CHAPTER LIX

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 298, 12 September 1888, Page 5

CHAPTER LIX

THE DECOY. The Earl of Strathspey left Ravenswold on the tenth of September to make a run down to London and return in time for his daughter's marriage, which was appointed to take place on ths twenty-third. He had various commissions to execute, business matters to arrange, and the marriage settlements to attend to. In addition, the earl wished to consult with his solicitor in regard to the expediency of disinheriting, or disowning rather, the young man who had so long been known as his son. The subject was a very painful one, but Lord Strathspey was not the man to shirk what he considered to be a duty, no matter how much pain it might cause him. Day by day, hour by hour, the conviction the*the boy was not his son. that he had been deceived and imposed upon, grew upon him ; and while he rejoiced to believe that so depraved and unpromising a young man was in truth no son of his, it was with a feeling of keen pain thai he thought of renouncing him. After all his hopes, after all he had borne and suffered, he should die without an heir, and the time-honoured name of Strathspey would die with him. Better thus, however, than to leave it in the hands of one who would purely bring disgrace and shame upon it. He was fixed in his determination, and started down to London to look into the matter and see what could be done. Immediately after the marriage of his daughter he purposed having the remains of his wife disinterred and removed to the grand burial place- at Strathspey Towers. That done, his life-work was endedf and nothing remained for him but death. He purposed leaving England, in all probability for ever, and ending his miserable existence in a foreign land. Thus the earl purposed doing, as he stood on the platform at the Perth" railway, waiting impatiently for the express train to London ; bub a trifling incident, or shall we say a providence— Heaven'sown providence, which works, even through the wrath of evil men, to accomplish and perfect its marvellous ends — caused him to change his mind. The earl received a letter ; a yellow envelope, directed in a scrawling hand, and delivered by a dark man, with a sabre cub over the right temple. He tore it open a trifle impatiently, and read its contents. It ran thus : 'If the Earl of Strathspey will come to the' old castle called ' The "Border Watch Tower,' he may learn something in regard to 7m oion son.' ' His ov:ii ion,' mused the peer, walking up and down. ' What can it mean. I wonder ? I've halt a mind to go and see. I know the old castle well. By Jove, I will go •' He turned on hi 3 heel while the express train went crashing out on ibs way to London ; and half-an-hour later he was aboard a passenger train, bound for the North country border. He got off at Hawick, under the shadow of the Cheviot Hill, and finding no better mode of travelling at hand, after making a hasty dinner he secured a seat in a mailcoach, which would convey him within a few miles of the ruins. With every mile he travelled, his impatience increased! His oxon bon .' He kept repeating the words over and over, with something like a -thrill of pleasure. He had been so deceived and baffled, and disappointed what if at last his very own son was to be restored to him ? The little Tyrol foundling, that his dead wife claimed as her own ! It might be so: Stranger things had happened. We have before stated that the earl was impulsive and impetuous by nature '; whatever he believed, became a faith to him. And now, thinking it over, "as he rattled along in his mail-coach, his imJpatience waxed hotter and hotter. If it might- only turnout as he hoped^ if he mightrfind and claim the boy his wife loved-, the child for whose sake she sacrificed her home -and happiness, and her life—^~ what-joy it would be to endow him with his name, his wealth, his honours, for thfe sake of her whom he had so deeply in!jured ! It was' the one only thing that could in any way afford him -comfort or ap"1 pease the cruel remorse fchafeSttftt^him likb an adder; and his great" detee that it might be so grew into a hopeful faith. His-ownisonf It must be the little foundling of the Tyrol that he"was~soon to hear of. The' mail-coach pub- himi down in the silver-dusk of a- September eve". 1 - A youngmoon* hung like a Silver cr6sc'erith over the blue Cheviot peaks, and.the-stars rr came out like jewels in the far-off, misty blue. 'The Border Watch Tower 5 was a few miles^dis'taot ; he could see the'round turret looming up grey and grim in the opaUight. Thore>wasitto conveyance at hand, and "the impatient earl, tooeagerto brook a moment's delay, determined to wailt Ih'e J 'diltknce. He did so, striking off in a direct line across the north country, and leaving the rolling downs and rugged peaks far behind. ; * The moon was going down in a bank of

