The Storgteller. UNDER A STRANGE MASK.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 321, 30 July 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Storgteller. UNDER A STRANGE MASK.

BY FRAMy BARRETT. CHAPTER VI. —WHAT CAME OF KEDLANDS' VISIT TO THE GAP. What Marian's feelings were she never confessed to me—indeed, I own to having supplied more than one hiatus in the narratives of these two young people—she only tells me that just theu l the bell began to tingle in the little room adjoining and she had to go and fetch the postmistress to take the telegram from the wire. It was from old Sylvester, addressed to Marian Sylvester, Dalegrove Courb; dated November 20 at Ainalfi. and ran thus. • I will come and decide the point in question. Shall probably arrive at Soecliff about tha 28th. Will send telegraph when I reach England.' Miß3 Sylvester was at first simply astonished. This was, of all things, the most unlooked for. To think that this old man—over eighty —after fifty years' absence from England, should undertake a fatiguing journey from the south of Italy—an invalid going north when all others were going south —was, indeed, surprising, and hardly to be explainod by the fact that he was undoubtedly eccentric. It could not be merely to settle the financial question that he came ; again and again he had made it clear that h» took no interest in the estate whatever, and washed his hands of it entirely. What, then, could be his motive? There was but one conclusion: that just as the flame of a candle flickers up before dying out, some flash of human sentiment had animated the old man's heart, and warmed it with a desire to look once more upon his native country, and to see his son's child before he died, •With this hope Marian's responsive heart glowed with pleasure, and she at once began to revolve in her mind what room she should prepare for her grand-father, what means she should take to insure his comfort and satisfaction, First of all, she must let me know; so she wrote out the text of her grandfather's telegram, in doing which she was reminded that now it would be impossible to conclude the purchase of Redlands before old Sylvester's arrival; and I daresay this reflection gave her quite as much delight as the prospect of meeting her grand-father. Meanwhile Lord Redlands was making his way to Black Rock Gap —and a very bar] way he found it when he got off the high road and well on to his own estate —the ragged road no better than a watercourse, and the land on either side covered with a tangled growth of briar and brake, that only a poacher could make his way through. Down he went into the Gap, stepping as neatly as he could from stone to stone in avoiding the pools of stagnant slush and the stream of muddy water, until he came to a turn whence one gets a fairly comprehensive bird's-eye view of the village. There lay the thatched cottages huddled together in the hollow between two bold ragged hills, the beach below with the two boats stranded; a crumbling mass of stone-work Btood out of the sea, showing where once the pier had formed a harbour for the craft; beyond, the grey sea spread out into the grey mist. An artist would have gone into raptures over the scene : it took every bit of courage out of poor Redlands' heart, was there any need to go further, to examine the thing closer 1 He knew that every one of those cottages was a foul den of misery ; he knew that the one thin streak of smoke rose from the chimney of his beer-house; at the very thought of it he seemed to smell the reek of stale beer and filthy tobacco. Was there any necessity to look at the people who dwell there, to know that they were squalid and brutal 1 —at those boats, to know that they were rotten and unseaworthy I— at the butt-end of a breakwater, to know that it no longer afforded protection from the sweeping waves? No ; he realised fully all the misery and wretchedness and desolation of those unhappy creatures, who had lost the last spark of hope that animates mankind to forsake the bad and seek better. But for shame in the consciousness that he was responsible for this state of things, he could have laughed at the idea of his coining hither at the bidding of a pretty little schoolmistress to reform it. What could he do 1 However he had promised to go into the village, and he was not a ' man to break his word even when was to be done by keeping it, and the work it involved was to the last degree unpleasant. Down he went into the thick of it, and found the condition of the people rather worse than he expected. Dirt, decay, and evil odours all around; not a soul usefully employed anywhere to be seen. The dull, heavy men seated in a row on .a spar outside the beer-house scire Ay troubled themselves to look •at him , three women disputing •at a cottage door stopped their dis.cusoiun to gape and .then laugh at

