SHIPPING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 5 February 1907, Page 4

SHIPPING.

OV£RSEA VESSELS FOR WELLINGTON. STEAMERS. Tongariro (due about February loth), sailed from Plymouth December 31st, via Capetown and Hobart. Queen Arnelie due about February 28th), sailed from New York November 20th, via Australia and Auckland. Ayrshire (due about March 14th), Bulled from Liverpool January stli, via Australia and Auckland. John Hardie (due about March 18 th), sailed from New York December 27th. via Australia and Auckland. SAILEKS. Rio, barquentine (10 days out), sailed from Port Stephen December 30th. Apollo, barque (110 days out), sailed from Liverpool, via Dunedin, September 20th. Titania, 4-masted barquenfrne '(22 days out), Bailed from Liverpool Docember 17th.

veic 01■ ..'II 111 t lie jloisr of iiicln\ approve (if embrocation. "Jlaski'll's Oil" cnjuiontoil her on hour,lings ami imule her shiver. ,Sho iiail just to iiii, pout that Hi these matters lli rmione was a Vandal of the Vandals—ilia<. this handsome, pleasant young man, whom one met eveiyvvhere and whom Society received, oil and all, had become more to lier than any of Ihe titles or pedigrees that she (Lady l'ovey) had taken care that should surround her niece.

Wherefore, Keith, a* we have .said, alighted at the Utile coast .station with mixed feeling?..

it was a glorious afternoon—l tie sea lapped die shore with a gentle, sooth ing sound. Three or four crazy looking bathing machines suggested to his mind that was the very thing for which he had unconsciously longed all day. A swim would work olf hid superfluous energy, and the water would Tttfresh him and soothe Aijrn into astate of mind befitting his encounter with llermione's relative. lie would enter, the sea tired, dusty and ner-i vous—he would emerge blight, alert, and full of ideas for combating Lady Povey's every objection. With him, to evolve was to accomplish. In another minute he was around for the owner of the shabby to be seen, owing to the fact that custom was slack at such an hour in the small, sleepy hamlet. Keith, nothing daunted, took po* session of the machine, meaning to hunt up the proprietor later on.

*ln ten minutes more lie was plough ing his way with strong, clean, overartn .strokes through the oily Iblinj waste of wat«r towards the horizon. Not a soul va* in tight—not a soul save Ithe crouehed-.downj figure of a man in some light apparci who was rowing a small boat in a desultory way about a tnile out from shore. The man appeared to watch Keith s movements keenly as he passed, and Keith was idly conscious tuat he had swung his boat around and was head ing towards the shore, wnen the pure enjoyment of the physical exercise drove the idea of men and boats entirely out of his head.

