For Love and Glory.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8183, 16 July 1906, Page 2

For Love and Glory.

CUAPTER XXX.—Continued. r He infested the yarn with much humour from timot<> timo, and when the olimax drew near he had worked his hearers up to a pitch of eager excitement, so that the denouement brought out poals of of laughter that startled some Filipinos engaged in washing clothes and mangling them with a club on the water front near by. They woro a merry party, indeed. No oue would (Jream of aching hearts beneath s:<oh laughing exteriors, and yet Tessie's miith was, for a great part, assumed. She had begun to be possessed with a grave tear that Armand had only coutempt for bor now, that her foolish act in Yokahatna harbour had wrought a complete change in his sentiments—he wa3 a different man in many ways, every one remarked that, ana she dreaded lest Bhe had effectually killed the affec tion he bore her, just ns one may quench a flame by throuding it with dead ashes. True, he seamed determined to recover those papers which she appeared to value so highly, but that might easily bo accounted for through the lact of hia nature being aroused by repeate i rebuffs. Perhaps when he secured them be would toss them contemptuously into her lap, as if to declare that ho had proved her mad assertion false, and then go away on the first stea mer bound for Naasaki, HoDg-Kong, Singapore, Australia, anywhere, to get beyond the now despised infln- j ence he ouce had adored. And Tcssie was dotormined ho ' should never go until she had humbled herself and bhgged for a restora- ; tion of the old, sweet relations be- j tween them. j Piide was a great stn^Wns

block, and until affuira soomfd on the brink of that desperate state she could not bring horeelf to open ( the subject; she wished he might take the initiative and help her out, but Arnaand was dumb; tor h'.ra the time to apeak could only be when he had cooio baok victorious, modern Jason with the Golden Fleeoe, when be would deem it his right that Teasie should do the proper thing and meet him more than half way. So they laughed and ohatted and joked, yet always with a wubicon between aoross which she dared nut and he would not pass. Which game of cross-purposes has been played between lovers from time immemorial. GHAPIJEK XXXI. FUJNSTUN. The days and weeks passed. Matters remained "in statu quo," so far ad the relations between Armand and 'l'essie were concerned Be was waiting lor news, having opened a correspondence with various centres, making enquiries concerning the mhsiug Godiago. It was slow in ooming. Once he had what seemed a reliable clue, hut upon following it up he found at Holla quite another person, though answering in general the description of the member from • Hong-Kong. r

Meanwhile, he renewed bis relations with the army officers of his acquaintance. Among them was Fonfitcn—General FreJ Funston, his old comrade, a man whom Armand bad always admired sincerely, and whose meteoric army record it haft given him pleasure to follow. Here was one after Tessie's own heart, a man absolutely without fear, who loved danger for the sake of the excitement, the thrill it aroused, and whose bravery in time of battle had not only won him the promotion >'fc deserved, bat the unbounded admiration of his fellowsoldiers, which he prized above all else. There was a strange fascination for Armand in the company of this mod- ' est yet brave warrior. He seemed to feel aa inspiration when chatting with the general, no matter if the subject of their con ver tiou concerned the doings of boyhood days, of scenes far back in the past, for Puntson could seldom be influenced to speak of bis own e\ploi s, which was another feature that stamped him as modest as he was valiant. Jt was impossible that the two friends conlil be together as often aa they were without something iu tho way of confidences arising between them. Although the general made no mention of particularo, Armand understood ho was deeply engaged In mapping out some bold scheme that could only originate in the Funston brain. if he was ourious with regard to this, he was, at least, careful not to appear inquisitive, knowing what army reticence means. No doubt the scheme, when hatched out, would thrill the American people, euro enough, and add more laurels to the wreath of glory already decoratir g his browOn his part, Armand one day made a clean breast of his troubles. Ihey were smoking in the general's quarters, and the recalling of many tender incidents connected with boyhood's happy days, when they were comrades upon numerous swimming and flshiog expeditions, had to do with opening Armand's heart. .Mankind yearns for sympathy, and while the McGregor was enlisted in his services, the Scotchman's nature was illy fitted for making him a good consoler, a sympathetic friend. So he told of the relations existing between himself and Te'ssie, how the break came when in the Yokohama "sampan,*' at whioh his hearer nodded appreciating*?, as thoroughly argeeing 1 with bis | xefu&al to save the miserable dog

