Lady Trebor's Secret, OR THE MYSTERY OF CECIL ROSSE.

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 264, 24 October 1877, Page 4

Lady Trebor's Secret, OR THE MYSTERY OF CECIL ROSSE.

fßv ?.lus. Haruiet Lewis.] CHAPTER XXXVL—contd. Speed was out of the question. The ponies, sure-footed like all of their breed, and used to such precarious footing, plodded on steadily, while Cecil and Gretcnen kept watch in front and rear, their nerves strung to their utmost tension. Eor hours they marched in this terrible mountain-pass with strained vision and hearing, but the ponies never swerved from tbeir course, and no pursuer came in sight. At a late hour of the afternoon they came out into a wide valley which stretched for miles before them in a comparatively level plain. There were patches of snow in tbeir way, but the road was improving, and Cecil again compelled the ponies to jog. It was twilight when she turned the vehicle aside into a scraggy grove of stunted pines, and came to a halt beside a mountain stream. “ We must stop for the night, Gretehen,” she said. “The ponies are tired. And as for us, having been up all last night, we must have rest.” Gretcheu assented with many misgivings, ami alighted from the wagon. The horses were unharnessed and tethered to trees, within easy reach of the noisy little stream. Cecil helped to rub them down. “ Wc must take good care of them. Our safety depends upon them, Gretchen,” she observed, gravely. “ Jarvis must be on our track. He will overtake ns by to-morrow noon, even if ho has been delayed, or if he is compelled to rest as often as wc.” “ Then what avc wc to do ?” “ We shall hove to resume our journey iu the morning without the wagon. The ponies arc gentle. We must ride them. Wc can take food enough in a bag for our wants, and by to-morrow night this road must bring us to some shepherd's hut or some Highland hamlet !” After partaking of food, Gretcheu said “ Let me sit up and watch while you sleep.” But Cecil shook her head with pretty imperiousness. “ Ton must do as I say, Grctchon,” she said, affectionately. “ Lie down non - . I promise you I will take my turn.” Gretcheu was forced to obey. She , ’ crept into the wagon and went to sleep, -Woimiliijj licuvliy. ' The young girl loaned against a tree, silent and watchful, and her thoughts went back over her brief history. The mystery of hoi - origin seemed to her to he connected with her imprisonment at Black Rock and the attempt of her jailers to destroy her life. What could that mystery bo ? Who wore her unseen enemies ? Who had bribed the Jarvises and the Portuguese woman to kill her? She thought of Lord Glenharn v His blonde beauty, the rare charm of his manner, his nobleness and goodness, all were reviewed in that lonely silence and gloom. And the young face was turned up to the frowning sky, pale and sorrowful, yet full of tenderness for the lover she believed for ever lost y to her ; and Cecil prayed for him and for Lady Trevor, whom she believed that he loved, that they might bo liaypy, whatever should be her own fate. She did not waken old Gretcheu at midnight. But somewhere about one o’clock the old woman aroused herself and came forth, compelling Cecil to take her place. The girl did so, sleeping profoundly until daybreak. Then she arose. They had breakfast. A feed of oats was given the horses, and they resumed their journey. They had been gone three or four hours when Jarvis came riding up. He saw that they had halted for the night. He was hungry, and made an instant attack upon the stores they had left, consuming an inordinate amount of whiskey, Securing extra stores of provisions, both- food and drink, he pushed on after the fugitives iu bettor spirits. “ They don’t know the road ahead o them 1” ho muttered. “ This second day’ll tell on that girl. I shall overtake ’em at Devil’s Gap, if not sooner. They haven’t the slightest chance of escape 1” CHAPTER XXXYII. THE SHEPHERDS’ HUT. In a long wide valley, bright with spring verdure, ami shut in by an undulating wall of snow-capped mountains, in'the Northern Highlands of Scotland, stands a shepherd's hut. The accommodations of the place are of the rudest desciiptiou. The hut is a mere shcltcr against storms —a place to sleep in—nothing - more. The valley belonged to a Scottish laird who lived many miles to the southward. Iu May of every year he sent his flocks to this lonely spot in charge of two shepherds, who watched them during the long summers, and drove them back to their winter quarters in the a itumu. These shepherds had just arrived. The flocks . wore already scattered 1 1 rough t le valley, grazing on the tender

