The Storyteller.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7894, 9 August 1905, Page 4

The Storyteller.

The Mystery if Eric Alston. The abaiovs were <ta9 aaung the tckote wbw Alston itactad the w■»t#ir. bit in ft* west Uw sunset tjbtw, stil) IWigpftd. ki answer W bis OHjmrit*. the totter bxlicsteit a new mound in a Wwota corner. Winding Ifts way l ffiereto, Alstm stopped short in as(or, beside Itm stretch of nrigfctly stooDd a *mm* was knccl- % SB stea through tfc haw of tbr •teaming somothiug struck him as KuniNar <• the poise of the head, the outline of the flpire- As, rising to jo, sbc turned n his direction, Alston, viewing the naurncr from tehkid a iontistoiie, ielt a thrill of pleasure at thy discovery that it His place of sepulture, when he For the motaeat, forgetful of the fact that he was officially dead, he started forward with tkeiitention of addressing her, hat, at his unexpectai appdMuce, the fid, alter 'mt mffTßua gtaoce in Us direction, hur. sled oD attrtghted, aad Alston, ifrafed by a gudJten consciousness o! hie pvtHw, shrank behind a tionuBHV tfia place ef «e?alhm, whea he riew<4 rt, prattled all the rtwsUift a,«ewly->ma<e grave. But, as hi loeked, a spasm •! Roftesed f«4iflgS throbbed through bis heart, ami bfoaght a quiver to his Hps, for he uw that oi the freshly-turned earth jnrt ovoo where tire sleeper's heart might be, same one bad laid a cluster Of tear-bedewed violets. • • • •

Meantime matters bad been progressing favourably.

Trenton and O'Dmnell, stealing out after dark to visit Alvtoa, reported the advance of the booui. Wilier, of the World's Art Society, bad made an offer (or all Alston's prints' in thq Haymarket Galltry. That ofler, though a low one, the conspirators decided t« accept, knowing that, Witt sixty prints on band for which b» had paj d cash, Hillier might be trusted to advertise Hie artist forr all he was worth.

Trenton's pen had boen very busy, tinder Ms well-known nom de guerre of "Pallas," he had written a Rowing eulofjum on Alston—of whom he spota as a genius sacrificed upon the mltar of British Philistinism—in tha paper with the largest circulation in the world. And, fully alive to the fart that nothing help* a cause like urtagonfenu, he had published, "Madstrom,' ' a foolishly vituperatire criticism of Alston's work is a widely-read kneninp paper. ThtfßritiSh people, though if enjoys witnessing a llTing man badgered brT®« enduraacc. reroltK al the idea W deari, and "ftHas's" trenchant reply t e "MaelsUom" oall- » strit* «f applause. • . of success had set in at laftl. But Alston, shot np in his httft pteofture a bis Aranees; for ail the Baahood i» kim revolted against tfcis anforeed idleness, and he set brooding bitterly. O'DoimeU, coming in the next ■Wit, understood, aad fell in at, once with his longings. , "Look here," old drap."hß said, 'you eaa hide in your studio every hit as well as you can here. I'll send you a wire that will give 7 ou an Mcosß.for hwring here al once; then llt run down to your studio he ready to open the door .for you." Before the lapse of an hour, Alston, w the character of Weston, was siiow'ng bis landlady a "telegram calling hirci to the sickbed of his brother resident in Birmingham. It relieved him considerably to note that, vhm tha good lady, professed to read the message, she held it upside down - otherwise she might have had her doubts as to how a telegram, purporting to come from Birmingham.' could lave baa handed in at Kus tore p<*t office half an hour previously. Entering the cold corridor of the studios, bcialmost forgot the. fktt of hiti non-eiistebce in tlie sense 0 f pome that prevadnt the place. Passing Helen Kinahan's door, lie wondered if site still, trying to soppit-meat the scant earnings of Iwr wash by drawing impossible fashion

"bounds, man !" O'Donnell whispered, fiercely. "What do you mean by trarapmg i D here as if the place I*> i°v you - whvn are supPWed to be under the iurf ?" There is no incentive to action like enforced idleness. Throwing off -his, «*t-, Alston started to work at a^Uri n^ ,ock ,ound him sl i" •t it, when ODoonell suggested aation for tbe night vstop r Not I. I'm in a Mrr 01 gol on t-j.l rt P ,ie<l Alston. Then I had better warn that girl next door that I'll be moving about most of the night. I car? Spell your room," O'Donnell whispered as be put the j -whisky and the sandwiches on the tatje. These preparations for a hasty supper complete, 1.-e tapped at Miss' Kmalian s door.

