THE BLACK YACHT.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 422, 26 May 1904, Page 2

THE BLACK YACHT.

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

By Ferg-us Hume,

Author of "The Myetery of a Hansom Galf," "The Third' Volume," " The Vanishing of Tera," "The Lone Inn," "For the Defence," &c., &c.

COPYSIGHT. ~.

CHAFTEE IT-(Continued ) , ' If I only knew her destination/ said I to Garret*, on coming to this decision., 'it should not be difficult to ran her dewn; but without such knowledge it might be soma time before any authentic reports of hat would c:me to hand. She would asanredly keep well away from, any signal stations on tha coast.' *Wa-al,Bir,* said Garrett, reflectively E inching hia chin, «I gueea Cap-n P. has I out for Bilbao.' • ' And what makes you think that ?' •Maybe, mister, aa you've seen the crew of the crawler; Dagoes all, sir, and a drunken Jot at that They was. always ceodn' hare to drink and to make th nga ham, and on that night one of 'em says, ' Si's Spanish gala and Biscay this trip eamaradaa' \ ao,* added Garrett, drily, 'I low aathat schooner'll nuke out for the Basque country.* ' H*m, I shouldn't wonder if you were tight, Garrett. It's not aj all unlikely that he may mean to hide Miss Marchand, somewhere there among the mountains. No doubt he has plenty of scoundrels at hia beck and ealL m follow.'

dipped under, and we shot out into the sunshine of thVwater.. ■ All the way Aidicg jested like.-, the good -fellow, he was, noting that I was a good deal downcast, and .trying his beet to cheer me. More than that, with'the "utrnoft delieacy he repressed his very natural curiosity, and resolutely refused to hear a word until I had had something in the shap6 of a meal. ' Dinner's at seven,' he said, as we came up on deck; 'but it's three hours till then, and you'd have felt pretty vacuous if you hadn't' had something. Here's cigars, cigaretteu—help- yourself. Now, what's the trouble f'

' Two days' start, Mister!' warned Garrett, ' I wcalda'fc mind betting a dollar to a hayseed that hall fetch Bilbao afore jo* strike hii trail!' 'Feawick sails t I steam,* was my reply. ' I've provided againat that. Yesterday I wired to my friend, Lord Aiding, who happens to beat Southampton with ids yacht, the 'Mother Carey/ Shesa twin-screw and as fast as yon like—can look out her nineteen knots with no trouble at all. Besides, Pen wick will no donbt tak« things pretty easy now he has got away. He won't think for a moment that anyone is panning him. Lsf s hope he'll fall in with a buster, too, right in his teeth, and hare to lie to for twenty.four hoars. I shouldn't be ti»e least surprised if we came up with, him before he sights the Asturiaa.'

' Well Lilian ia very much* *fche_trouble,' said I,dolefully. 'She fias disappeared.' * Disappeared; how, where?' I went into particulars, and detailed my suspicions regarding the 'Negress' and her owner, winding up with a request that Aiding should tell me all he knew about the man. He)- looked grave when I concluded, and shook hrs heal. Nor was his speech re-assuring. 'lt would take too long to tell you all I kao-7, Fenwiek/ he said, slowly, 'Heis as big a blackguard as a man can be without coming within reach of the law. He was kicked out of the Navy six years ago, and since then he has been sailing the seas in that black yacht of his. She's a nasty-looking little craft—a good match with her owner. Fenwick would go in for piracy if he could; indeed, I don't know that he hasn't tried hie hand at it already. I heard some queer tales of the 'Negresß' in Chinese waters.'

• la he a member of any yachting club P' ' My dear fellow, don't I tell yon he has been kicked oat of the Nay} P' 'lt is rather queer that I should not hare heard of him before.'

Garrett, however, still Kerned dubious en the point, and to be quite candid, I was by no means so sanguine as my words implied. But it was my only chance, and I determined to take it. At all costs Fen wick most b« prevented from bestowing Lilian among the Biscay an Mountains. Once let him get her to some stronghold there and her recovery would be a hundred times more difficult, A wire from Aiding saying that he would meet ma that afternoon at Southampton station sent me up to Mrs Marchand to say goodbye. Now that she knew the worst she was much more calm, and she seemed to have no little confidenca in my ability to restore Lilian to her.

*I don't know,' replied Aiding, reflectively. 'lt is mostly in shipping circles and yachting ports that hie reputation is so blacK. He doesn't favour London with hia company; but ask about him at Cowes or Torquay, and you'll hear a hundred stories, each one worse than the last. He's a' rare bird is Master Fenwick.'

'Remember, Paul,' she said, ' I look on your succesa as a foregone conclusion. When yon return to Hengiat Tower it moat be with your future wife—my dear girl—on your arm.' 'I will do my bast, Mis. Marchand—no man can do more.'

