HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1908-08-07, Page 3r
Neville sighed.
"1 suppose you've heard that she's go-
ing to marry Sir Jordan," she went on,
as she bustled in and .out of the tiny
bedroom she was preparing for him.
Neville nodded gravely, for of course,
he had heard of the engagenirent. Trale
told him of it.
"Took us all by surprise,' it did, Sir
Jordan being so- much older than Miss
Audrey, not that he looks his age. I
suppose you've seen him. Master ' Ne-
ville?"
"No," said Neville, and his tone caused
Mrs. Parsons to stop with a pillow case
in her hand and look at him.
"Oh, 'dear, dear me; yes, I remember,"
'the said.. "Well, it isn't' every one as
can get on with Sir Jordan. He's a very
great man now, Mr. Neville, and wo
don't see much of him. The last time
he passed I went out, and gave him a
courtsey. but I don't think he remember-
ed me, as was very natural," she added,
as if desirous of explaining that she. was
not complaining. ")e wasn't my .boy,
you were, you know. Lor', bow glad I
am to see you. Now, if Miss Audrey
was here we should be all complete, to
to say. And you haven't seen her yet,
Master Neville?"
"Not yet, Mrs. Parsons," he said. "And
I wish to see no one, or be seen; just
at present. You must let me be your
nephew come hone from sea, or some-
thing of that kind, for a little while."
The old lady nodded after a moment's
pondering.
• "Whatever you say is to be shall be,
Master Neville," she said, with the im-
plicit obedience of an old servant, "I
did have a nephew as went off to sea,
but I'm afraid he's drowned. Oh, •don't
you be afraid. Matter Neville; I can
keep my lips shut, as Mr. Trale knows."
The tiny bedroom up under the
thatched roof was as clean as a new pin
and as sweet as lavender, and Neville
slept soundly for the first time for
many a night.
In the morning he looked round. the
cottage and found a patch of what ought
to have been garden, but was at present
a weedy wilderness and he amused him-
self during the day, .much to the grief
and horror of Mrs. Parsons, by digging it
up and putting it into something like
order, and in the evening, with his soft
wide-awake well over his brows- wander-
ed about the place, every spot of which
was rich in assooiations of his boyish
days.
He• spent an hour or two with Trale,
at the inn, 't"alking over old times and
this was the programme that folFowed
day after day for nearly a,week.
If any one had asked him why he was
dreaming have
his time at Lynne he
could not have told thein, and every day
he reminded himself that he must be off
_ ..somewhere. '
His small 'stook of money was disap
pealing, if slowly, still surely, and, he
must go out into the world and get
some more—somehow,
"After all," he said to himself, with a
sigh, "I have seen the old place; it's very
unlikely that once I've left it again I
shall ever see it more. Why should I
stay and make myself known to—to Jor-
dan and Audrey? I should only become
an object of charity and pity. No, I'll
be off. There mist be work for a man
with strong arms and a will to use them
somewhere or other.".
It was on Friday evening that he com-
muned with himself after this fashion,
and he was sauntering along the lane
which led past the Grange to the Bur-
rows.
He stopped and looked through the
gate at the corner of the house, which
he could just see; and thought of Audrey
and then, of Sylvia!
These were two women for whom he
would willingly have laid down his life—
especially now, when it seemed of very
little use to him!—and he should in all
probability never see them again.'
"Dear little Syl!" he murmured. "I
wonder where she is, and if she is happy;
I wonder, too, whether she has forgot-
ten -me. They say that if you love a per-
son ever so much you forget them when
they're dead. I hope she hasn't quite
forgotten me. 'I should like her to give
a thought now and then to the old days
at Lora ;flop';. How happy we were out
there in the wilds with old Meth and the
"claim," and howpretty she used to
look sitting there with that wonderful
hair of hers falling into her, eyes, as she
sang like a nightingale; while I worked'
Yes, we were very happy. I didn't know
how I loved her then, not till we parted,
never to meet again;."
Something rose in his throat, and a
mist gathered before his eyes, as he went
on.
"Perhaps we shall meet; who knows?