She openrd it to him. pale ami trembling, ber eyes eloquent with

I tame to warn rou hu( to be irarmwl if you hear any noise in Ih* Studios at night;;. We are -..imr to have a On?-iron show on poor Alston s pictures soon> anf) Trenton SSlmi JtU J OOI " 11 * mvr Ws stuff; so h*V ""c '° working nißlit av | day—probably sleeping lict,.. ' I'm glad you told me, M> <)'- .EMU /°. r - ln ,ru '"- ' Was f'fli..-; VVT" Ml,s K,wl "» «rie«t to speak HgJitlr. "Just after du s k, j 1 w r ,i Mil Alston walk along tho passußMid ko iwto the stu.lio. Of ( our«r r £t Yf . llPl ' n irna " ina| i (| n. f)ut' I know bis st<rp so well tha«, iu-.t lot the momari I tb,m R ;,t it rrally iSISjriM COUrSC ' ,hat s impossible.

The tears tlrat had arisen at tlic mention of bcr Mend trembled rn _ »y«tesl»s as s)ie 'tumr.l qukklv iwzy.

You II need <n be eardul, Alston , , arfmoirislu-d O D(,r.nc:i Tiiat girl knew your footsteps totHgbt «s you came in, and thought you w«f your own jrhost i So we'll bate to b« wary, "it won't do to

have tire Psychical Society begin to investigate the case, \ou know." Knew bis footsteps':

Using down m tilt- touch at dawn, too wakeful to sleep, Alston (ouiri his Unwgkts tunning ngwn and again to the lonely Irish girl to whom the echo o' his footsteps had come to be a thing apart, in whose colourless life their cessation had caused a blank.

Ttio eternal feminine hail heW no part in Alston's existence. Woman's Influcmv on an artist's career he bail always asserted to be disastrous. Lying there, with the grav dawn stealing through the blinds, he iccalied Instances of himself.

No. He was distinctly not a woman's man, he had never felt tempted to share his struggles with any one. It struck him as edd that,, bow that his death rendered it Impossible ft* him to think tenderly of the sex, be should for the first 1 time feel attracted towards it. Ho wondered whether, had he owned a loyal woman comforter, his life wouhl have proved as barren of joy .as it bad done. Helen Kinahan, he recalled, had knelt beside his grave. Would a good wife's prayers have made his trials more easy of endurance ?

| '"Poor Helen ! Poor little lonely rirl !" be said, and as he fell to rslcep his last conscious desire was for an opportunity of thanking her for the bunch of violets.

j The desired opportunity came all unexpectantly. The close of a week's incessant work saw his series completed. A rumour of the existence of a set ef drawings of unparalleled originality having, through the astuteness of Trmton, reached tlte great Hellier's eats, that potentate bwl c(armed the first offer for their, reproduction, ami O'Donnell, bearing Uie first impression, had gone to interview him.

Anxiously awaiting the result, Alston, exhausted with labour, had fallen into a fitful doze, in whose troubled dreams the great picture dealer alternately treated his emissary with extravagaht effusion and with crushing contempt. Half roused by a knock at the door ami wholly (orgrMul of the restrictions of his position in his anxiety to hear O'Donnell's report, Alston 1 sprang up and opened the door to Helen Kinahan.

Hot it was a sadly changed Helen wl.o stood ttfore him, clutching the lintel for; support, unjler the shock of being confronted by one hearing a startling resemblance to and wearing the dilapidated blous.' ot her dead hero. Alston's screening glasses had bwn forgotten, ar.d to disguise lcfrom her, who held so vivid a memory of his features, was impossible without their aid. On his part, Alston's concern for her ec.'ipscd all else ; lie found it hard to credit that lite lapse of so few weeks could have wrought so great a difference in her aspect. Clad in the cheap Mack (rock that lit guessed was worn for his sake, Helen's figure looked slender to attenuation. Tbe bloom had paled on her cheeks, purple shadows surrounded the truthful eyes. Kor a moment the two stood transfixed, staring speechlessly at each other. Then, as the sound of a step in the corridor aroused Alston to the danger of detection, he drew the girl into the studio, and, shutting the door against the woild, made confession of Ihe situation. Overjoyed at finding him alive, all rise counted but littlo ;> but as the n:omenl« sped, the difficulties of the position loomed before her. "But what is to be tlie end ?'" Hele.i asked, at last. "If you had voluntarily ceased to exist, what will you do with the rest of your life?" "I don'l know," Alston answered, sjowly. "Jly last slate may lie worse t'nan my first, unless you are willing t" take the gift of a man without a name or evrn a home lo offer you, ;:nd we go out into Hi,- world and seek our fortunes together. "Wait; don't say W vet," he urged, as she Was about "to speak. "I hear O'Donnell coining, and he may bring good news."

I won t wait," was the answer