A DEEP GAME. OR THE HONOUR OF THE TREVELLANS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10577, 7 March 1912, Page 2

A DEEP GAME. OR THE HONOUR OF THE TREVELLANS.

QUE SERLIXi.

By Mrs Da Winter BaKvr, Author of "Tbe Sin of Oariae," "Sir Blandford'a Protegee,"- -'For Weal or. .Woe, etc.

CHAPTER Llll—Continued. In silence now they strode along toward ho 'hotel Hue do Rivoli. Already KriVs head was n trifle higher—his thin fingers were clenched and unclenched nervously. And., now, in a. few minutes, he would ho the happiest nuui in the 'world. By train andljoat he would rush :back to England to tell his darling Ltctice. His reputation unblemished,.his name cleared forever, he would strain tliat little golden head to his heart mid neveA-never .let her go again. After the past few days of darkest despair and misery, the bliss of this thought was almost incredible. They reached the door of the hotel now, iand with eager haste Eric hurried up itihe broad staircase to the glass door*, with Jason following close ■behind. They wero both inside tho vestibule, i -Erie ahead and Jason behind, when three people sprang from their chairs ■and rushed forward ito him. Instan.tlv the grass doors iswung open again, and with -a gasp of rage and black disappointment, Jason who had immediately recognised Lattice and Cole, clattered down the steps. He raced mindly along .the street, with Cole in hot pursuit. TCric,to bally unconscious of what had happened, held Lettice in his arms and j showered kiss after kiss upon her up- , turned face. I Vainly Adelaide tried to make them understand tt'lie impropriety of such a thing in. the vestibule of a public hotel. CHAPTER LIV. MORE EXPLANATIONS. "How did you know I was here?" ' "Have you (heard the news?' "All a huge trick." "Sir Thomas Trcvellan absolutely innocent." "Terrible blackmail." A blurred, excited buzz of excited answering and questioning followed j for some minutes. Then Eric, having been introduced to "Adelaide, led the (two girls away into a quiet corner, j where they would not he seen or o'verI heard. Here, Lettice, from her 'own sweet •lips, told him the story of the Trcvellan Castle mystery. Very lovable, i and pretty slhe looked in her close-fit-ting dress'of soft cloth. Tears of sheer happiness trembled on her long, dark lashes as she felt her lover's arm steal round her waist and press her to his side. Adelaide, deep in a paper, pretended not to see. "My darling—-my darling!" whispered Eric, "do you think I am a coward for running away? The 'awful shock unhinged my brain, I think. I felt that it would defile you even if I looked at you again. And now—now it's all over—just a. dreadful dream, and yon are safe again in my arms. Oh Lettice, sweetheart, it's almost too good to be true. How did you find out I was here?" Lettice gently squeezed the strong hand that held hers, and smiled up at her handsome lover. "I have promised Mr Cole to scold you, Eric," she said, "but I don't think I can. Never mind how I found you, dear. I'll tell you later on. How happy I am, and how I love you. Let mo hear .you say it again, Eric. It is such ages since I 'heard you say it." "Darling girl of my heart—l love you," came the soft reply. In thai- . dark corner their lips met in one long, rapturous kiss. w 1 There came a sudden interruption, j Cole had arrived on the scene. I "Gave mo the slip," he announced. "Norman—you, too,' Eric cried, and rose and gave his friend 'his hand. ''What are you doing here ? Who has given you the slip?" "Jason—he was just behind you as you came -into .tjhe hotel just now."_ "Jason?" Eric started back. He had completely forgotten about ,his compact with the rascal. Rapidly he explained what he was about to do when the others turned up. "And tho worst of it is that I owo mv Hfo to him," concluded Eric . ""Your life?" exclaimed three voices simultaneously. ,;. Eric related the story of the anonymous letter, the scuffle at the comer of the Impasse Verron, and the timely arrival of Jason, to the accompaniment of frightened gasps from the two sisters. , \,- "Well—l don't think ho will escape, •anyhow," said Norman. "Luckily, I | .spotted one of the Scotland Yard men out in tho street, and put him on the track. • You needn't have any scruples about giving evidence against him it he is caught, Eric. That story about "being innocent is all bluff. If anything —ho is a far greater scoundrel than his sister, Grace Omer. They are brother and sister, you know,' he added, seeing the look of surprise on Erie's fllce - ~ . , ~, Again they fell to discussing the full story, and talked on ceaselessly till late'in the morning. "These English are mad—mad] muttered the hotelkeeper in despair, ■as he left the little group in charge of the night watchman, and retired to bed. The clocks of Paris were striking four when the party at last rose, having made their plans for the future. "By the way, Norman —you will bo my best man, of course,' 'Eric said as they strolled toward the staircase. "Yes—if you will he mine," was Cole's mysterious rejoinder. "Yours, old man? You, the eonfirmed bachelor, the misogynist—you in need of a host man! Oh, I say, this is news. Lettice —Miss Adelaide,

did you hear that? Here's your sturdy, j solid old cavalier going to'be married. •' What is it Norman —the Paris air, or what?" Erie appealed eh a Singly to the two .sisters, and smote his chum vigorously on tho back. Adelaide blushed up to her temples, hut. her eyes shone brightly. She was half way up the first flight of stairs, j and now loaned over th balustrade, j "No—it's—its me, Sir Eric!' sho ex--1 claimed most ungraimmaitiieally, and j catching Lettice unceremoniously by tho waist whisked her off to bed . Cole burst into a peal of laughter. "One back on you, my gay young spark of a baronet," he chuckled, as together the two men mounted tho stairs to their rooms. CHAPTER LV. JASON'S RETRIBUTION. Colo descended next morning to find quite a little group waiting for him in-the vestibule of the hotel. It consisted of the Scotland Yard detective, two Paris police officials, and a gendarme. He was taken to the manager's private office and asked to listen to the gendarme, who had a little story to tell. It was a curious tale of a yet more curious retribution that he heard when the party was duly seated, the gend'anne alone remaining on his feet. "Proceed!" said one of the police officials. The gendarme opened a capacious pocketbook and commenced to read. Cole, who spoke French very fluently, listened in amazement. "T was on duty in Impasse Verron, in the quarter St. Denis, shortly after midnight last nig'hit, in company with Jules Carron, forty-three, fifty-four, Paris 'police, when we heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming toward us, ■but still a good distance away. The street was dark,we could see scarcely a yard in front of us. Suddenly the footsteps stopped. There was a terrible shriek, followed by a gasp. We ran mat full speed to find the most notorious 'Apache' in the neighbourhood, bending over the dead body of a man. Blood poured from a deep wound over his' heart. Wo could see this by the light of our lanterns. Immediately the 'A pache'—wlio is well known to us as "The Infant"—sprang up and confronted us. Ho carried a knife, dripping witli the lifdblood of his victim—and he brandished it at us. "Jules Carron closed with him, and I tackled him from behind. Together wo overpowered him, but not before my companion and me also were stabbed several times —you will see my right hand is bandaged. We blew our whistles and assistance came quickly. Seeing that.further resistance was useless ,the murderer suffered himself to be taken away to the nearest police station, where'we safely locked him up and looked to our wounds. The dead body of the victim was presently sent in, and the sergeant examined it." The name 'Mark Jason was found on several letters and documents, and a letter addressed to .'William Omer,' and signed 'Mark Jason' ~ (To be Continued.)