THE STORYTELLER.

Waikato Times, Volume XL, Issue 3257, 13 May 1893, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE STORYTELLER.

TWO IMS MID A LASS. 'liv Ki.okkxck Waiidkm. CHAPTER I. TWO WAYS OK wooixo. Axd a comely lass she was too, handsome enough to warrant the admiration of any two lads in the kingdom. Not one of your slender, citybred girls, pale of skin, fragile, and small-footed, but a sturdy young woman with broad shoulders, and well-shaped limbs, and a head set on the throat like that of a Greek statue, Rachel Wade was the belle of Great Gorlsey, which is, as everybody knows, the centre of the fishing trade of our north-eastern coast. She came of fisherman stock, and her clear eyes, bine as the sea in sunshine, her brown skin, tanned by the wind, the sun, and the salt spray, told of the generations of seafaring folk whose representative she was. ftacliel has •been accustomed to admirers from the time she entered her teens; but being of an independent turn of mind," she had taken them as a matter of course, with haughtiness which, whether real or assumed, exasperated beyond measure her less-favoured girl rivals. As she approached the age of twenty, however, one young fisherman, by his open devotion and dogged persistency, earned for himself, if not her good-will, at least the right to be named in the same breath with her by all the neighbours. But of this fact Rachel herself affected to be unaware. She did not even appear to notice how often, on her way from the town to the cottage on the outskirts where she lived, the rough voice of Coultas Storm, modulated to ut husky whisper, begged, humbly that lie might carry her basket for her. This offer she generally refused contemptuously; but on the rare occasions when she was more indulgent, it was only by the most transparent affectation that she could ignore the tremulous delight on his dark face, or the passionate thrill in his voice when lie bade her good-bye. Little by little the devotion of Coultas Storm earned for him a trilling reward in the shape of gracious greetings from the girl of his heart, and permission to run her errands. As long as these privileges appeared to content him, all things seemed to go well. But the fisher-folk, men' and women, who knew Coultas and the stock he came of, shook their heads and expressed their opinion that he was not the sort of lad to be made a fool, of for long, and that if Rachel Wade was only playing with him and cared no more for him than she said, she would have a bitter reckoning to pay for her folly some day. For the Storms, fishermen and sailors all, smugglers in the old days, had been known for generations in Gorlsby and the neighbourhood as a passionate, overbearing race, not only able to hold their own, but prompt to appropriate the property of others when it pleased their fancy. . To such of these words of warning as came to her ears, of course Rachel Wade, in the,pride of her beauty and her youth, replied with a careless laugh. If Coultas Storm liked to follow at her heels like a terrier, he could do so, she said; and when lie was tired he could go his own way. And when she was reminded that eacli generation of the Storms had produced at least one murderer, and that the records of Great Gorlsby were stained with notorious misdeeds in most of which the Storms had taken part, Rachel only tossed her head and said that Coultas was welcome to murder her if she ever gave him the chance. And when matters had reached this point another suitor appeared on the scene. Jack Menncl was a fisherman, too, but that was the only point of resemblance between him and his rival. Broad-built, while Coultas was slender, blue-eyed and fairbearded, whilo his rival was as dark as a Spaniard, Jack was as pre-eminently the handsomest man in the neighbouihood as Rachel was the prettiest woman, He was a lad of good character, too; and had, besides these advantages, the splendid qualification of what passed in Great Gorlsby forwealth. Eor he was part-owner of a fishing smack, and had a little cottage property of his own. Was it to bo . wondered at that poor Rachel was dazzled by the splendour of her new admirer, who was, on his side, entirely aware of the honour he was doing 1 this girl, with no dower but her beauty, in seeking her for his wife ? The devotion of Coultas was, of course, not unknown to Jack Mennel, but he was quite sufficiently conscious of his own superiority to that rather luckless and poverty-stricken person, not to be disturbed by any thought of his rivalry.

It was some weeks after Jack's passion for Rachel lud been manifest to the object of it, that Coultas became conscious of the danger which threatened his own position. A ww in which one of the Storms was concorned was likely to be such an ugly affair that people were shy in hastening the outbreak. But of course the young man heard the news at last, .and was only restrained by the main force of half-a-dozen strong-handed fishermen from flying at the throat of his informant,

" It's a lie! It's an infernal lie!" he shouted, as, white and shaking with passion, he struggled with his good-natured captors, and glared like a wild beast at the man who

had mentioned Jack's name. "If it was true, if I thought it was true, I'd knife them both, as sure as I'm a living man!"