jle turned at last reluctantly, and swam s'.owly back. The place was still deserted —even the man had disappeared; not a solitary individual watched him, as he ran, a dripping, muscular figure, back to his shelter. lie found a coup'e of clean tow:ls underneath ihe seat —the absent-mind ed owner had evidently overlooked them earlier in the day, and in a \--y} short time lie was dry, glowing, and haif dressed. Suddenly lie made the duml found ing discovery that though his undergarments, his watch, hi* bouts—everything else were available, his suit of clothe* and straw hat were missing. Further, to lus horror, lie perceived that hanging 011 a comer book where they had not before caught his eye. wcru a coat and pair of knickerbockers of a cut thaw seemed dimly familiar to him. He pulled them down with a milt tered exclamation. They were of coarse yellow cmvas, and marked here with a broad, dark arrow, which intimated that their former wearer had lately served in one of the free institutions of his Uajcsty's realm. It came upon him like a thunderclap that there was such a free insti tution only a few miles away, situ aced on a tongue of land visible through the door of the bathing machine. The solution of the why and wherefore of the exchanged garments struch Keith like a physical blow, and made him sit suddenly and heavily upon the small wooden seat, holding Jie hateful things in his hand. The man in the boat was an escaped convict — there was no doubt about it! lie had somehow managed to get away l>v sea, and was wailing for night to fall ere lie .should land, when Keith dis porting himself in the water, and tiie deserted coast had suggested a bolter idea. Keith opened the door and thrust his head out with a view to calling for assistance and explaining .matters. Only a nursemaid with a perambulator was visible wow on the distant pro inenade—he could not well hail her. He sat down again to think. To walk out in his present de-tiabille w;.out of the question. Boom! Boom! The umm>takable : awt-.=onu- sound of distant iiring! The convict's escape was discovered at tue prison—that coid. grim bui;din ,r on the tongue of the land. ° Keith caught sight of two men strolling towards liini on the sands. He would call to them and teil th:*m all about it—tell them all about what? It struck him with startling force that explanations under the. circum stances might prove dillkult Hi! looked at the maLev i„ ~W v light, but could not see hi., wav cleir. .ucamvliilv tlie moil passed on. " He decided at mst to wait until darkness fell_. and then creep up to Seaton House (fcuon House lvii>" the residence of Lady l'ovev and he? niece), and throw himself upon U>e mercy of llennione. Hermioue at lea-t would ivco"iiise nun. c Jtut Mippo,e sonieuiie jr IV edv of re !!'''' -caiclied the bathing mneliines ti'-t; He felt Cold once more a ; Hie thought. All hour another. jj,. l„.» :ni jf h- had ,pent most of his life in ;l damp Imtiiing waggon. A pair of lovers .sauntered üboiu near lum, whimpering fondlv—he dare not make so much as a eivak for fear of exciting their suspicion*. At last tivihfrhl faded taidilv into darkness, and he drew on the iucriminatmg garments wi;h trembling hands and crept out. 1 It was quite a short walk—or rather: run—from the shore to Beaton House, j Across the road and over two meadows ! he scudded, and iiicu tlie lamp, which stood on either >ide <>i the drive <v a lcs came into sight. Stealthily he approached. Un plan was to hide in the hughes till lie found a means of attracting Ilennione's attention. .She woud he expecting him. he knew; startled probablv bv lii t won appearance, she would' steal to tne gate and 100k out for him—their all would be simple. Fortune favored him. Xot a leaf stirred—n,jt a footstep .save his own sounded. Jie pushed tlie gate open, -carce'y daring to bivatne, and crouching well down in ihe shadows, waited. Ihe drive was a -short one, and he eouFd see the 7io'u>e fairly outlined: from where he wood. In one or two of the windows tnere were lights. Oc eMsioiially a alender shadow passed the drawn blind of the drawing room. It vra-t [ferinione. ve-ile>s with waiting. Keith's h.-art 1.-at fa.-t. !f she did 110' emerge miou he would have to think of some other mode of action. lie was getting tired and hungry. All at one<> h<- heard a 011 11:«.• graVfd ]»;Kh. and someone sauntered past him to the gate, humuiing a tune. lie knew the voice—he knew (li ■ form —or imagined did. ''llennione!'" he called softly, aiirl /he figure paused and 'turned. In another minute he was piv.— it to his breast. '"Child" ho whimpered, 4i if you i.adift come. I should have jrone mad. I think/' Then lie stopped lie win out of the >hadow's now. standing in a sort of crescent of light which came from the light* of tne gate. Hennione struggled from his em- ' brace and railed faintly but haughtily for police.'' oniv it wasn\ Uermiono | but Lady t'ovey! * I

lmK ga tiu> HjKse ■■Hh cuL die ic se blue serge instant sent a pattern of it t> Her mione for approval) had already clapped a heavy band over Lady Povey's mouth—what next he would have done is doubtful, lor iie had Wen dMnrk-d and was desperate; when at that m;> ment he caught sight of Keith and swore deeply and \olubiy. K was the work of an instant i-> free, her ladyship. "(io back t<i the imn.se a* i'a-t as you can!" Keith commanded; "1"! I'll explain later." v | And Lady l'ovey finding her-cli' free | instinctively obeyed. The ha tie belween Keith Masked and the desperate criminal in Kedh'> cloines fought in that rshrubbevy will live in the former's ni'Miiory f.#r ever. At its eljmax the village policeman and Lady Povey's builer arrived on the scene. Keith, though battered, was most unmistakably the victor. The convicf lay groaning at his feet. At the village police station a change of garments was once more cU'eeled. and the authorities of the convict pri son were communicated with. Halt an hour later Keith walked into the drawing room of Seaton House, liermione was restoring her aunt with smelling salts. "Oh! Keith!" sue. £ried —"'such nn awful Jiing has happened. Auntie, was set upon by a gang of escaped couvk-t.s —and one, softerdicai\ed than the rest, turned suit of King's cvi dence, and rescued her. and 1 Then Keith told his story. Ween he had quite finished, Lady I'ovey i'om: from her chair and tottered Inwards him. "Oh! Mr Maskoll." she said, and her tone had lost h> accustom'.d hauteur, ''and so J really owe my escape to youV Oh! when that terrible man's hand clapped my month and 1 thought 1 was sull'oeated—i " And here she broke down and ll»|> pedi—yes, despite her breeding, aetu ahy Hopped upon the sofa. "Why. you're bruised all over!" >he added, "and all for my sake. Your face is green and purple! liermione, ring for .Manners and ieil him to fetch a bottle of—or M "Embrocationsuggested her niece demurely, "very well, auntie!" Lady Povuy was not herself for a week, and in thai week sh«* eon-ente ! without a murmur to her niei.e's engagement to Kehli Ma~ke!i. 'Tor after all," as >die observed to an intimate Iriend. '"p'uek and ves niiee are more useful than pedigree; an I if tne young man hadn't behaved as he did, I might have been murdered in my own garden.'' And nix months later, though she had recovered a good deal of her dignity, and her favorne lorgnettes which had been. Miiasln-d in the garden struggle, had been replaced, sh ■ even consented with only a very >n:all sign to give her niece away.