"THE WEB"

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8553, 11 October 1907, Page 2

"THE WEB"

CHAPTER Vl.—Continued. \ c But these were the last words that j Strangways heard' tire Patriarch uttur. For suddenly from a hundred ( voices at the the hall the al- } most demoniacal chant swelled put ( again. •'We—want—Mose.s. And £ -we-mean— to -have him!" j By an ' evidently preconceited ( movement, tha students suddenly formed themselves into a wedge and ] began advancing down the hall. Be- ( fore this so.id phalanx the audience ] scattered to right and left. Strang- ] ways felt himself pressed forward by ] the throng. Louder and louder grew the chant, " We—want—Moses. And —we—mean—to—have—him!" As if inspired by their song, the wedge began to gather momentum, moving forward faster towards the platform on which the Patriarch raged and foamed like one possessed, pacing up and down with wildly gesticulating arms and hands, evidently drawing down the most bitter curses upon the heads of these unbelieving scoffing sons of Galen. The Elect rose from their knees with frightened faces and fled to the platform for protection. Into the space thus left the . students poured. Whether he liked it or not Strangways had to move with them. It was useless to try and force his way back. He felt himself carried along as if by a flood. It was evidently the intention of the students to storm the platform, for before he quite knew where he was he found himself carried up two of the steps of the stairs. The gang of roughs in the semicircle, rose to their feet and moved ominously towards the head of the stairway. Looking up Strangways saw the dark, swarthy man who acted as the Patriarch's second gazing at him with a curiously fixed look. Then moving forward he tapped the Patriarch on the sleeve, and muttered a few vvords in his ear. He saw both men look at him again quickly and exchange a few more words._ Then the dark, swarthy man whispered something to one of the two negroes .vho nodded his head grimly. All this time the throng was gradually pressing up the stairway. When they were, three steps from the top the gang of roughs suddenly charged. Instinctively those in front tried to recoil. Strangways struggled with/all his strength to get back, but those behind refused to give way. He saw the negro rush at him, and he was just in time to dodge a sledge hammer blow. Hardly had he recovered himssif when the negro again lunged at him quickly with his ?-ight and left in rapid succession, but standing below the man on a lower .stop Scrangwavs- was able to guard his head, till one of the blows caught him on the chest and knocked him back aniong,the students. Though his intentions were quite pacific, though he bore no particular ill will to the Patriarch and had no desire to put him in the awkward pre"dicament of having to heal himself after being, severely mauled by the young hospital enthusiasts the blow angered him. It awoke all the fight- , ing fire in his blood. Steadying himself he rushed forward, dodged another blow aimed at him, and seized the negro just below the hip. I x The black rained terrific blows on his J head and shoulders, struggling the while fiercsly. But lifting him as if he was a baby, Strangways, with a j quick cwist of the muscles of .hip back, sent the man flying over his head. He fell among the crowd on the floor of the hail, thereby clearing •< space which allowed the throng on the staircase to retreat to the level ground. Strangways himself missed * his footing on the steps and almost? fell, but managed to retain his feet wicn the assistance of a friendly arm. The roughs charged, and the students retreated.- The fight was already becoming'very serious, for the Patriarch's bodyguard, incensed by the rough handling of one of their number, had seized the overturned -.main and began to use them as weapons of defence. / By this time Strangways' Jjlood had quite cooled, and he wished himself well out of the melee. But the crowd was so dense, and the attack of the gang .was so energetic that he oould not very well avoid taking part in the fight. Especially trained in the art of dealing with such crowds, the Partiarch's bodyguard set about the students in a thoroughly businesslike way. Already several lay halfKuunned on the ground, while the rest were being driven towards the (io'TS,. when Strangways noticed that the dark, swarthy acolyte had descended from the platform, and from behind the shelter of the stalwartroughs was pointing at him, whispering something into two of the men's ears. He could not catch his words, but the meaning of his instructions was soon clear, for the two men suddenly darted forward and tried to seize him. In the confined and cramped space Strangways could noli use his strength properly. One man he sent reeling back with a blow fni the jaw, ■••at the other seized him round tin neck, twisted him tut his feet, a:. I began, what is known in football, to scrag him, a process which consists of screwing the victim's neck as much as possible,, the while the operator's legs ;i.'id/knees are busily engaged pounding other portions of his body. What might have been the end of the episode it would be difficult to say. The man had got a grip hold on .Strangways in which he.was absolutely powerless, and was mauling him with all the art and skill of his profession. But suddenly there was a cry of "Police!" From both doorvvayfe long lines of men in blue rushed i in. The cowd melted before them with that strange instinct of respect | for the law which is a peculiarity of j the most lowdy British crowd. A iiugQ sergeant with a brogue there

