sound attitude, the more rouliin of business, and one 1 thought even you Avould undedstand.” 1 think 1 do, and a little more. Hut I should like confirmation stronger than Mr Glegg\s word before condemning ajiv man or anything.” Another look uuav came into bn '■vow prompted by a sudden thought. Mby at as she defending Darling? Was j i Avboily due to her antagonism to Glegg. or Atas there another motive? Oddly enough ho had never thought °f that. So sn-customed had h • beeomo to her Mate of single-hlcssetluess that he accepted its continuance as a. matter or course. lie had seen son;.Me teUovC nic„‘ > w-i,o"mOTy 'woman might have accepted, men with names and estates behind them. flow then could he associate her with one who came from nowhere, and of Avhom. nothing avhs known? Had the plain question been put to her: •• Mhy arc you defending this ■ nan?” she Avould itave answered : “J3ecauso ho is a stranger amongst us; Wen use he is Derry's friend, and be-c-in.se 1 loathe and detest Glegg.'’ And she Mould have believed it. ffv inI iu« ; she turned to ono Avho had incurred the red ogre's displeasure, and on such a recommendation alone, was ready to hail him as a friend. Tut -in the particular instance of Darling tlmro Avji.-s more iban this: he wax“ ’ subconsoiouslv. a. kind of link between the past and the present. Unknown to herself, the full meaning of which she never rightly apprehended, that ]HPP**ning out there in the Bush had really changed her life. -Occasionally she A’, a almost conscious of this: it floated liki a dim- thought through her - brain, at times ever, stirred Ik r pulse

incredibly. What avrs it in lwr which so curiously responded to a memory? There were times when she Avould not think of ib: times again Avhcn the. thought o; it frightened her. And it ff.'R all SO far away, and thousands of miles of ocean rolled between them. It Avas more than a li Itlo singular. Then out, of the vastness of space and time he came, a man from that part of the eountrv. bearing its vorv name. He knew the iver. the plains she had galloped over, probably a hut at- the foot of a certain low range of hills. More than once in her dreams slic had ridden the big chestnut at a. breakneck pace across those hills, fleeing from some unknown terror. .Waking Avitli a start, she Avonid tell herself how absurd it- was, won tier aaliv sho could not forgot . . . and Istioav she Had no -u i>h to. CHAPTER XII [. TIGER AND ANTELOPE The interview with Sir Derek Afallaston had com inre-d Jamie Glegg that to waste further time would be. foolishly ineffective. lie did not wish to proceed to extreme measures, being a prudent man. and realising that people Avitli their back to the wall frequentlv produced unexpected qualities; but at the same time he was of the decided ! opinion that unnecessary delay was not likely to prove to his advantage. Sir Derek, driven desperate, might find some Avay out, or Sir Derek's daughter ineonceiA-ably come to the rescue. You never could accurately gauge a man until he Avas down -and out. Avhile to attempt to penetrate the subtleties of a woman's mind Avas a task presenting insuperable difficulties. This was a lesson he was gradually beginning to learn. ITc tried to think that he had learnt it. or that it really didn't require learning, but found his mental attitude rather sceptical. There was a cunning in the creatures which confounded wisdom. Neither mentally nor physically could one take them by the neck and shake thorn into sense. One had to approach with circumspection and an assumption of delicacy, move warilv, ' tread softly, until the tiling was in one's j grip. Then the neck-wringing process • might proceed. __ j More than oik:c he asked himself if i the game was Avorth the candle. Why | should he so obstinately pursue this J one particular woman to whom he was , anathema? Perhaps that was the rea- i son, or part of it. Another, that of late i he had not been accustomed to defeat. , Tilings had conic his way, had just I , stepped up t.» him and begged for re- I cognition. But here was .something I that systematically a Avoided him; there- j , fore, such being his nature, he immecli- j ately set out in pursuit of it. Aioreover, there v , arser grain j to his fibre, one that delighted in the ! . cruelty of pursuit. To bring a ref me- j I tory person to heel, to lash it. as it : . cringed; was there, not much satisfac- | tion in this? Though he had long cast I | off his Hebraic ancestry, there was that. in the blood which would not be denied, j i Bor thousands of years, in every clime, i : the race had been despised, jeered at. j , humiliated; how. then, could it do j ; other than nurture thoughts of re ; i A'enge? ?sot. necessarily the cutting of j ! throats, since the time forbade it (ex- ! cept in Russia), but a finer, a subtler 1 ! re A'enge ; one that touched pockets, j honour, personal dignity, even the sane- j tity of the body itself. (To be continued.) |