THE STORYTELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 2 November 1907, Page 4

THE STORYTELLER.

LESTER'S LOST ILLUSION. 0 Little Mrs Kemp treated Lester Bentl* jrith effusiveness. In that mood she always meant misrtief, bo the young man was on his guard. Little -Mrs Kemp (in the days ' when she was little Miss Laney) hil been good-natured, plump and pretty; then Marcus Kemp had come along. He .was a wealthy man—she was a poor parion's daughter, and report spoke, not without reason, wben it said the ma>Tiage had turned her head. She lemained, it is true, plump and pretty still, but her good nature became so tinged with worldliness as to be wellnigh unrecognisable. The aim and object of her frivolous life was that her younger sister, Adena, of whom, despite the difference in their dispositions, liltwas, in her way, inordinately foti-1, should make as "good" a match as she herself had made.

Now, Lester Bently—a young subaltern in a cavalry regiment, and the son of the squire in the Laney's village - Bad worshipped Adena from time immemorial. But Adena's sister hi<l lat-ly decided that Adena must look higher. And this being so, she set her wits lo work.

Bentlv's regiment chanced to be stationed near the domicile of Kemp, and for old acquaintance sake lie was in the habi: of calling occasionally. On iliii special day he had been bidden by Mr? Kemp to lunch, and asked to conic ettly, and this unusual geniality, coupled with the warmth of tne welcome he bad received when he arrived, puzzled frhn not a little. He had rejoiced wit 1 ! • lurprijed joy at the invitation, for ke knew that Adena was staying with fier lister, though so far Adena had not appeared. Mr Kemp was away, ani Letter experienced a cold sense of dis oppointment when he found himself settled into a comfortable solitude a deux jrith his hostess. Truth to tell, he had made up his mind to do to-day what he had heroically s«t Jtia face against doing in the days when pronation seem far off —namely, to ask £dana Laney to be his wife. He was a tall, well-knit young man, With a pair of rather wistful blue eyes. Dogs and children adored him. Little Mw Kemp's small and much-dressed son, JEtetro, worshipped the ground he trod 09.

As it happened, a great measure of Mrs Kemp's effusiveness was owing to the fact that she had some disagreeable business to get over, and she felt a trifle nervous.

, Conversation jogged on, becoming a little spasmodic. Mrs Kemp praised the regiment, congratulated Lester on his chance of advancement, and then a pause occurred. "I declare, Lester," she began with a tittle affected giggle which sorely tried iter listener's nerves. "I am forgetting OKI crest piece of news —and to such an Old Friend as you—it is too bad of me:"

"News!" said Lester, bat the light jlied out of his eyes. It was evil news >—fee knew by her tone. "Yes, Aden* has made up her mind last"

"Made op her mind!" Lester felt sutlaaoly very dull, and as if he must eolio instead of repeating them. Mrs Kemp looked at the ormolu clock oa the mantelpiece, at a Sheraton tabV. Which stood st her elbow—at anything lather than her guest. "She was a difficult girl to please," ■he went on, with a flurried little laugo, "bat I think and trust that Sir WilJpoghby Carr will make her an id.nl hatband."

•Sir Willoughby Carr!" Lester repeated the name as if the effort cost Ub physical pain. Sir Willoughby Canr was a brand new baronet—so created fcaomse of the mililon sterling wifh which a shrewd business capacity ha 1 endowed him. He was a kind, humdram, middle-aged man, with apparently no soul above bis factories. The thought of Adena, his gracious, beantiiul Adena, with her cultivated mind and ItiUitive feelings tied to a common-senre and factories went through him like a knife. he had hoped and fancied that sh>> cared for him! With an effort that only those w'lo tare made eimiliar efforts can appreciate, he pulled hjmself together. He mat show a fighting front now, whatever might happen later. He looked gravely at Mrs Kemp, who had taken an article from th aforesaid table, and pas playing with it "1 hope shell be happy," b* said. ' **Oh!.l think so," Mrs Kemp broke in hurriedly. "I think there's no doubt about that He's very quiet, and slip's ao gay and clever. It's the attraction of opposites. She'll make an excellent chatelaine for that delightful place of his. It was only settled yesterday. Be lunches with us to-day. Adena lias driven over to meet him. I did not tell her yon were coming. I wanted to impose her." "Well, you've surprised me," he said with a gallant attempt at a srnilf, ••and " But at that moment Petro ran in, aad engulfed his friend in a •dies of ecstatic embraces.

