CHAPTER LXXXVI.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 256, 18 April 1888, Page 6

CHAPTER LXXXVI.

lii hapi>\ lioincs ho saw (ho h'-jiit Ol household in o j jjlon warm and bi l^ht. "Ti v not the pas^, ' (he old in id ■» ud, " JJ.uk 1 o \\ cc l ~> the tempest u\or!u ,td. L()\(.! I<T I OW . ".Nil \N\\inn (he sky wn- 01 owing dai' c with i lnud->, and I)) (ho time (he stageroach duw up in firm I ot tlio Anllei-., m V ddcwllr, the whole hea\oiisi weie outi.'.st, and a thunder ■-eemed iinini llUllt. " Kou , ( •oialrl, )ou know that wo never (-•in tell much about the^e -toims in the mountain 1 -, fiom the looks of the ''loud-,. Ott< n when they nio-t threatenino liic) pa^ oil haimle--»l>, with a ten peals of tliundei" and flaslie< of li^htninrj, ending in a little show ci. •' My fellou-pa^-sonrrpi .. a ll took lefu^e in lhe\illa^e inn, le^oHing (o remain (/hove until the Momi should he o\er. Hiit I was binning to <^ r :t on to the Summit Manor, and make myself known to il,s wrongful po^aes-oi. So, still under the name of Lackland, I ordered the inn hack to be got ready to convey me and my little family thither. Evidently all whoheaid the oider thought that we weie vunniei vi^itoih to Mi Mauiice Fit/ocrald, and all with one accord sought to dissuade me irom my intended lide. " 'The sun had net," they nifrccl, 'and the nifjhb was coming on. A tliunder-stonn was rising and would certainly oveitakc us bctoie we could leacli IJaddon's Feriy ; and it it should not be over by that time, it would be very dangerous, or poihaps quite impossible to crosb the Wilde. We had much better make up our mindb lo stay all night at the Antlcr.s.' ' But despite ol all argument or persuasion. I put my wite and child into the carnage, had our baggage strapped, on behind, entered, and set out on my fatal jouinoy to Jladdon's Ferry. "The .storm overtook us at Cave Court Cross Roads. Wo closed up the carriage, and stopped under an old shed, once a blacksmith's .shop, but then rtc-crccd. " We stayed thete amid the fiercest tempest that J had over known. We stayed until there came a lull in the fury that deluded us into the idea that the storm had pa&sed ; then we recommenced our journey, and entered the mountain road leading thiough a gorfco of the Eagle Roost Ridge down to tlie ferry. "We descended to the river fide. It was raining lightly, and we thought the storm was over.

" Tho hack-driver helped mo to transfer my libtlo party and our luggape to the ferry hut on that side, and then hastily mounted his box, and drove oil on his return ; for J had made up my mind that T would go no further than G'abriol ITuddon's house that night, and L pleased myself with the thought o"F tho amazement with which tho old man would hear of the existence- of this daughter, out of Avhom he had boon cheated mi many yeais, and of who.se Aery being ho had ne\er heard. I ])icbure Ito myself tho delight with which he would welcome l>or and her infant, his granddaughter and myself, who would bring (hem loliiin. "My \,oung wife fully entered into all my feelings, and oven exceeded them in eagerness. " Immediately on iinding our.-ohes in tlie forrj hut, white a dun lantern was doing dut} as a waleh-hghi, 1 took the horn hanging by it, ami blew a blast to summon the boat, t hinkmg • "'Ah, old ferryman, if you knew who was on this sjdo ym would make haste' " I\! y summon i wa-> answered, liut not fioin (lie fens. It wa- atisuoied fiom the sk;\ by a 101 l ol thunder «-ueh a>- 1 had ne\ei heard betoie, and ha\e never heaid hoard hiicc (hat- night-. It \Ub mstanth followed by a lla^h oi lightning t hat seemed to .set. the win id in , i flame, and then l>y a deluge oi tain. The stoun had returned, and w e all know what a leturning storm me ills on these mountains It is tho woisj ot all storms. "We weie well pioteeted fiom the weather, howouM , in tliat ferry hut ; but my wite was i \eeedmgly weary with her I In o*. (\>iy*' and night*-' |uurne\ >n the stage coach. She could scarcek m( up on the haul and iiii 111 1 ow hem h that tui im d the onl} MMlofth' hut Oh, how deepl\ liegietted tUu impatience that, had tenmtod me to |)i!i-iic i:n |ouipi\ that fatal night 1 .