' And Lilian is in. his power.' I said, gloomily. 'Cheer up, old fellow; we'll be unuer way shortly, and it is just possible that we may spoil his little game before he gets to Bilbao/ . 'Do you think, from what I have told you, that Lilian is with him, Aiding V 'There seems to be no question of it. He- ; wants money badly, I know, for it takes him all his time to keep the ' "Negress* afloat/ '- 'ls she a fast boat ?'

Then we parted—she to wait and hope in the grim Tower, I to drive to Calchester to catch the express. I was half sorry now that I had not brought Garrett with me. The old fellow would hare been of great service. But I hardly felt justified in luring him away from hia business . and the even teaoor of his life. And so I found myself alone on the Catchester platform fully committed to this wild chase. I confess that just then my spirits were at their lowest, and I found it impossible to be at all sanguine of succesß. Onse hidden in the Biscay an hills, and I knew there wculd be but faint hope ofever recovering Lilian. The~p!a3e, I knew from tear*ay, almost equaikd in savagery the wildest parts of Africa. It was with a heavy heart indeed 'that I st £ ted on my expedition. Aiding and I had been fast friends both at Eton and at Oxford. He was an ardent yachtsman, axd owned one of the ax an eat and fastest boats in British waters, I, therefore, counted myself singularly fortunate in that he happened to be on the spot at tiiis moment when he was eo necessary to me. Oar friendship I knew ni strong enough for me to rely upon his doing anything and everything that lay in his It was not improbable, too, that he might know something of this Feawick. I was particularly anxious if possible to learn something authentic as to to the past of this modern buccaneer. And, as it turned cut, Aiding was able to enlighten me .considerably on the subject, and what he had to say was by no means creditable to the nephew of the late Bobezt.Cole. I trembled to thine that Lilian was in the power of so reckless a villain.

' I daresay she'll ran to twelve or thirteen knots,' replied Aiding -carelessly; ' bat I can fire up the nineteen—or even twenty with a good draught'blowingthere won't be much difficulty in overhauling her. I don't know, though; two days' start— 500 miles probably. By Jove, if 11 be all we can do/

'He may put in at some port for provisioEs/

'He may, but it's 'hardly likely. His' .aim .will be to get Miss Marchand to .Bilbao without loss of time. I fancy he'll put up with some privations in the way of Btores. The beast i- I should like to run him down.'

'You've been doing little less'for the last ten minutes,' 'I said, drily. * Come!' laughed 'Aiding, slapping me on-the back, 'it-is a good thing that you can still have your joke. Wait here while I see Nat Twine; he has a grudge against Fen wick, and'will'do his best to -make it hot for him.'. « . , .., Who is Nat Twine P*

'My skipper. Make yourself at home, .Paul, whjle I get out of harbour; we'll be clear of the "Wight in less than an hour. Make yourself easy on the score - of. marriage PaaL To my .certain knowledge, Fanwick has a wife already/

• Well, Paul,' uid Aiding, when I met him at the station, ' what's the meaning of all tfcia hurry and telegraphing, eh P' Til tell yon all that a little later on, Aiding. Get jour man to tale my portmanteau on board, if yon wilL* * What—aze you coming for-a cruise P'

' I am, if you'll have me.' •That goes without aaying, old man,' ■»id Aldiag, slipping his arm in mine. ' I wu hoping from jour wire that jotj. wera feeling hke a tnlff of the briny. It was aa well yoa did wire, for, as a matter of fact, I was juat off to Gibraltar to see piy bfother. He's etationed there, you know.'

'Then yon wcn't need to alter your course much for me. I may want you to put in somewhere halfway, that'B all.' 'What, Lisbon?* 'No, Bilbao. The fact it, Aiding, I'm in a dilemma.' ' Banning away from your creditors, I suppose,' was Alding'B ccmment 'as we aimed at his gig. ' 'Here, jump in, yonder is 'Mother Carey,' quite at your service, and ready to sail tor Kingdom Come if you like.', •No joke, ray dear fellow; -this -it. a lerioua matter.' ' ' What, further trouble with fair mistress Lilian P Give way, men.' The oais

