THREE MEN AND A MAID.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9056, 15 February 1908, Page 2

THREE MEN AND A MAID.

CIIA PTE R XV. —Con ti nued. X 100 had not met this type of desperado during his career in the force, but he sprang after Philip, bawled a direction to the amazed driver, and away went the cab. James vvaj not near enough to hear what passed. He expected to Sie a fight, was prepared even to witness the discomfiture of the policeman and its resultant excitement, and lie marvelled at the easy celerity wi li wjich he had attained his object. He was puzzled,.almost bewildered, but he was certain of one thingPhilip was safe in the hands of authority which would not relax its grip without the test of reasons. He drew a deep sigh' of relief and went to his waiting hansom, turning his head twice to watch the vanishing vehicle which "held his rival. "Take rne the Pall Mall Hotel," he said, "but stop at the first clothier's or second-hand clothes shop you come to " The detective, passing at the right moment, caught the words. He, too, watched Courthope's cab until its twinkling red lights were dimmed by the gloom of London. "Queer business!" he growled. To reassure himself, he took a slip of paper from his pocket, and stooped in front of the motor's lamps. "Philip Warren surendered last night," he read. "I thought advisable to prefer minor charge. Warren remanded on bail this morning, has gone London, with my approval, to induce Marjorie Neyland, Turner Studios, Finchley Road, return with him to Hudston. James Courtland (see confidential report) probably gone there also. Meet train King's I Cross for Courtland. Watch, report daily by wire, but do not interfere.." That was a decided message from Winter, received at 2.80 p.m. The fast train which brought Philip and James to town arrived at 6.15. It was now seven o'clock. "Do not interfere," mused the detective. "That means just what it says, or I don't know Winter." And he weighed events fully ere he gave an order to the chauffeur, for he was vexed by the knowledge tha'. X 100 was pluming himself. Courthope, meanwhile, obtained a new coat and hat. Neither article was quite up to his ordinary standard, but they would suffice until next day, when the more important shops of tfie West end would be open. He found a telegram from his valet awaiting him at the hotel. The man had succeeded in obtaining Marjorie's address, and James now counted himself thrice fortunate in having seen Philip. There were many things he ■did not understand, and it was essential that they should be inquired into, but it needed no supreme intelligence to perceive that half-an-hour's talk between Philip and Ma-rjorie might build a fortress of trust which James could not sap in half a lifetime. Though hungry he did not dine. He changed into evening dress, ordered ■one of the hotel's electric broughams, and was at the door of Marjorie's fiat a few rr.inutes before eight o'clock. He tried to repress the sense of triumph which thrilled his heart, when an elderly charwoman said she would "see" if Miss Neyiand was at home. In a tiny place consisting of a decentsized room split into five-and a corridor by partitions, that statement has but one meaning,"so James murmured that "a friend from Hudston" would ■foe glad to have a word with Miss j Neyland. The woman, made confident j by his manner and attire, was about to show him into a small studio when Marjorie herself appeared. "You?" she gasped, and James' triumph was lessened a good deal by the sight of her wan cheeks and sor-row-laden eyes. He prided himself on rapidity and coolness of judgment, { and it was borne in on him now, even more forcibly than during that exciting episode in Fennel!'s Tower, that Marjorie was grievously wounded by the seeming loss of Philip Warren's love. A spice of malignant spite at once fermented the passion which pulsed in Courthope's breast. It < nerved him to play his role rightly. Wild desire urged him to throw aside pretence, but cold reason whispered: "Be wary! Little more than twentyfour hours have passed since this coy maid was luring you to madness. Why, if she loved Warren, was she ready to listen to you then?" So James bowed in his [well-bred way, and said softly: "Yes, it ia I, Marjorie. Being in London, on whom should I pay my first call but on you?" A whole world of distrust, almost •of terror, held the girl spellbound. In Hudston, the simple environment of the village, the honest capaciousness of the Greyhound, the mere existence of father, mother and aunt, constituted safeguards, but in London and in this man's presence, she was, "in a city that is broken down and without walls."