\h, betoie th< night was o\er I had still hea\ lei eausi ((MiiouinniN lest iessness. " The tempest uiged with unpi eoedented fui\, \ A with mUi\als ot compaiatue peace b -tween X- p iro\\ >ins. In these in tei\aU I continued to blow the horn and c ill (he lioat, U only to let the teiiyn.an knov thit llieiew.ts someone on this «k!i waiting the hist ,i\.iilable moment of eioss ing : but ol com -u I did not e\pci t that, ht would ( ome to Us then. " At It ugth a iLspoiiso came to m_> f ill It \WI, " ' Impossible now. \\ ait until the storm is ovei. "I wa satisfied then that I bad been heaid;: '■!-!< ami mi 1 waited pahentl}. "M\ po -i littli w lie, how e\ ci, was worn out wit 'i iat i^iii', .md could -caicci} kee[) tn n\ ialli!i<_' on the floor. "1 cudgeled m\ biains to di-v-ov< i ot iinent some means for hci lebet. I had notued in one ot the mtei\als between the paioxssuis of the tempest, a 1 1 u I\ t binning low >,n the banks ot the ii\ei, a few \ards up the stuam. It se( mcd to shine ho-ii -oine humble labm. 1 lesohed Lo make mj w;i\ to it and fitul out whethei I could get a In d theie ioi my pool, weary wife and hei babe to lie down on, to lesttoi a few minutes, oi houis, as the stoim should please. ' 1 told m\ wife this, and left hei to '_() niAaicK the cabin J found it to be the dwelling ot a pool vnmg couple and then ouln b\ing child, a boj ot thiee yeais old '• I tobl them my diihcult), and thc\ e\pie-s<>d the gieateat plea- me in tlie pios jieet oi slielteimg my weaiy ones. •'1 went luck to the feirj -hut and told ! M mjili.l i, then waited till another eon \ulsi()!l ot H>o olomonN AS ils O\ e,l . aiul took ha to the mu'fide hut, wheieshe \\,h leetU' d with the greatest kindness "J s( i^ c d until I saw hei asleep on the onl\ bid m ihe house, and her babe a '•lt ■[» m the only eiadle. Then i went biik 10 the ieiiv-hu 1 , to wait for the boat. "How long I waited l The storm ineieast d m fuiy and taged all night ' The ii\ei loeand o\eillowed its> banks ! The watei lan o\er the floor ot the old fen\ hut. "Then I gtew alattned foi (.lie safeh ot m$ deal oiu -, and lei L the hut to hasten Lo them. "1 found, io m\ hoioir, the pathway to the Labin iut oil bj the Using ol the u\er that now l eached the Aeiy foot of Eagle Koo't Kidge. I had to climb the precipice abo\( the waleis, and theie, in night and stoim and total darkness, holding on to the stunted cedars that clothed the steep, ai.d sumging myself fiom one to another, I stmggkd up to the iher until I i cached — the cabin' Ah, llea\en, no 1 but the plai i a\ he c the cabin h.ul stood ! '"It w .is gone, swept away by the lioods '" "Oh, hoiiiblo 1 groaned (ieiald Fitxgc.ild, undei Ins bieath The elder man scarcely noticed the in li'iiuption ; he continued : " \)a\ was daw ning, and I could ?ee far up and down the inei. lti\ oi — it was no longei a u\ei ; but an inland sea' it hi kd the whole \allev from WiM C'a( Chlls on the ea*t to Itlagle Moo t Midge on the west, and e\cn lose, high against, those roekv w.ills. Upon its bosom dufted the bodies of lioise-?, o\en and ■-t niggling with death, and the rums ot fences, farms and hamlets, cairied oil by the Hood. "Jn that hour of uttei agony I should ua\c (Mst ni} -elf into the watei and petished, but that. [ was