RIVEN ASUNDER. OR, BERYL GRAYSON'S ORDEAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8376, 9 March 1907, Page 2

RIVEN ASUNDER. OR, BERYL GRAYSON'S ORDEAL.

A ROMANCE OF THE SAM FRA.NCISCO i>I3ASTEft.

CHAPETR VIII. —Continued. "Wait here, driver." said Neil, and sprang to the ground. The woman retreated a little way among the trees, and Neil hastened , to join her. "Senor," said the woman, speak - ing rapidly, and laying an eager hand , on Neil's arm, "I am Tonita Mor- , ales, Beryl's friend. Perhaps she has told you of me?" _ , "Yes, yes," returned Neil, his , agony throbbing'in the very tones of his voice. "Beryl spoke of you , when I saw her his morning. _ What 5 dojyou know? Oh, tell me quickly ?" j "I called to see Beryl," said Tonita; "it was almost noon, at the t time, and Mr Jackmamtold me Beryl ] hadjjgone." 1 "At noon, you say?" repeated . Neil; "and Jackman told you, at that time, that Beryl had gone?" ( "Yes, senor." 1 "Why, he just told me that Beryl , had not left until the middle of the j afternoon." c "Ah," said the girl, with a shrug, •] "his stories do not hang together. There is a mystery here —I have felt ] so, all the time. But listen to me, , senor, for I am not done. After hearing what Senor Jackman had to , say, I started back toward home, grieving in my heart that my dear , friend should go away without one word to her Tonita, who loves her so dearly. I thought that perhaps she had left letter for me in her room, j and I went back. I could not see Senor Jackman, not any one else, I went into the house and up the stairs. Senor, the door of Beryl's room was locked! Why should it be locked if she were not there." Neil's brain was fairly whirling. Indeed, as Tonita had said, there was a mystery; but would he be warranted in delaying his pursuit of Berdyne to return to the ranch-house and make an investigation. A quick decision was required, and everything might depend on the correctness of it. '"I will go back," muttered Neil, "Heaven grant that I may find my and that the course I am taking is the right one." "Stay one moment, senor," breathed Tonita, excitedly. "Are you armed. You may be among foes." "I have my two hands," answered Neil, "and they will suffice." "I would leave the carriage, senor," the Mexicana counselled. "Make your return* a surprise, and perhaps you may discover something." i The advice seemed good, and Neil ordered his driver to remain where he was. The driver was a stranger; if Neil had known him to be trustworthy he would have taken him i along. As it was, the man, very much astonished at all these proceedings, drove out of the road among the trees, and "settled himself to wait until he should receive further orders. Tonita accompanied Neil, almost running to keep abreast of him. Just as they were approaching the house, , the sound of an automobile was wafted to their ears from down the road. The car was approaching rapidly, and they were compelled to draw aside into the shadow of the trees to let it pass. There was but one passenger in the car; they caught a glimpse of him as he flew by—a dim, almost indistinguishable figure in front, bending over the steering gear. Above the noise of the car they heard other sounds that aroused their apprehension. These consisted of a wild clatter of hoofs and grinding of wheels, and a loud, desperate voice shouting, "Whoa! whoa!" These latter sounds receded out of hearing. "The team has been frightened by the automobile, senor!" exclaimed the.girl. "I fear there has been a Tnnaway." But Neil's attention, at that moment, was riveted upon the car. "See!" he whispered, hoarsely, "the automobile has come to a stop In front of the ranch-house. Yes," he added, his voice tense with excitement, "and the man is getting out; the front door of the house opens, and some one emerges carrying Ah, Heaven!" he finished, with a gasp, "it is Beryl, Beryl!" This was indeed true. Evidently the coming of the automobile was ex- j pected, for no sooner had the man 1 got down from the car than another man emerged from the house with Beryl in his arms. '.'That you, Trenwyck?" called the man by the car. "Yes," answered the other. "Everything all right" "Here is the girl, Nick, and what more do you want." "Make haste, then, for we have not a moment to lose I" Neil Preston waited for no more. Without a sound, but with fierce determination expressed in his every movement, he dashed forward through the gloom, Tonita hastening after him. Berdyne and Trenwyck, busily engaged with the work that engaged them, were heedless of that grimly vengeful figure gliding to Beryl's rescue. Trenwyck, with Berdyne's aid, lifted the unconscious girl into the tonneau. At that instant, Neil dashed around to the front of the machine. Then, and not till then, were the two scoundrels conscious of his presence. A startled oath burst from Berdyne's lips. Trenwyck leaped back with a cry of dismay. £ "Careful, senor!" shouted Tonita, who had" just reached the scene; "the man has a weapon!" The moonlightglimmered on a bit of steel in -Berdyne's hand. "Monster!" cried Neil, as one of hiß hands leaped out through the gloom; "once more I have saved my loved from your treacherous designs!