Ifanunie, may Lester come out nni an the new fountain V' he begged. 'lt WUts «r«r so long to lunch—do !et Unto

And the young man, glad of the re •pits wu dragged away.

"Lester," cried Petro tea minutes late-, pulling at Us friend's hand, "you'se noc attending me." "Aleut I. old ehap!' The young officer looked apologetic. "Im afraid l&a a bit off sopg to-day." "Wfaaft off aoog!" "Aagry, irritable, miserable—fvcryttigg airii" 'A mdden struck Petro. "Have yon lost anything?'' he asked •Olenaly.

"Lost anything, why!" "'Cause Xaaa% angTy and irritable «M she loaet dags. She lost a silver liable dii morxuag, and she walked with her head down jttßt like you. Have you lost anyfing, Lester?" "Yea." Lester looked down at hi in iflk> miserable little smile. "That's it, old chap. I'ye lost something." "Ohf What?"

"Notbing you understand, Petro—j'i-t BB illusion." "What's a 'lluaion!"

Lester swung the small hand that thing, to his big brown one miserably to and fro. "An illusion ia—oh! it's something wry bright and shining—and lovely—jffbea you've got it. Illusions are made to be lost, so we must make the beat Of it." "But they can be found again," iuiJ fW child eagerly. "Vnnti saids I'm a at finding things. I found MumBUe's purse one day, and coqk's sp;:iarlti rttir —p'r'aps I can find your 'lluaton." "I am afraid not, Petro."

The sight of thebiuntain at this poiat broke the thread of the discourse. I'etro dragged his friend at a jog trot across the stretch of lawn to where a gorgeous marble erection be-nymphed and be-riol-phined, proclaimed itself the dernier eri ID Kemp expenditure. Lester admired it a* in duty bound, and lifted Petro up to dabble his fingers in the wide basin la the midst of their inspection the lunch gong resounded from the house. A sharp spasm of pain eontraceted lister's face. The realisation of exactly what that lunch would mean fcim oppressed him almost to distraction. Bad he not been a soldier he would have jiiTflwl and fled* As it was, he squared hi« shoulders and clenched his hands, get his face towards the houo2. "Doi't look sorry, Lester, 111 find your UnaiOB —honor bright 1 will.*' said Fetro's voice at his side.

Lester caoght the child up and kisse-l him, and left a tear—one of the veiv 'few he had ever shed —on the ehuV>y cheek. Then he walked quickly towards his lite.

Lester Benlly had lived for twenUetght years in the world, and had p.itaken of many lunches. Some h<4 amused him—some had frankly bored him. It was left to this special lunch to provide him with ft set of entirely sew sensations. Was it really, he asked himself sever jl times during its progress—or was it some ghastly nightmare, from which tv should present awake to the unmistakable reiief of bed? Adena had received hii congratulation*: with composure. She sat opposite to him at the table. She w«j gayer than usual —feverishly gay even. She talked At random without waiting for answers! to any of the questions she asked. Sli? I WW not at her ease, Lester decided. Th's ■was not surprising; most girls, under the circumstances, would have tVH i'.> situation to he somewhat of a str.i;". But was she really happy? He eonll endure a great deal if he felt certain of that—but he did not feel certain of St

Re had not known her.sinee the dayof white sos'ks and labored proDDm'slioi l Jfer nothing. . ,

Sir Willoughby Can- was obviously very proud of her, but he was a quiet man—a rnau whose face it was difficult to read.

There was an oppression in the air" that was almost physical; once or twioe Lester could have cried out aloud. Convention forbidding this, be made a pretext of eating—an entirely shallow one which deceived nobody. Alter the meal was over Sir Wfllougby discovered that he wanted to stroll to the post office to «end off an important telegram. Adena offered dutifully (Lester felt with a strange thrill that

was not quite all pain that it was dutifully) to accompany him. They set out, and little Mrs Kemp suggested that Lester would enjoy his smoke on the i terrace. He took the hint, and stepped out of the French window on to the flowercrammed, rathei vulgar stone stretch that fronted the house. Up and down he paced, thinking hard. A cigarette in his hand remained unlighted. He would make his adieux before Adena returned, he decided. To wisli her good-bye now would have a kind of horrible finality about it. Adena had gone out of his life. His footsteps o:i the terrace flags seemed to echo the wolds. The church clock, striking in tec distance, took up the refrain. Suddenly his reverie was cut sharply in twain by a shout. 'Lester—Lester!" screamed the shrill voice of I'etro from afar. "Oil! Lester, I've found it!"

