A TERRIBLE MISTAKE
OHAPIEK XX VIII. - Continued. , Mrs Froat at once became the calm, practical woman of the world. There was so much to be done, and the day ( was drawing to a close. The bulk of the luggage was left at the station, and was to be delivers the next morning by the expressman. Only that which was absolutely necessary for immediate use wai put on top of a fourwheeled fly. "It is three milep to Kose Cottage," Mrs Frost remarked to Mi hired. "That is the name of our new home, dear; and we must buy some supplies in the town and take them with us this evening. I think that you will ba delighted with the'cottage. It is Bituated within half a mile of the sea, in the midst of a large well-stocked garden. p rorn the upper windows there is a splendid view of the ruins of a old castle, where the spray falls in torrents." "It must be very beautiful i" the girl murmured absently. "The cottage is small," continued her companion,, "and has a somewhat melancholy history. li was built a few years since by an old seaman whose boat had been wrecked off the Goodwin Sands, several hands being drowned, among them his only son. There he lived alone with a large bull dug, and appeared to spend the greater part of his time gazing anxiously through a long telescope, in thei direction of the treacherous Goodwins. A year since he died; but the old bulldog is still at Rose Cottage." "lam glad!" Hildred remarked. J'l love dogs" - "And we shall need Billy for protection. There are no neighbours within a mile. Now lam going to leave you while i do my shopping. I will not be long." Mrs Frcst requested the driver to stop, for the wheezy old fly had crawled into the main street of the town. In a very short time she' had visited half a dozen shops, and the interior of the vphicle was nearly filled with a heterogeneous collection of packages. "There!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "I have laid in supplies, for at least a week, and arranged with the various tradesmen to call for orders. There is nothing more to be done now, so we will go straight home." She smiled brightly and cheerfully, and'laid a. caressing land upon Hildnd's gloved fingers. The driver whipped up bis horse J and then the girl spoke-wistfully, earnestly. "Dear Mrs Frost, you have been so good to me—so kind !' But lam not altogether thoughtless, arid I have been wondering how we are,to live," . "I have sufficient money for present needs. Why should you trouble about the matter?" "But T must work for myself* Mrs Frost. Even if you were rich, I could not consent to be a burden upon you," Hildred said resolutely. "Besides, I should be miserable if I had nothing to do." "There will be plenty to occupy us both, dear, if you will only be patient," Mrs Frost replied,. "You will soon 'discover that I am a woman of resource, audi think that you will readily assent ,to my schemes when the adoption of them becomes a necessity. We have first of all to set our house in order; after that we will consider the best mean* by which we may supply our simple . requirements." "I have only a few shillings ii my purse," Hildred confessed. "I would not keep Mr Clifford's money—l could not!" Her voice became husky. "I left all that he had given to me where I know that he will find it. I have a few trinkets of my own, but
BY J<'. L. DACKE, Author o£—Tho Poctor's Secret, A Case for thp Court, Sir John's BeireßS, A Loveless Marriage,' Trer, holme's Trust, Etc.
I do not think they are worth very ' much." '< "You will have no need to find out I their intrinsic value, ' wa?i the sympathetic rejoinder. "I have fifty ■ pounds saved 'ip, and feel as rich as Croesus. Do not for one moment imagine that 1 am rushing headlong into something foolishly speculative. The cottage v;ill serve a double purpose and its peculiar isolation is one of its greatest advantages. In addition to the gratification ot my dying child's fondest wishes, we shall be enabled to receive at least one patient to whom careful attention and fresh pure air ure indispensable. One of the \isiting doctors to the infirmary suggested the idea to me, and it appears that such invalids are highly remunerative. I could not undertake the responsibility alone, Hildred, and now you must see that you are an indispensable person in this little household." She laughed pleasantly. "Now, am I not a most i practical individual?" The girl smiled faintly. "I do not want to leave you; but I cannot be a burden upon you, Mrs Frost," she said. "You must teach me how to work." . "You shall never leave me!" was the emphatic rejoinder; and the elder lady looked wistfully into her companion's sad. pale face. "Not for a very long time—not until some honest gentleman awakens love-—" "Don't—don't!" Hildred cried, bonified. She turned deathly white, and her lips quivered. "Never speak to me in that way again! It is wicked!" Mrs Frost was startled by her passion and pain—by the flash of anger and terror in her eyes. | "lam sorry dear," she faltered. "Until now I did [npt understand how much you cared for Mr Clifford." Hildred did not reply. The town of Deal was now a long way behind, and the fly rattled along a broad stony road. To the right the sea was thundering upon the shore —its keen breath seemed to pierce her very brain. "I only wanted to die!" she rebelliously. "Whv should I live when I am so utterly wretched and hopeless?" She recalled Longfellow's "The City and the Sea," and .the words fascinated her: "Th<i panting City cried to the Sea, "I am faint with heat—O breathe on me!" "And the sea said, 'Lu, I breathe; but my breath To some will be life, to others death!' ' "As to Prometheus, bringing ease In pain, come Oceanides, "So to the City, hot with the flame Of the pitiless sun, the East wind came. "Itfcame from the heaving breast of the deep. l Silent pa dreams are, and sudden as sleep. , "Life-giving, death-giving, which will it be, O breath of the merciful, merciless, sea!" tJtfMh For days and days afterwards the words haunted her: "Life-giving, [death-giving, which will it be, 0 breath of the merciful, merciless sea?" The fly suddenly came to a stop, and the driver jumped down from hia box, "Rose Cottage," ma'am," he said, addressing Mrs Frost; and Hildred was at once interested in her future home. TO BE CONTINUED
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19100621.2.3
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10074, 21 June 1910, Page 2
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,130A TERRIBLE MISTAKE Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10074, 21 June 1910, Page 2
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Wairarapa Age. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.