One of the oldest of the seamen present interrupted him sharply. "Howd your tongue, Coultas Storm," said he, "Ye're too free wi' yer talk about knifin' and sooch liko. Yo wouldn't like for us to think as ye meant all ye say. Why, we know, lad, that ye care for this lass like a mon, and like a mon ye maun win her or lose her."

His tone had an effect upon the young fellow's excitement, perhaps, for Coultas ceased to struggle in the hands of the men who held him, and dropping his voice to an angry growl, told them to let him go, He" warn't goin' for to do no harm to anybody there."

The old fisherman who had already spoken put his hand on , the lad's shoulder, and nodded an intimation that he was to be set free. The moment he was set at liberty, Coultas, with an imprecation, made straight for the door without another glance at anybody present. " He doan't seem to look as if he so much as saw any mon jock of us!" remarked one of the men with a grin. " His eyes is too full o' sumrnun else!" said the old fisherman abruptly, as he rose from his seat and followed the young man out. The lithe figure of Coultas Storm was hardly more than a speck in the distance, as he made his way down the wide straight road which led from Gorlsby to Carthorpe. I When the elder man came up with him Coultas had already climlied over a stile on the left-hand side, and had slackened his pace, It was through these fields that Rachel Wade had to pass on her way to the cottage where she lived with her grandmother. He turned sullenly to the old man's call and stopped. " Get thee whoam, lad, get thee whoam," said the latter coaxingly, knocking the ashes out of his pipe against the back of his hand. "Thy father and me wero mates, lad, afore thou coomed into t' world. An' I doan't want fer ter see no son of his, in trouble. An' all for a lass, too, as ne'er let on fer ter care about him," . In the dusk the old man saw the fierce glitter in the young fellow's eyes as he turned upon his friend. " She did care for me, though; she was just beginning for to care —I could see it in her oyes," said he, huskily. " D'ye think I haven't watched her till I understahd every turn of her head? I tell ye I know by the way she treads the ground, wi' her back to me, afore I come up wi' her, whether she's going to give me a sinilo or an unkind word- Lord knows I've waited long enough for a bit of a soft glance from her pretty eyes ; but .it was coming at last, it was eoming, And now this ere skunk comes along to take my rights away from me, confound him!"

"Eh,but,lad, thou cannot say thy 'rights' till a lass is promised to thee. Now, wur Rachel Wado promised ter be thy wife ?" Coultas said nothing for a few moments, but dug his right heel deep into the ground. " She would ha' been my wife, promise or no promise,", said he, sullenly. "An' if she woan't be mine now"—ho gave a little snarling laugh—" she shan't be t'other chap's." Without waiting to hear more remonstrances, he turned and made off in the direction of the shore. The old man looked after him with a grim, grave face, and shook his head. He knew the Storms; he had seen that black look on the face of the lad's father, and he knew that when that particular devil was driving one of the race the word of a fellow human was chaff in the wind.

Coultas, mean while, made straight Eor the beach.'

The grey mists of a November evening were gathering over the flat slwre with its miles of sand, and over the waters beyond* The great river at the mouth of which Great Gorlsby stands here widened into the sen. and the opposite shore, miles away, was only a black line on the horizon. The wind, which swept along the flat sandy fields, blew up the sand in stinging clouds into his face, and whistlingin the skeleton of an old hulk which lay rotting on the beach, seemed to siug a wild song in his ears to encourage the fierce thoughts which burned him. Suddenly he turned and made straight for the across the fields, He had heaid nothing, seen nothing; but .he knew that Rachel was coming. With a basket on her arm, and humming a gay song with, perhaps, rather defiant liveliness, the girl strode along the narrow path, and would havo passed him with a nod. But Coultas turned and kept pace with her. " Ye're wonderful cheerful this evening, Rachel," he began in subdued tones, which did not deceive the girl as to the mood he was in. " I've no call to be anything else but cheerful, ot least noc as far as I know," returned the girl, with a light laugh., Coultas uttered a sound like a great sob. "It omes easy to some folks to be lively when othor folks' hearts is breaking,", said lie. The girl affected a determined innocence.