By PAUL URQUHART.

[Published By Special Arrangement.] [All Rights Reserved.]

was no mistaking dragged the rough off Strangways and flung him, so seemingly without an effort that the action appeared gentleness itself, three or four yards away. _ Then dragging Strangways to his feet his rescuer gave him an impartial cuff on the head that set his ears singing, and told him to get out of this and go home and "behave himself decently." When he finally got back to his hotel, he went into the lounge and ordered a whisky and soda to refresh himself. As the waiter took his order he asked him discreetly whether he had enjoyed himself. "It was quite too exciting, waiter," replied Strangways with a laugh, "as you promised it would be." CHAPTER VII. When Strangways woke the following morning, the stiffness of his joints and the mildly painful bruises on his body set him thinking of the events of the night before. To the repeated knpckings of the chamber- > maid, who was honestly endeavouring to carry out his instructions of seeing that he got up at 8 o'clock, he paid no attention, but reclined lazily between the sheets, meditating on things in general, and the Patriarch in particular. He wondered why he had been so particularly picked out by the Prophet of the New Jerusalem for assault, and came to the conclusion that he mmt have been regarded as th 3 leader of the aggressors, in consequence of the prominent position, so little desired, which he had been forced to take up on the staircase. At last,-having spurred himself to the effort, he got out of bed, and refreshed by a cold bath was soon seated before his breakfast. Acting on Medhurst's advice he stayed indoors 'till it was time to catch the 2«30 train from St. Pancras for Skipton. Having seen his luggage safely in the train, he turned towards the bookstall to buy some literature to while away the journey. As he was looking through a magazine his eye suddenly caugl.t the figures of two ladies, followed by a man in livery, advancing towards the train. As he looked his 1 heart suddenly seemed to stop beating, then to set to work again with so violent an effort that his face flushed crimson. For one of the ladies was Lady Violet. Her companion was a girl about her own age, with a small piquante face that glowed with health and good spirits; "My dear Violet," he heard her say as they passed him, "if you only knew the delight of travelling de luxe in a first-class carriage after having for a whole year to content oneself with a hard and stuffy third, you wouldn't be surprised at my good spirits. It's like getting back to .heaven for a bit after being half suffocated in the other place." "If your idea of heaven is a firsti class carnage," replied Lady Violet with a largh, "we shall have to con- > struct a special Paradise for you with all the angels dressed as j Cook's ag3nts." j Strangways' eyes followed the figure of Lady Violet as the little party entered their compartment, a compartment which he noted with delight was the next carriage to his j own. How beautiful she was! A very pearl of women! Oh, if he could only get to know her! To speak to her! To hear her voice! Then he remembered what he. was, 'that though the law had cleared him f of all share in the murder of his father, he was still suspected. He was old enough to know how all powerful with humanity was the bad logic of that saying, "There is no smoke without fire." Before he could ever think of her, before he could even hope to so much as touch the hem of her garment, he must clear himself absolutely from all sus- . picion of his father's death. To do I so, he must discover the murderer. He half sighed as he thought that ' he lacked little need of any further I impetus to urge on his quest. To reI venge his father, to clear his own name, to make himself clean in the eyes of the girl with whose beauty he had so strangely fallen in love, surely these were powerful enough spurs to the task which he had before him. He bought a few papers, and returned to his carriage with a sudden unreasoning happiness in his mind at the thought that he was to be near the woman he loved for four hours at least. He put his head out of the window, waiting for the train to start. (To be Continued).