seized and held I lack b\ a poweilul jiair of arm" -arms. nei \ed by madness ! '' 1 turned and saw that, Clea I'hara held me in a \ ice-like grasp, and glared upon me with fieu/ied eyes. " Hetoie i could reco\ or fiom the amazement her presence caused, she hissed into my ear : "'You June broken my heart, and my demon guide has, in reprisal, wrecked your hie. Behold your wife and child, and those who Ncntuied to protect them, ate drowned in the depths ol the ri\or. To bee this I followed you here. 1 came over with you m the steeiage of the same ship. I came down with you on the top ot the simc coach, I followed you on foot from Wildcville to the feiry. Oh, no ! you never knew or suspected my presence. Your mind and sense- were too much absorbed in the contemplation of your lily-fair wife and her child. But now lam avenge J. The whey-t-iced gii 1 and her brat are food for (ishes !" "There I maddened. " ' IV rs my ka'L'iikji's ctiKSK !' I shrieked, as 1 threw oil' the woman's, hold 'vitli so much \ ioleneo that .she fell into the river with u heavy plunge. •' l/tterly indifferent to her fate, maddened, irenzied, I fled up the mountain .side and plunged into the depths of tho forest. " L was lost to myself for many days. 1 must have wandered far and wide, for when I came to my senses I found mysolf in tho pauper ward of tho insane asylum at iStaunton, Avithoub the slightest idea of how 1 came there. " Later ] learned that I had been picked up in tho streets as a wandering and friendless lunatic, and sent to tho asylum by the overseers of the poor, or some such town authorities. " Those who had sent mo thither did not know my name, bub on mv recovery 1 gave it as Adam Lackland. " £n due time 1 was discharged trom the | lunatic asylum as cured.

" T did nob go back to Wilde county. J could nob do it, oven to make niyheli known, and to claim my inheritance-. What, indeed, was my inhuiilancc to me when my wife and child were gone? J had onteied tho neighbourhood in defianeeoi my father's ouise, and in consequence that <jur-<e had 1 dlen upon me Hue a thunderbolt, blasting and destroying my lite. " You may call (ho loniblc calamity thai overlook mo <i mere coincidence, herald. ! look upon it as the iuKilment ol the curie. And f-ueeeodinu events copliuncd mo in this view. " 1 had gone into Wildo county after fourteen ycais oi alienee, (lining which 1 | had passed from youth to middle age, and ino one lecoguised me. J had gone under the name oi Adam .Lackland, and no one knew that Aithur Lloyd Fitzgerald, the heir of the Summit Manor, had been among them. That was tho reason why the belief in m> death continued uucontradictcd. " Attci leaving 1 Staunton again i. became n wandoier on the face of the (with. I ha\o been id every pait ot (ho habital>le and unhabitable globe. i ha\c been to the Aiclie Ciido v 'Lh a ucw of e\ploier> in *eaich ot (he "Noith l'ole. 1 ha\e been in the Kast. looking lor the souiee ol the Nil-'. I h,i\e hunted the lion in Anici and the bison in Ameuea. I h.ive b(cn on whaling \ovages, and on ' (ihlni-.tci tmg ' e\pedi tion^. " lOnough ' 1 wa.- a hunlei ot the pl.iinwhen 1 in -I* met t >ou, my kin-man <.u ( aunot know what, to the .-.ohtaiy, hoincli -- t \de, ua-> (hi sight ol a kmdied hue J knew tnat ;/our lathei satin my Ikm i (lit ny hcdl-, and tint i/ou vould succeed him Did 1 hate you upon that, ai count, '' Not .it all I lined you as m\ kinsman, and as the nobie4- Well, tlieie ! 1 w ill not .-ay lh.it ((.your lace 1 did not make myselt kno>\n to \ou, derald, huan^ of lh< < in -< . You may < <i'l it Mipei stit'ition, nionnmania. 