And she'll be among her titled frieuds,
and—and will never guess that • the
seedy -looking individual who'll be sure
to shamble out of her way is her old
friend Jack, her brother, with whom she
was so happy long, long ago. All the
better if she doesn't. Pm a failure, a
right -down failure, and its' only fit and.
proper that I should be sponged. out. One
more night and then good-bye to Lynne.
I'll work my way back to Australia and
have' another try at it, though. God
knows I haven't the heart of desire for
the gold now. All the heart died out of
me when I lost Syl!"
By the time he lied arrived at this
cheerful conclusion he had reached the
edge of the Burrows.
It was dusk, nearly dark, and the
moon, what was left of at, had not risen
yet. But the darkness and stillness of
the night suited his humor and instead
of turning back to the supper which
Mrs. Parsons was preparing for him with
her ,loving old hands, he passed on to
the Burrows.
As he did so he hes.rd, heard,a brisk step
behind him, and Trale's oice.
"Out for a stroll, Mr. Neville," he said,
cheerily.
Neville nodded.
"I am just going a little way, Trale,"
he said, trying to respond as cheerfully.
"I wish I could go with you," said
Trale, wistfully; "but I'm due at the
station. T suppose you've heard. that Sir
Jordan is down at the Court, sir?"
"No," said Neville, with alittle start,
"I've not heard it. `Mien—"
"Well, it's not generally known," said
Trate. He came down rather -unexpect-
edly, and he's been ill and confined to
the house. I don't know whether—
whether you'd like to see hien."
Neville shook his head.
"No, Trale,' he answered. "1 don't
think I will."
"Come down to see about some altera-
tions M. the Court, to brighten it up for
his marriage with Miss Audrey," said
Trale.
Neville's fate grew grim in the dark-
ness.
"1 'heard it's to be pretty soon. Well, I
must ge going.. Nothing I can do for
you, Mr. Neville?"
Neville shook his head, and held out
his hand. "No, and thank you for all
you have done," Trete" he said. "Pm
off to -morrow"
"Oh, I hope not, sir!" exclaimed Trale.
"Yes. I'm off," repeated Neville,
grimily. "I've. seen the old place, and—
well, I've found two friends at any
rate," and he grasped the man's hand
tightly. "Keep my visit a secret, Trale.
Perhaps I'll come back some. day, when
--" he smiled bravely—"I've made my
fortune.
"You needn't wait till then, sir, for
one man to be glad to see you," said
Trale, and as if ashamed of the emotion
trembling in his voice, hag hurried. off.
Neville walked on with 'his hands
thrust in his pockets, and his bead bent
thoughtfully, and. reached the clump of
trees. He threw himself down at the
foot of one of them, and, leaning his
back against the thick trunk, .got out
his pipe and looked round musingly.
"If Syl and L had come back to Eng-
land together, this is one of the places
I'd have brought her to," he said to
himself, "and we'rl have picnicked here
as we used to picnic out in the valley;
She'd have been glad to come and see
the places I'm fond of, I know. Dear
little Syl—hallo!" he raised his hand
and knocked something off and laughed.
"I'd clean forgotten the ants!" he said,
and got up and brushed his clothes with
his hands.
'.rho moon was just showing above the
dark hill line, and he felt loth to go;
it seemed so very unlikely that he should
ever see. Lynne Burrows again!
He glanced up at the tree. It was an
old oak with a gnarled trunk, seamed
with great hollows and stretching spe-
cious branches eat toward its fellows.
"Tt's a long time since I climbed you,
old chap," he said, addressing the tree
affectionately.
The last time he had done so he had
dragged Audrey after him, and they had
sat upon the very branch he was now
looking at.
It looked inviting, and after a mo-
ment's hesitation he knocked out the
contents of his pipe and climbed up and
made himself comfortable,
He refilled his pipe, but could not
find his matcltb, ,and, thinking that he
load dropped it out of his pocket when
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)ie ser.axnbled to his feet off the antro'
nest, he was going to descend when: he
heard 'a footstep. • _
Seine •ane w(Z8 coming toward him,.
lee could net see who it• was for the
leaves and• ;branches before him, but he
thought ib must be Trale, and was going
to eel; out, wLen it occurred to him that
he had better wait and make sure, and
he remained
'whoever er it was, . he was coming
straight for thaw clump, and Neville
caught himself !wondering what business
a mar could have in Lynne 13urrowe at
that time of night.
