HELD IN BONDAGE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10521, 9 January 1912, Page 2

HELD IN BONDAGE.

OUR SERIAL.

BY L. F. DAGRE. Author of "Sinbed'fl Valley," A Phantom of the Past," "The Shadow of Shame," "Sir John's He&rese," "A Daughter of Mystery," ©to.

CHAPTER XXl—Continued

"Ob, God!" the girl oriecl, in anguish. 'What can bo wrong?" The lightning died away, «nd the ■hall was plunged into impenetrable darkness. S'lie stood, one JJrniid gripping the 'ballustrado on tihe bottom •staircase, (tier (heart still with. sudden fear. She could (hear the rustling of something near to 'her — she almost believed that 'her face and neck were fanned by some hot breath of a creature. Her lips parted, but lier intended cry was only a gasp. Then there came a- loud knocking on a door upstairs, followed by tlhe flickering light cf a candle, and tihe tremulous voice of the housekeeper asking what was tihe matter. "Is it you. Miss Thornton? And down tlhere in your dressing gown! Who is that- banging one of tho bedroom doors? Iv'o nearly been scared out of my senses. Of all the queerest houses!" Margaret turned and hurried up the stairs. "It's Mrs Ward in my room. She sent me out to look for Dolly. She is frantic!" '

more slip knew til)at 'ho pitied her, <and such pity is -only another name for love. "I will leave to-morrow—early. Nothing will ritor my resolve. The rub- ' bh;h nf last night need not be mentioned. I will 1 just go !" Sho sab at tihe op-en window for a lorg time, gazing over the ever-chang-ing but now familiar scene. She had grown to love the sea in all its moods. It was blue now as the sky above, and a million suns wore now reflected in the waves. It would the hard to forget. With all its worries, her stay at Cliff House would bo one of the most sacred memories of her life. Thoughtfully sho chose a book—it was Tennyson — and went up to her nest in the cliff —for the last time, she told herself. She curled Iherself up comfortably, and, opening the volume at random, read a few pages of the familiar "Princess"until she camo to the : isong of tlhe maid: "Tears, idle tears, I know nob what they mean, Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rise in the ihearfc, and gather to ' the eyes." She read on to the last line of the '. song; "Oh, Death in Life, the days that ara no more."

A scornful laugh interrupted her, j and Lootah crept forward, her eyes • fiercely menacing. } "You lie!" she said. "The child is asleep in her own bed. She 'hasn't mov- { ed for hours. What have you done ( with my mistress? You want her out of the wav. The Indian woman knows ' it." ' '

Margaret .pushed past her, and unlocked the door. Mrs Ward was prostrate on tihe floor in a half-swoon, and a torrent of wild words flowed from Lootah's tongue. At last the turmoil was ended; Mrs Ward and tihe Indian were gone. Margaret stood facing the housekeeper. ! "What do you make of it?" she asked. "Mrs Ward hurst in upon me and said that the child was gone. ' I went in search of 'her, locking the door after me. lam sure that I heard and felt somebody in the dark hall. I felt tihe breath of ;a man or woman fan. my face, and I heard footsteps." | "1 can believe you sooner than that nigger woman, miss, because somebody passed me. I'm afraid I can't stand tho place much longer." "It is really nothing 1" Margaret's lip was curling now, and her voice was

scornful. "The nigger is under notice —in fact she goes at the end of the week, and she believes that I am the cause of it. This is some scheme of her subtle mind to bring discredit upon me Your nerves are all awry. Stay Ihere with me. The storm is over, and we shall have daylight in an hour." . The sun rose in a burst of splendour, and when Margaret pulled up the blinds the heavens had never ibeen bluer. She opened the window and breathed the cool fragrance of the morning. But for tihe angry, whitecrested sea, who would have dreamed of the battle of the night ? She dressed and went downstairs rather earlier than usual, and spent an

! hour in the garden, turning over in her min<l the cunning tactics of the ayah. They were as. plain as the sun in tho sky. She was inflaming the mind 1 of Mrs Ward against her in the hope that the half-mad woman would do her an injury while the impulse was upon her. Loot ah had moved the child from her bed, and put her Back again. She. had only partially succeeded in. what she had set out to do, but the significance of it all made Margaret resolve to keep her eyes open till the Indian was certainly away. After breakfast she went in. quest of Dolly, but Mrs Ward's door was closed to her, and in answer to her knock she was ordered to go away. "I will not look upon you again, or have anything to do with you, girl, Mrs Ward called. "You have no right in this house. You are ihere for some evil purpose; you have bewitched Mr Ward. Go—go, and never let me see you again." Her voice rose to «. screech, and Margaret turned indignantly away, her -hands clenched, her eyes aiblaze. It was simply insufferable, and the end was near, but she was not much dismayed. She still 'had her aunt Ellen, and Edith Janson, and her father at a pinch. There were other situations. She spent tilio morning in the 1 ibrary until lunch-time, and then began to tiliink and hope expectantly of the telegram that Patrick Ward had promised to send. It came just after two o'clock, and she ripped it open with feverish fingers. She read, with sparkling eyes:

"Have beaten the enemy. Shall be j homo iu time for-, dinner. P.W." Delightful news! Margaret fluttered up to her room, and began to count t lie minutes before she could express her pleasure to Mr Ward. And tlvat vnry evening sho tliad resolved to tell him that she must leave Cliff House.