From the lawn lieneath, up the stone steps, he scrambled, an overdressed, pathetic figure in silk and ringlets, with a face which glowed with eagerness. Lester turned sharply. "Found what, ol:l chap?" he asked, raising an absent smile. His conversation with the child earlier in the day had completely slipped his memory. '•Why, your 'llusion, o' course." Petro sounded rather offended. "I found it a minute ago by the fountain, an' I ran to Nana for paper to wrap it in, 'cause I fought you'd gone, and I'd have to send it to the barracks. But Nana was crass, so I went to auntie 'Dena's dressing room and took some paper from her dressing-table drawer, and then I saw you from the window on the terrace, and I runned."

Lester looked so entirely mystified 1 that Petro, \vith his hand still tightly clasped, became plaintive. "You did lose a 'llusion, didn't you?" he asked; "somefink bright and shining/' "Why, yes!" said Lester, beginning to understand. Slowly and with a dawning smile Petro unclosed a chubby fist; inside the fist was a folded letter. He put this into the young man's hand. "It's inside dere!" he explained witii triumph—"open it!" Lester dropped into a seat, and dazedly did as he was bidden, whilst the child danced excitedly at his side. He unfolded the letter carefully, and then he gave a short, sharp exclamation. Inside it was a ring—a half loop of bi<», magnificent diamonds, which caught th; sun's rays and glowed like fire.

"Isn't it a beautiful Ilusion!" criel Petro.

At first no comprehension dawned upon the young soldier. He held the ring in one hand and looked helplessly at the letter as if for an explanation. All at once, as if directed by a force outside himself, his eyes caught the following sentence: "You can have no pride, Adena, if you still go on hoping against hope that Lester Bently will one day ask you to be his wife. It is common talk in Conminster that the announcement of his engagement tr. his colonel's daughter (Miss Bolitho'i is only a matter of weeks. You have worn your heart on your sleeve so long that it is time you disguised your feelings. Pity is the last thing you desire, but pity you will get unless you take a drastic step, and that soon." The sun still drew a myriad spark; from the diamond ring in Lester's left hand—Petro still hopped delight at his side. The terrace—the ground—even the swish of the fountain in the distance were all as they had been. Yet to Lester Bently it was a new world. Hidden things had been suddenly made plain. Then, after all, Adena had cared!

The hand-writing in the letter was the hand-writing of little Mrs Kemp. She had deliberately used a foolish bit <rf barrack tittle-tattle as a peg on which to hang mighty issues. Lester turned the letter over.

"I believe I've been a cad," he said aloud; "what induced me to read a letter that wasn't meant for me, I wonder!"

Tuming round, he gathered the child to him, and kissed him for the second time that day. ' Little chap," he sail, "I owe you more than you'll ever know. Now run away to Nana—there is something I mnst do, and later on we'll have a chat together, you and I." "But you're glad again, Lester dear—you've got your 'llusion, haven't you? I telled you I'd find it—and I did!" '"Under God," said the soldier gravely, "I believe fVe got something better —I believe I've got a certainty; but don't you bother your young head about that. You've given me all I want in this world, anyhow, I fancy; now go awya, them's a good boy!" The child ran off, and Lester got up just as a pink chiffon parasol and a rustling, silk gown swooped down upon him.

"Oh! Lester," Mrs Kemp began; but something in the young'man's face stopped her. Lester held the letter towards her.

"This came into my hand without my seeking, Mrs Kemp," he said gravely, "and I had no right to do so—but I read it. It wants more explanation than I fancy you are prepared to give. That explanation I intend to make—to Adena."

Little Mrs Kemp flushed to the roots of her carefully-crimped hair. She glanced at the letter, and the liand that held the pink parasol shook. Then she took that course which women of her type usually do take—she burst iuto tears.

