Be Storyteller

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7834, 29 May 1905, Page 4

Be Storyteller

HJif" io lira 1)1,VTB. "Jniucs who Ix that looking over £«■■. ~g> e ' J lines lifted a gnarled Kmoiil mil liadel his eyes. , Si»,*M\li Ikncii ho praised, it lie J Spj i/ I In ud and he shambled out 8* the collage, and hobbled down »*■- puh I Li/ '.' No ! I don't believe that." id the out wife watching bin* with •sired eys. "Liz '«1 na coma back " vfeoiiwhili the old man had feachtbe gate ; comcidcntly with which i h-it. ii 1 sed that though very like •r the pirl who stood there was not z. Willi the dull ■ apathy which nies on a' sudden and sharp tlisaplintu cnt. he stood holding the gate en »r it *i taking The girl, who bore traces of recent iincrsion. came slowly up the ;path, wmz little pools dt water \ from r oi nc d g nine its as she iwalkA vague terror was still in her es, and on her pale frightened face. Thai, in the recent conflict, had ideally been lost, for she wore no vering ifti her head, and her brown ir hung dank and sopping about j™." rsh uilil is fX. At the door of the cottuge, which 33-! ened direct into a roomy, red-flag- ?| I Inch n she stopped. r* I mustn't come in, I am so .wet,' ic a*id. i'l travte* been nearly 2& rht old woman still standing' at R ie tiblo stannjr out uttered a cry. * or onlv tlien did she realise that it Sur is not Li 7, and though professedly gfe is to the return of Ijiz eil|»' ler *hui oi at »n\ time, shoj had evei thus siifl< red herself to believe gi nmcV statement Her inatcisenso K a hospitalitj came to her the) next K k wtant iowc\ei, and she hurried to a ' -ie doo ci > ing 'Na come in my ||p uir Iv-s but e shall. Never, mind w* he flag"; The\ id bo none the'worse t** ■" Jr a wetting Eh, but she be as wet . ithc uui itself " \ sr~* The gu 1 sat dowji on a' wooden seOgf* eneir the file And putting her 8s et 'hands over her face she sobbed K >r a time without offering any fur- ] !%$► her cxi 1 ination lhe two old pooffip ->le stood watching her. g>f " "\;s„ ueail.\ dnownjat.'"-shte; snid ( |fc^ x iiroscuth controlling her: sobsi. "1 Wrl nan in a toolor, \ou may notkuow f§; what that is. 'Hie motor ran away. '-It was "-tupul of me to venture out K', The two old people stood listening I; tluzcllv H wis evident they did not pn. know- what n motor was. gj '•];<• il a kind o' horse?" hazardp" ojf the ii <u gi "Or may be er boat ? " the woman in - " " ! . , gEi \ i i >—ncithti ' And the girl |g- snul I f inth '\cvir mind what it E. in. It li sat the bottom of the river pT r ' now. am' 1 might have been under it. faj'l 1mi!1 i.'vcr know how, 1 escaped." gj?,. V lit i snntnng followed, and the |£r woman, as ir suddenly remembering, s*id ha' got some clothes as ol |l nt tu ct for ebe about" the size f]» and shijo o oui Liz, who went f * I p in the room be all the kf* cloth s s the left behind. But first jjt""~ c2rin'» i <up ii this hot;broth, sharp pf —it ill k. cp 'e fra'taking cold."', * The old woman showed the. way up 3J5 with thi girl s wet clothes—no: easy Si* "task fi,r the fine linen undergarments Sj£ were s<i|iiiing and clung about' the Sik' wearer's round limbs tenaciously ISJ While so occupied she shook her head Bps- 'over thf style of cut, and the superKSj; - fine i|uiiii\ suing'diffidently, "The f[f things i<« I ha' got to lend 'c be dry v an tkan and that be all. You'll no f he tue proud to put 'em on '| " f' I'roii I ' T shall be grateful." and jt* the gul sat down and began vigorI ously dr. ing her limbs with the tow- £~ oi liandrd; to her, while the woman ? turm din back and opened various t.' in) the httlel chest behind 5 her ' Hut icy hi. ncatU mended ; there {,• ne\ir we a gill as kep' her things t- noattr a nicer than our iAz," t she ■-aid pr< ntlx turning with a (little pile ' f underclothing neatly folded in

an' round like yourn.: An' our Liz held her head i' the same upright [way us thee docs, lass. But como down Yin' share our meal along wi' us. Ye must want summat to eat." When the meal was over and the old man had gone out. the giri turned to the woman, putting her soft hand on the wrinkled one. "Tell me more'about her," sho whispered. "I —1 ha.ve influence, power—l might be able tojielp her and you." The wblnan shook her head. •• Xo. ye can do nothing," she said. "Nothing." " How do you know. Money is allpowerful, and I have money. Was ;ne _ r ." The girl paused, adding in a lower voice, " Was the man who tempted her one of her own class ? "■Xo—ft gentleman," said the wo-

man. ~ " Living in this neighbourhood 7 "So—fra Loudon. Stay, I ha' got a photo o' him somewhere." The woman was moving about the kitchen and looking into various boxes, and other reccatacles with her near-sight-ed eves. The girl sat with her hands folded round her knees, with her head bent deep in thought. "Hugh would help, if 1 could- sum up courage to speak to him of this, "Hugh would help me. He would search it all out from tho beginning, and find out where the great wrong has been and compel redress. Yes, Hugh is fair and just. He has, as they sayj such a forensic mind. Bear, deaf Hugh, how I love him. How I love him." The old woman came stumbling and feeling her way back a'gam across the flags, carrying in her hand a soiled photograph, underneath which the words "Yours sincerely, Hugh Claverhouse," were written. "That be the man," she said.: A great darkness came over the eyes of the girl who looked. Each line of that well-known hand went like a sword's thrust through her heart.

•' Oh, my God," she died. " Oh, my God ! " And she slipped down | from her seat on to the flags. The woman stretched out her hand and touched her, seeing the whole tragedy of it with a woman's quickness, i

"My dear," she said, "my dear." But there was no response, no movement, and with scared eyes, tho woman hurried away, as the living, in their first moments of terror, hurry away from the dead.