A Tardy Wooing.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIX, Issue 8114, 7 April 1906, Page 2

A Tardy Wooing.

CEIAPTER 111. A KASOALLY DEED. The flower-girl stood whero Cyrilla bad left her, the half-sovereign clutched in hex palm, till the young lady had passed out of sight, and her own eyes wore full of grateful tears. "How haudsome, and how good she is!" murmured Wynnie Moyle; "I should ilke to be a nog that I might follow her wherever she goos, and feast myself always on her beautiful face and splendid clothes! Shall i ever see her again? I'll be here to-morrow and every day, as long as there's a chance that she's still iu Dover." But thejoontents of her basket were still unsold, and for some hours the girl continued to roam the streets trying to get rid of thorn. A cold wind had sprung up, pedestrians walked briskly, instead of sauntering on the pier, or sitting on the boaoh to listen to the band; ind Wynnie had several bouquota still on her hands when, from very weariness, she relinquished her efforts to find buyers. 'So great was her dread of being called to acoounl for having such a large sum of money in her possession as half a sovereign, that she was tempted to give it away. She was not iguoraut of its value; she would have been as delighted as any other girl of her age to act upon Oyrilla's injunctions and spend it on herself; bat this was out of the question. She dared not return to Mrs Marny Iu new clothes, for which she could only account by telling the tale of Oyrilla's generosity—and who would believe her? Moreover Mrs Marby considered herself entitled to every penny that Wynnie could bring home, and avoukl flerooly resent suoh an evasion of her claims. And unw she pasaed rapidly through the principal streets of that busy old town lying between the tall cliffs or heights that rise on either side of the valley of tne Dour. Wynnie did not like tb be out in the evening, for then theNnarrow pavements were invaded byiollicking sailors, laughing and jeering each other as they went along; and soldiers from the barracks, marching three and four abreast, and ready to exchange smiles and repartees with mai'dens bolder' than Wynnie, who slunk by, only too thankful if able to avoid their notice. And yet i\ was with more than common reluctauce that she passed into a network of back streets, to find herself presently in a squalid quarter, where the inhabitants were crowded into arrow, dingy alleys; where the bouses were not only old, but out of repair, and their tenants of a class from which the more respectable poor were careful to hold themselves aloor. This had not been Wynnie'a home always. Her earlier years had been cared for by an old wo nan residing at Deal, who drew the stairheaded child out of the aca after a stormy night that had covered the coast with wreckage. Though poor and iuflrni, this old woman had taken good care of the little oreature, who oould say very few words exoept her name. No inquiries were ever made for her, and, when her protectress died, she was handed over to the first person who was in need of a drudge and proved willing to accept her. Halfway down one of these alleys there stood the dwelling of the brothers, Marby, who ostensibly carried on the trade of marinestore dealers. That they were actually the recipients of stolen goods as well as smuggled ones, the police were tolerably curtain, and more than once strenuous efforts had'been made to detect them in their malpractices; but they were cunning enough to elude the traps set for them, and their business, legitimate or not, seemed to flourish more thau ever. It was a wretched-looking place, crammed with rags, rusty iron and an indescribable jumble of articles of various descriptions. Seen by a stranger who chanced to And his way into the narrow inodorous alley, he would have concluded that its occupants were miserably needy; but those who knew better oould have told him that the upper story was smartly furnished; and Mrs Marby, the wife of the Jewish-looking elder brother, would stand at the door of her closed shop on Sundays, decked in euoh a profusion of jewellery that she was envied by her less fortunate neighbours. There were six or seven little Marbys; the elder ones played about the streets all day, and were as sauuy and precocious as London urchins, and as untidy, except once in a week, when they were inducted into smart suits and expected fco.behave themselves. All* day long the babies tumbled about under the feet of the great, rough, slatternly maid-of-all-work Becca; whom Mrs Marby only eudured because she was a relative, or, when night came,' were moro tcadmly cared for by Wynnie Moyle. \a soon as alio came in at eve, and a rigid account had been exacted of the day's revenue, a dirty, fretting infant whs thrust into her arms, and she was expected to climb with it to a garret room, a wretched little chamber lighted solely by a couple of panes of glass let into the gable. As Beccu, after being disturbed once or twice by a prying. child, refused t> share this garret with Wynnie, jit, was the one, place in the house she could caliber own. The only furniture it could boast cf was an iron bedstead, an old wash - stand aud a three-legged stool; but on shelf at one end, high enough, luckily,_ escape the meddlingflngers of tbq.elder Children, Wynnie kept her few treasures. What poor ones they were!, A few foreign shells flung to her by a yaohtsmau , who saw her eye them wistfully; some seaweed she had .collected on the beach, and amused

By Charles W. Hathaway. tltorof "Marjorie's Sweetheart\" "A Long Martyrdom," "xl Hash Vow? t "Joseph Dane's Diplomacy," etc., etc.

herself by arranging in and around a broken basket; two or three tattered books, valued for their engravings, which happened to be very flue ouea from eminent artists; and a small lid leas box that held the two or three articles of apparel bestowed on her by Mrs Marby when iu an unusually good humour. Wynnie always dreaded the sharp questioning to which she was suojeoted if she had uot succeeded in selling all her flowers, but never more than she did to-night; for events had occurred within the last tweuty.-four hours that had converted hec shrinking dread of the Marbys into„ absolute horror of them. But for her conviction that she should be followed, recaptured and punished for it, she would have deserted their roof at all risks. But she was spared the scolding for which she had prepared herself. Ibat Marby brothers were iu the shop talking earnestly to a strange man, and Mrs Marby was so ahsorbed in trying to hear ail they said, that she contented herself with giving Wynme an auery shake, and telling her to take the baby and be off to bed. She was iustautly obeyed. The child was sleepy and cross, but were its gentle nurse, the slight form bending under its weight, had reached the top of the otairs. its ill-humour had yielded to the spoil of her sweet voice, and the little head jay quietly on her sboulderr; Staggering beneath her burden, and also encumbered with the bread and milk wherewith she was to feed it, Wyiiuie groped her way—die was never allowed to have a light —toward the tiny garret she occupied. But now Becca, the rough, noisy, untidy servant girl, a lantern iu her hand, suddenly appeared from a larger garret room that ran across the front of the house, and was used by the brothers Marby as a store for suoh of their goods, as they did not care to expose for sale in the shop. Ostensibly the bales stacked up here were full of cigars, and parchment ! cuttings, and horsehair, but Mrs Marby knew where to And among them rolls of lace and tobacco, that had not paid duty, oigars of the finest brands, and occasionally plate and jewellery bought after dark when it could be done prudently and no questions asked. (To be Continued).