[COPYRIGHT.] MIGHT VERSUS RIGHT. [TWO INSTALMENTS APPEAR IN THIS DAY'S ISSUE.]

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 4251, 22 June 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

[COPYRIGHT.] MIGHT VERSUS RIGHT. [TWO INSTALMENTS APPEAR IN THIS DAY'S ISSUE.]

f •->«£. BY JULIA MACK, kufhor of " Th' Boggart o' W Mill," " Glenw*^ Gordon," $c. f >.0..« '

L CHAPTER XX.— Continued. /"May I ask if you think favourably jof Miss Vere P " he asked, trying to look aa if he were thinking only of the sleek sides of the horse he was patting. SS 1 " I cannot say I do," replied Dr. Grey, watching for the effect of his words ; but his heart smote him when he met the agonised expression of Frank's eyes. "JT' don't say there is no hope," he continued, hastily, " but the girl is very „ ill.^ The case has been mismanaged. jThat is just what people are always idoing. They go on with their amateur doctoring until they become frightened ; jthen they send for the doctor, and he (has to pull them out of the hole they've igot into— if he can ; " and he shrugged jhia shoulders in affected contempt at! ithe folly of an unscientific world. He had gone on talking, to give his companion* time to recover from his first wuel stab. !£>• < II" Is it brain fever ?" asked Frank, with an effort to be calm. > fc " I hope that may be averted," replied the doctor, anxious to heal the wound he had made; "she will sleep through the night, I think, arid if she wakes with her mind clear, she is saved ; if not, she will have brain fever. But even if she Boes, that is not saying she will not recover, you know. She is young, and, as far as lifcan see, she has a good constitution. f^Oh," we shall pull her through all right ; but she will want careful nursing, Sid I must look after Mrs. Betty ; she looks like a dragon. You should have seen how she glared at me while I was jutting off Miss Vere's hair." r " You^cut her hair_ off ! her lovely bair!" cried Frank, starting back with 3, look of dismay. . ) The doctor laughed. P " It'll grow again, you know," he said, pith a comic^i). smile; "I've found another dragon, it seems." fcr Frank made no reply. An expression of great sadness came into his eyes. [What right had he to talk as if Elsie (belonged to him— he, an outcast, a felon p the eyes of the world P The doctor watched him curiously. F"By the bye," Ire said, carelessly, as jhe gathered up his reins, " may I ask footir name before we say good evening p " Frank coloured deeply as he raised his hat, and drew himself up proudly. * "My name [is Frank Armitage," he , said, firmly. ~» -The doctor smiled, bowed, and rode, off wondering. What made the fellow give his name in such a tragic manner P ' It was not •' Sam," anyhow ; so much the better for him, if he cared for Elsie Vere, as it was evident he did. Armitage P jwbere had he heard that name ? f Dr. Grey was a new-comer, and not well up in the topics of his district. fie had heard a rumour about the forged cheque, but, not knowing the parties, £ad,paid little heed to the s'ory. Now it-recurred to his memory. Was this the Bhock which had set on fire poor Elsie's brain ? It seemed only too likely. ]£ On his way home Dr. Grey called to Bee a young farmer who was laid up with a broken leg. ■* He lived in the parish of Brookvale, and was sure to know all^ 'fcbout the forgery. A few leading ques-* tions brought out the whole story. IP •• A downright bad 'un, Dr. Grey, that's what he is," said the farmer. "To all appearance living so quiet and steady, as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth ; find all the time he's been as wild as a hawk, so they tell me — drinking, gambling, and keeping low company." I've no patience with underhand ways ; a man's no worse for liking a bit of pleasure, but when he does it on the sly, you may be sure he's a bad 'un." i£ "I should not have thought there were many temptations for a young man at Brookvale,". said Dr. Grey, with a smile. $i "No more there be, sir," returned the "man ; " but he went regular to Gloucester Dn business for Mr. Dodd, who trusted him 1 * like as if he'd been his own son. A good, kind gentleman he is ! it is just the blackest piece of ingratitude I ever heard of. ? And not content with robbing Jkhe old man, he tries to fasten the blame pn to young Mr. Dodd. It's scandalous !" p* " What sort of a chap is young podd P " asked the doctor. jfe^'Mr/ Sam/ sir? Oh, he's a rale gentleman, he is," answered the farmer.' i" They tell me he's been jilted by one of pur * parson'B daughters,, so * he's been' Jbadly used all round. I wonder he conBents to let this blackguard Armitage jgo'Sjscot-free. ■*. They say he and his CatherUwon't prosecute on account of. the old lady. - That shows you what a good sort they are." iw*~* ■ y^ This' kind of story was hardly calculated to raise i Dr. Grey r3r 3 opinion of Frank Armitage. ~He had been prepossessed by the young man's voice and; manner, and would gladly have thought £iiin innocent if he could ; but there did iiot appear a loophole for doubt. One Stem in the indictment he was disposed £o cavil at. He was a man of the world, pvell versed in all sorts and conditions pf meu, and was too well accustomed to jthc signs of dissipation- to be deceived !)nthafc point. ; " The fe'low is steady enough, at all iwents," ho reflected ; " there is not a Irace of vice on his countenance. That uakea it all the more mysterious." ■ The kind doctor was so full of his interesting case, aa ho called poor Elsie md her sorrows, that he could not rrfrain from telling his wife the whole jistory. Sho v.*as a bright, sympathetic ittle woman, and was at once deeply rricrested. it never took Mrs. Grey ong to inabo up her mind on any subject — she was alw?»y3 ready to jump at ponclusions. Her pity for the pretty girl who would not believe in her lover's d'shonour settled the question without k moment's hesitation. f ; "Of coarse she wouldn't believe it, Toml" cried the little woman, vehemently. "Do you suppose that I would beli«r« it if any one accused yon of —of — raurdarinjj some one, for instance? No ;' aofc if nil tfee world said so ! " j % Dv. Qt(\y laughed, and shrugged his shoulder 3. - " I don't suppose you would, kitty," he said, throwing himself back pn the sofa with his hands behind his heafi ; " but it might be, true, all the ieame." *"■—«- ! 4 "Tom! w exclaimed the indignant kitty. Tgf*S~ yes," returned her husband, phaking his head; "it's a melancholy fact that your ' Tom ' is not a wbit better jhan another woman's Jack ! " *" Really, Tom! It seems to me men ike to bethought wicked. Do you want pae to believe you capable of crime ? j&bsurd ! " 4 " Oh, I don't want you to believe it," laughed her husband; " you have my full giermisßion to think me as perfect as you cJeaie. . I was only stating a fact, but I might^hftve spared my pains. You women ■B^jffitroflfelflLYQiir fefttfapr ftrain? ftboufe

