"THE HEART OF DAPHNE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 44, Issue 13604, 31 July 1918, Page 7

"THE HEART OF DAPHNE.

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT*

A SOCIETY NOVEL OF LOVE AND INTRIGUE,

(COPYRIGHT.)

CHAPTER VII.-—Continued.

Daphne stood stock still. All was lostj la h.ei , ' opinion, and what happened now seemed not to matter, until she saw the beaten man —for Leaver had had the worst of if i'rom the-beginning —i'reo one of his hands with a desperate effort, There was tho flash of stool, a stilled groan, and Barnstaple, rearing himself up and clutching ineffectually at the empty air, fell sideways with a groan. Leaver, too, gave a gasping cry, and lot the knife drop from his hand; and then, and not till then, as Daphne noticed witli unutterable contempt, Kaffe cornered him, seizing his arm and dragging him by main force through the curtains, while at the same moment Daphne , s companion abruptly left her side. She heard hurried voices, and the next moment tho lights were turned ou,t. The darkness soemed a living, soutient thing to the girl, as she crouched against the velvet curtain, and for a moment she i.'clt nothing but horror at its impalpable, suffocating force. It was impossible to move, even to think, with that black curtain falling j over them all, hiding the traces of the i deed that had been done, giving the blackguards time to escape, and wrapping the wounded man round as if with a shroud. i The minutes as they passed seemed like hours spout in some mysterious in- ' I'erno, and then gradually her eyes became accustomed to the gloom; she was able to grope her way round tho table to where Barnstaple lay, and to see Ms face by the faint glimmer from the win. dow. He was lying on his side, with one arm outllung above his head and the other doubled under him. With gentle, gingerly touches she tried to move him, at iirst without success; then gradually putting out all her force and kneeling at his sido, she managed to turn him on his back. By altering her own position and lifting his head to placo it on her knee, as she sat at his aide, sh 0 could bend over him, and, dim as the light was, nee his face plainly. ! It was white- with a pallor that seeme das livid as death, and the high forehead on which the dark hair matted, was wet with sweat. She had no hand, kerchief, but i'rom his pocket she took his owu, which was very fine and made of silk, and almost tenderly she wiped his forehead with it. The feeling of horror and dislike that she had had for him was entirely merged in a ilood of pity at the thought of the extraordinary folly that had landed him hero. What a handsome boy lie was, to be sure! And yet it had never struck her till this moment. Under tho flare of the gas-lights all the lines in his face had showu up too plainly. Now they were softened, andalmost invisible. After a few moments she began, still gingerly, yet with a quick, resolute touch, to undo his tie and loosen the <'01. lar stud at his throat, while she wondered desperately where ho was wounded. It bad seemed to her, so far as she could see, that Leaver had struck him in the chest, but yet she could not locate the place until, in passing her hand over his arm, she found it —a clean cut through the cloth of his sleeve in tho forearm, and as her fingers touched it she felt the blood oozing through the material, aud at the same moment saw that he opened his eyes. I "Whore the dickeus am I?" he said, but he spoke uently, and almost ily"You've- been hurt," replied Daphne. "Ilurt! How?" He was staring at the white face that glimmered over him, as a patient looks up into the face of his nurse. I '-'You were hurt here —in this room— a few moments ago." ! She spoke very quietly and slowly, so that the dulled brain should take in tin-, meaning of her words. j "You were gambling," she added, j "Gambling! Oh, you mean I was 'playing baccarat here." 'Suddenly hip face changed, became alert, and the staring eyes concentrated. "I remember," he said. "Leaver cheated and I i went for him. I recollect pushing him back against the table, aud after that I can't seem to remember anything more. What happened next?" "lie si.ruck you with a knife —hero, in your arm. Does it hurt?" "It's beginning to," he said. "Up till this moment 1 hadn't felt anything, but now it throbs a bit. Where are the others?" " "They all wont away, and someone turn-ed the light out." "Just like them —the cowards!" said Barnstaple. "I remember you now," he added. "You're the girl who came in and tried to give us all away." '' Yes.' ? 'How is it. you're here, then? I should have thought you'd have been calling in the police." "I would have done it if I could, and i it might have saved you; but they were all around ir?o and I didn't daro to move." "I'm jolly glad you didn't,'' he murmurmured in his slow, dragging tones. "That would have been about the limit. But why are you hero now?" j "I couldn't leave you; but something ought to be done for you. I ought to try and staunch this wound somehow. If I only had a pair of scissors I could cut your coat off." "Look here, my girl," ho said, "you have behaved very well, and I shan't forget it, I can tell you; but, as you say, something must be done. Wo made an appalling row, as far as I can remember, and we're not safe here for a moment. I must get out of this room somehow." ! "No, don't stir; you're not fit to move yet." "Whether I'm fit or not I'm going to try. I wouldn't have them find me ' here for anything. Do you know that Mendham has never seen this room for years; doesn't know of its existence as a room at all; thinks it's a place where they store lumber —incredible that a man can be so blind! Now, if I could only get out of this place, as far as the pantry, or that old housekeeper's room, I can make up some yarn if I'm caught. You say they all got away?" he added sharply. "Yes, I'm sorry to say they did." '' You may be sorry, but I'm glad. Look here, we've all got another chance to avoid a horrible scandal, and I'm go. ing to take it. Give me your hand." She held it out and it was' clasped by his, that was cold and damp and shaking; then, very slowly and painfully, holding to the frail support so tightly that her hand and arm ached with the pressure ,he dragged himself to his knees ant the nto his feet. Only one groan escaped him as he did it, and that was in. stantly stifled with a pluck worthy of a better cause. Certainly, bad as he was,

(To he Continued.)

By LADY TEOUBRIDGE, Author of "The Cheat," "Tho Soul of Honour," "Love, the Locksmith," "The Woman Thou Gayest," etc.

there, "was something engaging about tho young fellow; yet Daphne was sternly resolved that he should bo checked in his headlong career, and no longer insult Lord Mondham by taking his hospitality. Still, it was not the moment for recrimination, or for anything except help; for in the dim light she could see the drawn pallor of his features, aud the feeble way he still clung to her with one hand, and to tho table with the other. •'That's right," she said encouragingly. "Now put your good arm—the one that isn't hurt —round my shoulders, and let me support you. Pm very strong.'' He obeyed. ''I'm bleeding like a pig," he remarked as he did so, and immediately he felt the girl tremble. "Now; don't be frightened," he said. "I thought you said you wero strong." "Yes, but it's so dreadful!" 1 "Well, if I can bear it, you iau," he returned in his unceremonious fashion. "Women are all alike —the thought of blood turns them silly." After this taunt Daphne was resolved to show no sign of wavering, and step by step she supported him to the door, ft'.eling all the time how bad the movement must be, and how urgent the necessity for immediate attention to his wound. Down the long corridor she guided him, and here the darkness was illuminated by one feeble glimmer from a lowered gas; then into the pantry and towards a chair. Into this he sank, his head dropping forward on to her two Lands, which he held in one of his. "Don't give me away!" he muttered. "I've got an old mother who cares so awfully if I go under." "What can I say? What can we do?" asked Daphne. "Follow my lead. For the love of* heaven, promise mo, and I'll find a way out of it for us both. Remember," he urged, "I've got everything to lose. Promise! —■promise!—I hear someone coming." "I can't promise," sh e said steadily, although the entreaty in his voice and in the grasp of his clutching hand almost unnerved her; and at the same moment that the words passed his lips, tho door was opened, and Raffe came in, followed by Lord Mendham himself.