It did not seem right that she, a paid stranger, should he so deep in lliis confidence, while this own wife did not know- where'he was or what !he was doing. Of course, «ho was not mentally fit to bo bothered by suoli things; she could not sympathise with anything that Mr Ward was engaged in, and had hot a particle of interest- or undersitanding regarding George Aston. All the same she was sharp enough to resent this increasing friendship between Mr Ward and his lady secretary, and it was not exactly as it should he. Margaret acknowledged it bravely to herself, with burning cheeks and tingling nerves. She had been sorry for his loneliness; she had admired him. for his genius, and she was grateful to | him for his many kindnesses. Further- j

(To be Continued.)

And an echoing pang .brought a verysharp pain to her heart. A few hours longer—to-morrow, even, would end this foolish dream. 1 She closed iher eyes, drowsy in the warmth, her senses lulled by the murmur of the sea, and tlhe book slid from her fingers. She had no idea tow long she had been sleeping, but awoke with a. vague feeling of impending danger. Something was stirring near; then the head and -shoulders of a woman appeared above her, over the rocks, and the face was distorted with Tage and (hate. In 'her right 'hand she gripped a steel paper knife of the Indian make, and lunged desperately at the girl's throat. Undoubtedly the act was one of a maniac—-the gleaming eyes, the \ I panting .nostrils, the foam?flecked lips proved iE. Throwing off her sudden spell of horror, Margaret jumped aside as the knife was descending for j the second time. She could not resist a wild shriek. "Mrs Ward, are you mad? Help, help!" j The knife fell clattering ,at iher feet; the murderous hand vanished, and ! Margaret heard the sound of confused f voices. She was now conscious of a i stinging pain on the right of her neck, touched it with her fingers and saw that they were red with blood. Mrs Ward meant to kill iher. She picked up a li«nip of rock; footsteps were comj ing along the path behind llier; she I would defend herself to the last. She waited pantingly, the rock raised in ! both hands, the blood streaming over

:the .bosom of her dress, and that was the awful sight that met Patrick Ward as'he came along. "Blind fool that I was to leave you unprotected, when I knew —I knew. ■ Gotl, I s!hall never forgive myself! Are you badly Ihurfc, Miss Thornton?". "I don't know," Margaret answered J dizzily. "You had better go and look ' after your wife." Then she half-fain tI ed, and slid to the ground. In an inI stant he was bending over her, and she ' heard liim speaking, as though from a | long way off . ' "Thank God—thank God! Only a l flesh wound. Oh, my darling—my darj ling, if she had killed you, life would i have been ended for me, too!"

CHAPTER XXII. PATRICK WARD'S LETTER, The housekeeper and her two assistants had seen their master jttmp out of his car and race tip the cliff side, but. that anything serious was +.l>« matter had never entered their heads until the ayah came reeling toward the house under the weight of Mrs Ward. They hurried to her assistance, arid between tihein carried their mistress up to her bedroom. She was moaning and babbling, her eyes fixed and staring. Tilie ayah was wringing her hands. Dolly who had been awakened from her •afternoon sleep, was screaming with fright. Then to add to the pandemonium, the master was hello wing from the foot of the stairs to the housekeep-

"Come .down at once. Are you all out of your senses? Miss Thornton is hurt! Help her to undress, and wash the blood away. lam going for a. doctor. Don't he scared to death, my good woman; it isn't the least bit dangerous. And what the devil is all the row about upstairs?" He dashed up to his wife's room, and was horrified hy Iher changed appearance. She lhad been put to bed, and was lying perfectly still; her lips moving faintly, no light of recognition in her fixed'gaze. He took one of her cold hands, his lips ho pressed to her clammy brow, the tears rushing to his eyes. "My poor Amy—poor girl! My burden has seemed hard ; I have been selfish, unkind. Forgive me, hy dear one." Tilio ayah crossed the room, and he cast a fierce glance at her. "You accursed Indian fakir, I wish I had bundled you out of the house a month since. All this is due to your promptings. Take care of your mistress till I get hack with a doctor." Loota'h prostrated herself before him but he hurried away, after taking one j long look at Mrs Ward.