CHAPTER XXXL OUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 145, 13 March 1886, Page 3

CHAPTER XXXL OUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH.

The natural amiability and indopendcnco of Annie Noble soon captivated the heart oi j the eccentric Miss Starkey, who, rumour asserted, wag far more wealthy than was t'onerally supposed. They were frequently together, and Miss Starkoy'p affection for the orphan girl was plainly perceptible. Late ono afternoon Annie went out to make a little purchase for Mrs Campbell. It had been rather a dull day, and the darkness came on so iapidly after she had gone that Mrs Campbell was sorry that sho had asked her to go at all. Her uneasiness increased when the hour for tea arrived and she was still absent. "Where can Annie bo ?" she said, in an anxious tone, as they gathered about the table. "It ought not to havo taken her three-quarters of an hour to go and return, and it is more than fo\o hoixrs. I only sent her down to Ryerson's to match some trimmings." " Perhaps she has kept on down town and gone to see Miss Waldemar, and. if so, Rich will escort her back by and by, : ' suggested Grace. As this was very likely, Mrs Campbell appeared much relieved. Miss Starkey, however, watched the door constantly, and every timo the bell rang she would jump nervously from her chair, run out into the hall to look for her favourite, and then return much depressed. Mr Starkey was also absent. He had taken an independent excursion that day, having gone to Hoboken " to see how they made lead-pencils," and he had not yet returned, so his sister was doubly anxious. They were all thrown into a perfect fever of^ excitement when, about eight o'clock, Rich came in — alone. " Where is she ? Is not Annie with you ?" Graco cried, aghast, as she sprang forward to meet him. "Annie !" he repeated, surprised at her question, but growing suddenly white with some presentiment of evil. "No; I have not seen her to-day." " Where can she be ? She went out upon an errand, but, as she has not returned, we thought perhaps she had run down to see Miss Waldemar and waited to have you come home with her," Grace explained, looking greatly troubled. Hich stood in the hall, hat in hand, appearing like one dazed. " Where did she go ?'' he asked at length. "To Ryerson's trimming store " "That is not very far from here," Rich said, but his lips could scarcely pronounce the words : they were stiffened with fear— a fear that something dreadful had happened to his darling. A horrible thought had come to him. Perhaps she had been waylaid again by that villain Crouch. The suspicion was almost maddening, and he turned without a word and was about to dasn out in search of her, when there came a loud peal from the boll. Robert hastened to open the door, the family crowding forward, instincively feeling that they were about to learn somothing of the mi=sing one. " Stand back there and let me in !" cried the well-known voice of George Washington Starkey, though he was panting as if nearly exhausted with running. The next moment he strode into the hall, his face pale, his eyes wild, hia hat gone, and his whole appearance betraying intense excitement, while in his arms be bore the senseless form 'of Annie Noble, her white j face lying against his shoulder and looking like a piece of beautifully aculpured marble. Rich sprang forward with an agonized cry which no one ever forgot. "My darling! what has happened to her ?" he grasped. He would have snatched her from Mr Sfcarkey's arms, but he waved him off and stalked on to the drawing-room, where he tenderly deposited his burden upon a sofa. " Now you just let Marthy Ann have her, and sholl come to all right — that is if any body can bring her to," he said. Miss Starkey was equal to the emergency. She removed Annie's hat and wrap, and began to loosen her clothing. " Chloroform !" she exclaimed, turning towards her brother aghast. He nodded. " Go on— tend to her first, and I'll tell you afterward," he said sharply, impatient of anything that could take her attention from her charge. Rich had thrown himself upon his knees at the head of the sofa, looking the picture of despair. Miss Starkey ordered a window near by to^ be thrown open and called for vinegar, with which she rubbed the girl's face and nostrils, sprinkled cold water copiously upon her, rolling her gently from side to Bide to excite breathing. But the beautiful form was still rigid. " Go for a doctor, somebody ! Rich cried, hoarsely, and looking appealingly at those gathered about. " Hush, boy ! a dozen doctors can't do any more than I'm doing. There ! she's taken a breath. She'll come round ; I've managed lots of chloroform cases in my time, though I guess she's had a larger dose * than the law allows."

Miss Starkey said all this re-assuringly though she did not for an instant suspend her efforts to restore the still unconscious girl. Rich was silenced, for he saw she was perfectly competent; but he buried his face in the sofa- cushion and tried to wait patiently, though the sight of that still white face sent a death-like chill to his heart. For an hour they worked and watched, but to those watching so anxiously it seemed as if she would never breathe naturally again. Her chest would heave regularly a few times, then stop, and they almost feared lifo was extinct ; then slowly her bosom would begin to heave again, only to relapse into that awful stillness and make thoir hearts sink with renewed despair. "Annie, Annie!" cried Rich, in a voice of agony, putting his lips close to her cheek, "come back to me! Live for my sake !" Whether his voice had power to move her to tho effort, or whethor the powerful anaesthetic had done its utmost harm and nature was resuming its sway, it would be difficult to say ; but she suddenly inhaled a deep breath, hor white lips fluttered, and then hor respiration grew more natural. A little colour stole into the livid lips; her lids half unclosed, revealing those dear eyes ; a movement of her delicate hands towards her bared chest told that she began to be conscious of her surroundings. " Rich— hclp-isave IT were the first sounds that they heard from her lips, though she ?eemed not to know that she had apoken at all. They were like an electric shock to them all, and a deop sigh of relief broke from overy breast as thoy caught the words. " Tako her upstairs to her own room, somebody," commanded Miss Starkey, in a basiness-like tone. ° Wo'll put her to bed, and then you can safely leave her to me. She'll come out of it all right now, only she's going to bo sick onough for a day or so, until the effects of that vilo stuff havo passed away." Rich sprang to his feet, gatherod the dear form into his arms, and, following the woman upstairs, laid his lovod one upon her own bed. | He knew he must leave her then, but he had the utmost faith in Miss Starkey, and, after imprinting one passionate kiss upon Annie's blue-veined blow, he turned to Miss Starkey and grasped both her hands. " Hoaven bless you !" he said earnestly. " I shall always love you for this night's work. You are confident she will do well now ?" he added, wistfully. •'Reasonably," Miss Starkey replied. "And you may be sure of one thing, young man," she added. "I shall figho for her as long as she needs it, for she's more to one than you'vo any idea of. Now go a&d let us be quiet, and I'll send you word how she is every little while. " And Rich, with a look of love at the white face on the pillow, and another of gratitude at Miss Starkey, left the room and went below. A physician had been summoned, and arrived soon after the sufferer had been conveyed to hor room. He said that all danger was passed, and bestowed great praise upon Miss Starkey for the prompt and energetic measures she had used, and which had doubtless saved the life of the young girl. {To be Continued.)