By St. George Rathborne. Author of "Dr. Jack" The Wilchfrom India,'■ " Captain Tom,'" li Mt;nheer Joe," " Dr. Jack's Wife," elc., etc,

thai; fell to the shark?, t and all that: had happened sime then, even including the major's lamentable fiasco on tne night be set out to capture a possible Aguinaklo. The general was interested all nloiifi, but' he became wonderfully eagei during the reoital ot this last dramatic exploit:. When the rodiculoua denouement occurred, hia laugh was spontaneous and hearty. Armand, at the time, had no reason to suspect why his military friend should be more deeply interested in this oloiiug episode than at any other nart of the series. It a'l came cleurly en)ug;i t'. him later. "Yon understand my intense sire to flud him and take those bailors away from him? J was never so set upon a thing in my life. keei< me back. Why, if 1 heard, on good authority, that he was in the heart of Arabia, I'd sail for Aden, organize h caravan and put out over the desDrt in search uf the naiticular oasis tosvu where he abided. To llud (Judingo Takanori sfiem° to me to be the present sum total of my existence. Do you blame me at all for sno'i a fesliug?" he concluded, turnii'K frankly on the general. "Neve"-; truth to I ell, you're a man after my own heart, and I honour you for what you've done. Plaoed under the same oondifcons, 1 don't doubt a minu' e that I'd have carried out pretty much the same programme. But that's a queer name you mention, one of the kind to slip over the tongue like butter—a Jap Filipino, you say, and belonging to that set of scoundrels in HungKong who keep away from all dau-

ger r.nd work the wires. Perhaps that may l:e where 1 heard the name, because, somehow, it seems very familiar—Godiago—by Jove I now, 1 wouder if it could be possible?" With which the general hastily extracted some offloial-loobi'l3 communication from an inside pocket of his khaki coat, and snatching up one, glanced over it. As he did so, he uttered an exolamatiou. "fle'a there, sure enough, Armand." "Uociiago?" "Look yourself at this list of names; isn't'that intended'to be his, misspelled though it be? "Undoubtedly, but where is be located? I beg that you tell me, general", pleaded Hadcliffe. g"I have reason to believe in Palauan."b "Where may that be?" pur&ued Armand. "Away up in the wilderness of North-eastern Luzon, milea from the coast." "All right, that does not matter." The oonfldent *one in which b§ said this rather startled the general. "See here, what dees this mean?" he demanded. "A new advent, nte, unly Palauan is hardly as far distant as the heart of the Arabian desert." "Good heavens, man? Surely you wouldn't gthink of trying to penetrate there?" "Why not? Gudiago made the journey. Perhaps I could start from Dagupan with a company of natives and a few brave fellows like McGregor, and bring up over the mountains." "I like that nerve; but you'd

never get here, my dear fellow, ba sure." "A.IJ. right. Then loan hire a vessel, sail around the ooast, land at the nearest point, and from there go into the interior by stages." Funston sprang to his feet, and walked up and down the room with some signs of excitement such as he seldom exhibited Armand looked at him with more or less surprise, wondering what there might be in his private affairs to thus disturb the soldier. Be.was soon tn know. Once or twice Funston ran his fingers through his Jiair, as though to aid his thoughts. Finally he stopped in front of hia friend. "See here,' he said, impressively, and in his usual blunt fashion, "I'm aory I told you that about the fellow, because it promises to play the deuce with a little affair of my own." "How can that be possible?" inquired the . other. "Wei', it does, that's all," grimly. He onntinued to look keenly at Armand. "Now, I'm going to tell you a seciet, that is only known to a select t'ew besides myself, and tbey're one and all in the game. Doyouwonder why this Junta man has gone tn Palatuan?" "Not to keep clear of me, I'm sure." "Hardly. I'll tall yon. It's to make his report and receive instructions to take back to Hong-Kong concerning future smuggled supplies." "Why to that far-distant town to report?" "Ah! because Agiunaldo is there!" Then Armand started, and looked straight into the steady eyes of the general (To be continued.)