"THE WEB."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8879, 13 November 1907, Page 2

"THE WEB."

CHAPTER XXIII. "Were thev too late? Wew they too late?" Strangways asked himself a hundred times, his eyes glued to his glasses. Now they were only a short mile off. One short mile, and yet the deck of the Alice was almost flush with the sea. A dead silence, the- silence of overstramed nerves, brooded over the ship. "Get the boats ready there! shouted the Captain, and the hands on deck, as if glad of being able to do anything to occupy the awful pause, sprang eagerly,to the davits. "We can't take her too near, said the Captain, trying to speak calmly. „ x , , . Strangwavs rushed to the lower deck where the boats were being got ready. The White Rose began to slow down. #i , , , "Lower away there," shouted one of the officers, and the boats dropped into the sea. Strangways jumped ! into one of them. ,_,,,. "A hundred pounds to the boat that first gets alongside," he shouted as he seized the rudder lines. The three boats shot from the side. Surely never men rowed so earnestly before. But to Strangways they seemed to be moving at a mail b pace; their oars to be of lead. ■ "Quicker, quicker!" he yelled, beside himself with anxiety. Alirost together the three boats reached the side of the sinking vessel. Strangways sprang on deck. In another moment, ho had seized Lady Violet, and without a word, carried her to the boat. The Duchess, Miss Elders, and Beeton followed. The crew tumbled into the other boats. In hardly more than a minute the transhipment took place. And none too soon, for scarcely had they drawn clear than the bow of the Alice shook, plunged deep down into the sea, and then, with a swirl ar.d a , roar of rushing water, disappeared from view. A dead silence brooded over the boats, broken suddenly by a low, hysterical laugh from Strangways. "Oh, thank God! thank God!" he cried burying his face in his hands.

CHAPTER XXIV. There were no words spoken until the.boats again reached the side of the White Rose. Then, .as the survivors of the Alice climbed on deck the yacht's crew gave vent to their long* pent-up emotions by a rousing cheer. "Well, Mr Strangways," said Beeton, "this is the second time we've come down on you after a wreck. You seem specially sent to bring us out of difficulties." Strangways, who had r.ot quite recovered complete possession of himself, murmured something incoherent in reply and led the way to the din-ing-saloon where the steward had already prepared a sumptuous repast for the rescued.

He expected to find Alice there, waiting, but to his surprise she could not be seen. He turned to the steward and asked him where Miss Strangways was. Lady Violet caught the name. "Miss Strangways!" she said. "I didn't know you had a sister, Mr Strangways." Suddenly Strangways recollected that none of the party yet knew of his relationship with the girl who had been known as Miss Rentoul. He smiled to himself.

"I forgot, of course," he murmured. "I expect she's lying down. Both of us were up all night. But come, .you must sit down and eat something." The Duchess had already begun. She had borne up wonderfully for a woman of over sixty while the Alice was sinking. And now that it was all over, she lost no time in fortifying her overstrained nervous system with food and champagne.

At first little was said, but soon tongues were loosened. Mi&s Elders, who had perhaps been the most sub■dued of all the party, rapidly biossomed out in her usual condition of good spirits and exhilaration. She laughed at and mada a mock of their recent terrible adventures as if the whole affair had been one huge joke. Lady Violet remarked in an aside to Stra"ngwnys, that nothing seemed to ■damp Esther's spirits, and Miss Elders, hearing this comment, observed that she.had been so near having her .spirits permanently damped that it was not to be wondered at that she felt more than ordinarily frivolous. "By the way, Mr Beeton," said .Strangways turning to him, "I have one or two surprises for you. In the first place, we've got those scoundrels under lock and key. We picked them up about forty miles from here," and .he proceeded to narrate the incidents connected with the capture of the Patriarch and hi 3 companion. Beeton was absolutely amazed. "Well, that beats everything, Mr • Starng ."ays". • What on earth did that old scob. .!rel want to play such a rascal!v i.. A upon me for. I have done nothing that I know of to him. Sold him the best molasses in the States. Done legitimate business with him, and asked no questions when he paid me. That doesn't seem to entitle him to blow up my yacht in mid-Atlantic." "Perhaps ha didn't like the molasses," said Miss Elders mischievously. ..Beeton laughed. "If you think.that justifies his con.duct,' Miss Elders, I shall be quite within my rights in blowing up the White Rose, supposing Mr Strangways' lunch menu wasn't to my liking." "You know, by the way," put in iStrangways quietly, "that the Patri-

PAUL URQUHART.