So they gazed at each other, each the prey of hidden tumult, and the serving-woman marvelled what had come to her high-spirited young mistress, whose return to the little colony of artists in the Finchley Road she had hailed with delight. ButMarjorie had done with tears. The agony of a night arid a day had wrung her soul to exhaustion. There remained the one fierce longing, the wish to prove to Philip that he had wronged her, and here, sent apparently by Providence, was the means of her justification. If sue let Courthope see too plainly that she fe&red him, lier frail bridge of hope would crumble at its very key-stone. Though the words tasted bitter in her mouth she strove to utter a conventional welcome.

"It is very good of you to seek out .my den, Mr Courthope," she said, "but, of course, you have taken me by surprise. As I arrived in London only this morning, I scarce expected

By ROBERT ERASER.

[Published JBy Special Arrangement.]

[All Eights Reserved.]

a visitor from Hudston so soon." "That is just why lam here. ' If Horace lived to-day ho might tell us iu well-turned Latin verse that six hours in a fast train may change the sky but not the mind." It was a wholly commendable thing about James that he had the art of pouring oil on troubled waters. His agreeable smile and smooth flow of nonsense helped to restore Marjorie's wits. Even Mrs Johnson, the charwoman, thought he was an uncommonly nice gentleman. "Well, won't you go into the studio? You will find a fire there, and I will join you in a moment," said Marjorie. "No," he answered. "I shall either call at a more reasonable hour to-morrow, or you shall agree to fall in with my present notion. I am starving for want of a meal, and I imagine that you have not dined yet. So what do you say to a comfortable dinner in a restaurant, where we can discuss at leisure? I have a motor waiting, and I promise to bring you back about ten o'clock, as you must be tired after that journey." ""I am not dressed for ceremony." "I am hungry enough to ,«coff at such a pretext." "Then you will wait ten minutes?" "Ah! Show roe to the studio quickly, lest you lose a second." "Or change my mind?" "I should never make the mistake of thinking that you acted on impulse, Marjorie." "Well —my feminine fickleness may survive this test. Mrs Johnson, please takfe Mr Courthope into the studio, and stir the fire." Marjorie vanished. Well pleased with himself, James followed the charwoman, to whom he gave a handsome tip. Then, while he eyed the sketches'in the place, studies made at an art school in Marylebone, he mentally surveyed the situation. How account for Marjorie's change of attitude? How for Philip'* presence in London? If he were discreet and sympathetic, he might be told. As Cuvier once 'reconstituted a new genus of animal out of a single fossil bone, so did Courthope trust to his intuition to deduce many facts from a light basis. A glance, a sigh, an avoidance of topics fraught with pain—each or all of these might supply unwritten ' folios. And he had actually won so much ground that she did not resent the use of her Christian name. He kindled at that. Though sleek and wavy, James was ready to befool himself for her sake. As Agar, the son of Jakeh, said to Ithiel and Ucal, many and many a century ago: "There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not; the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the , way of a ship in the midst of the sea, I and the way of a man with a maid." I Yet the way of this man was seemj ingly plain to be seen when Marjorie, I gloved, hatted and cloaked, altogether charming in face and figure, tripped into the studio with words sweet in his ears: "I hope I have not exceeded my time limit. And, now that you have made think of it, I believe 1 really do want somathnig to eat. Marjorie's fiat was on the second 1 floor. As they descended the high- ! pitched stone stairs they did not try to carry on a conversation. The place | was dimly lighted, and it needed care to negotiate the radiating steps at each turn. Courthope, leading the way, halted at the first landing in order to feast his eyes on Marjorie's daintiness. "Space is more precious here than at Hudston," he said. "I found it rather breathless work reaching your abode." "No doubt," said a voice behind him. " 'Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to light.' " (To be continued.)

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