THIN ICE.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 297, 4 June 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

THIN ICE.

Very bitterly did Helen Le Merchant regret her promise to put in a few wesks at a shooting box in the North of Scotland. When devoted friends of bygone days appeal to the tender sentiments of ' Auld Lang Syne' it is difficult to freeze the gushing torrent of affection, therefore Helen weakly yielded to the importunities of Madge Pakenham, and, in the depth of winter, found herself snowed up in a remote Highland village with positively nothing to amuse her but the incessant billing and cooing of her friend and her recently-acquired husband.

'Thank the gods, Mr Le Marchant never went on in that absurd way,' said Helen to herself. ' How utterly sickening arc erotic inanities to an outsider.' As she had married Mr Le Marchant solely for his money, and had not betrayed any undue amount of grief when he left her a wealthy widow, it is hardly probable that she gave him much encouragement to indulge in ' erotic inanities.' Hipped and bored beyond endurance, she resolved at the end of the first week to announce to Mrs Pakenham the urgent necessity for an immediate return to town. But her invention met with a perfect storm of protest. ' You are very kind to wish mo to remain,' she said, in her gentle, cooing tones.

' Kind !' exclaimed Madge. ' Why it is you avlio are kind to endure the appalling dulness and dreariness of the Arctic regions.' Mrs Le Marchant was exactly of the same opinion ; nevertheless she gently pressed Madge's hand in token of her pleasure in such heroic endurance undertaken in the sacred cause of friendship. 'Then it is settled,' cried Jack, in tones of exultant victory. ' Settled nem, • con. Carried- unanimously, without one dissentient vote. You remain here for at least another month.'

In the exuberance of his delight he seizes! his adoring little wife round the waist, and, lifting her up in the air, bestowed a sounding kiss upon her non-reluctant lips. They had the grace, ultimately, to glance deprecatingly at Mrs Le Marchant, but that lady had withdrawn to the window, and was discreetly gassing out at the driven snow uninhabited, to all appearance, by any living creature. 'lt must be dreadfully dull for you, dear Helen,' observed Mrs Pakenham approaching Mrs Le Marchant and placing her arm round her waist. ' Dear Helen ' detested feminine endearments ; nevertheless, she smiled down on her demonstrative iittle friend as she averred that wintering at the North Pole was, for her, a new and altogether delightful experience. But Madge shook her wise little head and would have none of this polite disclaimer.

' Jack and I have been monsters of selfishness. We thought that because we were delighted to have you with us, you, as a natural consequence, must be equally delighted to have us with you. Isn't that so, Jack V

'You have put the case in a nutshell,' responded Jack, who, having possessed the luxury of a wife for the period of three months only, was quite prepared to swear that black was white should his darling Madge require support in such a statement. ' Everything looks so rosy to us that we expect everybody else to see tho world in exactly the same light,' remarked Madge. ' Precisely in the same rose-tinted light,' said Jack. Helen gaxed pensively out at the leaden sky and the driving snow, and wondered where the rosy tints came in.

' But, Jack,' went on his charming little partner, clasping her tiny hands, ' I have an idea. A splendid idea,' ' All your ideas are splendid, my darling,' responded Jack. And he looked so like making another oscillatory onslaught that Mrs Le Marchant instinctively gathered up her books and needlework and prepared to beat a basty retreat. Fortunately, little Mrs P-ikenhatn was too absorbed to look sufficiently responsive. 'We will ask Sandy

M'Clintock !o come ami spend a week or two. He can go out shooting with you in Hie day, Jack, dear, and entertain poor Helen in the evening.'

' Pray don't trouble on my account,' murmured Mrs Le Marchant, fearful, of the net that appeared to be fast closing roun ! her to prevent her escape. 'By dove, Madge ! ' exclahied her admiring spouse, ' that idea of yours is perfectly ripping. How awfully clever of you to think of M'Clintock.' ' Who is Mr M'Clintock V enquired Helen, more with a view to prevent a fresh outburst of connubial endearments than from any inter est in the intended guest. ' Sandy is a Draw Scotch laddie,' laughed Ma.! 0 M gleefully. ' His father is a ineenister in Aber-rdeen, ye ken, and Sandy is studying in Edinburgh with the same idea. He's not too brilliant, but you'll like him.' 'We will write this very minute, said Jack. And he went away forthwith to suit the action to the word. Madge dutifully followed her liege lord, ostensibly to assist him in rendering the epistle sufficiently urgent, and Mrs Le Marchant was left alone to ponder over the framing of a telegram which should imperatively require her immediate presence in the metropolis. Mr M'Clintock duly came, saw, and was so speedily conquered that even on the morning after his arrival it was with the greatest difficulty that Jack could drag him out for a day's shooting. Only the prospect of bagging a capercailzie and the promise of the ladies that the)* would not fail to meet the shooters at lunch eventually induced him to consent to tear himself away from Helen. ' Sandy is hopelessly gone,' observed Madge, as the two ladies, wrapped in their furs, sped over the frozen snow to the trystiug place. Mrs Le Marchant laughed lightly. Sho was well aware of the power of her charms, and if she must remain a prisoner in this ice-bound region why should she not make the situation more tolerable by amusing her scif with the impressionable Scotchman ? It was a little hard on the unfortunate victim, perhaps, but if a moth will persist in fluttering round a brilliant flame it must expect to burn its wings. One cannot be downright rude to a fellow guest in a friend's house, and should a raw Scotchman be so foolish as to place a wrong interpretation on ordinary civility who is to blame ? Still, she had no intention of giving herself away ; therefore, in response to her friend's announcement that Mr M'Clintock was hopelessly gone, she asumed an air of seraphic innocence, and repeated, ' Gone ? Where V ' Where, indeed !' laughed Midge. ' Wherever you choose to lead him, I shonld say. To Paradise or—the re verse. Which is it to be, eh, Nell V ' You speak in riddles,' observed Mrs Le Marchant, with the slight touch of haughtiness with which she always silenced Madge's inconvenient questions.