(To be continued )

the evening he absented himself on the' jplea o£sreeaing business (as he was oftenill the habit of doing), and hastened along: the beach toward the parsonage. Chance favored his design; he entered unobserved by the front door, mounted the broad,, dueky stairway to his daughter-in-law's room, and peered cautiously through the half-open door. There was a smalt spirit-lamp burning on the table} the child was sleeping peacefully in its cradle, and the nurse was absent. The Judge was out of breath, and he paused on the I threshold to compose himself; his heart ran riot and the blood hammered in hie temples. The floor creaked under the weight of his portly figure «s he stooped down to kiss the sleeping child, and with a start he straightened himself and gazed uneasily about him. He stole on tiptoe up to the window where a little mahogany, writing-table stood, and placing the lamp' upon it, he unlocked one of the drawers and eagerly seized a picket of letters tied: with a pink ribbon. With a tremulous hand he untied the knot, and after having once more satisfied himself that he need have no fear of interruption, he begauto read. It was the first letter in which' Harold told of his arriral in England and of a daagerouß adventure he had had in Liverpool. The coolness and address with which he had accepted excited the" Judge' admiration; he read on had himself never been om of Norway, and his son's description of the great world with its wonderful sights interested him profoundly. Then came the next letter, from New York, which dealt chiefly with the voyage and queer types of man from widely separated climes. The descriptions were very clever and full of vivid touches. The Judge smiled with pride and delight; he had never known •that his son was such a talentea man; he (the Judge) waß himself scarcely capable of writing such a letter. Time slipped by, but the judge took no note of it; he was now at the eoal-heaving period, which was passed over humorously and lightly ,by the writer, but in which a loving ingenuity would read a pathos too sad for tears. The Judge was deeply moved; to such need had his son been reduced, and ' yet been too proud to appeal to his father for aid. He had preferred to heave coal with hands unused ,to toil, rather than humiliate 1 himself before a father who had wronged him.- Such a feeling the Judge could understand; it appealed mightily to him. .Vehemently aroused, he arose, needless of the 'sleeping baby, and began to pace the floor excitedly. > 'He is my son indeed,' he cried,' my own son, my own, my own!' j A hand was laid lightly upon the Judge's shoulder. He started up with a ibewildered {exclamation. But in an instant he recovered himself, and seizing Hilda by the arm drew her gently up to bun. „- r y Child,' he whisper « will you help me*' 'Help you, father?' she asked, gazing into his face with joyous, tear-dimmed eyes. 'Bring my son back again,' begged the old man brokenly, and turned away te master his emotion. ' Yes, father, I will bring him back to you,' she answered. ' God bless you!' he exclaimed.

The pastor, although he was not fond of America, and had often made warning allusions to the union in his sermons, was nothing loth to acoompany his daughter on her dazing expedition. It availed him little that he spoke in his farewell sermon of the solemn call of duty, and alluded feelingly to the many dear ties that bound him to his home; his.eagerness to get away and take a little jaunt in the world was so great that he caught himself twenty times a day forgetting his role of a martyr to duty. The Judge in the meanwhile occupied his leisure in divesting himself of his dignity. His first act after his daughter-in-law's departure was to summon his evicted tenants and announce to them that they were at liberty to resume their holdings and to oaterUin whatever political opinions they pleased. •You know,' he said pleasantly,'my son and I have not always agreed' in political matters. If I could not persuade him, how much less can I expect to convert my tenants P I am an old' fellow,; and perhaps don't Bee things as clearly as* I thought I did. But -J. have a son who* is abreast of the age. "He will* soon come home and take my place/ . i It was one morning early in October. I think, that the Judge was seen standing at the end of the pier spying anxiously into the distance through a field-glass, Six small cannon were placed along the beach, and Hans, the groom, stood with a fuse in his hand, watching for the Judge's signal. . The flag, was fluttering feebly from tile top of the'tall ftag-polef.and the twelve-oared official-jbarge, .gayly decorated, lay gently bobbing upon the water. It was early in the morning, and the ffuD 'had not yet appeared aboveThr mountain 'peaks, although there was a great yellow blase in the eastern sky, and the highest peaks to the north had caught some stray shafts of light, and flashed with a dazzling radiance. Suddenly and silently the steamer's hull loomed out of the fog, and the-Judge was so amazed, that he cams near forgetting the -eignal -which was to give the rest of the' family warning. -Bang, bang, bang, went the' cannon, and the steamer, which would not be hand in politeness, banged away in return; the twelve oaremen in the barge cheered; the ladies came innnißg down upon the. pier breathless, and were scolded for their tardiness. Then out shot the barge through the light morning mist, and within a few minutes hove alongside the steamer. A stairway was lowered, and the Judge ran up the Bteps like a youth of twenty. A tall, handsome, bearded man grasped his hand at the head of the stairs and pressed it warmly. The Judge met his eyes and gazed into them for a moment silently. Both understood the meaning of that glance. Each asked the other's forgiveness and received it. Then, with an utterly irrational movement, the Judge turned abruptly away and embraced—the pastor. It was a grievous mistake; the embrace had been meant for Hilda But perhaps the Judge, was excusable. His dyes were dimmed with tear?.

(The End.