DOROTHY'S JOURNEY.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 324, 6 August 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

DOROTHY'S JOURNEY.

It was a lonely one, for her brother, who was to have been her companion, was unavoidably detained at the last moment ; and it was a serious undertaking for a girl who had never been so far from her London home before. Moreover, the prim, elderly ladies—into whose compartment an anxious elder sister had put her with a whispered congratulation that she would not have any annoyance to dread from them—left the train at the next station, and their place was taken by a man, whom the timid Dorothy soon found herself furtively watching with distrust and aversion. From behind The Young Ladies' Journal, with which thoughtful Elizabeth had supplied her, she could not help seeing that he was strangely muffled up for a mild day in October. His loose overcoat was buttoned up to the throat, around which a scarf was wound that hid all the lower part of his face. His bright eyes gleamed from behind a pair of blue glasses, and his hat was slouched over his forehead. The idea that he was an invalid never suggested itself for he was too restless for that, sitting first on one side of the carriage, then changing to the other, nervously starting if Dorothy only rustled a leaf, and evincing ill-suppressed agitation whenever the train stopped to take up passengers. On two or three occasions Dorothy had reason to hope that the vacant seats in the compartment would be filled by more congenial fellow-passengers, but this her strange companion prevented, by driving away those who paused at the door with a prompt " full " or " engaged." And anyone who may have doubted this did not cavil at it, but walked away, imagining that they had stumbled on a young couple who wished for no interruption to a pleasant tete-a-tete. Every time the guard's whistle gave the signal for a fresh start, this man would draw a''long breath as of relief, and retreating to the other end of the carriage, he would indulge in a draught from a flask he carried in his pocket. Still he did not attempt to address the quiet girl, who on her part rarely looked up from her periodical, The train was speeding on towards the * south coast; her cousins would meet her at a station a few miles from their home, and even if he did not alight before then, she should be with friends and amuse the'm with a description of her fellow-traveller, He was more restless than ever. His flask was empty, and when they reached a small junction that boasted of a refreshment bar, he called a porter to get it filled for him. But the man was busy with luggage and could not come, and after muttering something that made Dorothy shudder, and hesitating awhile, he threw open thedoor and dashed across the plat form to procure the brandy himself, jostling as he went a tall ruddy young follow who was hurrying towards the train. ' Here she is! here's cousin Dorothy !' he shouted to another eciually pleasant young fellow who was followiug him. ' I told you we should be in time to catch her here instead of letting her go on to Rosbridge. Welcome little cousin ; Madge and Mima are in the waggonette outside waiting for you. How many trunks have you brought. None, only a hat-box and Gladstone, that's under the seat —sensible little woman. Take her along Fred ; I'll follow with the baggage.' And away Dorothy was bustled to where a couple of pretty girls, about her own age were seated in a roomy wagonette, eagerly watching for her coming. Madge looked disappointed when she saw only one visitor where two had been expected : but her rosy face brightened up again when Dorothy explained that her brother would be able to follow in a day or two at furthest. Frank sprang to the box, the Gladstone was hauled up beside him, and Fred, who had spent a few weeks in Loudon the previous winter, and brought away a conviction that there was not a sweeter girl in the world than Dorothy, assisted her into the waggonette and placed him self by her side. •You did not expect to see us yet, of course,' he said. ' Indeed Rosbridge is our station, but Frank had business at Hurst, and Madge suggesting tbat the drive if longer was prettier, we arranged to come in a body across-country and meet you here.' The spirited horse had sprung away at a canter almost before the party had settled themselves in their seats. Indeed, she was rattled along at such a rate that Dorothy anvied her companions the equanimity with which they went up and down hill, jolted over ruts, and swung perilously near deep ditchc*. But then her first exclamation of alarm made Fred's arm steal