" Eh. but it's news to mo that there was any breaking hearts in Gorlsby. Maybe if there are, though, they won't take long

mending." Coultas triod to take her basket from her, but Bhe refused his help. "I'll have no arms broken in my service, anyhow," she said lightly, as she swung her basket from the one arm to the other, out of his reach, The little admission this speech implied was enough to set free tho tongue of her disappointed lovor. "I'd break my arms and my head too, and welcome, to serve: you, Rachel, and well you know 1 it," he broke out. "And you've been glad enough to know it was so these six months and more, and to let folks say as Coultas was ready to lie on the ground for Rachel Wade to tread on." The girl tossed her head haughtily. " You've been making a great mistake, Coultas Storm, if you think I care a straw whether folks say anything of the kind!" she said, with' a grand glance of affected disdain at him from under her sweeping black eyelashes. "And I'm sure that I've no wish to tread upon you nor upon anybody else; and if you're so mighty anxious to be trodden upon, why, you can find somebody else to do it." They were walking on side by side, he quickening his pace in order to keep up with the rapid steps which betrayed the girl's excitement. At these contemptuous words the young man, muttering a couple of words between his set teeth in a tone which caused her a little spasm of fright, clenched his fists and came so close to her that she suddenly stopped and took a step buck away from him, "Keep your distance, Coultas Storm, if you please," she said haughtily, The young man put his hands in his pockets with a short, hard laugh. '< So it's come to that, has it, that I'm to bo sent about my business, and all for the sake of a man who doesn't care for you, body and soul, as mueh as I do for the wag of yer little finger!" His attitude was threatening, and perhaps the girl was a little bit alarmed. But she stood her ground bravely; and if her breath came rather quickly, her tone, as she answered him, was as proud as ever.

"Be kind enough to speak more respectful of your betters, if you please," she said peeping under the lid of her basket, with assumed unconcern.

She did flinch the next moment, though, for Coultas sprang across the narrow path and seized her by the wrist,

"Betters? Sandy Jack my betters!" he cried, as, with his face twitching and his limbs shaking, he stood bent before her, with his gleaming black eyes peering into her face. " Shows what you women folks know!" And he laughed hoarsely. " Why, he's a lying sneak, he's a hard-fisted, back-biting psalm-singing cur, and he'd treat you bad, just as he treated other lasses afore. I know him, and every man in Gorisby knows him. And a pretty fool he would make of you if you was to go and take up with him,. "Trust me to know what I'm doing," said Rachel; " and just let go of my arm, please," she went on, enforcing this command, which Coultas promptly obeyed, with an angry stamp of her foot. "Isay Jack Mennel is your betters, and so he is. He's got a good temper, and you've got a bad one; he comes after me like a man, and not like a sheep. And I should only be doing what any lass of sense would do in my place if I was to take for my husband a man who's got good looks, and a good temper, and a good name." "Ay, and a good boat, too; don't forget that," sneered Coultas. "Ay, and a good boat, too," echoed Rachael, composedly. " It's just as well in these hard times to know where one's bread's coming from, when one takes a chap for better, tor worse."

Coultas, breathing hard, began to stammer incoherently, unable to find words to express the passions which were raging in him. "Yo doan't know, ye doan't know; maybe he doan't think of marryin' you at all." But the sight of a figure she recognised coming quickly over the reedy grass reassured Rachel, and she answered more placidly. " Maybe it's true, as ye say," she answered in a louder voice, aud in a very clear, deliberate tone, "as Jack: Mennel is only making a fool of me, and doan't mean to make me his wife."

"An' maybe he's ready for to marry you next Sunday two weeks, when the parson's asked us all reg'lar, eh, Rachel f interrupted a man's voice in Coultas Storm's startled ear.

Jack Mennel himself —bronzed, sandy-bearded, cool and handsomestood between then), and presumed to lay a proprietary hand on Rachel's shoulder. He did not condescend to be angry or jealous—this superior person with the good looks, and the good character, and the good boat. His disdain of his unworthy rival—standing trembling with passion before him, and staring at Rachel with love-lorn, haggard eye 3 was too great, Coultas stood ns if paralysed by the grand insolence of ( t the new-comer, whose wooing was so magnificent after his own abject appeals for favour. The girl, however, though she let Jack's hand rest on the shoulder which

Coultas had never presumed to touch, glanced from her fortunate to her unfortunate lover a little pitifully. "I know you're a well-meaning chap, Coultas," she said, gently, " and I'm sorry if I've spoken rough to you, And I'm thankful to you for always being so kind, and for your help, and all that, But—" "But you'll not have a chance of | being kind any morn, for there's I others that'll soon have the right. And so you may take it you've got the kick out, Storm," concluded Jack Mennel, as with a cool nod, he gave Rachel a sounding kiss on the lips in the very face of his unhappy rival, Coultas clenched his fists and tried to speak. But the words only rattled in his throat. A great sob escaped his lips as Rachel and the favoured Jack went away together. He did not see the remorseful look the girl cast behind her or the impatient shake of the arm with which the victorious Mennel punished her for the moment's weakness. (Tobemtinuel)