(Tublishedqßy* Special Arrangement.] .[All Rights^Reserved.]

arch and Miss Rentoul's uncle are one and the same person?" Beeton looked at him in open-eyed astonishment. "You don't say!" were all the words he could utter. Then, suddenly, thinking of the giri he loved, he added, "Did she tell you this?" Strangways nodded affirmatively. "You have seen Miss Rentoul, then?" Beeton put in, the old jealous feelings again taking possession of him. "No, I haven't seen Miss Rentoul 'he said, ' accentuating the name slightly, "but I heard it from somebody who knew her very well." "You didn't'happen to hear how she was?" said Beeton, trying to assume an air of indifference. "You heard of course that she gave us the slip at Southampton; left us, like yourself, at the last moment." "There isn't any' Miss Rentoul," said Strangways, looking gravely at Beeton. The other flushed.

"I suppose you've heard all about it," he said. "Miss Pollard, thendid you hear how she was before you left Lngland?" "Miss Pollard doesn't exist any more," retorted Strangways. "She's knife and fork dropped from Beeton's hands with a clatter on the plate, his face grew ashen pale. He stared at Strangways in an agony of doubt. "You don't mean she's dead?" he said in a slow whispering voice. ' Strangways did not answer, for just at that moment the saloon door opened, and Alice herself came softly in. Beeton, who had his bade to the door, did not hear or see her entry. Strangways' silence—his seeming refusal to answer his last question, convinced the young millionaire that the girl he loved was no more. He looked at his host with a fearful despair in his eyes. Strangways rose from his seat. The rest of the company were looking in amazement at Alice, wondering what she was doing there, on board -the White Rose, alone in the company of its young owner. Some explanation they felt was due. Strangways touched Beeton on the shoulder.

"I want to introduce you to my sister," he said. With an heroic effort Beeton stifled the agony in his mind and rose to his feet. Then he turned round. When he saw Alice standing there he stared at her like a man in a trance for full thirty seconds. "Mr Beeton, I am trying to introduce you to my sister, Miss Alice Strangways." For the life of him he could not suppress a good-natured grin.

But.Beeton's wits had returned to him. Regardless of convention, regardless of the persons who were looking on, he bounded across the saloon floor and took Alice in his arms.

"Alice, my darling!'my darling!" he cried, covering her face with kisses in the most shameless manner, and to the polite horror of the Duchess, the girl, in the most bare-faced manner returned his caresses, call' ing him "Theo, darling," and actually finishing up by crying on his shoulder. When she had watched this scene for some seconds the Duchess turned / to Strangways. "I thought you said this young lady was your sister?" she said icily, all the plums, prunes and prisms of convention and outraged propriety in her tone of voice. But Beeton had recovered himself by then. He turned to his host. "Say, Mr Strangways, that wasn'-t a kind trick to play upon a man." "It isn't any trick," said Strangways, enjoying the joke immensely. "But you gave .me to understand, sir, that Miss Pollard was dead, and here she is/very much in the flesh." And, as if to impress- this point, and to show that there was no deception about the matter, he gave her a little squeeze. "But that isn't Miss Pollard. She's i my sister, or, I should say, my halfsister. Miss Alice Strangways." He looked to Alice for corroboration.

"Yes, Theo, dear, it's a.fact. You remember I came to England to find my father. 1 found a brother instead. My mother had always preferred to be known under the name of [Mrs Pollard, and so I kept that name, although my mother was really Mrs Strangways." (To be continued.)