The Swoop of the Vulture.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10711, 16 September 1912, Page 2

The Swoop of the Vulture.

'OIF SfcUiAL.i

BY OWEN MASTERS. Author of "His Heart's Desire," "One Impassioned Hour,' "Captain Emlyn's Bride," "The Deverell Heritage," "The Ironmaster's Daughter," etc.

CHAPTER XIII. (Continued.) The sight of his accomplice) and betrayer had acted like a tonic on Doctor" Halkine. He was puzzled and annoyed by tho cheerful, almost jaunty air which the ex-lawyer wore, in such strange contrast with his prison dress. He did not know that ■|io was being paid at the rate of aboutthree thousand a year for the degradation which had already ceased to affect him, and for the light labor, and easy, healthful conditions of what is called penal servitude. For him there was no limitless desert to cross, only a narrow strip, on tho other side of which he would enter free of debt and danger, and with .several thousand pounds in bin pocket. lint if he could have .seen Halkine as lie looked so persistently at the narrow, flagged pathway over which they took their dreary hour's tramp, morning and afternoon, day after day,week after week, month after month. If 'he could have seen that, as Halkino longed with a fierce desire to make lum see it, every waking I hour of his sentence would have been i filled, not with complacent'reflections I upon his coming prosperity, but with | a haunting horror that would never j havo left liim by day, and. would have' made his dreams hideous by night, for what Halkino saw was the somber figure of Ram Dass. waiting outside tlio prison doors until they should open to let Bonham Denver forth once more into the world of m°n — I and then, even while he was rejoicing inliis new-found freedom, the stealthy shape would dog his every footstep, the brilliant black eyes would watch his every movement, the softly treading feet would follow him in all his' comings and goings, until the hour ana the opportunity came, and the cord of the strangler would bo cast about his neck, and his life would go out in a few quick, choking sobs. There is no antidote to despair like the hope of revenge and from his first meeting with his betrayer in the prison yard, Halkino began to live a new life. He began to learn that thero, is hope even for the hopelpss, and in conj temptation of the ghastly doom which ho had prepared for the man to whom j he owed his- fate, his spirits rase, and I with them 'his powers gradually came bar 1 : t:i him.

Warder Jackson took out his note- j lx>ok and, pencil, and committed a very serious breach of the regulations —a breac.li which would havo certainly got him disrated, and probably dismissed—with tho fumbling, mechanical motions of a man half asleep. Halkino took the paper and pencil from him, and said : "Now open the door, and go about your work; but don't forgot that you are Jonner Halkine's servant." "No, sir, I won't forget," he murmured, touching his cap mechanically. Then the eye disappeared, a cool hand touched his forehead, and tho next moment ho woke to sec tho prisoner standing at attention at the other end of the cell. He opened the door, and went out, feeding a little dazed, and with a slight pain at the back of his head. While ho was eating his solitary breakfast that morning, Halkine wrote in his neat, clear hand on the loaf from the notebook the following letter : "BONHAM DENY KB, traitor: For the sake of money you havo condemned me to a living death. You have destroyed all the hopes, aspirations, and ambitions of a life that might have lieen of inestimable service to mankind. For this you shall die! When tho prison doors open for you, as you hope they shall never open for me, Ram Dass* will l>e standing beside you, waiting for you. Y'oii may not see him, but he will be there. Other eyes, too, will watch you, other powers, which you know nothing of will encompass you till tho hour of vengeance comes, and then you will die! You shall think of this every hour of every day, and in your dreams the avenger shall stand beside your bed. For you the day of release slitli bed. For you the day of release shall not live to enioy the price of your treachery. This is your sentence of death. You have yet years to der the shadow, and they shall "bo years of fear and torment to you — and of hope to me. Your suffering shall be rfiy delight. It may drive you mad, but I hope it won't, for I wish you to taste--every horror of the ; slowly approaching doom that shall infallibly be -yours." - At dinner time the closely folded slip of paper reached Denyer by the obedient hands of Warder Jackson; and -when Halkine met the man who was now his victim in tho exercise yard' that afternoon, saw at a glanco that his vengeance had already begun i to worl The air of cheerful patience I and resignation was gone; the head 1 was bowed, and the steps had lost all their -spring. Tho rosy lace had tinned gray in a few hours, and his eyes that had looked out straight and steady in tho morning, were now shifty and furtive, looking , slantingly this .way and that, as though they were alaredy seeking the spectre that was to como nearer day by day until iS took actual human form, and the. upraised arm ol : vengeance- fell. "I am avensred already," said Halkine to himself, as he returned to his cell, after hunting his victim with his eyes during the whole exorcise hour,-* "Sentence of certain death, with four and a half years of prison life to think about it! Even J. can t sav that I envy him."

One morning when his prolwtion was nearly approaching its end, he felt his mental forces so far restored that he determined, even at the risk of punishment, to make a trial of them. The half-past-five bell rang, and he turned out of his hammock, dressed, rolled u;> his blankets, and. stow.vl the hammock with the mechanical quickness and precision that the discipline of liis durance had taught him. Then he set "out his polished tin utensils ready to receive the tasteless breakfast Which only hunger made him eat, and stood to attention awaiting the opening of his cell door. Presently he heard the iinglitig of keys along the corridor, and the rattling of locks as the spring bolt's were shot back. As the now familiar sound came nearer and nearer, lie braced himself for the effort he was' about to make. The key rattled in the lock of his door, it swung back, and the warder looked in.

"That's right," lie said kindly, as lie' ran an. approving-eye over the tidy cell, "always keep yourself smart and up to time* and it'll make things a lot easier for you afterward.. Get your things ready now, and sweep out. Hey, there! what- are, you looking at ino like that fftr?" His voice faltered away into a

CHAPTER X.LY

MORE OF HALKINE'S MAGIC. Although lie rejoiced greatly in the possession of his re font ill powers, ant although the drab monotony of ins prison life was almost transfigured bv the glowing speculation .n which ho indulged as to the, possible vise to which he could put them, .lenncr Halkine was far too .discreet to make indiscreet use of them. For the present he contented himself with keeping Warder Jackson, who happened to"be a peculiarly sensitive subject, more or less completely under bis control. (To be Continued.)

whisper, as.Halkine's eves caught his. They seemed to grow bigger and bigger, to come nearer and nearer, until they came together, and all he could see was one great, luminous eve star, ing through' into the depths of his soul. Then ho heard a. far-away voice, gentle and low, but very distinct, saving: , : - J "Yes, I know that you were going to say 'that it is against the regulations. Well, never mind about'regulations now; I want to talk to you." "You know that'prisoners musn't — —" the warder began feebly, and then stopped. "Are not allowed to talk,''' repeated the voice. "Yes, but you will allow me to talk, won't you? and you will oblige me by. shutting that door." The last words came sharp and quick, and had a ring of authority in them. The eye came closer, and gometiling like a huge hand moved swiftly to and fro before his own eyes. He turned mechanically and shut the door. "That's "right," said tho voice; "thankyou. I'm glad you understand me. I will not delay you, because that "might lead to unpleasantness for both of us. What is your name, and who are you?" "Robert Jackson, warder of the second class," -replied the man,looking up, and speaking like automaton. "You aro 110 such ' thing," replied

tho voice sharply. "Your name is Robert Jackson, but remember you are my body servant —Jenner Halkine's body servant, and as such bound to obey his orders. Do you understand ■me?'' < "Yes, sir," replied the warder ,iu a dull, impersonal Fort of voice. "Very well," replied the voice sharply. "Now tear a page out of your notebook, and give me. your pencil. Make haste, or they'll be wondering what you are doing here all this time."