NOVEL

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 349, 15 January 1903, Page 2

NOVEL

CHAPTER IX—(Continusd.) Clarice looked up, startled, and turnin pale. 'ls he ?' she said a little huskily, for a moment almost thrown off her guard, • coming here—to The Fiia P' * Yea. He has written to say he would like to run down for a day or two, and Uncle Henry does n-1 like to say nay.' Clarice was alarmed at her own betrayal of agitation, of which she was painfully' conscious; but Agnes did not appear surprised. That Clarice should be startled and disturbed by the sudden mention of a name" which must rouse painful memories of the tragic past seemed to her quite natural j it did not rouse her suspicions. '.lt will be painful for you to see him, dear, will it not ?' said Clarice, carefully controlling herself to caution. ' I need not see him if I do not choose. I can keep my room,' answered Agnes, a alight touch of obstinacy hardening her delicate lips. 'But, you, Clarice?' more anxvualy, «I wonder, are you likely to see him ?'

* I did not think eo. I shall avoid him if I can; and I don't suppose he will be likely to seek me out. Bat if he should, there is nothing to be said between us. I know nothing; I can have nothing to tell him.' She paused a moment, and then added with concealed anxiety. 'When is he coming P* 'One day this week, I believe.' Clarice endeavoured successfully to control a movement of dismay. : And will he—stay long ?' * #" *I do not know! He is not coming by any invitation of mine. 1 have nothing to do with his craing or going.' Hart Id Frayne presently returned, approaching slowly, as if appreh'naive' that le might be intruding too soon 6a their tete-a-tete, yet anxious on Agnes's account and unable to keep away. He wanted to : know whether Mrs Therold would like to wulk through the w: od, or should he bring the chaise round to tbe nearest point of the road ? She thanked him with a faint kindly smile of acknowledgment; she could walk—would like the walk. Faint as w. a her smile, mild and cold as moonlight the friendliaeaa of her j lance, hia face brightened as he met it. ' Poor fellow !* thought Clarice, fs she noted the undisguised rolicitude in his dark ej es, the look of anxiety melting into lelief aa he astmed himself that Agnes waa net 'upset' by this interview, the f ffect ot which he had evidently dreaded, 'he is very far gone! I wonder if she kncwß it P She cannot be so blind as not to see!'

Frajne's mind waa relieved, hia heart lightened. 'J his h< ur waa bright to him, in which he could feel that it was he .who had gratified Agnes's desire, aa he had been the one to whom ahe turned to help her in its achievement. But Cleric*, in one way relieved by the interview, bore from it a new terror and trouble in her heart. Bhe hoped that Agnes' waa on the road, though by Blow aid gradual and almost imperceptible steps, to recovery of h= alth, of mind and body, if only nothing occurred to strike roughly on the atitl throbbing chord of memory, to tear open tbe unhealed woundBut ahe was quite unfit to bear a shock—such a shock aa that of the disclosure Clarice might have made to her, a discloauie the danger of which the news she had imparted to Clarice, all unsuspecting its importance, enhanctd. 'lt would kill her!' thought Clarice to herself, unconsciously claepin* and wringing her I anda. ' Oh, if this week were only over, and I could breath again! If only Jack Thorold were coming one week later ! I always dreadc d him moat of all! Why, why is he coming now ?'

CHAPIER X It was a day or two after this meeting between Clarice and Agnes that Nettie Onslow succeeded in carrying out her plan oi making up a psr y for a visit to •Egglea' Elegant Entertainment (so described in the programmes and p eU ra whi< hj set forth its' Unique Attractions ) which was bow delighting the hearts cf the public in tbe neighbouring town of Blaccheatr, who, however, were in the habit of calling it briefly * Tee Circus,' or •EgglesV The party consisted of Nettie and Clarice, Gerard, who was only too eager to avail himself, of tvery epp rtuniry of meeting tbe latter, and, to complete tie quartette, Harold Frayne, whom Nettie had prtEEfd into sei\iee, as George Hamilton, who otherwise would have graciously censented to share with Gerard the pleasing duties of escort, had gone up to town t< r a day or two. Nettie w«e determined to m&k ■ the expedition a parti cat ip, and Fraynu was the mere willing to vouchsafe bL« company because he was aw-ne that tbe arrangemeta for that day at The Firs were tuch aa to afford him te y little chance ot seeing anything of Agnes, and he wu nc t unwilling to accept

[NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.]