"Solne poor devil of a tramp hunting
up a . night's lodging, I suppose," lie
muttered. "I shall frighten him out of
h's life," and he put his hand on the
Wench to siring himself down, when a
figure dimly seen in the dusky darkness
entered the circle of trees and 'stopped
about a dozen yards from that on which
Neville was perched.
Curious to see zf his surmise was
right, Neville' remained where he was
and watched, feeling in bis pockets as
he did so to find a copper for the tramp.
The newcomer stood still for a mo-
ment, as if to accustom his oyes to the
gloom of the shadow casting trees, then
he went. round them, one by one, step-
ped outsidethe' ming, and seemed to
Neville, to be looking, about cautiously.
• "A trampl" he ;scid. "I'll wait and
see what he will --do. If he takes to
Mother Earth for a bed, the ants will
make it lively for faun. I don't wish 'rim
any harm, but I should rather enjoy see-
ing him jump up."
The man came back to where he had
first stood, struck a match and lit a
small piece of candle.
Thi3 rather startled revile.
`'Tramps don'•t usually care much
about a light to. - go to bed by," he
thought, and he lboked down at the
man curiously.
Ho had not much of the appearance
of the common tramp, but was, indeed,
rather -well dressed in a plain suit of
black, and looked to Neville, who had
seen many and livers types of mankind,
like a respedtable clerk, say a solici-
tor's. He was an elderly man with a
gray oeard that gave him rather a ven-
erable look, and Neville was puzzling at
the problem why a respectable elcrk of
his time of life should think fit to come
to Lynne Burrows acid light a candle,
when the man gave him another surprise
by unbuttoning his 'frock coat and tak-
ing from under it a small hand trowel.
Neville could scarcely refrain from
laughter. If this had been Aus-
tralia, and, say, a digger's camp, a
performance of this kind would not
have been astonishing for all sorts of
curious things occur in such places; but
this was England, Lynne Burrows, and—
what on earth could a than of this kind
want at this hour of night with a piece
of candle and a ,gaud spade?
Then it flashed upon him. This indi-
vidual was one of those ' armless luna-
tics who amuse themse, e ,,y moth and
insect hunting:.. That •a,; t. The man
was a naturalist ince 'c:: c` some rare
specimen of the flying or crawling tribe,
and was going to dig or scratch for it.
To plump down upon him, or even
speak, would in all probability give the
poor old fellow a fit, Neville thought,
and he decided to remain whero he was
until the man had finished his search
and gone. '
The man stuck the candle on the
ground by the simple method of pouring
some grease from it and standing the
candle in it; then, with his back to Nev-
ille, paced slowly from the tree, counting
as he vent.
He made the measurement twice, as if
to be certain of his accuracy, then went
down on his knees and began to dig
quickly.
Every now and then he paused and
looked round and listened, and once ns
he' did so a bird, wakened by the noise
and the lightflew out of the trees; the
man extinguished, the candle in an in-
stant, as if frightened, and Neville could
hear him breathing hard as he waited
and listened.
Then he relit the candle and fell to
digging• 'again.
Neville wondered what it could be the
man was in search of, and ransacked his
brain trying to think of some insect or
animal tha hid itself under the solid
earth, but dirt not succeed.
Suddenly -the man uttered a 'row, sup-
pressed cry of satisfaction, as if he had
found what he had been looking for.
Consumed by curiosity, Neville stretch-
ed himself along the branch, and leaned
over at the imminent risk of tumbling
down, and saw what the, curious animal
was. .
CHAPTER XXCr1'.
What Neville saw as he leaned down
from the branch was a round tin canis-
ter, such as cocoa or coffee is packed
in, lying at the bottom of the hole which
the old man had dug.