1 hay c e.ui -c to know be! t ci . j '• \o, I did not nnke myself known to \ou, deiald ; but I leinained with you aloi)(_r a* \ou slaved .d (he loit, Aiul J accom , p.mii'd \dii w'lcn .V»u letuitud honu to be ni.ii l ltd — i hat i-, I accompanu'd yon as t.u a- Wa-hinglon 1 daird not go down into \\ licit- ( uunt yhi i misi <if flu < ill >t . i Now \ou know theitw on why I so pci'-i^tenlh <ie c Uii'd soul imitation to accompany jon lo t he Summit M.uioi '•We will not dwell on the due mistnitu.ic-. thai, (,nne upon me in Washington --]])> Killing, Tf >i tin hi ->t titiu in m_> hi..-, mro the tods ot that v ho )ilkd me and 10-t hei-i It, and caused me lo avenge hei In taking the life ot my mal. " oti stood \)\ me like a lnoiliei in tho-e dnv-, and all thiongh that, enminal tii.d, (lei. di!. r>ilt, 'ill. iu\ kin^'ii in ' \ou. too, (auieinlo: a->L'iieol (licnit-u Itj Mieeomup.' the .leeui-M d. Jt wa^ thiough >our dej \otion to me, de;.dd, that. \on lo^t >our ■>w ec hem t, \our betrothed, ol .so many v,iai-. ]low joii mibb ha\e hated me as the eau-e ' ' "I'ow wildly yon talk, Aithur. These -uOeimu- \ou -peak ot weie fiansienl, and le-ulted in thegieatest blessing that could have c<nne to me. I -hall thank hea\en roi Lliciii e\ety <lds <>> ni\ lite. I 10-t deial dine, indeed, but 1 iound (iei'tiude. 1 foiuid the anuel ot in) life. .She was w oi ; h t lie Millennu ill the - ten tiuu < | told," ~*<iu\ (!<iald J'n/goiald, c.unestly. ! ' lkw\en bio—* jmi toi thu-e wold-, dii.dd 1 And m.'ii my gnl bo all to \ov ili.it \im think Iri. She euuld not be moie, lepbeil the elder man, with einolcn. '■ Compose youi sell, deal tiieiul, and ;o on.' '' 1 lia\e no', much more to t'.ll \ou, <'.i)ld. Af\or my .icquit ( al, au, lift L boc.une a wandeiei, tv-ol\inn ne\er n.oie to ipproaeh m\ niti\e State : for e\ei) lime 1 i.inii'iicii'it the eui-etLll upon me with ah e^h disistei. J \\(Mit to Fjiiiope. and wam'cred iheie lor about two }eai-, all the w hile wit h a longing home sicknc onl) ap piecialed bj tho-e who, like me, /in// un i i tin n. "At length i ieeei\ed a Miminou- to come home I -,u\ in the papeio an ad\ i i ti-emenl loi Adam Lackland, pn--iuu him to communicate .it once with t he m\\ i i li-m i - a Wi!de\dle law\er -and to hasten to Wilde eoiintN with all convenient e\pedi (ion, w hue he should heai ot -omcthin 1 .: I" his achantige. " Xow , deiald. would not an\ pool e\d. , in niv Liicum^tanre-, havi eoiisideied I!i :l invitation a^ a lepeal of his >enteni', u bu'iishment — a lifting of the huh- ' 1 h.ukdit with )o\. I »;is in Southampton at the time, in^'eadof writing 1 re-olved io aihUiT the advei ti-ement m poison b\ the Hi — . t mail steamer. The -hip -lumld ta!^e iiu ovei, instead ot my lelLei. " Wt 11, 1 embarked on the ill-fated /an /ibar Theie, to n\y surjiri'-e, J ny t 1 S.dlti^t liow lev , w horn 1 had not- heaul ot Mine we p.u ted in Washington. J4e told me new •> of v on, and -4iange news olo l >oui wile and hoi ie>eue, and even while we ■-poke togcthei dcitiude came on deck. 1 u,i- ,sm ovei v. helmed by the sight of hei th.it I neail) tell to the door; toi it -CLnud io me that my long lost tail young wife pbvcl beioieme Luckily she did not appioaeh u-^, I nit w cut torw ai d " Bionthles^ly I iuquiied who die w >-, and learned that, she was the vei> Mi^ (ieiald Kit/gciald ot whom we had |i:-t been speaking lint 1 wished io know moi e ot her than that, and so 1 pushed enquiry until \oung K'owle} told me all her M.or> , and then 1 knew that this love!) joung being must be the veiy child whom i 'had long deemed dead, drowned in the Wilde, but who had leally tloated in the hide ciaille until bhe landed among the white water-hlhe.s at the foot ol hergiandtathei's gaulcn, and was ro.