THE MYSTERY OF HADDON'S FERRY.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 239, 28 January 1888, Page 7

THE MYSTERY OF HADDON'S FERRY.

CHAPTER LXHI.

TWICE SAVED. Beyond the toiling and the weeping, I shall be soon ; Beyond the waking and the sleeping, Beyond the sowing and the reaping. I shall be soon. Horatiub Bon ak. ! "Has the Irish mail train lefb yot?" repeated Sallusb Rowley, as he sprang from ; the cab in front of the Euston Square Railway Station, and hastily assisted Gertrude to alight. The question was breathlessly addressed to half a dozen porters, loafers, and other loiterers about the otherwise quiet station. " Yes, sir ; left about live minutes." " Left five minutes ago ! Then our watches are several minutes slow !" exclaimed Sallust ; but before he could utter another word, he had to turn to attend to Gertrude, whose hand was slipping from his arm. He caught her just as she was about to sink on the sidewalk. He lifted her light form in his arms, and bore her to the cab and placed her on the cushions, where she sank back, breathless, speechless, yet not unconscious. A thoughtful porter followed quickly with a glass of water that he had procured from a fruit-stand near. " Thank you friend," said Sallustßowley, as he took the glass and put it to the pallied lips of his companion. Gertrude drank a little of the water, bowed in silence, and turned away her head. Sallust Rowley returned the glass to the porter, with a shilling for his trouble. ' ' The lady expected to go Ay the Irish mail, sir?" inquired the manpxs he touched his hat in acknowledgment of the shilling. "Yes, to meet the steamer at Queenstown. I meant to overtake the Europa," answered the communicative Sallusfc. " That's a main pity, for the last chance is gone just five minutes ago I think, sir, as it's a deal more aggravating to miss a train by a minute than it is by an hour," pursued the porter, encouraged to talk by the affability of his new acquaintance. "Yes, that it is ; but shut the door now, if you please, friend," said Sallust, who, with all his kind-heartedness, was averse to a longer interview. " Yes, sir. Where shall I tell the cabman to drive, sir ?" inquired the man, touching his hat. "Nowhere. We shall stand here until the Jady recovers. Shut the door," said Sallust, beginning to lose his patience, as he saw a crowd collecting. The porter touched his hat again and shut the door. Sallust turned and looked at his companion, who had sunk back in the corner of the cab, pallid, motionless, overwhelmed by this last heavy blow. Sallust always experienced a diffiulty in j addressing Gertrude. The tender brotherly love and pity he felt for the meek and gentle being always impelled him to speak | to her by her plain given name ; while the delicacy and respect suited to their relative positions required that he should address her only by her husband's name ; though to do so seemed to Sallust's friendly soul too cold and formal a way of treating his sweet and trusting fellow-traveller, especially when she was suffering, as now. However, he thought it would be safer to err on the side of reserve than of familiarity ; and so, while his compassionate spirit was longing to call her dear Gertrude, he only said : " Dear Mrs Fitzgerald, will you sit here until you have recovered, or do you now feel equal to going on to some hotel ?" " Wait, please. I mu&t think," said Gertrude, wihh an effort. These were the first words she had spoken since arriving at the station. "This is a most cruel disappointment, and I feel for you from my soul ; I do, indeed. I would do anything in the world to serve you ; I would, indeed., sTou have only to command me, and I will obey, you. Yon may order me about- and use me and abuse me as if I were your negro slave, if you will only let me serve you in any way," said the boy, earnestly, as tho tears arose to his eyes. " Dear, good, brave soul ! You haye dono nothing but serve me since you saved mv life."' "',,.>' "It is m^duty ,and, my life to serve you with all my 'power until I place, 'you" safely in the hands of your husband,", replied Sallust, gallantly., ' , V , ' , "Efcermil' thanks, Mr^Ro\vleiy."J [, -, , ' '.But what ,can I cto Jor! you now '?" , • , Gertrude,, overwhelmed ,'as she was' Wan to reflect rajpidlv. :j ** ' lv y . ' \ \" wi / * , "There" is nW'^pVssible\wavo(rCom-, municatiug' with, Cdjpftel^itjjgeMd .until', •beard the ; "Eur6pV l a' Tetter eerft' to-day

