A SENSATIONAL CASE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9188, 10 September 1908, Page 2

A SENSATIONAL CASE.

By FLORENCE WARDEN. Author of " The Lady in Black," "An Infamous Fraud," "For Love of Jack," "A Terrible Family," "The House on the Marsh,"

CHAPTER XXIV— Continued. So she would not meet him. The question was how, effectually, to avoid being brought back and forced in his presence against her will. The mischievous delight of the overgrown tomboy suddenly gleamed in her eyes. "I can climb my tree!" she said to herself. This was a joy which had been reluctantly given up some time before this; but the tree was still there, hidden from the house by an evergreen oak, and its crooked bough looked as inviting as ever. Here, however diligently they might hunt for her, Jem felt that she would be safe; even if discovered, ,she would be severely left alone 'f caught in : such an undignified position. So she ; got through the evergreens, and ■ easily hoisted herself into a very ; snug perch between the forked boughs of an old apple-tree, the ' branches of which extended far over ' the wall which divided the garden oi J "The Maisonette" from that of "The ' Firs." ' Jem became suddenly conscious, I with some surprise and embarrassment, that her view of her neighbour's domain was more extensive ' than she had remembered it to be. j She found herself looking straight ' into the room into which Linley Hilliard had locked himself. "This will never do," thought Jem. And she was about to descend by the way she had climbed when her attention was arrested by an action ' on Linley's part so strange, so suspicious, that she hung for a moment, with one foot resting on the bough below, staring at him fascinated, bewildered with curiosity and amazement. CHAPTER XXV. JEM'S ADVENTURE. The sight which so much astonished Jem, and caused her to be so forgetful of propriety as to pause a moment to take in all its details, was, indeed, a strange one. Linley Hilliard was standing close to the bedroom window, so that he might get the full advantage of the fading daylight. One after the other he snatched up rapidly the following articles, examined them with one keen glance, and then thrust them , into his travelling-bag: A lady's gown, a mantle, a hat which Jem was able to recognise as Netelka's, and a thick black veil. When he had thrust all these things J into the bag, which he locked, hedis-1 appeared quickly into the darkness J away from the window. | Almost before this, however, Jem's feet had reached the ground, and she was flying through the evergreens | with a speed which made the Buddan ' contact of her person with that of Hugh Thorndyke's a racher serious. affair. I "I—l had been sent into the garden to look for you," explained Hugh, meekly, as he retired from the en- | counter, with profuse apologies for , her fault. "Andl've been round and round several times, but I couldn't ] find you." I Jem blushed a bright crimson, fidgeting like a shy schoolgirl. "I was—l was—-—" Then she added, with a sudden burst of daring frankness, "I was up a tree." "Up a—up a tree?" exclaimed , Hugh, in unaffected surprise. j "Yes. It's no' use being Mr Thorndyke; people who have the privilege of knowing me have to get used to these things." She wanted to get away, but Hugh would not let her. He was ruther piqued by the change which had come into her manner since their preceding and most friendly interview, and he was curious to know the | reason of the excitement which burned in the girl's cheeks and eyes. "Won't you show me the—the—the " He had begun with the intention of finishing with the word flowers, but the desolate appearance of thu neglected borders made him suddenly hesitate. "Yes, I can show you the weeds, if you like," said Jem gravely, "i sowed a packet of poppy-seed, and another of wallflowers, and another of something that I couldn't pronounce; they haven't come up yet, and I HLan't suppose they ever will. The Htiicipal productions of these ■Hfetads," she went on, with a comwave of the hands, "are jHSflnd stray marbles." |HHR/au speaking very rapidly and BHHHie influence of intense exciteB|B&e had lost some of her shylooked at her with inwished he dared ask the HHAd/' he suggested, in the her words, "that HHHHHAet rid of me." her thoughts thus |HHHH|H3ed in words was too HHHHHKJem's courtesy. Turnt;he panted mit At least—l mean — her

his face with a great air ot defiance and animosity. "I am very angry with you. It was you who caused the quarrel between Mrs Hilliard and her husband There! you said I might go if I told you whether you had offended me. So good-by." Before Hugh could get further than "But, Miss Collingham," Jem was in the house. He went back to the drawing-room, therefore, and told an innocent fabrication on Jem's behalf by professing to have "missed her"; a statement which was receiv- i ed with surprise, as the modest quarter aero of ground belonging to "The Maisonette" did not seem to favour such a circumstance. Mrs Collingham was annoyed. She had sent Hugh in search of Jem in pursuance of her plan for "getting her step-daughter off"; and this little failure showed that there was a hitch somewhere in her arrangements. Hugh perceived that something had gone wrong, and he hastened to take his leave, more annoyed than he would have cared to admit by the cavalier treatment ho had received at the hands of the young girl. As he could not call at "The Firs" to see Waller after the treatment he had received from its nominal master, there was nothing for him to do but to return to the station, to catch the next train back to London. He was sauntering along the platform, not in the best of tempers, when he perceived, a little way ahead of him on the same platform,the very person the sight of whom was the least likely to restore his amiability. This was Linley Hilliard, and he carried in his hand a travelling-bag. Hugh stopped short, and turned back into the station. He rather thought, so greatly did he dislike this man, that he would take a walk and go up to town by the next train to avoid the possibility of coming in contact with him. He had scarcely got within the doors of the building when, for the second time within an hour, he found himself face to face with the whirlwind Jem. Her face was aglow; she was breathless, panting, and her hair, as usual, had been blown down over her eyes. With her usual girlish awkwardness, instead of passnig on with a smile and a slight bend of the head, to indicate that she wished to be left undisturbed, Jem stopped abruptly, and exclamied, "Oh!" in a tone of unmistakable dismay. Hugh, though rather nettled by her behaviour, could not help smiling. Jem blushed, angry with herself for her stupidity. "You are going up to town?" asked Hugh. "Can I get your ticket, or do anything for you?" "N—no, thank —you," said Jem quickly. "I—l am not going far." Then, perceiving that her manner was abrupt to the verge of rudeness, and that her companion seemed hurt by it, she said, "Are you going back to town by this train?" "I was," he answered. "But I have changed my mind, as there is someone on the platform I don't wish to risk meeting." To Hugh's intense surprise, her face lighted up. "Mr Hilliard?" she asked, quite eagerly. "Y—yes," stammered Hugh. "Oh, thank you!" She seemed much relieved; and, with an apology, she left Hugh, and hurried to the ticket-office, while he watched her rapid movements with pudden anxiety. (To be continued.)