vonng grass. The hour was twiliglfl. j Tire elder shop; e - d, a big, brawny fellow, iu a kilt, with legs upon which the muscles stood out like whipcords, lighted his pipe and went out to look alter the young lambs, and to see that none of his flock had strayed into the moun-tain-passes. His companion sat down at the door of the hut, just outside, and smoked a pipe also. He was surveying - the landscape with half-shut eyes, lazily puffing his pipe, when he beheld two Highland ponies coming down the valley, along the overgrown track that had many years before boon a decently kept road. The shepherd rubbed his eyes in amazement. The ponies came nearer and nearer. Ho presently detected that one was lame. His next discovery was that the riders of the ponies were women. He sprang to his feet, opening his eyes and his mouth in his amazement. He held his pipe in his band and stood like a statue for some minutes, while the ponies continued to advance, their speed quickening as they neared the hut. The two horsewomen, as the reader surmises, were Cecil Rosso and Gretchcn. This was the evening of the second day of their flight from Black Rock. They had ridden hard ail day, halting only an hour at noon to rest and feed their steeds. Grotchen’s pony had slipped upon a rolling-stone in a wild mountain-pass during the afternoon and had fallen lame. This lameness had increased with every hour of subsequent travel. The roads had been bud and rough. In many places they had been undistingnishable, and the fugitives feared that they had lost their way and were wandering in a wilderness whence they should not be able to escape. They had reached the Devil’s Gap early in the afternoon. This was the place at which Jarvis had expected to overtake them. It was a narrow pass between two mountains. The terrors of this pass kept the two fugitives dumb. They dismounted, afraid to trust to tbeir ponies, and led the boasts lor a distance ol two miles, up a steep ascent and down again upon the opposite side. Towards nightfall, when wearied and anxious, they began to think of camping out for the night, they entered the valley eve have described. Miss Rosso was the first to see the flocks of sheep. The sight of them kindled hope in the fugitives’ breasts. Where domestic animals were, men were likely to be also. They hurried on, and soon afterward caught sight of the lonely hut. oWn *i’■ o otvfo now, Mies Oooil !” cried the okl serving woman, in a transport of joy. “ I had begun to think that wc were lost, and should perish in the cold to-night. But God has watched over us, and brought us to a safe refuge.” They hurried forward, the steeds seeming to understand and share in their joy and relief. The shepherd was still standing, open-mouthed, when they came up and drew rein at his door, Cecil slipped from the back of her steed. He was quick to detect that she was a lady, and pulled off his cap, and saluted her by an awkward bow. Gretchcn, stiff in every limb, as was her young mistress, slid to the ground. The shepherd looked in the direction the fugitives had come in the expectation of seeing a male attendant. Not seeing one Ire fined his bewildered gaze upon Miss Rosse. She stood for a moment in perfect silence, her heart swelling, her agitation too great to allow her to speak. She had thought herself lost. “ Will you give us shelter for the night ?” sire asked, her low, sweet voice quivering. “We are very tired, having travelled all day.” “Ye can stop here, an’ ye wall,” responded the shepherd, glancing doubtfully over his shoulder at the rude interior of the hut. “ But it’s not a place for the like o’ you, leddy.” Ho backed into the cabin. The fugitives followed him. Ho flung a handful of pine cones and branches on the low fire, ond a fragrant warmth and brightness filled the bare chamber. Cecil and Gretcheu sat down upon two wooden stools before the hearth, and held their hands to the delicious blaze. The shepherd continued to regard the • pair with wonder and'surprise. That one was mistress and the other servant was apparent to him. But what were they doing in this lonely region unattatendod ? He began to be suspicious of them—the appearance of two women in that remote valley being utterly unprecedented. Gretcheu looked about her anxiously. She looked in vain for some signs ot a woman’s presence, and then fixed her regards upon her host, wondering of what nationality ho was. “ Where are we ?” she asked, in English, giving expression to her curiosity. The shepherd stared; the folly of such a question made him suspect her sanity. “ Why, dinna ye see ?” he asked. “ Speer about ye, woman. Ye’re in a shepherd’s lint, that’s where ye are !” “Ah!” exclaimed Grctchon, comprehending him, although his words had not the soft flow that belongs to English tongues. “ But where is it—this hut?” [to be continued. J