RIVEN ASUNDER. OR, BERYL GRAYSON'S ORDEAL,

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8387, 25 March 1907, Page 2

RIVEN ASUNDER. OR, BERYL GRAYSON'S ORDEAL,

A KOMANOE OP THE FtiANCISCO DISASTER.

By Julia Edwards, Avth>r vf "The Little Widow," "Sadia, the Rosdud," "Prettiest of All," ''Stella Sterling," "Laura Brayton," etc. >

-' CHAPTER XX.—Continued. 1 -. c Tossing his arms despairingly the i Tiotel employee 1 taped to the ground 1 and joined the urowd that skurried j along in front of the iwlriiers. Hargreaves, climbing' upon a wheel of \ the van, struggled wildly to draw the ( canvas-covered trunk from the pile. ( But the work was beyond , his \ .strength. A soldier forced him £ roughly from the wheel. i "Move on!" the soldier comman- , ded, waving a pistol in the valet's j face. . » Hargreaves cast one lingering | look behind and joined the refugees , in their flight. Neil, retreating ] slowly, saw a brick wall topple over upon- the van, overturning it - and breaking and . scattering its ' contents. Berdyne's trunk, as he ; could see, had been thrown far out , toward the opposite side of the street, shattered, overturned, and ■with its contents lying white on the littered pavement. This mishap to the van and that particular trunk brought a daring thought into Neil's brain. To think, ■with him, was to execute. Swiftly turning aside from the fleeing group, he dashed to the opposite side of the street, and returned on the track the driven refugees had covered. He sheltered himself behind piles of debris, for the most part creeping on hands and knees. The soldiers did not see him, and the fugitive citizans had their own lives to think of. "A bold stroke for my darling Beryl!" murmured Neil, pushing recklessly on. 'Fortune has given me this opportunity, and I would be a poltroon if I did not take advantage -of it. Who knows but the very papers that mean a fortune to my sweet little bride may be among those lying there on the pavement? God grant that, it be so! God give me strength to, search and find them!" Love was the spur of that brave, death - defying effort. It would have been strange if love had not brought the venture through to a success; and, truly fortune favours the brave. By the time Neil reached the vicinity of the van and its scattered load, the smoke was billowing about it. Falling brands had set fire to some of the released contents of the trunks. Hardly thinking .of self, he crept resolutely into the pall of smoke. Soon, guided by his intuition he was airibng the scattered papers. Some of tbcm were afire, and he could not aee to catch the merest : word on ary of them. In the midst of his despair, tthe wind tossed aside the smoke-cloud and left him free to ttS3 eyes and hands to some purpose. ■ He picked up packet after packet, only to cast each, aside with a hasty glance. At last he picked up one charring bundle and gave a fierce cry of joy as he read the written words: "Papers Concerning the Grayson Affair." As he lifted himself erect and slipped the small bundle into his pocket, the crack of a firearm, piercj ed the roaring crackle of devournig flame and a bullet whizzed past his face.

Neil had been mistaken for one of the human vultures whose cupidity led them into deadly peril! Ere ano r ther shot could be fired, perhaps with more telling effect, the friendly smoke

once more swept around him and hid him from view. Turning, with the precious bundle safely in his pocket,

Neil effected his escape to Union Square, where he-threw himself, exhausted but .exulted, on the hard ground. Surely there was a providence in all this! A higher power must be watching over the fortunes of his sweet bride, or such a chance would never have come, Neil's way. „ ,

"One part, one little part, we dimly scan, Through the dark medium of life's fevering dream; Yet dare arraign the whole stupendous plan, If but that little part incongruous seem, Nor iB that part, perhaps, what mortals deem; Oft from apparent ill our blessings rise. Oh, then renounce that impious selfesteem. That aims to trace the secrets of the skies; For thou art but of dust; be humble and be wise."

