A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10075, 22 June 1910, Page 2

A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

'jHAPTEK XXVIII, - Continued. Ths house and grounds were surrounded by a weii-Ei'own quick-set hedge, and the cottage was embowered in trees. It was only a smail building, containing two sitting rooms downstairs and four bedrooms on the upper floor, tut every line of it was quaint and pictuiesquc. The diamond ®paned windows were half hidden by Virginia creepers, which had vivid crimson since Mrs first visit to ihe place some few wee'\S before. Hundreds of tiny rose". —roses red and roses white —were climbing over the porch up to the bedroom windows, and an early robin piped a shrill sorg of welcome. An old woman came from the rear of the cottage, followed by a large white bulldog, and nodded familiarly to Mrs frost.

"I got a telegram from the agent, ma'am," she said, ".-ayiit' you was comin' to-day; so I've cleaned the house down and lit a fire m the kitchen." "I am much obliged to you," Mrs Frost graciously replied. "You are indee'd thoughtful. I suppose that you :• will be sorry to leave the cottage? I do not knew your name." "Just call me 'Mary,' ma'am. I'm the widder of one o' the old captain's men—one what was drowned off the Goodwins. The captain, he left me a trifle, so I shan't starve. He was very good to me, Heaven rest his soul!" She wiped a tear from her rugged cheek. "Ye?, ma'am, I'm both glad an' sorry to leave tlm cottage and Billy here. It has been very lonesome since the captain died ; out the agent said nobody could be .rusted to take care of the place like me. If you should be wantm' ht Ip, ma'am, I ain't too old to work. I? you don't,' I can go to my brother's — him that ketps the Bine Anchor, nigh to Wflm r Caatle." Mrs Frost listened, while Billy, \ the bulldog, made friends with Hildred, and the flyman deposited the luggage they ,had brought with them upon tha front doorstep, "Marj," the lady replied, "I am glad that you have spokeu. I shall require a servant, bat I did not lilie to mention it to you—you have been practically mistress of the house for so long." "Lor' Mass-you, ma'am, I love every brick—every tree! People have thought I've been lonely since the captain died, Rn' so I have in a way; but I always hear voices in ttie wind or iu the sea. Thank you kindly, ma'am; I'M stay pladiy, an' be a good servant to you." The old woman's honest, weatherbeaten face beamed with pleasure. Fiost paid the flyman, and his wheezy old vehicle rambled down the lane. Billy barked and wagged his tail so energetically as to threaten dislocation, whila Mary busied herself in boiling a big copper kettle to make tea for the ladies. "An' is this the , dear child you spoke about, ma'am?" [she asked, looking [after figure of Hildred. "Ah, nin't she as pretty as apicter!" "1 have two daughters, Mary," her mistress softly replied, her eyes growing misty, "and one is a couth 1 ' med invalid. She will not comb to Rose Cottage for a'few days." After ;the late tea there was quite a busy time in selecting and arranging the bedrooms. While Mrs Frost and Mary were thus occupied, Hildred explored the quaint old garden, with Billy at her heels. A brilliant moon hung in the sky like a silver lamp. A mist enshrouded the earth like a soft bridal veil. "I think I can forget in time that I once had dreams and dreams," Hil- /

BY I}'. L. DACRS, Author of—The Doctor's Secret, A Case for tlio Ccurt, Sir .John's Heiress, A Loveless Marriage, Trenholino's Trust, Etc.

dred murmured. She caressed t' massive head of the bulldog; t looked into its shining, pleased eji ■ - "Yes, I can forget in time; and I may yet understand the meaning i l ptace by,. leading a useful life. TLe world is not quite devoid of truth and honesty. Even this faithful creature would never deceive me. Uoodby, Hildred Dudley—you are but a shadowy mature of the past—a myth which had no real existence. Good-by, Percy Clifford, the man you—• Hildred—worshipped—the man whom you believed to be not of earthly mould. For his sake you .sacnficed all that you held most dear, and your last wish was for his happiness and well-'nei/);?." A convulsive joob shook her tender frame, and the fair face upraised to the great silvery moon was wet wiih tars.

CHAPTER XXIX. "i want to be dead to the WORLD!" It was Sunday morning. The music j of the church bells floated cut on the air. Over pJI things theio seemed to be a holy calm. Even the faca of tha ever restless sea was almost unruffled. The bright sunshine was playing at hide-and teek on the walls of the lifciie sitting room at Rose cottage. The window was open, r'or the air was soft and warm, and the curtains fluttered in the breeze. At the breakfast table Mrs Frost was pouring out the coffee, wliile Hildred sat near, vvilh Billy's head on her lap, and Billy's eyes fixed lovingly on her lace. "Send ihai ridiculous creature away, my dear," Mrs , Frost said, laughingly. "I want to talk to you." "I love Billy already," the girl replied; "I cannot send him away can I, [doggie? We have not yet khown each other many hours, and we are fast friends lor life." Billy [wagged his tail, and his hideous face almost wrinkled into a smile. "I the infirmary this morning," Mrs Frost continued, "and we may expect Eva home to-mor-row. An attendant will accompany her to the station, and train by which they will travel down here will be telegraphed to me. Here is an incisure from my darling. Read it,, please, because I have already told her a little about you." Hildred took the note, which was written in pencil. How tremulous the characters were! It ran thus: "Dear, Dear Mamma: The curse I has just brought me delightful news! i There is uo reason now that I should be detained here one hour longer .tin n is necessary to make the arrangements for my removal. Just think of it! It is now evening, and on Monday evening I shall be with you—only forty-eight hours! 1 think that I shall keep awake and count the very minutes. Already I hear'the ;song of lh3 sea, and feel the breath of the sweet, pure air upon my brow. I want so much to live for a little while longer—oh, so much! Since you left me, after bringing the glorious news, I have been trying to picture how busy you must be—how busy you and Miss Dudley muot be in our new home. 1 hope that your new daughter will love you, dear, patient, loving mother! I think that my chief sorrow has been the knowledge of my helplessness while you have been doing battle for me in the busy world. Is it not wonderful how sorrow and suffering soften and humanise us, how sympathetic and charitable wel becorre? Already I love Miss Dudley j because you love her—because itheie is a strong bond of sympathy between us. The ways of Heaven are hard to understand; but maybe Bliss Dudley has been sent to you to comfort you when Ij am gone. Until Monday, dear, dear mamma, good-by! EVA." ° TO BE CONIIKTTED ;