SIR JOHN'S HEIRESS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9668, 16 December 1909, Page 2

SIR JOHN'S HEIRESS.

CHAPTER X.—Continued. " I bought the land; I sank two shafts. 1 spent ten thousand pounds —for nothing; and the major portion of this money was riot mine to spend. You understand, Victor? Since then the pit has been widening and deepening; and all I have to show is a blackened, disfigured waste of land. 1 can endure it no longer. And I suppose I shall be called an embezzler! Together we might have weathered the storm, but you have deserted me. My chief creditor is Colonel Mayhew, and my unhappy daughter is engaged to his son. "How far-reaching is our ruin! 1 cannot—l dare not face it! To your care I cop-mit your mother and your sister, for thij very night I am going—Heaven only knows where! The colonel ha? been pressing of late, and I have evaded him as long as I could. It is a terrible ending—terrible—terrible! "Your disappointed and brokenhearted father, "JOHN LINTON."

"F.S.—I enciose a map and plans of the mine, and give you full authority to dispose of it for whatever it will fetch. It may rea'lis® something for the creditors. There is no incumbrance upon it, because no one would venture one shilling.'' Vjctpr leaned against ft for j support, the ahbl'ft almost too | much for his Truly, Harry ; Mayhew's was explained ! now 1 The mine? He anthematised it fieWety; and he nearly destroyed the Ynap with one twitch of the fingers of his right hand. Already his father might be gazetted a defaulter, and the name of Linton, Son and Linton—so highly honored hitherto—might be held up to ridicule and execration. And the police would soon be in full chase of the flying criminal! He thought of his sister Marian, and her lover —■ Harry Mayhew of the loyal heart. Then he heard his name uttered, and felt his hand warmily clasped. "Linton, I was coming to your lodging. Why, what ails you, man? You arejas white as,a corpse!" "Is it you, Mr Jarvis?" Victor said feebly. "Why, of course it is! —You ought to see a doctor. Surely you are not subject to heart troubles—a great strapping fellow like you? I heard from Mias Lewis of your return to Llanberip, ard called at eight o'clock at your lodgings, but you were not up —went to roost very late, the landlady "informed me. I wanted to be the first to break the good news to you—good news do you hear? Miss Car. rington does not dream that you are back in Llanoeris, or she would have been here to meet you, I'm sure!" 'He looked into the young man's face. "Yes—that is the passing bell. Sir John is dead, and the flags are at half-mast, but you will hear the particulars later." He linked his arm in Victor's. "You wijl go to the Castle at once?" "I don't know. I was coming to see you when I received a letter and telegram from home containing dreadful news! It—it " He could not go on. The,rector looked anxious. "It must have been an awful shock to upset you like that!" "It is ruin and disgrace -for my mother and my sister as well as for me. You will read about it in the papers soon, sir i My father has absconded; he has been speculating with trust funds, or something very like it. The name of Linton will be——l can't stand it!" A sob burst from his lips. "lam both grieved and amazed, Linton. Your father was always a man of iron—why did he not face it out? You might have helpad hin.." "That is just what he reproaches me with! But I had not the faintest knowledge of his tinancial position; and in any event, I could not have been a party to the—the fraud." It was a bitter word to use. "I don't mean in that way." The rector hesitated for a moment. "I mean that you could have borrowed the money. Miss Carrington is wealthy now." Victor's eyes flashed. "Pray don't suggest such a thing I could never have entertained it! Indeed I fear that my little romance is ended for good and all." He spoke sadly but firmly. "You see, my marriage was but a dream; and I was so happy, so hopeful yesterday 1 You have nothing more to tell me, Mr Jarvis?" They were standing at the gate of the rectory. "My dear fellow, I had a great deal to tell you, but you must hear it from Miss Carrington's own lips! Go to her at once. And let us hope that your father's affairs are not in the muddle vou fear; and, if you return to London this evening, you know the best and the worst." ~ "You will probably get a full account in your newspaper," Victor said bitterly. "Ye&—l will go and see Hilda. Good morning, sir! I shall remember your kindness as long as I live."