' Sorry, said Madge, and she quickly turned the conversation to virulent abuse of the weather, in which she met with the most perfect agreement from her companion. ' I thought you were never coming,' said Mr M'CHntock, in a subdued key, to Mrs Le Marchant. That lady held up her miniature hunting watch. 'My punctuality is always above reproach/ she cried gaily. 'We are here to the minute.'

The minutes were leaden till you appeared,' he murmured. 'Now they will fly all too fast.'

9 ' What bag have you made ?' required Helen. ' I don't know, and I don't care,' replied her adorer. ' Let us stroll on and look at the view from the bridge while the fellows get the lunch ready.' The idea of strolling about to look at the scenery with the thermometer 15 degrees below zero was so never to Mrs Le Marchant that she novel '.bought to a prote it, and suffered herself to be meekly led away by her apparently weather-proof knight. ' I suppose you find this unutterably dull and quiet after the wild vortex of gaiety in London V said Alexander M'Clintockj. ' One has some quiet moments even in the midst of the wild vortex,' laughed Mrs Le Marchant. ' My life is not one eternal round of frivolity,' •Is it not V cried Sandy, with more eagerness than civility, 'I hardly dared to hope that you could put up with this sort of thing.' ' Am I not putting up with ' this sort of thing ' most heroically at this present moment f 'Ah, that is only for a few Heeling davs. 1 meant for life.' ' Good gracious !' exclaimed Mrs Le Marchant, ' What have I done that you should wish to consign me to so terrible a fate V 'Do you not know what you have done V he returned, in accents that trembled with emotion. ' You have robbed me of my heart.' ' Oh,' said Mrs Le Marchant ; ' is that all 1 So it is for petty larceny that I am to be condemned to pine for ever in a mountain fastness. Do you think—seriously, mind—that so trifling a theft deserves so heavy—so very heavy—a punishment?' ' How can you treat a serious subject with such unbecoming levity V he asked reproachfully. 'I did not for a moment suppose

that you were speaking seriously,' returned Mrs Le Marchant. 'Do you imagine that I could make a jest of what may make or mar my whole life V he asked passionately. ' Doubtless the London fop has taught you to hold in very poor estimation man's truth and sincerity.' 'The London fop, with all his faults,' replied Mrs Lo Marchant, ' would hardly presume lo make a moan over his stolen heart on the second day of acquaintanceship.' Sandy looked abashed, his honest blue eyes sough's the ground. ' Forgive me,' he said, humbly. ' I was a rash, presuming fool. Irt my excuse be that I only measure time from the moment I saw you. All that went before seems to me as blank, T forgot the actual number of hours. Pray forgivn me.' To spare her own feelings for the moment she hastened to extend the hand of forgiveness to her penitent adorer, and to atone, by the warmth of her smiles, for tho snub which she had found it necessary to administer. Indeed, so encouraging was her demeanour that the hope of eventually triumphing over the London fop rose once more in Sandy's breast, and Jack remarked, in confidence, to his beloved helpmate that they would live to see Helen installed at tho manse as the wife of their future minister.

1 For I mean to have Sandy hero before very long,' he continued, ' and I know you would like your dear Nell as a next door neighbour.' 'Jack, you are a thought-reador, exclaimed his admiring wife. ' You have put into words the very idea that has been filling my brain for the last week.'

