THE LADY OF INISHTARA

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19805, 8 February 1936, Page 5

THE LADY OF INISHTARA

By HERBERT GALWAY Author of “ Out of the West,” 44 The Squire of Redesby,” etc A THRILLING MYSTERY STORY

BYNOPBIB. Conal Shrule, a lonely old hermit, lives In a hut built into a cave in the mountains or Imshtara. It Is rumoured that he Is wealthy. „ Daniel Carey, heir to Inishtara Castle. Michael Carey, Daniel’s younger brother. , , . Terence Carey, father of Daniel and Michael, is constantly urging Daniel to retrieve the family fortunes by marrying Mary Shannon, niece of Robert Shannon, the only rich man in the neighbourhood. Mary,, nowever, is in love with Brian Curran, who is working in LonDinny Keady, a notorious poacher In the district.

Joe Griffin, landlord of the Napper Tandy Inn. There is constant enmity between the brothers Michael and Daniel, and Michael threatens to divulge his brother’s secret lr the suggested marriage with Mary takes place. During a game or cards at the inn Michael accuses his brother of cheating. There is a nght. Michael strikes Daniel, who falls, and is rendered unconscious. Thinking he has committed murder, Michael Tides away on his motor-cycle Into the CHAPTER V. “ Mart’s Ingratitude to Man . • '* The landlord shrank in terror from the prostrate man. “Old Shrule —the hermit! Oh! what devil's let loose this night 1” Daniel Carey sprang forward. “ What’s the matter, you superBtitious fool?” he exclaimed as he bent over the strange unconscious llgure. “ Pull yourself together. Get some cold water as quick as you can •to bathe his head- No I none o’ that” he added as Griffin grabbed a bottle of spirits. “ D’you want to kill him?” t Shrule’s paroxysms gradually lessened but he remaind unconscious and apparently lifeless. “ Did ye hear what he said?” whispered Griffin. “ Five hundred golden sovereigns an’ ‘he’s been robbed?” “ And 1 don’t wonder,” commented Carey. ( The landlord stared at him with w ide-open eyes. 44 Then its true what •the boys do be saving?” “True? Of course it’s true; but what’s that got to do with you or me ?” Griffin shrugged his shoulders. 44 Five hundred golden sovereigns 1 Five hun —Glory bel He’s coming to.” Shrule opened his eyes and stared vacantly at Griffin, who rose nervously to his feet as though afraid of an evil spell being cast upon him. ” Oh, there —there,” he began soothingly. 44 Feeling better, Mister Shrule ? Ye did be having a nasty—” 44 Thanksreplied Shrule briefly, sitting upright. 44 Thanks—to you both.” He had turned his head and noticed Daniel Carey standing at his (Shoulder. 44 I’ll be all right now,” he went on as they helped him to his feet. 44 Aren’t you one o’ the young men from the Castle?” 'he asked, looking closely at Daniel Carey. 44 Yes. What about It?” was tho curt reply. ” Did ye hear that I’ve been robbed?” ’* That's what I understood you to say,” Daniel Carey spoke In a tone of cynical contempt. He resented the awe in which the hermit was held by the villagers, and intended to show that he personally was not impressed in any way. “ Five hundred pounds stolen by some dirty thief—aye, and murderer, too, for what he oared, the way he flung me aside as he rushed out.” ‘‘Ye saw him, then?” asked Griffin anxiously. 44 Ye surprised him, did ye ?” “ Surprised the coward—yes, but 3 couldn’t see him. I may be an old man, but that thief would never have got away alive if I’d seen himl” Shrule’s eyes glared balefully from beneath his shaggy brows, and the landlord shivered with apprehension. 44 Then you can’t say who it is?” queried Carey. 44 No, but 1 can make a few guesses.” 44 Guesses are no good to you. You iwould have been wiser to take the money to a bank.” 44 That’s my affair,” retorted Shrule. •* It would have been safer there If one o’ the lazy drunkards who knew about it had ” 4 4 Are you referring to anyone from my house?” Interrupted Griffin, superstitious dread momentarily conquered by the greater and more actual fear for the reputation of the Napper .Tandy. 44 Maybe,” was the reply. 44 The young gentleman there looks as though be d been in trouble.” Daniel Carey immediately became conscious of the bloodstained handkerchief round his head. 44 That was an accident,” he said. 44 Anyway, it’s jny affair.” Shrule Ignored the remark. 44 If you'll come up to the hut I’ll give you something that will cure It In a few minutes—and I’ll show you the place where the thief ” 44 Thank you,” he sneered, 44 but there's no need to go to your hut. Show the police where the robbery happened. That's their work. I can look after my own troubles." 44 This is no work for the police,” 6aid Shrule quietly, but with suppressed anger. 44 They would tell ?ne to remove temptation. There should be honesty between man and man. It's from here—from this haunt of the lowest ruffians in the village—-that tho thief came. It’s only here where evil rumours are born and secrets discovered. Somebody knew about that money,” he went on, his voice rising shrilly. “ Somebody who has abused my kindness —and as you are the son of the lord of the manor I say that It is more your affair, or your father’s affair than the police. You know how tales and lies are told in this inn when the ldiers get together, and you know who is likely to have done this tiling!'’ The old man sat down heavily from sheer exhaustion after ’his passionate outburst. “ That’s a fine thing to be saying of a respectable house,” declared Griffin indignantly. ‘ 4 Ye don’t know what ye’re ”

“Shut up!” oried Daniel Carey. “ Dont heed the ravings of a madman I Perhaps Ido know,” he almost hissed, going nearer the old man. “ And I’ll tell you where to And the thief. You'll And him among the carneying reptiles who go to you from the village with their tales of woe and their aliments, who make you think you can perform miracles, while better men who like a drop o' liquor keep their troubles to themselves.” Griffin s dread of the visitor’s supernatural powers vanished in th e company of his aggressive and best customer, and he grinned his approval of the tirade. >hrule s whole manner changed. He rose, unsteadily to his feet. 4 Maybe right," h e murmured. as though light had at last

Lonely and unprotected as he was, such a reputation was a sure shield against physical harm from without. Now, however, even that appeared to have lost its power for good.

