The Swoop of the Vulture

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10714, 5 October 1912, Page 2

The Swoop of the Vulture

"OIP SERIAL.)

t'HAl'TKft XXV. (Continued.) "And [-■''■• v ir::y 1 ;!sk you a ques-r-a.d l-Lvl'.-cy frit mens, with 1 st*l! : control, and vet feeling that lio liad turned JjitTf a siiado paler. "How lias it been possible for you to discover that, and why .should you find any reason for t:>tkiitl am a person whom En t tone wishes to identify as somebody else?''

"I am able to answer your question more frankly than you were able to answer mine. If was all perfect'.y simple. I met Grace Enstone last night at Lady Bcrmondsey's, and got lio* talking. Your name came up, and she, not knowing that f was at

ail interested in the matter, told mo that, after .seeing you riding in the park yesterday morning, her husband had got an idea that lie had met you before in America, but that you had -said afterward, at Mrs RowelGrover's garden party, that you had never been anywhere in the States except in the cities. When I got home I found a copy of rhe cablegram which Harold Enstone sent yesterday afternoon to Pinebhdf City, and an answer from the mayor, saying that lie had found five citizens who could swear to Collier Ban field if they saw him, and that he was sending them to England by the next fast boat."

"But how on earth could you, even with your influence, get copies of private cablegrams like tliosje."

"I would remind you that the telegraphic clerks are not all incorruptible, and that a sort of telegram pres■scutting agency isn't altogether impossible. Of course, it is expensive; but. fortunately I can afford to indulge ho whim, and i assure you we find it a great deal more useful than most whims are." "I think I understand. I have heard of these little arrangements before. And I suppose it is quite easy for the personal matter to K e t conveniently mixed up with the official." "Exactly; and there is not the slightest reason why. since it is so dif-

ficult for von and me to have any

secrets from one .another, you should not understand t.he circumstances. But now the point is, what ought we to do?". "In other words," he said, "what

use ought I to make of the valuable information wliicli you have brought me?" He paused for a moment and looked steadfastly at her. If she did not know the truth already, was n .1 this precisely the moment to put li m- love to the rest of knowledge? If she

could survive that revelation. surely there could hardly he a"y extreme to which it would not lead Cara Nahelf. "Cara," he said, speaking more tenderly than she had ever heard him speak before, "as you have just said, it is difficult for us to have any secrets from each other, so now tell me quite plainly ho»v you would regard me if von knew that Harold Et>,stone's suspicion was correct. and that the arrival of these people from America will prove it?" "T knew it before T came here," she said qitiotlv. "and the fact that I have come is a sufficient answer.'' "More than sufficient; and you—yon, with yon.r beauty, your wealth, your brilliant' position in the ,world would still be willing to join your lot with a man who was once Collier Banfield?" "The man with whom T would join hands," she said, with just the faintest quiver in her voice, "is Hedley Siemens, if ho was anybody else in the past, that has nothing to do with me. I have love in the present and not in the past, and T look only at the future."

"Hut I am afraid that there is yet another ofleiise that you will have to forgive, Cara, before you and T can join hands with perfect understanding and confidence."

"T know what you are gonig to say. \You are going to ask me to iorgive you for loving another woman. Well, that is the greatest, of all offences that a woman can forgive in the man she loves. But, perhaps, lam not altogether like other women. 1 may be better than some, and, so far as my potentialities go, I niigh very possibly be worse ban a great many. You love Grace Enstone with what T may perhaps call the sentimental side of your nature, and possibly your tender feelings are made more tenderer by the knowledge that she is unattainable."

"Yes, it is true that T love Grace En stone, jus-; in the way you sug-

gest." "As a wife or —what?" "Wife?'' lie muttered. "Xo, not for preference. There is only one wife, one real helpmate in the world

BYOWEM MASTERS. Author of "His Heart's Desii e," "Ono Impassioned Hour," "Captain EmNn's Bride/ "TIIO Deverell Heritage," "The Ironmaster's- Daughter " etc.

lor me now. Cara," lie went on. -.•:»t<-hi::g her by the wrists:, "and there ;■ no need for me to leii you who that is. No oher woman could have done, what you have dor.e this morning, and no other woman ever shall. Will you come?"

she whispered, as he drew her toward him.

In the next moment she was in hit: arms, his lips were upon hers, thrilling with the passion with whicJi she Jiad eo subtly inspired him. "When he at length released her, .sho walked away to the window, and after looking out oyer the park for a few moments she turned and faced him, her body. inclined backward a little, her draperies falling in perfect, lines, her exquisite shape framed by the softly tinged hangings of the window, her lips slightly parted in a half smile, her cheeks slightly flushed, and her eyes aflame —a perfect vision pf Jhhat extreme lovel'inefs which was created to save or damn the souls of men. "And. now," she said, in a low, soft voice, "shall I tell you why 1 was able to forgive you that offense which is the most grievous in the eyes of a woman who loves the man that lias committed it?"

For the moment ho was utterly intoxicated bv her beauty and the sensous delight of that long embrace. She had come to conquer, and her success was supreme. She had made him love her as she had wished him to do, in spite of his passion for Grace Enstono. She had won, and she was magnificent in her triumph. For the first time in his life Hedley Siemens found himself mastered |instead of mastering. He spoke unsteadily :

"Tell mo? Yes, Cara. do." "Very well," she replied, with another dazzling glance, "I will, and the explanation is very simple: on love Grace Enstone after the sentimental fashion. I love you, and therefore I hate her : and when a woman hates another she gets back to the instincts of the primeval- savage. She wants revenge, and 'that revenge I mean to have on Grace Enstone."

"■Bitty ,ho.w?" 'he ask*!. |rnt.her weaklv. "how can that be possible. - '''

"Most things are possible to those whose love mid hate are strong enough," slie replied. "Listen. and T wiH tell you : Tn the first place, Harold Enstone's abolition is now as vitally necessary to mo as it in to vou. and that ought to take nlace before these people arrive from America. At the came time we must remember that this is not quite so easy an achievement in thi« eountrv as it would be elsewhere. Now, there is a castle ! that- T know of not very far from the | border of Russian Poland. Tt is- part \ of 111 v ancestral heritage. and i: oir 1 of the most conveniently remote places in Europe. Tt is about fifteen j miles from the nearest mail town, surrounded on all sides by leagues of piiie forests, and those forests are inhabit, miles round by the descendants of my grandfather's' serfs, who are, fortunately, stupidly and ignorantly loyal to the house of Xatieff. Tt is not exactly 'the sort of place that one would select for a honeymoon, but T think that matters might lie arranged that we could spend a portion of ours there, with \Fr and Mrs Ens'tone as our quests." "T see —T see,'' he said softly. "We could be married by special license," she went o-n; "and since we are both patrons.of the institute, it would not be difficult to hold our {•ecention there. The Enstones would be among our guests. Tt would be easy to arrange for an interview. a little-private seance; and I if things work out as T wish them to, T, your wife, in my old Polish stronghold, will make von a present of Grace Enstouo as my ancestors did with their serfs. Xo unman could wish for a sweeter revenge than that, could she?" (To be Continued.)