-cued by him. ' No language can de^ciibe the emotion with which 1 heard her story. Vet 1 did not betiay myself. I did not make mybelf known to Sa'llnst Uowlcy, or even to in*' beautiful new-found daughter. I resolved to detoi all that until I .should reach \\ r dde county, and find out what was wanted of Adam Lackland ; whether, perhaps, new s wa^ wanted of Arthur Lloyd Fitzgerald. •'Nor did I see much of my daughter during the \oyagc. She kept very much to herself, -is if she thought— poor dove !— that a young wife travelling in other company than her husband's .should deport hei «elf with unusual reserve and discretion. " 1 saw enough ot her, however, to notice i( was only at a distance, and in her form, features and motion that she was so much like her mothei . On nearer v iew [ saw thafc, whereas her mothor had azure eyes and .silvery-golden hair, Gertrude had brown eyes and brown hair. " All, well ono stormy night in March the Zanzibar was wrecked on an island of ice, and we had all to take to the life-boats. That night, or rather early next morning 1 , we parted without leavo-taking. Tho boat that I was on was picked up by tho JMikado, a merchantman, boun.i go Yokohama, and .so 1 made a compulsory voyage to Japan. " 'It h nnj father* cur*< !' 1 said, in my despair. ' Again my attempt to return to my native place calls down tho ourso in dire calamity upon my head.' My greatost desire was to he&_- Uie fato of my daughter who had been put upon another lifeboat which I thought must have been picked up by some ship bound to some much nearer port to our native land. " 1 took the first homeward-bound vessel, and returned. I arrived at New York about a week ago. What met mo there ? A paragraph in a nowspaper saying that Mr

Salluhb Rowley and Mrs (Morale! Fitzgerald, long supposed to have been lost in the nir-siug lifeboat of the Zanzibar, had aimed in wnlliinorc, in tlio UoeWy, Captain Wailes, trom >San luunciieo, and had departed for Virginia. "So intense was my desire to pee my daughter that 1 toohed once more to biave my 'fai-liu's fatal eui.se, and come down here, let the consequences be what they might. 1 set out the same day on my return to Wilde county. I armed at Wildeville on Tuesday ni g lit, where I found cverybo !y talking of tlio unexpected return of (iei.ild Fit/gerald'h wife. I did not want to heai pai tieularh L would hasten lo the Summit Manor and see my daughter, v\ en though the cm w should ,sti ike me dead at her feet ! •'1 eoukl not get a hack in the village; but beinu a good walker. I '■et out to walk the dM;>m'c7 I knew it would take me all night, but then I thought I f-lu;u!d see my child in the morning ! '■ [ w.dked w» 11 i luifc night. I reached the cuti .nice of the I^.iyle lioost I 'a- 1 - about ui]d'iight--n '-lieu!, awe uispii inu w ihietnc-i ! but 1 wa->;»s n»efl lo '-ueli plru c-> as the Wandtiiuu -'ew himself, and flid not mind it. '•One ehouin -.(anee, liow'\ei, (hstuibcd my neives not a little. '" / »• ntul lo In /<>//ni>,r/. '•Theie uih (he^"<md oi a -.urt st. j) f.illinu < ii i he df ad l<\u < - "It 'ie p.t-^, I he -,\\ i-Ji ( f some 'jriiment bin Mr u the bushes in nuurv places, and the lon p'm'ing of a hun icd lneath. " J called out s L -\cia! tmu-i " ' Who is there .'" "lint only utl( l sili iK ■ aii'-v. ried me, and -(ion the- fallniM -( ji-, (!i< i-hiu;> g«u - incut, and the jumhiu t m ' at h would be heaid again. " I tutneii aiound, and i aiding my thick walking stnck. I beat along the ]>,'th and up the hu-he<. "| ioiind onl\ ultci solitude -md stillne.-. until i le^unvd ni\ walk, wh'-n again (he ciutioti". lo.d-lcf)^ the '-u i-hmg gai - MiPl. and the panting hi oath lollnwed ni" ' •'In the n l l cm daiknes-> and si'cnce. of tin -olitai) nonnlinn p.i^ t !'(•-< ni) -tenons l^hantoni sounds pui -iil'l hh- ( !'o In ( 'nui,ii'i"i. J