The man took up the box, forced open
the lid String
drew out ----nota bag of gold
er a string of jewels --but a roll of
paper. This he lineal carefully in his
breast pocket; then flinging the empty
.:an into the bole, he filed in the• dirt,
stamped it dawn and strewed some of
the dead lemma and twigs over the spot.
Then he sat down, lit a. pipe and smok-
ed meditatively. After a few minutes
he, with a shake of the had, drew the
paper frons. his . pocket and looked
around.
As his eyes approached Nevrlle's hid-
ing -place :Neville quietly and cautiously
drew himself up to a higher branch and
so escaped detection. •
The man Went up to the tree and care-
fully placed the paper inside one of the
hollows, thrusting in his hand. to 'see how
deep the hole went.
The paper was thus well within Nev-
ille's reaeh if he stretched ottt his arm.
The old gentleman then returned to
his seat at the foot of another tree and
smoked 'with pat+ence and contentment,Neville was far too curious and inter-
ested now to discover himself, and -mak-
ing himself as comfortable as possible,
he, too, waited and watched.
Presently the man took his pipe out
of his"mu utb. and listened with his head
on one side, then he knelt and. laid his
ear to the ground.
This action startled. Neville as much
as anything the man had done, for It
reminded him of his clinger days, and the
way in which the senuts 'of a party lis.
toned for the approa, h of footsteps. How
did it happen that a respectable, eldcrlr
clerk k should know a trick of the back
woods?
ilio man got up, resumed his seat and
relit his pipe,With an evident air of sat-
!sfeeticn, and a few minutes afterward
Neviile heard some one approaching.
Now, Neville was. the last man in the
world to play the part of eavesdropper,
and he was about ea speak to the man
and descend when a tall figure entered
'the thicket, and Neville recognized with
amazement his brother. Jordan!
Jordan had got on a dress Inverness,
with the collar turned up, but Neville
knew him in .a moment.
Could it be possible that his brother,
the Right Hon. Sir Jordan Lynee, had
come to Lynne Burrows to meet this
man with the piece of candle and the
tin canister? It seemed incredible.
The whole business wore agrotesque
and unreal air which almost made Neville
doubt the evidence of his own senses.
That Iris brother desired to escape ob-
servation and recognition was evident
from the way in which he looked round
him—very much as the elderly man had
looked—before he entered the circle of
trees, and the fashion in which he kept
the high collar of his dress cape coat
round his face.
It was like the scene of a melodrama,
Neville thought, as he:stared down at his
brother pale face and tall thin form.
Jordan made his way to the other
man, who remained seated, puffing his
pipe, eyeing Jordan coolly, and Jordan
in a tone of impatience and hauteur,
said:
"You are here. Let as get this busi-
ness over quickly, please."
The man looked at him with an easy,
Insolent grin.
"What are you afraid of, Sir Jordan?"
he retorted. "We're quiet enough here."
At the sound of his voice Neville's
heart leaped, and the blood rushed to his
head. Was he mad or dreaming, or was
that 1.avarirk's voice?
He shook and trembled so violently
under the emotion aroused by the man's
voice that he almost fell from the branch,
and he had to set his teeth firmly to
keep himself from crying out,
Lavarick here, and in collusion with
Jordan! Surely he, Neville, must be
dreaming! His heart beat so fast and
furiously that it made a singing in his
ears so that he could scarcely hear the
voices of the two men below him, near
as they were.
"I am here, very reluctantly," said
Jordan, haughtily. "And I am desirous
of completing this business and return-
ing as soon as possible."
"Right," said. Lavarick, curtly. "Did
any . one see you on the 'way, do you
think, Sir Jordan ?"
"I think not," replied Jordan. "But
some person, some tramp, may come
upon us at any moment, and—
"You'd rather not be seen holding con-
fab with a . stran,ger at this time of
night, eh?" said Lavarick, as coolly as
before. "Well, I dare say you're right.
It would look singular, wouldn't it, if
you were seen? People would begin to
ask themselves queer questions. But,
there, you'd have some explanation cut
and dried for 'em. wouldn't you? You
can't put the Right Hon. Sir Jordan
Lynne in a hole easily," and he laughed.