"If Adena. was foolish enough to show you this," she said, "I have nothing more to say. I should have thought pride " ; "Adena did not show it me," he interrupted sternly. "Then it wasn't very honorable——" she began. | "l'crhaps you and I had better not discuss hour." he interrupted. And little Mrs Kemp, with an angry sob, gathered up her skirts and left him. When she had gone Lester stood for a moment undecided. The ring he had almost forgotten—it was still clasped in his left hand. He had recognised it at oncc. It was Adena's engagement ring. She must have dropped it as she passed the fountain on her way out. He unclosed his lingers and looked be-

wilderedlv at it. He must sec Adena at once—that was clear. He left the terrace and strode quickly in the direction of the lodge gates. As he came near the fountain hf saw Adena on her knees searching busily on the velvet grass which surrounded it. She looked up as his footsteps came nearer. "Oh! Lester," she said with a small, nervous laugh, "such an ill-omened thing kis happened. When I got to the postofliee I discovered that I'd lost my ring —the ring Sir Willoughby gave me, you know. He's outside searching the road —I ran back here."

■'l was coining to look for you," Lester said quietly. "Little Petro found your ring—here it is. He brought it to ine—wrapped up in a letter which he took irom a drawer in your room. Here's the letter, too, Adena. I read it—l'd no right to. It's the first really caddish thing I've ever done; but I saw niv own name—and somehow I had to

go on." He handed her both. She had risen, | and was looking at his with wild, frightened eyes. "How dare Pedro take letters from my room 5" she said faintly, as, glancing ■it it, ;he realised its importance. "A mere childish impulse—he wanted something to wrap his find in. I think myself that Providence guided him in his search."

"What do you mean?" she asked dully.

"I mean." he said, with his eyes 011 hi-" fa"e, "that I am now able to clear up a invstery. There is no colonel's daughter in the question—so far as I am concerned. When Mrs Kemp of »et j.nrjK)~e penned these words, she knew they »ere idle gossip. I was with the mail Mi" Ttolitho was to have married in South Africa when he fell. She looks upon me as a link with the past --lint is all. Yon were the woman 1 always loved, Adena, and always shall love." Todav I meant to have told you „o. f.>r promotion is nearer now. and I r..nld give—could have given—my wife a comfortable home, ( . ■ That is all." b" said abruptly. "I prt wanted you to know the truth. May he it would have beeu braver to have hidden "jt—but I'm not brave to-day, and I

Adena's face was very white. Her mouth was quivering. "'Thank you," she said softly. "I've been a fool; but, Lester, pride was al- • ways my strong point. 1 did so despise the love-lorn, die-away sort of woman." She held out both hands impulsively. "Before I put this back" — she indicated the ring—"l'd like to feel that you forgive nie. There is only one thing to be said in my favor, Lester—--1 told Sir Willoughby I could not love him. lie was content. He is very good to me, and he said love would come "

Then they both started, for from the bushes close by the sentence was continued in Sir Willoughby Carr's own voice, "but lie doesn't think now that it will," he said. He emerged on to the gross plot, and smiled a kind, whimsical smile. "Dishonor is in the air to day," he went on, "for Bently read letters not meant for his eye, and I overheard conversations not meant for my car. No, keep your ring, Adena, as a memento of a very happy time; put it on the other hand—yes, I wish it, child, I do, indeed." Then he went up to Lester Bently, ami held out his hand. "We've all been the victims of a foolish woman's meddlings," lie said; "but shall we be the less friends for that?" Tears—smarting tears—started to Adein's eyes.

She laid her hands upon the baronet's shoulders and kissed him impulsively. It was very near to being the kind of kiss he had hoped she might give him one day—very near, but not quite. There was a lump in lister's throat. ".Mrs Kemp may have meddled, sir," he said, "but there was method in her meddling, for, upon my soul, I believe she chose the better mail." "That remains to be proved," said tho baronet in his unemotional voice, "and, by Jove, I'll £0 now and tell her so." And he went.

Letter took Adena's hands in his, but as yet lie did not bend to touch her lips —that was to come later. "We must go to Petro, sweetheart," he said. "I promised xo talk to him—about—oh! about lost illusions for one thing."

"Wh.it Joes Petro know about lost illusions!" asked Adena, looking mystified. "More than you think," her lover made answer. "I've no doubt he'll tell you all about one that was lost and foundby himself, by the way—on this very afternoon." And later on Petro did—Chris Sewcll in Home p&pcr.