THE DOCTOR'S PROTÉGÉE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 521, 27 November 1912, Page 2

THE DOCTOR'S PROTÉGÉE.

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By ALBERT LEE, Author of "The Baronet in Corduroy," "Th® Key of the Holy House," King Stork of the Netherlands," " The Black Disc," &c.

Published By Special Arrangement.

CHAPTER XXXlll.—(Continued.} Telemone had sat in the room on the night when the burning mountain burst, and, looking up, saw someone steal into the room with a drawn dagger. He knew that he was doomed; but suddenly there came the death wind through the city, transfixing him and his assassin—the one waiting in horror for the blow, the other in the act of striking. The emissary of the Fraternity had wavered at the moment of the suffocating blast, and fell across the table, dead, with the dagger in his grip. Turning away, I saw at the further end of the long room one more dead body. A man lay on the floor, face downwards, and going to him and bending down I saw that it ;was Berens. Possibly he had seen the assassin enter, had sprung from his feet to interfere, but in the shock; of that fatal moment, and in the death blast, he had fallen prone upon the floor, and so had died. The thread which suspended the sword of Damocles over Telamsore's head had broken, and the weapon ol vengeance had fallen on its victim. Vet, while I gazed, I could not but be thankful; for if Teresina lived she was safe from that torment which had been pursuing, her.

CHAPTER XXXIV. AT THE CONVENT. We left the dead men there—the avenger, the victim, and the faithful if unscrupulous friend—and went forth to make our final effort to reach Anselme. The waters 'of the harbour were black with smoke and ashes, and covered with wreckage. The hulls of ships broken from their moorings drifted where they would. Nearly all were burnt down to the water-line, the scorched and charred masts that remained leaning at all angles, as tokens of the rain of fire which had fallen before steam could be got up, and safety be secured by flight. One near the quay was an absolute wreck, but at her graceful bows was a < blackened strip on which her name was barely readable. I spelt out the word letter by letter with difficulty—Vallauris. It was easy to imagine the fate of her captain and the crew.

Happily, the lava wall which prevented us from passing on the road to Anselme while in the centre of the city ended almost abruptly at the seashore, and now that the tide was out, and still receding, we were able to make swift progress. Five weary miles of coastline were travelled in this- way. The. sun overhead was scorching, and the heat which rose from the glowing masses of lava,added to the torture; but we pressed on, our weariness of body counting as little compared to our heart faintness when we thought of what might be revealed at our journey's end. At last we saw the house, and were full of hope when we saw that it had escaped the destruction we had witnessed everywhere from the hour when we quitted Bouille. The roof was -rent in many places, and as we drew nearer we saw that the verandah was choked with debris, and- that the gate which opened on the carriage drive was wrenched away and split in pieces. In spite of our weariness we ran madly up the. drive, eager to know what awaited us. Strangely enough, the little stream which ran through the plantation sparkled in the sunshine. It was the first drop of fresh water we had seen since we left Bouille. Looking down as we crossed the bridge, we saw a heap which looked like a human body, and the sight filled us with anguish. Would Teresina and Agnes be. like that—dead? Or Hesketh's wife, and all the household? But it moved, and we clambered down to see what might be there. It was an old negress, and when we sat her up :with her back t"o the bank and poured cool water over her face, she opened her eyes.

' "Ah!" she murmured, "that is good'! More!" "Rhoda," cried Hesketh, "can you tell us anything? Where is your mistress? And are her friends? Are they at the house? "No." ,"Then where? In Heaven's name tell us, Rhoda," cried Hesketh, in anguish. "Try the convent," the woman answered; then called for more water. The convent was half a mile away, and leaving Beaumont to look after the old woman, Hesketh and T, no longer sensible of fatigue, but animated by what was probably our only hope, ran as, I. think we had never run before, a'nd ere long ''-k-mniTrliir "-.tan ninp-. to nil

no response came for a time. After what seemed an intolerable interval the sound of footsteps came,_ as if : someone was approaching painfully, and a man appeared at the corner of the building. It was Peel, into whose care we had entrusted Teresina, and when we saw him we ran to him. ''Where are the ladies?" I cried. But the man returned no answer. He shook his head, and pointed to his lips; then shook his head again, as if to indicate that he was dumb. For a momnet a sense of blank despair swept over us both,* but we followed the overseer when he beckoned and led the way. "Peel," exclaimed Hesketh, "can you not speak?" The man shook his head, and sought by signs to shew the others that the" awful upheaval had driven his speech away. "Are the ladies alive?" I asked. Peel nodded by way of acquiescence. Questions followed in quick succession, which he answered in the same mannner.