Shorn of his own kith and kin, he was glad to make friends with Brian Curran and Mary Shannon, whom he had met strolling through the wood near his home during the previous summer.

They had gladly accepted his invitation to see the place which everyone else shunned, and the young people found him ea, man of Infinite charm and benevolence. While* kind to the villagers who needed his herbal knowledge and worldly wisdom, he lavished his thwarted affections on Brian and Mary, and was sorry when the former left Inishtara for London.

shone through his bewilderment. 44 Maybe you’re right.” Without another word he walked gropingly towards the door and passed Into the night. Both men stared at each other in silence as the door swung to again. “D’ye think he’ll come back. Mr Daniel?” asked Griffin, with a return of his old fear. “That’s the only way to treat the old devils like him. Give me another drink. He’ll not dare to come back.” 44 1 wonder," muttered the landlord to himself as he Ailed two glasses, and even Daniel Carey could excuse Griffin’s trembling 'hands as he set the glasses down. When the hermit staggered from the Napper Tandy Inn the rain had stopped, but torn rags of clouds were Intermittently wiping the face of the moon, and the trees protested and turned their 'heads ;away from the fierce gusts of wind which assailed them.

With the loss of his hoard all desire to live had left the old man. He had found a certain degree of happiness in the meagre existence he derived from the gifts of grateful villagers. He had been glad to minister to them. Now even they had played him false and bitten the hand of their benefactor. Mechanically'he trudged up the difficult path through the wood. He followed the track with the instinct of a nocturnal creature, hut with the dragging feet of utter hopelessness. Memories crowded thick upon him as he reached the hut, but no happiness came-with them.

The place was as he had left It in his frenzy, and Jjis return was marked by a calm which contained more of numbness than resignation.

More than twenty years ago Shrule’s wife had disappeared with their baby girl from their home in another part of the country. She had left ,a note saying she had fled with her lover and was going abroad. For a few years he remained in the hope that she would return and seek his forgiveness, but as time went on without any word from her ha finally came to Inishtara to live the life of a recluse in his mountain hut. Gradually an atmosphere of mystery had grown round him, and he acquired, through the cures he effected among the villagers, credit for mlraoulous powers which he took no trouble to disclaim.

Knowing, however, that the departure was for Brian’s and eventually Mary’s benefit, the old man had nothing but congratulations for the youns man’s suocess, and looked forward to his return at the holidays. On this tragic night satfh reflections proved some small consolation for the theft of his hoard. lie determined to discover t'he thief, but could afford to wait. Carefully covering up the hole again, he flattened the earth down as before, then, after a siaaple meal, wrote a long letter to Brian Curran, telling him of the robbery and asking him to call as soon as he could when 'he paid his next visit to Inishbra. CHAPTER VI. What Did Dlnny Keady Know? Inishtara Castle stands on the wooded side of the mountain, a mile or so above the village. It Is an imposing structure with a long and stirring history. Modern times, however, have left the Castle little more than a picturesque but empty shell, and Terence Carey—who had inherited It from his father—was deeply in debt. Creditors were crowding about him as rooks crowd a field of stubble, and after fruitless Individual efforts to obtain the return of their money they had at last combined and Issued a Joint ultimatum which threatened Carey’s hold on his home. There w r as only one hope—to keep the wolves from the Castle gate until his son Daniel married the niece of his wealthy Ineighbour Robert Shannon. Terence Carey could see no obstacle to the match. Shannon was quite in favour of the alliance, for his own reasons; and Carey looked forward a new lease of life. Both men, however, reckoned without Mary’s own opinion. Time after time she had refused to take the half veiled hint of her uncle, but sho knew his relentless nature and dreaded the time when hints would give place to definite commands. Although too young to understand at the time she was placed in Robert Shannon's care, Mary could now estimate the nature of the man who, by dogged perserverance and lack of principle, had amassed great wealth and gradually became owner of the larger part of the village. The Napper Tandy Inn was part of his freehold and lie was ground landlord of most of the other property in the immediate district. The crowning ambition of his life was to become owner of Inishtara Castle, and he considered the native charm and beauty of his niece solely as a means to that much desired end.

A year previously, when Brian Curran had definitely obtained an appointment in London, he and Mary had agreed to wait for each other. “ I daren’t ask you to be engaged to me,” he had said. ‘ r It would riot be fair to you. 1 will always love you, astore, bait until 1 know* my job’s safe, 1 daren’t do it.” But 1 have a little money in my own right,” she said, “and ” “ And where would I be, mavoureen, Inking your money to keep us? No, we’ll wait, a year or perhaps less, ami then it won’t matter about your income, because my job will be good enough for both.” ITo be Continued.)