The Mystery ol A Moonlight Tryst,

By Iza Dufpus Haedy, Author of ‘ MacQileroy’s Millions,’ Ac.. &c‘.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

the opportunity of some possibly private conversation with Clarice as he was anxious to know her candid and confidential opinion of Ajmes's mental and bodily health. Miss Onslow, however, allowed him but little chance of confidential discourse with Clarice, whom she kindly paired off with Gerard, evidently designing Frayne for her own entertainment, but. keeping the quartette together in sucn general sociability as prevented her cousin from reaping much advantage from Clarice's company in the form of any tete-a-tete. He had not met Clarice since their memorable conversation in the garden on the night of the dance, and he was eager to assure himself that she had indeed forgiven him for that stolen kiss, which Bhe might well regard as an unpardonable efftmee; but he had no chance; he found it a simple impossibility to make even the most distant approach to the subject, which was cue, indeed, bf-Bt dropped and forgotten. He could only endeavour to convey some poor suggestion of his feelings by all such indications of-deference and devotion in look and tone as were possible without arousing Nettie's too easily attracted attention. Diring the drive and at the "entertainment, as Nettie sat on his other side, he had no opportunity of anything more tnan general and conventional . small, talk; but it was some satisfaction to be sitting beside Clarice, hiß sleev3 brushing ' the fringe of hers, his eyes free to re sfe on her fair profile, and he was beginning to know her sufficiently well, had studied her sympathetically enough, to detect benea-h the surface self-possession and esse of her manner a certain restraint, tven something like a kind of suppressed excitement. Could it be a touch of Eoft embarrassment of remembrance P Was the memory of his moment of madness in the garden dwelling in her mind as it his?

Po:r Gerard ! He was soon, too soon, to realise that in cherishing thi3 thought he was, indeed, far off the track. He little dreamt then of tbe true cause of Clarice's fast beating, fluttering heart, the nervousness which she, habituated to commanding herself, could hardly control. Sae had accepted Nettie'B invitation, partly because Nettie's insistence left her little choice'or chance of refusal, partly from an instinct of adventure—the same instinct which had prompted her as a child to put he* finger in the candle-flime —an- impu'se of enterprise which conquered her reluctance to run the risk, perhaps assisted in the conquest by her knowledge that Gerard Onslow WBS to be of the party. She had not known that Harold Frayne waa to be the fourth member of the quartette, and his presence; knowing what she knew, and what he must not know if she could help it, kept her in a nervous tremor it was bard, indeed, to control. Nettie was the only one of the little patty who erjoyed the entertainment with the whole-hearted pleasure of a child, whose appreciation indeed was not far behind that of a juvenile family group who sat near them, of exuberant boyß and girls whose enjoyment exploded in prolonged ' Oh's 1' of delight when the Giant and the D-varf appeared hand in hand, to favour t&e cempany with their famous duet, and when the Calculating Djg, in cap and gown, justified his training, never failing to solve any arithmetical probhm by placing an indicative paw on the right number. These achievements over, the poor beast walked painfully on his tired bind legs along the front row of seats to shake hands with his admirers, his tail wagging giadly under his scholastic gown aa he realised that the end of his task was near; and two schoolboys behind Clarice nearly fell over into her lap in their eagern* es to shake the paw of the exemplary, feur-footed scholar.

The display of the gifted canine" arithmetician was followed by a Pantomime Drama, in which a noble Newfoundland dog and a faithful negro of the' Uncle Tom' tjpa succeeded in frustrating the inachiaauons of an evil minded Chinaiaaß, and rescuing a heroine in pink tarlatane and sdver span-les, who celebrated her rescue by a skirt-dance, wound up by a merry measure in which all the dramatis personae joined, even to the Newfoundland dog and the defunct Chinaman iedevivus. Next on the, programme figured the ' Masked Wizard,' whose performance, it appeared, had been honoured hy Eojal audienceß and had won the aplause and admiration of all the C urts of Europe, and who, they were fmther informed, had been 'initiated into tha Strange Weird Mysteries of Msgic preserved amongst the Indians.' ■ Tney don't say with Indiane.' Harold Fiayne remarked. * And he doesn't look much like either a red Indian or an Oriental—what we can see of him.' That certainly was not much, as the "W.zrrd's mask was no mere transparent pretence, but completely concealed his features abovo tho chin, whilo his costume,

Tee Chinese use the breadth of the right forefinger as a measure - i Th* British Medical Association was founded in 1832 for the promotion of medical science. Rusfria.hfcs the most rapidly increasing population of any country in the world The growth during the last hundred years fcas been a little less than 1,000,000 annually. 'Yes, we hadn't been married more tbau a year before we separated.' * Wfc at caused the delay ?.' ' That duck was fine,' said the enthusiastic patron. * I can't imagine anything more acceptable than a nice little uanvasb&ck.' 'Unless,' said the proprietor of the restaurant,' it's a nice big greenback.'