In furtherance, of their desire, the two arch plotters planned a skating excursion, and, at the eleventh

hour, Madgo was hypocrite enough to plead a bad headache. Of course, Jack could not be so heartless as to leave his adored one under such distressing circumstances, thus Mrs Le Marchant and Sandy M'Clintock wero left to a solitude 'a deux.' The day was gloriously line. The sun shone resplendent in the unusually blue sky, and there was a dangerous softness in the that betokened a rapid change of weather. 'Do you think that the ice will bear V inquired Mrs Le Marchant. ' It seems to me that a thaw has set in. I shall not venture on it if it looks sloppy. I detest getting my skirts wet.' ' I will not endeavour to persuade you to go on unless the ice is in perfect condition,' he replied. The ice was apparently in splendid order, and the brisk exercise lent a brighter rose to Helen's fair cheek and exercised a soothing influence over her temper. ' This is delightful,' she exclaimed, as they sped along over the smooth surface. ' I am glad yuu can take a delight in such simple pleasures,' he said. 1 Why V she inquired, laughing. ' Because I feared that only such things as are, far neyond my power to bestow—such as routs, dinners, operas, ball—would bring any satisfaction to your soul.' ' You evidently think that I have a very sordid soul,' returned Helen, with a touch of coquetry. ' You are perfectly aware that I think you everything that is adorable,' he replied. ' How should I be aware of anything of the kind V she asked, archly. ' You have never said so.' ' Some thoughts have no need of words. You guessed mine, and your guess was perfectly correct.' ' Y"ou must have a high opinion of yourself to fancy that I endeavour to read your thoughts.' • A man who has not a high opinion of himself is worth no good woman's consideration.' 1 A frivolous society butterfly, such as you consider me, cannot be counted, in your estimation, a good woman.' ' I would rescue you from your butterfly existence, which is unworthy of you, and raise you to a higher, fuller life.' ' Upon mv word, Mv M'Clintock !' exclaimed Helen. Then, with a sudden revulsion of feeling, she turned ghastly pale, and clung frantically to the man whom she affected to despise. ' "VVhat's that ?' she gasped, in an agony of fright. 'That' was an ominous crack and an upheaval of the treacherous support beneath their feet. ' Quick Y cried M'Clintock. ' Skate as fast as you can, for dear life. It is our only chance.' He started off at tremendous speed, supporting her, half fainting as she was, in his strong grasp. A few moments of agonising suspence, and they were safe on the bank once more, and all danger was past. Helen forced a smile to her pallid lips. ' 1 was silly to be so scared,' she said. 'lt was nothing after all.' ' The danger was very real,' he replied. 'The river here is deep and full of weeds.' Helen laughed to hide her emotion. ' 1 need not be so ashamed of my fears if you were frightened too,' she said. ' My fears were entirely for you,' he returned. A reckless mood seized her. ' Prove it,' she cried, gaily. ' Prove your words, and who knows but that the fair lady may be won by the courage of her doughty knight.' She flung her dainty velvet muff, with its jewelled chain attached, far on to the ice. It skimmed over the glassy surface until it nearly

reached the opposite bank. me my muff and chain,' sho said, with a witching smile. ' Then I shall know that you are not afraid, and I promise my hand shall reward your prowess.' He returned and looked gravely into her eye?, and then, without a word, he refastened his skates and made his way down the steep bank. Hardly had be reached the middle of the river when, close behind him, a large fissure yarned, wide and threatening, and through the opening the black water came bubbling up, flooding the ice in all directions. Helen gazed after him, a prey to remorse and grief. What if her careless, cruel words should have driven him to his death 1 It was a race for life. His only hope lay in his spend and in his iron nerve. Only let him pursue his onward rush aud he may yet escape the fast flowing waters. See, he is Hearing the opposite bank. A few more yards and he will be safe. In an ill-fated moment he stooped for the muff and trinket she had so wantonly castaway ; beneath bis weight the treacherous ice gave way, and the next instant he was struggling for his life in the icy waters. It was a hard fight, but the strong resolute man prevailed, and ns he gained the bank Helen fell on her knees in a transport of thankfulness and joy. M'Clintock signed to her from the opposite shore that he would have to go round by the bridge, and that she was to make her way home alone. It was not till the half hour before dinner that she saw him again. She was lying back in a low chair with her eyes closed, pondering over the sweet words of love and thanks that she would pour into his willing ears. She looked up suddenly and saw him standing before her. She half rose to greet him, but at the look in his eyes she sank back, and the smile of greeting faded from her parted lips. Sho had never met a good man's look of utter contempt before. ' I restore your bauble,' he said. ' You graciously offered me a reward for its recovery. But I will forbear to claim it. lam recompensed sufficiently in having been happy enough to risk my life in your service, and by being able to prove to you that a Scotchman is no coward." So saying, he laid the golden chain with its flashing gems in her lap, and, turning on his heels, was gone.

' Whatever have you been saying to poor Sandy V cried Madge, entering the room in consternation. ' Me insisted on Jack driving him to the station, and they have just this moment started."

Helen forced a mirthless laugh. ' " Poor Sandy " has been saying something very much to the point to me,' she replied. ' I have recognised a true and noble heart only just in time to lose it. I began by despising him—he has taught me to despise myself.' And then, to her friend's utter amazement, she burst into a flood of tears.