THE COLONEL'S ENEMY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3126, 1 March 1909, Page 2

THE COLONEL'S ENEMY.

BY WINTHROP B. HARLAND. Author of "Lady Elgin's Secret," "A Harvest of Shame," "The Elder Son," "Lord Ashton's Heir," Etc.

CHAPTER IX.—Continued. Ditton put him in a hansom, and the driver went at racing speed through the street crowded at that busy hour. He knocked and rang, but while his hand was on tha bell, the door oDened, and he saw Dora. "Where"is my fathen?" she said. "Hav* you brought him with you?" The major shook his head. "I have not seen him yet Dora; but do not be alarmed; I have heard of him, and I thought he WoU, 4Jgj^ ere But the young girl woufflrar be comforted with that. NBraßßess than the sight of her fathfllglp the folding of his arms arqMr her, would have satisfied her ?W- r tne lone night of suspence ancPagony, She gave a heart-wrung cry, and threw herself on the major's breast, sobbing bitterly—so bitterly that he could have wept with her. CHAPTER X. SUSPICIONS AND CONJECTURES. The soldier's heart ashed as Dora told him, brokenly, how expectantly she had waited for him, feeling sure that he would bring her father home. She had been haunted all night long by a presentiment that something strange had happened; and it aeemed to be verified when Mr Dacre returned alone.

Still, she hoped on, for her faith in the major made her believe .that he could accomplish even the impossible; but her last hope v-mished when he came back alone, as Mr Dacre had done.

"And to think he should have been so near; my own dear father," she said, "only a few hours' journey away, and i have not seen him once. I think, if I had seen him, I could nave borne it better, and I wanted so much to go with Mr Dacre."

"It would have been useless," the major said. "He left the hotel >at twelve, and you could not have bten there until three hours later; but I have heard of him, Dora. He was seen in Crewe yesterday afternoon, and left for London by a train that brought him in by eight." "Then why did he not come to me?"

"He had two strangers with him and I imagine they were on special business, something in which your father was deeply interested, Mr Dacre has told you. perhaps?" "Mr JUacre told me nothing. He came home very tired and anxious, and when he heard that father had not arriv d he went out again almost immediately. He said we might expect him home to lunch, and he had no doubt my father would be with him; but I cannot think so. Father would never have left me all this time without a word."

"He may not have had a moment to spare," the major said. "We have reason to believe that the gentlemen with him are detectives, and they are on the track of the Mr Crombie whom he mentioned in his letter to you. Now, if you knew your father as well aa I do, you would be aware that, when he once has an object in view, he never lets anything,stand in his way, or turn him back, When he has this Crombie captured, and placed securely in the hands of justice, we shall see him and not before."

He thought it best to tell her the truth, and he saw the wisdom of it by the relief in her face;' the task her father had set himself might: be finished at any moment:, within a few hours at most, then he would return.

"But why did not Mr Dacre tell me this?" she asked.

"He left it for me, I suppose; and you say he went out almost immediatelv 7 "

"I do not think he was in the house ten minutes. He went upstairs and spoke to Miss Dacre, only a few words, for he did not stay long; then he changed his overcoat and left that message with me." "That you might expect hii.i home to lunch, and ho had no douut the colonel would be with him?" "Yes. I am afraid he was cross with poor Aunt Hannah, for sne seems quite scared, and would not come down to breakfast. When I asked her what the -matter was, she only began to cry." "He does not seem to keep her in subjection, and is not so patient with her as he might be," the major said: "but I suppose he understands her best, and eccentric people arc difficult to deal with, even when their eccen- j tricities are harmless. Should Mr Dacre return before I do, tell him I shall be back in an hour or so; and if my man comes in, let him wait in some corner where he will not be in the way." J "Your man? Did you bring him j from Kavenskerne?" j ; "I engaged him last night in Liverpool; he is a useful and intelli-, gent fellow, an old soldier, and just the kind of man I shall want among the unsophisticated innocents who constitute my household. I will tell you all about Ravenskerne by and by." "And must you leave me now, so soon?" "I have made several appointments in London," he said, "and the sooner I have attended to them the sooner I shall have time for you. You have no idea how busy I have had to be since 1 became an idle man, with nothing to do, and plenty of money to do it with. My uncle Percival may have meant well, but his kindness was clearly misplaced when he left me a huge estate, and a larger income than I shall ever know how to manage. It is a fine old place, though, and whon you and the colonel come to stay with me it will be sompthirg like a home."

It co-.t him a pjing to say tuis

while he was full of misgiving as to St. Hilary's fate- but the prospect pleased Dora, and she was smiling when he left her. Mindful of his promises, he sent a telegram to Inspector Darlington, telling him that the colonel had not arrived; then ne made his way, in a hansom, to Sheriff's Court. There were several eminent firms in that dingy turning by Charing Cross, and,in their own peculiar line, Messrs Fletcher and Wyman had attained a fair ahare of the celebrity which had given the court its prestige, and the march of improvement, which took the lion from over the gateway of Northumberland House, sweeping away that historic building in favour of some bewildering hotels. had left this inconvenient corner undisturbed in all its native ugliness. Even on the brightest day in summer an artificial light was necessary in the lower offices, and Fletcher and Wyman's kept the gas burning from New Year's Day to the thirty-first of December. The major had been wondering what this private inquiry establishment would be like; he found that it exactly resembled any other place of business, where goods were not sold over the counter; it might have been the office of a shipping agent, a money lender, a lawyer, or an auctioneer; there were the usual desks, ledgers and clerks; and when he had asked to see one of the principals, an elderly man came from behind a gouncf glass screen to inquire more particularly into his business. "I want to know," the major said, "whether you sent a man to Liverpool yesterday, to see Colonel cst: Hilary, at the Comwallis Hotel?" "St. Hilary," the elderly clerk said. "I think we have the name on our books, but all our business is strictly confidential, sir, and we can answer no questions without the special authority of our client." "You may answer me, as the colonel's most intimate and dearest friend." the major said; "and it is a matter of life and death, for if you did not send a man to him, he has been decoyed away by the agent of a most dangerous enemy."

He told the clerk what had happened on the previous day; how Mr Dacre had gone down to mee 1- . St. Hilary, and found that he had left the hotel several hours before his own arrival later on; the inquiries made at the railroad station and his interview with Inspectr Darlington. The clerk was evidently impressed at last, for he took Lugard into an inner room, a comfortable apartment, with a Turkey carpet and morocco-covered furniture. A gentlemanly man, keen-eyed and stalwart, received the major very courteously. * I thought I had better bring this gentleman to you at once," the clerk said; "hi? business is of serious importance, Mr Fletcher. We did not send any of our men to see Col. St. Hilary at Liverpool, yesterday?"

"Certainly not. Thp colonel wrote to me from India, some two months or ten weeks 'ago, to tell me he was coming to England, ind would call upon me as soon as he arrived. He said he had heard of Mr Crombie; but that, of course, is out of the question; the man is dead, or we should have found him long ago, but since the colonel wrote that letter there has been no communication whatever between us." [to bk continued.]