• By JeiSia Edwards, Mthor of "The Little U idow," "Sadia, the Rosebud," '■Prettiest of All." "Stella Stcrliiit!," "Laura Drayton," etc.

Another attempt, and your base life will pay the forfeit!" Berdyne, struck down by a terrible blow, lay disarmed in the dust of the road, unable to speak, or to move. Trenwyck had retreated out )f harm's'.way, shouting loudly for Jackman. Doors in the house began to open ind close, forms emerged and there ,vere sounds of running feet. "Into the car with you, Tonita!" ;ried Neil. "We must use the autonobile if we would escape." While Tonita, obeying instantly, :limbea through the open door in the ;ide of the vehicle, Neil leaped to ;he driver's seat. In a breath he had ;urned on the power, and set the ;hrobbing mechanism in motion. ?rom his heart he thanked Heaven ;hat he had an automobile in Denver, md knew the management of one. Away they glided into the patches >f moonlight that drifted through the ;rees at the roadside, the flecked the vay before them. From the ranchlouse came shouts and cries, which lied to silence as the distance engthened. Never before had a lover rescued lis loved one so bravely; never before were miscreants so neatly foiled. To the northward lay the beautiful ;ity of the Golden Gate. There lay Neil Preston's goal, and he would not stay or tarry until he reached it, and had made his peerless sweetheart his wife. Yet, high over the beautiful valley as they raced along, towered the sinister height of Mount Hamilton, overshadowing them, and still portentous of the evil days that were almost at hand. For that was the night of the seventeenth of April; another morn, and al« Santa Claus Valley, with the devoted city to the north of it, were to be rent and shaken by nature's mighty forces. And toward that city, as to a haven of refuge, the lovers were fleeing! CHAPTER IX. "IN THE MORNING YOU SHALL BE MY BRIDE!" "On through the beauteoas night, By moon and by glimmering star, With Love, ever watchful and bright, At the wheel of the dashing car; • On through the fairylike maze, With passionate hearts afire, They flashed, between hovering days, To the goal of their hearts' desire!" "Where am I? Oh, what has happened to me? Neil, my darling, are we lost to each other again?" They were Beryl's first words. For almost an hour she had lain in Tonita's arms, bereft of consciousyet breathing as sweetly and peacefully as a child. Neil,. distraught with anxiety on his sweetheart's account, could not leave the mechanism of the car, which, under his skilful touch, was skimming along the tree-bordered road; the most he could do was to turn an occasional glance behind and ask Tonita, in throbbing tones, how his dear one fared. Tonita has reassured him again and again, but not until those bewildered words reached his ears did a measure of peace fall to Neil Preston's soul. ' "No, my precious one!" he cried joyfully, "we are nevermore to be lost to each other, for at the end of this brief journey stands the altar before which we shall be united. Do you feel well, dearest?" He yearned to take her in his arms, but the demands of the momerit held him to his task. "I can hardly believe that you are with me, darling," breathed Beryl; "and in this —-can this be Tonita?" "Yes, dear," returned the Mexicana. "It is really your Tonita. Your lover has rescued you from your enemies. Ah, 'twas nobly done! Arc you feeling at all ill, Beryl?" "No, only a little dizzy." She straightened up in her cushioned seat, Tonita supporting I her with an arm about her waist. "What happened, sweetheart?" asked Neil tenderly.. Not once did he stay the automobile, but held it to its swift pace. "Let me think, let me remember," murmured Beryl, pressing her hand to her forehead. "Such a change has transpired while I was unconscious that it is difficult for me to recall what happened. Ah, yes," she added, in a moment, "Now I remember.. I was packing my few belongings, and had gone to the sitting-room for some books and music and other things, when Mr Jackman came. He seemed distressed at the thought of my leaving, and wished to pledge my newfound happiness in a glass of wine. I drank a little of what he gave me, and in a few moments felt strangely dizzy and sleepy." (To be continued.)