LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7818, 10 May 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE.

SAVED BY THE SKIN OF HIS ' TEETH*

.:' t was engaged to be married lo i? ■•'■' Brian Crawford, and I was in the %•:'. seventh heaven of happiness. Sij^J.; '.Whatdid it matter to ine now that | ,; ■' t '.i. I was possessed of a fortune that j£>" wag more bane than blessing to mc, K ,', because I was everywhere pursued by 's■: ' relentless .and unscrupulous eneinios, who would hesitato at nothing, could afi,. ■;• they but achieve on© of. two ends, fv*; 1 either remove pie from their path, or ft t .'. persuade., me to resign to thcua my ?;•"'' inheritance. jfc ; ■„ . ■ that Brian Crawford had askgt'.'" «I* m« to be bis wife, I felt inclined |£ to snap my fingers at those enemies f ; of mine, the three Strangcs, Mat-l j* : „.'.'■ thMs, Jonathan, ami JHiriaui, nefi6- phews and niece of that curious old fe\ man, my gedfather, Theophilus jE- Strange, to whom I owed my forpr* r ". v 'tune. ' I;' It was not only because of any jsf _' happiness it brought me, that my gC engagement was such a jeyful event; &';.} 'Mr Begbie, my faithful and kindly Kf^»W; lawyer, welcomed the news for f*K quite another reason. !&■*",;. Once married,, the dangers I had 'it: . been constantly incurring at my enjff" enries' hands would cease, for, by tho W. ~ extraordinary conditions of my godIfe V fauher's will, ray money would go pS.\ -T to those very enemies if I -died unRy'. . ;.marriod. Only after marriage could Sf!- T-.make a will' of my own, and leave s;" the property as I chose. Hence the & ~ij|teleßram in which I.announced to Mr ||s«3Tßegme m f engagement to Brian p Crawford was evidently welcomed by ?:*r- him -with unfoigned delight, for Irep, - ceived an enthusiastic reply from him gr'. ending with the words : |;T- . " Hops to join you at Matallo iin-j^.-;:"'mediately." S-:' We had remained for a few days at fi'-t the tittle Italian place whero 1 had >j" been staying with my companion and jgji:' friend, Kitty Mills, and where Urian !§■ Crawford had joined us, just in ljjjj*:\ time _to come, to my aid after a its:' perilous and awful night spent in §!■", fleeing from brigands who had unffoubtedly been paid to waylay and i#' get rid of me by those detestable jjF- Strangcs. p Yet how could I tcel bitter against E■• them now, for had it not been for |g-.... their malicious schemes, Brian and 1 |p '■ could neper have met at all. It was gi:. thanks to them for first drugging jp' 1 me, and then shutting me up in a m■- ■, lunatic asylum, of which Brian was R*' . the medical officer, and he and I g| : . grew to know and love one another, jft so that evil .as they were, and dcepjfc ly as I feared them, I could trill gjs*' 'feel.that I owed them a debt of §£■.:.':' gratitude 1 £;'•-'./ Mr Begbie arrived as soon after i g;>_- y&* telegram as boat and tralu couid ft."':-.. Wing him, and. we were quite ainer- £.,. ry fittle party in the little hotel of c- tfee placet in spite of the fact that a |v few nights earlier I had been kid- & napped and almost put to .death by g brigands in the mountains. But hap~i->; .P'"* 88 *& Put all my late fears and to an immense distance ;' '■',. » wa y from me, and I could hardly ;< , think of them now, with Brian cong : . stantly beside me. Mr Begbie was fe : «pt so forgetful of my perils. §L r "¥? dear Miss Hamworthy,". he its. eai ** m a * ow oice - the very first lip «ve»sng of his arrival, and as he K : spoke he glanced nervously round thsj %$?:, r o° m V as though he feared) being ovfc- erheard, even though it was my own g, v priva(« sitting-room ; •■• I beg that gS you will keep your engagement an || absolute secret; do not let it be Ipt announced in the papers, and take Bay- :«*ery- precaution from its becoming gS.•■'.' known.'-' gp ; * ,;;' But why?" I asked; ■*' l feel ap lik« proclaiming it from tho houseWt''- to £2i" *"* my *s' es at ttat moment m?,* meeting Brian's smiling eyes, I bfushSC '•■.■«! deeply. Wf. "For Dr, Crawford's sake as well p- M lor your ewn. let me beseech you aK-V'-.to'twcautious." Uie lawyer whisperr Eg'l/'ed, earnestly. '" : "+ZF W Ws sake?" I exclaimed, ft^JS B fright aitd turning pale* <%gt: ;*-why for .his sake, Mrßegbio? pu."■ Surely It is only against me that |4>";- **""* horrihlo people plot and plan? they would not hurt him?" *',,-: "| , do not wish to alarm you uny outy," the lawyer answered "slowlv ; Wfcut I think if you consider the ; -matter you must see. Miss Hamwor- •..•■/■ itfiy, that it is to the interest of ;;. v these wretched Strangcs to prevent your marriage, they are not likely to oe over scrupulous as to the means they adopt for its prevention. It would be to their advantage to