If Neville had entertained any doubt
as to the identity of the man it would
have been dispelled by the laugh.
It was the laugh he had heard in the
tent on the night he had ransomed
Sylvia, the laugh that had rung in his
ears as he saw he borne away across
Lavariek's saddle. And the sound of it
now filled him with almost irresistible
desire to spring upon the scoundrel and
knock the life out of him. But he re-
strained himself with an awful effort
that caused him to break out into a fit
of perspiration. That there was some
villainy hatching between these two was
evident, and if he could only learn its
nature he might be able to thwart them.
"It is your nature to be insolent," said
Jordan. "When you have finished you
will be good enough to proceed to the
matter which brings me here. As I said,
I came reluctantly, and it will not re-
quire much provocation to induce me to
leave you."
Lavarick rose and emptied his pipe.
"You've got the notes?" he said.
"I have the notes," replied Jordan,
coldly.
Lavarick held out his claw-like hand.
"Pass them over, then," he said, curtly.
Jordan sneered.
"Excuse me," he said. "I brought
them for an exchange, not a gift."
Lavarick swore.
"We don't trust each other much," he
said, sarcastically.
Jordan remained silent.
"What's to prevent me from knocking
you on the head and helping myself to
the notes?" said Lavarick, 'with engag-
ing frankness.
"A regard for your own safety,°" re-
plied Jordan, calmly. "Before I left the
court I told my servant that I was
going for a walk on the Burrows, and
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that if I did not return in an hour he
was to drive here for me. • If you mur-
wered me—as I have no doubt you
would like to do—."
"Well, I should!" assented. Lavariek,
with cold-blooded candor.
"You could not conceal the evidences
of your crime and escape in time." He
looked at axis watch as he spoke. "As
it is, the time is passing rapidly, and my
man will be here soon."
"You refuse to give me the notes
first?" said Lavariek.
"Absolutely!" retorted Jordan.
(To be continued)
Often tee Case.
Ruggles—What horse -power is your
new automobile?
Ramage—Two, I guess. That's the
horse -power it took to haul it to the re-
pair shop when it broke down on a coun-
try road the other day.—Chicago Trib-
une.
The New York American of Dec. 28th,
1907, says the common house fly is one
of the greatest enemies of man. It is
a solemn scientifically ascertained fact
that he is one of the worst disseminators
of disease known., far surpassing the
mosquito in this respect. Wilson's Fly
Pads will kill many times. more flies
than any other article.
MOTHER FOX'S CUNNING.
Her Ineffectual Plans to Divert Hun-
ter's Attention From Her Den.
Hunters found a den of foxes in the
hills south of Hagerstown and unearthei
five little ones aboiit as large as weal
grown cants. The mother fox escaped be-
fore the hunters reached the den, which
was lined thickly with soft grasses and
feathers. Instead of runnini; away she
kept within Snslit *while the hunters
worked with their shovels.
She apparently understood what they
were doing, for she endeavored by every
means to attract them away -frons their
work and toward. herself. She approach-
ed quite near and, acted as if lame and
distressed. She would lie down on her
side and writhe along the ground, tit-
tering whines and moans. Then she
would limp off as if very lame, going
very slowly and halting frequently.
The hunters were not to bo drawn
away from the: work in hand by such
tactics and finally, after much digging,
came upon the den where the five pretty
little fellows were shrinking. Tihey made
no resistance, and seemed rather to like
the handling and petting they received,
All of them were taken,to a farmhouse
where they are confined. They will not
be releaser., but will probably be pain-
lessly despatched. Grown foxes do not
make good neighbors in farming com-
munities. Hunters say it is very rare
for mother foxes to leave all their
young in one place. It is their cunning
habit to scatter the family, one and two
in widely separated retreats. It is xsald
too that foxes evil' not rob roosts elope
to their dens, hat will go miles away for
food and earefully hide their trails.—
Hagerstown correspondence Indianapo-
lis News,
Many a true word is spoken by a►ced-
dent.
Tie banes for those who tome latae
9