coiilfr-nofreaeh him at all. 1 'You see' how it is. Oh, that I had the wings of a carrier^ pigeon, to fly to him with your^ejssage and stop him at Queenstown. But as X have hot, we shall have to write to himT)y the first steamer," sighed Sallust. , ", " Write to him ! No ! We, orat least , I must follow him by tho first steamer. Have you a copy of the "Times" with you, Mr Rowloy?" 'inquired Gertrudo, who was gradually recovering her selfpossession. " Yes," replied the young man, drawing that morning's "Thunderer" from his pocket. "Look, please, and sco which is the first steamer that sails for New \ ork. I do not mind from what port she sails, or to what line she belongs,'' eaicl C'ortrude, eagerly. Sallust unfolded his paper, turned to the column devoted to ocean travel, and ran his eyes down it. 11 Well ? Well ?" exclaimed Gertrude, eagerly. " The first is the Zanzibar, that sails from Southampton on Saturday morning," said Sallust, reading. " That is the day after to morrow. We must secure that. We may then chance to bo in New York as soon as Colonel Fitzgerald himself," eagerly exclaimed Gertrude. "Very well, then. We will drive to tho office of that lino, and sec if it be possible to secure a passage," said Sallust), as he folded tho paper and replaced it in his pocket. '• We mud secure a passage, or at least I must. I will go by that steamer if I have to go in tho steerage." " Certainly, then I must attend you ; though T doubt, dear Mrs Fitzgerald, it you would venture on a steerage passnge if you really knew what it is— for a lady." "I know that it will last but ten or twelve days at the longest, and that women live through it, and therefore I can, especially when supported by the thought that it will bring me "much sooner to my home than a first-cabin passage on a later steamer ! would do. Please tell the cabman to drive to tho agent's office, Mr Rowley." Sallust put his head out of the window, hailed the driver, and directed him to drive to the office of the Excelsior Steamship Company, Grace Church-street, City." The man touched his hat and drove off. " Mrs Fitzgerald, you keep up wonderfully. I declare you do. The blows you ahvehad since that shipwreck have been enough to have knockea over any woman who hadn't your fortitude and patience !" exclaimed Sallust, in a tone of enthusiasm, as he looked with admiration at his comdanion. " Indeed, then, Mr Rowley, in this trial I pwe much more to your constant support than to my own strength. I owe everything —my life and every help since that was saved —to you," said Gertrude, meekly. "You J you ! you owe more to my poor help than to your own strength ? You ! who crossed tho Wilde through a midnight storm in an open boat to fetch over a forlorn traveller !" exclaimed Sallust, in amazement. " Oh, but that was action ; this is endurance ; this is much worse than crossing the Wilde in a midnight storm," answered Gertrude. " Well, I shouldn't wonder if it was, under the oircu instances," admitted Mr Rowley. The conversation ceased for the time being, and the cab bowled rapidly on to the city, turned into Grace Church street, and drew up before the office of the Excelsior Steamship Line. "Remain in the cab, dear Mrs Fitzgerald, and I will go out and do the best I can for you," said Sallust, as he alighted. " And mind, I am going on that steamer in any case, most positively ! There is always room for one more in the steerage, you know," said Gertrude, with unusual obstinacy. "Oh, I shall probably be able to do better than that for you. This is not so popular a line as the other, you know. The ships are seldom overcrowded I fancy," said Sallust, as he disappeared in the agent's office. Gertrude, now recovered from the first effects of her disappointment, sat back in her seat, and while waiting for the return of Sallust, began to estimate the real amount of her loss. " Annoying and disappointing/ she said to herself, " but, after all, not so grave as to have overwhelmed mo as it did. If we could have caught that train, we should have reached Queenstown to-night, and I should have met my dear husband, and comforted him, and crossed the ocean with him. As it is, I shall have to go without him, in a steamer, three days later, and our meeting, and his consolation, must be deferred for ten or twelve days longer. Come, I must be brave, and not hurt that good soul who is doing all ho can for me ; not hurt him by my impatience or despondency." Sallust was gone an unconscionably long time. It was a full half hour before he returned to her iv a cab. "The agent kept me waiting," he said, but I have got something well worth waiting for ; though I cannot get you a stateroom in the first cabin, you can have a whole state-room to yourself in the second cabin. " "And you, Mr Rowley, can you get a comfortable room?" inquired Gertrudo. " Oh ! I shall have a berth in a second cabin state-room with another man." "We have been very fortunate in securing our passage in this ship," put in Gertrude, cheerfully. "So we have, my dear Mrs Fitzgerald. Now, madam, what shall be our next stop ? This is Thursday morning. Our steamer sails from Southampton on Saturday morning. Where is it you will that we go in the meantime ?" inquired Sallust, with his hand on the cab door. " Mr Rowley, call at the first stationer's and procure a time-tablo and see when the first train starts for Southampton," said Gertrude. "My dear lady, there- are at least a dozen available trains between this and Saturday morning. There is plenty of time. You had better let me take you to some j good house to rest until to-morrow morning. You have been going continually for the, last twenty-four hours," urged Sallu&t. . " But I wish ,to go to our port by the first train so as to forestall all delay by accidents. I know that lam unreasonable in this matter ; but I shall ■ feel so much nearer home when I find myself at the seaport from which, our ship, is to sail for New York. Forgive . my folly and gratify me, Mr Rowloy, said Gertrude, pleadingly. " My dear lady, you have only to command, and I to> obey,, Drive' to .the nearest ■ stationer's shop," said Sallust, as he entered, the cab and pulled to the door. * i ,>r i . The man .drove off, and , a t few yards j farther ton he pulled- up, ■ „- .;;,"'.. « Sal}us.t Rowleys got lout and , procured a , ■Bradsfoaw, with w.hich, he return pd s to. the cab. . < ■ •,« - <*',;, -. ,>. ,< - - « " Where, now, 3 sir*?-'; inquired 1 the.<man.'/ .<» "To Vdry's, corner,,, of Qxford ?;w and Regont-'streW,'' replied 'Sallust; witftout r pn t this°' occasion , stopping' t6* consult GeiA ,trude..j i .r.-t; fjtf,.ij \l\rt-v! * <w«; <*t<*J < , }T,h9,..qflbnian touched- hisv hatpc'andi .njQUnJbedhi^boxfa^d^drove'pn/ h\ «'<'-' Sallust addled his brains over Brad-