liave Dr. Crawford out oi their .way." :s inpxning became clear to me;I realised in a flash that my danger was mow shared by ray 'lover ; that my enemies were his ; that it they knew of his existence (which God grant they did not) they might already be hatching their infamous plots against me. My dangers were Brian's also. The very thought turned" me sick.

" There is only one thing to b« done,," I said quickly, and on the spur of the moment, " we must get married at once, if—*-"

i Then I stopped short, blushing deeply as I realised that it was scarcely my place to urge an early wedding, and that, in making this proposal, 1 was rather acting the part of a queen, and relegating my lover to the position of a Prince Consort. | But across the little room Brian's eyes met mine, and I knew that le did not think me bold and horrid, for his glance said—oh ! well it said a great many things which I ncel not repeat here, but which made my heart beat like a sort of juvenib sledge-hammer, and the colour Qamed over my face in hot flushes ol n i.igled happiness ansJ shame. j •" Come out into the garden an! talk things over," he said, softly, 'rising as he spoke ; " we have a good deal to discuss, and—it is cooler outside." Wo went out together, | leaving Mr Vegbie and Kitty to console one another whilst we strolled •to and fro in the little garden bejhind the hotel. It was one of those henveuly southern nights, when the big blight Istarß seemed to stoop out »'f the sky till they were almost within reach of one's outstretched hands. .Their brightness was reflected in the dark blue of the sea, and its indigo 'depths looked a mirror ol the indigo heavens, so thickly was it set with starry lights. J The great brooding mountains ;stood as giant sentinels round the little town ; the air was sweet with .the fragrance of roses and wisteria ; in the olive gardens acroste the road the nightingales sang and sang until my heart ached for sheer joy. Brian 'drew me clostuly into his arms. •' Will you lot us go straight hemic and be married at once, my darling. There is nothing to wait for," he said ; " We know wc love each other, we do not need time to make each other's acquaintance. There is every need for haste. Will you come homo aid marry me at once ? We can do it more quietly and unobtrusively in Ithat way, than if we arrange for our ] wedding out of England, which must involve going to a place where there is a consulate and putting our names up in a prominent place for 'all the world to read. Wo stall be ! safer in England. Will you come, my , sweetheart ? "

Need 1 say what my answer was, when it is rcmembored, firstly, that I loved this man, as I never dreamt it was in nic »o love any man : and secondly, that I knew that on my marriage not only my own, hut his, safety depended ? Can anyone be surprised when r say that only one answer was possible, and this I gave to Brian then and thure ? I promised him that we wofild return to England immediately, and that we would be married as soon as the necessary arrangements could He made.

Having disposed of thnt vital question, we spent a little while longer in strolling up and down the fragrant little garden, rejoicing in th«. liveliness of the starry night, listening to the nightingale's song, and talking softly of ouv own great hai>pincss ; and when, before she turned hack towards the hotel, 15rian took mc again in his arms and kissed my lips, 1 felt that a seal had been set upon our love, and that I was his for ever and ever.

But just as we were moving slowlly up the garden to re-enter the house, a sound startled me, a faint rustling in the bushes that separated the garden from the road outiside.

" What mas that ? " I whispered, clutching at my lover's arm, and trembling violently ; "'what was that noise?" I think all my recent experiences had endowed me with a nervousness most foreign to me, for I hitherto flatterod myself that I was rather a strong-minded young woman than otherwise.

1.. " What noise, 'darling ? & Bri a n j laughed tenderly; '•'why, my dear, you are actually shaking ! I heard nothing but the wind in tha olives ; .there was no other noise. But come jn at once, sweetheart, you look quite upset." "I thought someone was in those bushes," I murmured, looting a?fright«dly over into the dark corner where the garden joined the road : '"I thought—there was someone there," I exclaimed, dropping my voice lower, and sheering nearer to Brian ■; -" don't you see—.' (To bo continued.)