Literature.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 161, 12 July 1904, Page 4

Literature.

TVRSIXG THE TA JLES. (Continued.) "That will get the young man right enough !" he laugl -d. "It will take a fortnight, and On i i will be ready. In the meantime, i press my suit- and make other arrangements. I was at first inclined to spare him if she agreed to marry me. lint there may bo a chance of doing both things the' advantage being that she will lose faith in her idol and fall in love with me as a reaction !" Heaton presented himself on the following evening at the house of Robert Brookes, ami was welcomed in the usual manner by the old man and hiS daughter. There was no question of the warmth of the father's greeting, but the girl's demeanour wa.s ambiguous. Mr Brookes looked with a favourable eye on these visits ; Mr Heaton was an eligible man, and it would serve to drive from Lena's head any nonsense about young Harold Winslow, if she still harboured any feeling of that kind towards him. After five minutes of general conversation, Mr Brookes rose and looked about Jum. "I'll ask you to excuse me for a while, Mr Heaton," he remarked. "1 must see Jackson about the property, you know, and Lena can entertain you. "Where is that book of views, Lena? Show them to Mr Heaton.' Lena shot a quick glance at her la ther, who, however, had half turned from her, and so missed it. Lena felt that there was some concerted action here, so she tried ip fortify hersell for the ordeal that awaited her.

"Better to' have it over and ended!' she thought. "I fancied that he'e I not to so blind, but he is rushing to has own doom !" "I am sure that it will he verj interesting to hear your explanations of the photographs," Heaton was saying in his most dulcet tones, bin Lena did not hear. He had seen the book, which he understood to be new, as he had not noticed it previously, and he took it in his hands and seated himself in the chair beside hers. He opened tin book, but shut it so suddenly that it startled her. "I have not come here to look at counterfeit presentments, but at a living, palpitating reality !" he cried with a passionate gesture. It was a genuine expression of passion purposely exaggerated. "Miss Brookes, I have come here with the avowed intention of asking you to let me call you toy a less formal name ! Fortune haa favoured me in giving me a chance to be with you alone. Lena!" he let the book drop, and seized her unwilling hands in his. "Lena ! Was it not Fate that caused the accident from the awful results of which it was my good fortune to save you ? Can we not see in that the hand oi fate that was to bind us more closely together than could have been possible under any other circumstances? To me, it means the loving and tender care of the one whose life was preserved that it might be linked to my by the deepest of ties, those ol love and gratitude—ties which must have a natural significance to one who is the embodiment of all that is good !" If Lena Brookes had been less agitated by the torrent of words, which i she tried at the outset to stem, she might have detected some insinceritv in them. As it was she tried to take t-f,,^" 1 ?! ' rom his S ras P' ess » vi »g to utter the words that appeared unable to leave her trembling lips Her countenance was pale, her breast was Heaving with emotion and an-

•■t '^\ Heato n !"/ she gasped at last. i had not anticipate this i Oh 1 amjw sorry. it cannot be, for

"You do not know what you are »aymg Lena!" he expostulated g"your natural embarrassment, you are uttering words that have no founda•*"Tsn. i know, 1 feel th _r ' , a LTt , We f e Unked ',,y that fateful slip on the ice - u*k* toglt mydVa/J'n iSlUine ' andit ' my dutj, as well as my delight to '"wwthat J ' our "'° is C-owxlwd with happiness :" *" It wa S an arUul h sE" *? i Urned whit « to the lips She .owed Una man the greatest of aU debts, and from the point of view _. **? ode of honour, she must ac f- knowledge his claim. Yet how couW *8 herself to this man T C °S h d e dd not lovo him ; and, more than ' 3d n , had giVen her Word to «aT- <.. old ttmslow that she loved him and . would marry none other. "Mr Beaton,- she said, striving in vain to steady her voice, "I S "»«y you I I know that'i oW e"° ' SJ?** dobt ' but l ZmZ that you would wish to marry ™ against my will. You force me To 1 tnrconts,o\%X k atl om r nßl to'ii^r^ 1 you are to ° »obic tore he had time to r- am so sorry !" * a " 0 ™- 1 ( : - J2" s appeal sh owed Heatnn th.t i *,>~~ ■wtft act cautiously that hu k Bui FtIZtST are ™-< i nosa to saw you from L hapP '" fcr grieved to say it but v™' a,n rail thank me for it in ~' a . nd you ri!^ ; «f--x^

"It is false, falsa!" cried the girl vehemently, as she drew herself up to her full height, her small hands clenched, her eyes flashing: "You are libelling hdm ; you inm't withdraw those words t"

"Alas : Would that I could, Miss Brookes, for your sake," he answered with assumed sadness, "it is only too true !"

"Prove it !" she cried passionately but there was less lire in her eyes. There was something convincing in his positive manner ; it made her heart sink.

"Iwill !" he cried, seizing the opportunity."(jive mo a fortnight, and 1 will have ample proof.''

"1 will see Harold and ask him !" she said in a tone that was almost a wail. "It cannot be true : he is so good, ko noble. There must be some mistake !"

"Xo. you must not mention it to him!" protested Heaton. If she did that it might upset his scheme ! "That is not fair, you will be warning him, and he will contrive to elude the consequences of his wrong-doing. You must say nothing, and let us both abide by the result. 1 claim your promise !" Lena Brookes was too agitated to do aught save acqniese. Walter Heaton had carried his first point, and now did his -best to calm the trembling girl, and give her an appearance of ease before the return of her father.

Heaton continued the execution of his plan for ruining Harold Winslow with a calmness and indifference that were callous in the extreme. He weaved the net about the unsuspecting young man in a most skillul manner and the blow that should strike two innocent persons and make them suffer for misdeeds in which neither had a hand, was prepared with a surety of aim that appeared to exclude the possibility of failure.

Lena Brookes wa'i'ted in terrible anxiety, alternating between belief in her lover's integrity and doubts concerning his sterling honesty. She dared not meet him, lest she should break her promise, yet she cried herself to sleep night after night in her unsatisfied longing to meet him. Sometimes she would feel that sue must despise herself for her doubts ; at others she would be unable to resist the sentiment of doubt that prevaded her.

Fate seemed to be playing into the hands of Heaton, for Harold Winslow was engaged in a large firm which the former had selected as one oi his fields of operation. It had become necessary to find a scapegoat on whom to tack the frauds and so relieve his accomplice from suspicion, and Harold was selected.

"It is all going beautifully !" said Heaton, a week after the scene with Lena. Brookes. "In less than a week I shall have him in a tig-htl place i Hallo, what is that ?" A knock at the door made him rise lazily from his seat and open it -V man stood outside, and Heaton bade him enter. (To be continued.)