tacts or evidence. It is aUleiUmentwitK . " Well, I think you are very ungrateful, Tom, and hardhearted, too," said his wife, much injured ; "yon don't care for my devotion and faith in you, not a bit." " I should care very much if I stood in Mr. Frank Arinitage's shoes at this moment," answered Dr. Grey, with the easy smile of a man who is well content to stand in his own ; " but as I hare neither a murder nor a forgery on my conscience-^-yet — why, I think you need not waste all that indignation on my supposed ingratitude." 1 "Well, but, Tom, you don't really think that nice young lover did forge the cheque, do you ? " asked Mrs. Grey, returning to the charge. . < 1 "I don't pretend to say," replied the doctor; "but the fact of his being 'a nice young lover ' would not prevent his doing so. Well, I must say lam sorry for the poor chap, whether he did it or not. A man may be led into crime by sudden temptation, without being the blackguard our charitable neighbours are inclined to think this young Armitage." • Mrs. Grey looked up at her husband with loving admiration. Her Tom was perfect in her eyes, and it was quite true that she would have fought, his j battles against all odds. But fortune did not put her devotion to the proof, for all men thought well of the good little doctor. So Mrs. Kitty was, as her husband declared, occasionally driven to erect a windmill, for the express purpose of tilting against it. Dr. Grey laughed at her, and teased her not a little, but in his secret heart he appreciated her devotion, and thought the world would be a poor sort of place if women took to weighing evidence, and judging mankind according to their deserts. Mrs. Grey did not fprget her husband's new patient. When he returned home the next day he was at once assailed with questions. " She is better," he said, in answer to her inquiry ; " how long she will keep so j is another matter. She has something I on her mind, you see, which plays the very mischief. She is really a very ) sweet-looking girl, and so is her sister, I though not so pretty. I wish you knew them, Kitty." "I wish I did," replied the enthusiastic little woman. " I should tell her at once that I believe in the innocence of her lover." " Which of them ? " asked the doctor, smiling. " You inconsequent little ' kitten ! — she has two, remember. If you know which she favours, it is more than I do." "Nonsense, Tom," she replied; "I am sure you told me that all her trouble is about this Mr. Armitage." Dr. Grey's thoughts,, had wandered, however, and his own troubles at that moment seemed more important than Elsie's. His eyes traversed the untidy room with evident annoyance. "As to Armitage," he said, absently, " you really know bo much without telling, that information is wasted upon you."' "Well, Tom, I am generally right, you must allow that," said Mrs. Grey, smiling. " I judge by instinct." . "Exactly so," he answered/. "I wish you had an instinct for keeping placei tidy, Kitty ; this room is a perfect bear garden." v—syk*. "Is it?" asked his wife, innocentlj glancing round her. "Oh, I see then are a few things about." "A few!" exclaimed the doctor. "3 wish you had Mrs. Betty to look aftei you, Kitty; she would put some littl< sense of order into you and your felloe kittens."