him : a boy from the safe side of a hedge threw a cabbage-stump' at him. He got down to the beach as quickly as possible. There, leaning against one of the boats, stood a fellow with an empty pipe in his mouth, and an empty look in his face. ' He must be a little better than the rest, to prefer his own company to theirs,' thought Redlands, and ventured to speak, without expecting much civility in return. ' Is there a way to Soecliff without —ah—going up that watercourse V he asked. The man looked at the sea, which was as calm as the proverbial mill-pond. ' I don't like venturing out with this here old boat, master; but I will venture it for eighteen pence.' Thinking the man's life at least might be worth more than eighteenpence to his family, Redlands replied that he would prefer going on foot if it were practicable. 1 Oh, there's a way up Redrift and the Combe if you only knows which way to go,' said the man. ' I'll give you half-a-crown to show me the road.' * Half-a crown ! Come on, sir ; it's a precious long time since I've seen half-a-crown,' and with that the man struck out upon the shingly beach, Redlands following with a feeling of relief in turning his back on the Gap, albeit the , loose pebbles were painful to the pedestrian in fashionable boots. 1 What shall I say to that poor little girl?' he wondered as he plodded on. ' She will never understand how utterly hopeless I am. If she were only in my place, now, how much she might do ! What a pity she isn't.' For a good half mile he ploughed along that wretched shore ; now and then stretches of slaty shale made walking a little easier. Presently he observed that the sea was no longer gray, but tingled with dull red as far as the eye could reach. He asked his guide the meaning of this. ' It's the stream as comes down Redrift as does it, master. It's as red as blood. I guess that's why the rift is called red,' the man ex plained. Then they came to the rift—a narrow chasm in the red rock, down which poured a steam of water, thick, and of a deep red. He looked about him with a searching eye. "' We've got to go up here, master' said the guide. 'All right,' replied Redlands, still with his eyes on the rocks about him. ' It's a bit rough, and it's a bit dirty,' said the man : ' shall I turn up the legs of your trousers V ' No. never mind ; go ahead !' Redlands was getting excited about these rocks. Up they went, such a path as very few Pall Mall gentlemen have ever experienced, I reckon ; the guide looking at the ground in front for safe foothold, Redlands following in his steps instinctively, his eyes continually exploring the rocks on either side. Presently he stopped where the red rock rose sheer up a hundred and fifty feet. Whose estate are we on?' he asked. ' Does this belong to Miss Sylvester ?' ' Law, no, master.' There'd be a nice cleau path up here if it did. This is Redlands,' and wus luck for us as has to live on it.' ' Do you think you can knock a bit off that piece of rock sticking out there ?' 1 The man thought he could : and finding a lose stone, chipped off a franmnent and brought it to Redlands, The young man took it eagerly, weighed it in his hand, and looked at it closely, then he sat down on a rock as if he were bewildered. ' Will you have my jacket to sit on, master? You're a-spiling your clothes,' said the fellow. Redlands shook his head, and sat musing, with the piece of red rock in his hand. After awhile he started to his feet, and followed his guide till they came to the top of the rift, where the scrubby Combe began. Then he paused to Jook down the rift, then he started off to climb the hill to the right despite the guide's assurance that he was going away from Soecliff. From this hill he went to the next, following a course that must have seemed erratic enough to the man at his heels, and only stopping from time to time to examine the out cropping rock. Suddenly he remembered his appointment to meet the girl at the school-house, and looking at his watch, found it was half past three. 'Show me the main road to Soecliff as quickly as possible,' said he. When they were on the road, Redlands, waiter looking about to mark the place, gave the man a half-sovereign, and said, ' Meet me here to-morrow morning-early-eight o'clock. Don't forget' 'Right, master; no fear? I'll bring you the change of this here,' ' I don't want any change : bring a pick and a spade, that's ail;' and off he started at a brisk pace towards Soecliff. Just then I caught sight of him, for I had driven over to the Court to see Miss Sylvester about the strange telegram from her grandfather, and was then going back to Coneyford. I pulled up as we met, but for a moment could say uothiny for sheer amazement, to sou

this young swell spattered and daubed from head to foot with the olood-red mud. 1 Would it lie inconvenient to turn round, Keene, and drive mo to Soecliff Vhe asked. .' I have an appointment, and I fear I may be late.'

Your true gentleman has the same nice regard for punctuality, whether his appointment be with a dairy-maid or a duchess. ' Not a bit, my lord,' I repliedespecially as my visit to Soecliff was partly to see you.' 'All right.'he cried, setting his foot on the step and springing up to my side with an alacrity that surprised me not less than his bespattered condition. ' I had better tell you,' said I,' that we cannot let you have a definite answer about the purchase of your estate for at least a week,' 1 It's all the same if you can't let me know for a year. The estate's not for sale. Miss Sylvester shall never set her foot on it if I know anything.' I looked at him in amazement : wondering for a moment whether he was dober. He laughed boisterously. •' Keene' said he, 'if I know anything of mineralogy—and that is the one subjuct I believe, I do know well— I shall be in a position to buy back the whole of the old estate before I'm ton years older. Look at that!' said he showing me the piece of red rock , ' there's sixty per cent of iron in it, and there's nothing under those hills ' (turning back in his seat)' but that ore for a hundred and fifty feet down, I'll answer for it. (To be continued).