As the verse of the stirring song that had swept through Portsmouth Square had .inspired his hope and faith, so now this bit of fortune lent wings to Neil's drooping confidence. The Power that could so befriend his darling would shield her under its mighty pinions, and he and she should meet, in happier times, in love and safety. For an hour he rested, then formed in line and received a draft of water and a slender ration of food which the soldiers were dispensing. Then he set himself to think what had best be done with the precious papers which had come so wonderfully into his possession. He feared to cany them about with him, for, if they were what he hoped and believed, their value went into the hundreds of thousands. They represented the undoing of Berdyne, as well as the wealth and station of poor, wronged Beryl, who had been compelled to toil through another's iniquity. ! Ah, yes, those papers meant even more than that! Once his darling was restored to what was rightfully hers, Neil's proud relatives would kneel to do her homage. "What will not wealth do?" Neil thought bitterly. "My peerless Beryl whom I loved for herself, will take a different station in the eyes of the world when she comes into.her own. For myself I do not care; possessing

her love, I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice. Yet I would have her on a social level with the rest of my purse-proud family; yea, I would have them at her feet, begging her favour!" He could think of but one person in that hour who had the facilities to care for the papers as they should be cared for. His cousin, Arthur Preston, of Nob Hill, had a fire-proof safe in his residence. Arthur would guard the papers, Neil knew. Not yet was Nob Hill in danger of the flames, and it might escape them altogether; yet, even if it,did not, thi papers would be safe in the vault where the silver and the other household valuables were stored. It was eight o'clock in the evening when Neil, his course lighted luridly by the fire, left Union Square for his long walk to the aristocratic residence district of the doomed city. A surprise was awaiting him there.

CHAPTER XXI. "IT IS THE WORKING GIRL WHOSE BEAUTY HAS ENSNARED MY SON!" "Oh, it is hard to put the heart, Alone and desolate, away; To curl the lip in pride, and part With the kind thoughts of yesterday! 'Tis strange they know not that the chill Of their own looks hath made me cold, That though my words fall seldom, still, Their own proud bearing hath controlled My better feelings. "Mrs Preston! My poor child, where have you been during all this sad time?" A familiar voice struck on Beryl's ear. She and Irma Lee were making their way through the cool, sweet I grass on the slope of Russian Hill, I winding in and out among the pitiful ] structures of sheets and blankets which housed the homeless ones who had fled to the hill for refuge. Some one stood at the entrance of one of these rude shelters and cried aloud in a tone resonant with surprise and joy. "Mr Bickerdyke!" exclaimed Beryl, and in another moment she had fallen like a tired child into the good man's arms. "Thank Heaven!" said the minister, "that your steps were directed here. I have thought much of you, little one, and cried "out upon the hard fate that snatched you from us. But you are alive and well, after passing the day in our stricken city, and there is nothing but my heart. And I have something for you, "said he, disengaging himself from the weeping girl and drawing a paper from his pocket, "Your marriage-certificate," he finished, "witnessed by my daughter and your friend, Toni.ta." Beryl took the paper in her hands and pressed it to her lips. How thoughtful of the good man, amid all the harassing trials of the day, to think of that! Yet how many fond hopes and dear desires were wrapped up in that bit of paper. This certificate had come to take the place of her ring, cruelly torn from her hand by the wicked Gorsline." Irma stood by with satisfaction flaming in her stern eyes. , \ "You are the minister who married" Miss Grayson and Mr Preston?" she whispered. "Aye," he answered, surveying the woman with some curiosity. "Are you the little bride's friend?" "I have befriended her," was the response, "and was taking her for safety to people i know who are encamped on the hij.l." ";' "You may leave her with me," said the minister. "I will care for her as I would for my own flesh and blood. Indeed, I have known her husband for years, and think the world of him."

"Her husband lives?" queried Irma. "Yes." Irma's satisfaction deepened. "I am going down into the city," said she, "to search for one whom I must find. If I perchance discover Mr Preston, I will send him here." "Mr Preston was taken to a temporary hospital in the Mechanics' Pavilion," observed the minister. "The pavilion is burned!" murmurtd Irma quickly. "Was Mr Preston badly injured?" "I have learned from Miss Morales, who went with him, that the doctor said he was merely stunned." (To be Continued).