"Are they well?" He looked at both of us in turn, dubiously. "Are they badly hurt?" I asked, interpreting his look as 'being unfavourable. The fear came that they were dying. Possibly they had been maimed as Peel was, or blind with the scorching fire which swept across the island; but he shook his head vigorously. He halted suddenly, as with a spasm of pain, caused by a stumble over an unheeded stone in the way, but although I could see that every step was agony to him he went forward to an open doorvytay, entered, and led the way along some stone-paved passages, cool after the stifling heat outside. Presently he stopped at the chapel door and, being; a Catholic, crossed himself, going to his knees at the sight of the crucifix, although the action caused him exquisite pain. He was unable to rise again unaided, so that we put out our hands and helped him to his feet. From that point we went more slowly, for Peel was almost exhausted with his effort. Crossing; the chapel we made our exit at a door tby the side of the altar, and passed into another passage in which the doors on either side were closed., The silence was only broken by ithe sound of our feet on the stones - , and by Peel's gasps of pain. long the poor fellow sank to the ground in helplessness, buHr knowing our anxiety he pointed:,to a door not far away. A feeling of fear possessed me when I put out my h and to open it. 1 1 dreaded lest, while we found those | for whom we. had been searching, i we might have come "coo late- Standj ing at th/e unopened door for a moment we heard the ruurmur of women's vDices in the. slow, measured cadence of prayer. It put new courage into me, atul I noiselessly turned the handle, opening the door genf.lv, so that ,\ve might peep within. There were several women there, four of whom vfere nubs, and' all were on their knees. The Mother Superior was leading the prayer, and the others -followed her word for word, and vfhat we heard' held us both spellbound; for our own names were mentioned, and the pleading of the? 'kneeling women was that we m'fglrt have been spared, and would speedily be sent to them. Whether -it ,'wasJ love that quickened our fancjTy while we listened it would be hard to say; but I felt certain»that I hjeard tfne voices of those who were c'/ear to me. My sister's tones were ; rich and mellow, Teresina's sweat and cliear. But love is quick, and? did not fail me. We could not .see any of those we sought, some who prayed being behind the: screen 5 and they, no doubt, were there.

It would ha a le been irretterant to thrust the door • wide open tc> see all who "knelt. W flien the prayer ended, the womer & rose from their : knrees. What reason to wait longer I thrust the door wide open and entered, ' followed bv Hesketh, and halting n ear the threshold we each looked fr >r those whom we most desired to sei >. None of the women had heard us , enter, and were standing silently 'ln a group. Otne of them, who 1 ie!d a babe in her arms, had her fac « turned towards the tloor. She itaolced up and saw us. then her li ps parted, and she cried out joyous The others marked her linger .she pointed to its. "Clara! P* 'Ci ied Hesketh, .who, like me, ;stood spellbound. l<or a monqent I was dumb, unable to move-,' unequal even to caJling r&y t si-SiW* and .Teresina -Jay

ings of their hearts, bewildered, J asking themselves whether love and longing were playing with them, so that they only heard and saw in vision, and were not looking on realities. But our second call broke the spell, and they v came to us in eager joy. I kissed my sister, .who whispered in my ear: "There's Teresina, Wilfred" And she dropped back, taking the other's hand and giving it into m ' ne - -. • "Won't you kiss me, Teresina? I asked, as we stood hand in hand. "I dare not," she whispered. "I am Telamone's wife." "But he is dead, my darling. We saw him sitting dead in the hotel by the quay, and he no longer lives to torment you." "Ah, then, I may—and I will!" And with that she flung her arms about my neck and kissed me with all the passion of a legitimate love. A fortnight later Teresina, who was now free, was married to me. I asked her to do this at such an early date in order that I might have the right to watch over her safety during our contemplated journey to England. But the day after our marriage something happened wTuch changed all our plans, and led to some startling developments and surprising adventures. Teresina came to mie in the afternoon when the garden was quiet— Hesketh being busy in superintending the rebuilding of huts and other tenements which had been destroyed by fire—and sitting by my side told me of her desire. "Wilfred, I want to put an end to my suspense regarding the Scar-let-Cross package. It is like a nightmare to me, and, as you know too well, has been the cause of all our pain and peril. And yet, darling, it has given you to me, so that good came out of the evil. But don't you think I might open it now?" "But your birthday has not come," I exclaimed in feeble protest; for I confess that I was exceedingly curious to know what it was that had set the Fraternity moving counting death not too great a payment for the possession of the little parcel.

"Well, my love," said Teresina, shyly, looking into my face, "it so happens this is my birthday;" and with that she drew the little package from her pocket, and held it out for my acceptance. Ignoring it for the moment, I ,put my arms about her, and, drawing her to me, I kissed her lips again and again, wishing her all happiness, and whispering the hope that she would never regret having taken a second husband. "Regret, my darling? Wilfred, my other marriage was rather one of compulsion—a marriage de convenance, if jou will, since it was only a marriage from interest rather than love, forced upon me by my father, who wished to offer a sop to a political refugee who had it in his power to serve my father or to crush him. It was only for that reason that I married Andrieno Telamone. But I never loved him, How could I? He was always tyrannical, and I had to follow his wishes under compulsion, afraid lest any slackness of service on my part should bring injury to my father or to myself." "And you married me, signora, because you were afraid to say no?" I asked, teasingly. But she was equal to me, and exclaimed: "Exactly so. I knew that if I said 'No,' you would never give me any peace." With that she put her arms about my neck, and, drawing me down to her, kissed me with a fondness which sent a delicious thrill through me—even, as I told her, though an old married man. "Of one day's experience," she protested. "But this package, Wilfred. Let us open it." "Not here, my darling. Let us go where we may be quiet, and free from intrusion." She assented, and we went into the house and locked ourselves in our room so that there should be no prying eyes upon our mysterious task. (To be Continued..) JJ.p.—27.