The Colonel's Enemy.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3145, 24 March 1909, Page 2

The Colonel's Enemy.

CHAPTER XXll.—Continued. *'Never mind me. I would rather "brush my own clothes and clean my own boots than have your attention drawn away for a rr.oment. You may look upon yourself as a gentleman at large till you have run this man to earth. I had better give you some money, as yon will have to make a show, for I believe those city advtnturers are a spendthrift lot; and if you want to win their confidence you must drink your way into it." "You have got it there, sir, exactly. If you had been in the midst of them ail your life you could not have summed tliem up better in "the same number of words. A spendthrift lot, some of them—a champagne lunch out of doors, an ill used wife and half-sarved children at home. Some of them take to it more systematically, and keep their money "when they get it, but not many, and the best of them never last long." The major gave him some moneytwenty pounds. "Do not be afraid of spending it when required," he said. "You must act up to the part you assume; and what part do you intend to play?" . "The man about town, sir, witlfa "bit of money of my own, and no objection to pick up a bit more when I can. They are clever people in their way, but, like most clever people of a certain sort, they are very easily taken in." "Do not underrate them, Ditton. Napoleon came to grief because he underrated the rather common-look-ing, Roman-nosed Irishman, who could hoc make a speech, or write a letter properly, but who could handle an army, and always took care to know what the enemy was doing. You will find some very clever and very dangerous men among this man's companions, and if they once got an inkling of what you were after, your life would not be worth much." "I can take care of myself, sir," Ditton said, quietly, "and I had better go on duty at once. The captain goes through Piccadilly on his way to the city, so he lives somewh'tre on this line of country—Fuiham Way, Kensington, ot Brompton. Some of the cab men are sure to know, and I shall get it out of them; and you need not be surprised jf I am first in the field; it's more than likely that I shall be able to ull you where to put your finger on the colonel, while these detectives and inquiry men are following the wrong track as hard as they can." "You will be a rich man, Ditton, if you succeed in that." "I don't want to be a rich man, sir; I was never so well and happy in my life as lam now, and anyone who made an alteration would be no friend to me. There is just one thing I should like you to promise, sir." "Yes." "Do not change your mind, and tell anyone about my hearing this gentleman's voice, and thinking I knew it again. If you tk t two men or more on the same clue they only go blundering against each other, and I should like to have the satisfaction of doing this all by myself." The major gave him the promise, and Ditton was gor.e before it occured to his master that he had better have made a reservation in favour of De Vigne. Strange to 'say, the soldier had more faith in what Ditton might cio, than he had in all that was being done by the others engaged in the apparently hopeless quest. He posted the letter to his lawyer at Bristol, and returned to Canon Street, arriving there soon after fcur. He found Dora in tears, but they were tears of joy; and before he could ask her what had happened, she to.:k an open letter from her dress. "It came nearly an hour ago," she said, "from my father. He is at Antwerp, and thinks of coing furtherperhaps even to America. But, dear major, you will send and tell him not to go; I could not bear it." "I will send a telegram, and follow it myself as fast as train and boat can take me," he said; "and if he has not rlready started, I will bring him bad . ' .. "T-.-. .-* He read the letter, and kept his countenance well under control, for Dora was watching him anxiously, with her pretty head on Mary Walton's shoulder. The envelope bore the Antwerp postmark of the previous day, and had he not had reason to suspect some fraud, he w<mld have been quite satisfied that the few lines had been penned by St. Hilary's own hand; each stroke, and curve, and flourish bore the impress of the impetuous dash with which the major vsas so familiar, and when he held it to the light, there was no sign, however slight, of the tracing pencil that must have been used had it been a careful imitation. If it was not St. Hilary's own workmanship, it had been done by some one who had practised his style till the perfection attained would have baffled an expert. .•?•<<. ■ <ss■■ The letter occupied two pages of note paper, and ran thus: "My Own Darling Little Dora: I shall be with you now in a few days, unless I have to follow the villain I am searching for to the other side of the Atlantic. We have reason to beiievc he is m the town, and he may try to get away on one of the North German Lloyds'. (f he does I shall be on his track. But I will let \ou know before I sail. You need not reply to this, as I shall most likely have left before ! this reaches you; and if I do not find him at the this journey, I shall give him up for the present. I bfgin to think that a7stranger would have a better chance of finding him than I have, for I dare say he remembers me, and perhaps laughs in his sleevp when he sees me looking for him while hj? is safely hidden bf hied some disguise or other. "1 am glad Maj. Luggard is with j/OU. You must let him take my 3

V By WINTHROP B. HARLAND. 9 / Author of "Lady Elgin's Secret," "A Harvest of / § Shame/' "The Elder Son," "Lord. / Ashton's Heir," Etc. /

place in everything till I return. I am afraid poor young Dacre thinks himself hardly used, and I wish now I had not asked you to postpone the marriage; and it you like to make him my son-in-law before I return, I shall not be sorry. Then we can go down to Ravenskerne together." The letter ended with a few fond words, and there was nothing in it that the colonel might not have written; it was dated from the Hotel de Kuyler, a large establishment in a well-known thorou>hfare, and except for tne suggestion that Dora need not reply, Maj. Lugard might have accepted it as genuine. "That looks like another subterfuge to gain more time," he said to himself, "and if it is, it will fail signally. I will take Fletcher with me, and if we do not find him at the Hotel de Ruyter, we can search the lists of passengers going out by any of the ships leaving for America; and if we do not find him, then we must offer a large reward without , the delay of a single hour." j "You will not let him go again?" ' Dora's pathetic voice broke in. "If he must go, let him take me with him." "He shall not go, if I am in time to stop him," the major said. "Make your mind easy on that score, Dora. I shall send a telegram, and follow it without waiting for an answer, and I will not come back without him if I can help it." Mary knew by the look Dora gave him that she was thinking how strong, and brave, and prompt he wa3. how willing to do anything for her sake; and she found herself wishing that Leonard could have gone instead. CHAPTER XXIII. MR FLETCHER'S GUESS. It was as well for Dora that at this time Mr Dacre's illness occupied her mind, or she would have passed the hours in sleepless anxiety from the moment Maj. Lugard started for Antwerp till he came back: but the sick man was a constant claim upon her sympathy and care. He woke and asked for her just before the soldier took his departure, and she went upstairs at once, only pausing atthe dining room door to say: "You wiil bring my father back with ycu?" "I will do my best," he said, strongly tempted to promise not to return without him, but he fell that it would be a rash pledge to give, and he refrained. He was glad, yet pained, to see that her face wore almost a happy look as she went from his view; she was so certain that when he returned he would not be atone. "I wanted a few words with you, Mary." he said, "so 1 am not sorry that Mr Dacre sent for her; and am more pleased than I can say that you have taken to each other, and I should like you to give her as much of your company as you can." [to be continued.]