BY F. I. DACKE, Author of "A Loveless Marriage," "A Change of Heart," •'Trenholme'a Trust," "A Case for the Court," Etc, etc.

CHAPTER XL

Still in a half dazed state, the young man walked back to the village to order a conveyance to take him to Woodcroft Castle. There was no time to be lost. People watched him curiously, but he was not aware of it. Some of the shopkeepers had put up their shutters, but the majority had no respect for the dead Sir John. Victor ordered his conveyance, and then went to the post office to send an answer to Harry Mayhew's telegram. It ran: "I know all. Shall become tonight." He directed it to his mother's address in Euston Square. . "I wonder what the end will be?" he thought, as ht returned to the inn at which he had ordered his carriage. "If I could but look into the future — even one small year ahead! When the crash comes I must take mother and Marian away where no one knows them. What a fearful business! —my father's crime has perhaps ruined the lives of four young people! There must be no mistaken notions of chivalry upon Mayhew'a part. Poor old Harry!" W As the fly drew up the driver touched his hat deferentially. The young lawyer irom London was a man of importance now; he waa the fiancee of Miss Carrington, of Woodcroft Castle. —^

' A WOMAN'S SUGGESTION. Neither the splendor of the morning nor the beauty of the Welsh scenery found favour in Victor Linton's eyes. They glowed with a strange fire, a sort of hopeless yearning, and his face was ever turted toward the gray towers of Woodcroft Castle. He had said that Hilda Carrin,?ton's sudden accession to wealth was an unfortunate interruption to their romantic happiness, and he realised it now with redoubled furce. It the art of the necromancer had been employed she could not have been more completely removed from his lowly sphere. One touch of the magic wand and the peasant maid had becume a princess! The fly rolled over the bridge that spanned the moat and entered the courtyard. Several handsome carriages were moving in the spacious square. Messengers were hurrying to and fro, and liveried servants lolled in the great vestibule. Victor heard a dull, flapping sound, and looked up. A great flag at halfmast on the main tower floated loosely In the wind. A servant had opened the door of the fly, and the ! butler was gravely waiting in the entrance hall. He glar.ced at Victor's card, and his faintly supereilious manner changed to one of mingled interest and respect. He showed Linton into a reception room and left him. ■ Victor paced the soft carpet, his heart cold and dead within him. There was a strange, persistent buzzing in his ears. The joy and hopefulness of youth were gone, and he felt as a man who is prematurely aged from the weight of a great burden. He did not hear the door open or know that Hilda was near him unI til a quick, impulsive hand was laid upon his arm, and her voice was speaking to him words of surprise and welcome. "Victor —Victor, I am so glad that you have come to me! I am utterly helpless in all this confusion.. You read about my uncJe's death in the papers, and that he sent for me at the last?" "Not a word, Hilda; Ido not dare to look at a newspaper! I returned to Llanberis last night very late, and heard that my sweetheart was gone." His eyes were fixed yearningly on her pale face. "How etrangey you act and speak, Victor! Take me in your arms as you did when we parted only a little while ago, and kiss me—kiss me!" He drew her to his breast almost despairingly. "I will, even if it be for the last time!" he thought. "Now I have so much to tell yuo, Victor. And I ha*'e given orders that we are not to be interrupted. Sit here and I will sit beside you." Again he obeyed her as if under a spell, and Hilda related how Sir John had relented toward her on the day of his death. She told him the reason, not sparing her father in the smallest degree. "My uncle must have been a very great man at some period in his life," Hilda continued: "for rotable personages are calling, and scores of telegrams have already arrived from all parts of the country. I can't think how the report has got into the papers so soon—l mean about myself, and my being with him a.J alone at the last." Her tears fell fast, and still Victor made no reply. She nestled closer to him, laying her head upon hsi shoulder. TO HE CONTINUED.