thunderous storm clouds when he reached the great gate of the old castle, and an owl was hooting dismally from some hidden perch away up in the windy battlements. The earl paused, panting and weary from his long and rapid walk, and leaning: against the huge stono pillar, gazed around him. And at sight of the dreary , prospect— the black and sullen waters beneath the ruined moat ; the blighted heath, stretching far away in the dim light ; the gloomy hr-grove that Hanked the broad avenue, and the groat grey pile of ruin?, so • still and ghostly, and tomb-like in the uncertain moon-rays— at sight of all this, lor the lirst time a thrill of approhenson assailed him. What if he wore being lured into a trap ? Could it be so ? Asking himself the question, as if by ; some weird magic the face of his &on, of the ' boy who had borne his name and enjoyed i his benefits so long, seemed to rise before him— a face full of wicked, malignant triumph. ' For one brief moment the earl hesitated, half inclined to turn back. Then he raised his haughty head with a scornful smile. lie had never met a danger in all his life long that he dared not face, and should he turn back from this he, who held his life so lightly? A rusty horn hung suspended from the huge gate, which was securely locked. The earl took it down, and blew a long, loud blast, such a blast as was wont in days gone by to rouse the border warriors from their revels. The hoarse braying of a blood houud within tesponded to his summons, and all again was silent for the soace ot ten minutes, when a footstep echoed on the damp flag-stones, and directly after the rusty blots and bar*> began to r ittlo. The gate was cautiously openei, and the same man who had delivered the letter looked out. 'Ah '' lie ejaculated, ' the earl at last. Will your lordship bo pleased to enter?' ' Who desires? my presence here ':' demanded the earl. I ' The master,' replied the man, glibly ; ' he has tidings for your lordship, if you will have the goodness to walk in and hear. ' The earl strode in without another question. The gate was closed and locked after him. and then his guide led the way to the castlo entrance. The earl followed up the mouldy "teps and through the arched doorway. " In the great hall, the old woman known as Mother (rwynneth stood with a light, and at a signal from the man she at once led the way into a spacious - drawing-room. A grand, gloomy apartment, filled with must and decny, and floored with coloured tiles, like the roomd above. From a velvet chair in a remote corner, a man's figure arose. Gywnneth put down the light and retreated, and the Earl of Strathspey stood face to face with his son, the young Lord Angus. For the space of a minute, the two men faced each other in dead silence ; then the earl spoke, his voice quivering with rage : ' Did you send that letter ?' he demanded ; ' did you dare to decoy me into thi& den ?' The young man's, face wore a &mile of diabolical tuumph. ' 1 d.id, begging your lordship's pardon,' he replied ; ' I invited you to come if you wished to hear something of your own son : and he is very much at your honor's service, the only -o» (lit only litir the Earl of Strathspey will ever own." For an instant the e-irl stood breathless — utterly dumfounded at the young man's arrogant impudence Then his hot hasty temper flamed up. 'You young villain!' he cried, rushing towards Lord Angus, ' I'll teach you how to make a fool of me.' H3 made an attempt to grasp the \oung man's collar, but Lord Angus eluded him, and, retreating step by step, drew the earl on to the farther corner of the spacious room.' There was a wide tile just beneath their feet. The young lord pressed upon one corner of this with the toe ot his boot, and it slid slowly downward, carrying the earl with it, down into an abyss ot utter darkne&s. < Lord Angus peered down into the awful chasm, his face full of wicked exultation. ' Who will be Earl ot Strathspey now, my lord T he called, mockingly. Then the heavy tile slowly rose, and slid back to its place with a sharp snap. 'A snug, trap that,' mused the young peer, with his hands in his pockets ; ' and my Lady Cecilia Drummond's a clever woman — a deuced clever woman, and a handsome one. If I don't succeed in breaking in mv wild filly, I've half a mind to make love to her, now that the earldom's mine.' ( To be Continued. )