Bhaw.' ' ' ' 1 "What is 'Vdry V Mr Rowley ?" irtquirecl Gert'urde. • ■ " ' '"Let me see- tlie express leaved— What did you say, Mrs Fitzgerald?" inquired | $allust, arousing himself from his studies. " I ask you what is Vary's ?"' "Oh ! — a perfect, , unexceptionable, firstclass restaurant for ladies 'and gentlemen, to which I am going to take you to dine, while they settle about our train,"' Sallust explained. A very uncomfortable feeling came over Gertrude. Hitherto she had only been travelling in railway carriages and cabs with Sallust Rowley ; and even she was, as she supposed, going directly to her husband. But now this running about London, and dining at a restaurant with a young man, even though that young man was innocent and boyish Sallust Rowley, was very repugnant to her sense of delicacy. "I bog your pardon, Mr Rowley," she said, after some hesitation, and with a vivid blush, "but indeed I would rather not go to the restaurant. Will there not be a train to Southampton soon ? And can we not go directly to tho railway station and get something in the refreshment room there while waiting for our train ?" "Oh, yes; certainly you can get somethiny ; but nothing that you would like to eat or drink, I know," replied Sallust, " Well, never mind. Take me to the railway station, dear Mr Rowley, and leave me there in the ladies' room while you go to Vory's, or wherever you like, and get a good dinner." Sallust looked up from the wilderness of Kradshaw, and said : "Why, my dear Mrs Fitzgerald, I shall go where you go, and stay where you stay, and I shall never be more than twenty yards off from you until I put you safely in your husband's hands. / leave you alone in a London railway station ? It ie not likely. No ; no more than I would have left you alone in the sea." " You are very good to me, Mr Rowley, but I fear you find me very troublesome," said Gertrude, compunctuously. " Well, now, if you knew now proud I am to take care of you, both for your sake and for Gerald'?, you would never say that," replied Sallusb. Then, divining some of her delicate scruples, he added : "I am Gerald's nearest of kin, you know, and for the lack of either of us having nearer male relatives, we have always been like brothers." "Oh ! indeed ; I did not know that," exclaimed Gertrude with pleasure. "Did you not, really? Why, bless my soul ! Fitzgerald and myself are double first cousins ; and if that does not make us us near akin as brothers, I don't know, under the circumstances, what would, "said Sallust emphatically. " ' Double first cousins !' What sort of relationship may that be, Mr Rowley ? " inquired Gertrude, with a puzzled look. '• A relationship peculiar to Wilde county —a very much intermarried relationship, indigenous to the soil." " Explain." " Listen : Gerald's father married my father's only sister, and my father married Gerald's father's only sister ; or, in other words, Gerald's mother married my mother's brother, and my mother married Gerald's mother's brother; all of which I made Gerald and me double first cousins." Sallust explained, with a look of solemnity. " Now do you understand ?" ''No, I do not," said Gertrude, more than ever perplexed by the way in which the eccentric young man had explained, or rather, attempted to explain a very simple matter. "I do not understand. I always lose and bewilder myself in trying to trace out Wilde county genealogies. They are worse than Bx*adshaw's routes." " Well, anyhow you see that Gerald and I are double first cousins, and nearest of kin ?" "Yes, I see that; or at least I utterly take your word for it, of course," answered Gertrude, simply. "And I hope you take my word for this, too — that, of all the men in the world, I am the most proper man to ta'»e care of you, until I hand you over to your husband. And also, that it will be the proudest and happiest day of my life when I place your hand in his, and leave you to tell him the story of your rescue," said the boy, with a i beaming face. "You area brave and generous spirit, Cousin Sallust, and I am sure Gerald must deeply appreciate that when he sees you again," said Gertrude, "warmly. " Thatikt*, Cousin Gertrude ! I will try to deserve your opinion. I need not call you Mrs Fitzgerald any more, need I?" gayly inquired Sallust. I " Call me cousin, I .set you the example," kindly replied the little lady. " And now," sho inquired, "have you found out when the first train leaves for Southampton ?" "Yes," repl'ed Sallust, referring to his Bradshaw, "the first express train leaves Waterloo Bridge station at six o'clock this afternoon