around her waist—to steady her, nothing more—and his whispered assurance that he would take care of her must have smoothed away her fears, for long before they drove to the door of Oaklianger Farm, where uncle John and aunt Bessie were nodding and smiling a welcome, she was talking and laughing as merrily as the rest. A delicious tea dinner was in readiness, and everyone at Oakhanger feeling convinced that Dorothy must be half-starved, she was only allowed to throw oIF her hat and wash her hands, before she was hurried to the table, and not allowed to leave it till she had done her best to satisfy her entertainers. And Dorothy was really hungry for she had been too excited to eat her lunch before leaving town, and the sandwiches her sister Elizabeth had insisted she should bring with her lay in their bag untouched. How could she discuss them with snch a queer travelling-companion looking on the while ! Madge and Mima and Fred were amused with her description of him though they gave it as their opinion that ho must be an escaped lunatic ; but Fred said, compassionately : ' Poor little Dorothy, what a miserable, lonely journey you must have had ! I wish 1 had acted on my first thought, and gone to Waterloo to meet you.' The evening was spent in aunt Bessie's roomy, cosy parlour ; she would not have it dignified by any more pretentious name, The girls' piano and her son's bookcases were there, as well as the spinning-wheel, for she still adhered to the custom of her grandams, and spun the fine strong yarn she and her daughters knitted into the family hose. There were cushioned benches under the projecting chimney-piece, and to please father a wood fire burnt brightly on the wide hearth, and the room was large enough to allow of an occasional set of quadrilles or waltz on the polished floor, for the farmer aud his wife, in their prudent anxiety to keep their children from seeking dangerous, pleasures abroad, were careful to encourage all wholesome amusements at home. Dorothy waltzed with Fred, sang duets with Frank, and promised to learn to take part in the glees and part-songs with which her cousins delighted their father, nor even recognized that she was tired till aunt Bessie suddenly declared that she was heavy-eyed, and must be sent to bed directly. ' Off with you all !' she cried, peremptorily. ' It is past ten : how is Dorothy to get up a colour and take walks before breakfast if we keep her up late V 1 1 have carried your bag to your room,' Fred told his cousin, as he bade her good night. ' You must have packed it cleverly.' ' Why do you say that ! ( she asked. ' Because it is so tremendously heavy for a lady's luggage, that's all,' he answered, taking advantage of the pause to clasp her hand once more. ' Elizabeth must have put in some books, and my drawing materials,' thought Dorothy, as she followed Mima to the pretty chamber her cousins had draped with pink and white for her use. ' If you don't care to sleep alone,' Madge popped in her head to exclaim, 'you've only to say so, and one of us will stay. Shall we help you to unpack! Your key will not unlock you bag ; but Frank had one on an old bunch that fitted it,' ' This is not my bag,' cried Dorothy, surveying it as it lay on the table in the middle of the room. 1 It is the same size, but much newer than the one my father lent me for my journey.' Then Frank was called by his sisters to explain how the mistake had arisen. 'I suppose through my stupidity or haste, call it which you like.' he replied, regarding it with a puzzled air. ' I saw a bag under one of the seats of the carriage where I found Dorothy quite alone. ' A bag and a tin hat-box,' she said. I seized both, and looked no farther.' ' Mine was older and shabbier,' she told him. ' This must have belonged to the stranger, What must he have thought when he came back to the train and found it gone? What shall 1 do with it? Will you mind taking it into your care till we can give it back and get mine instead V ' It's tremendously heavy. What can there he in it V queried Frank. And, plunging in his hand, he drew forth first a roll of paper, out of which peered the handles of some massive silver table-spoons, and then a beautifully chased teapot of the same precious metal. ' Your fellow-traveller was a thief, cousin Dorothy, and these are the proceeds of a burglary. I don't think there's a doubt of it,' said Frank, and in this opinion his brother and father, quickly summoned to the spot, both concurred. But aunt Bessie soon put a stop to the consultation that followed. The girls were getting excited, and must go to bed. In the morning would be time enough to decide what steps hud better be taken for restoring the valuable contents of the Gladstone bag to their rightful owner. It was a long while before Dorothy could close her eyes, and in her dreams she saw again the miserable, restless man, who must have been haunted by his dread of detection.

But at last she sank into a refreshing slumber, from which Madge awoke with a loving kiss and the announcement that breakfast, postponed an hour for various reasons, would be served as soon as she had made her toilette. Both Frank and Fred, looked pale, and Dorothy was presently startled to learn that they had not been to bed. She inquired the reason, and it was Fred who replied : ' Finish your breakfast, little cousin, and I'll tell you. You have finished ? You are sure? Then there is rather an unpleasant task before you, I am sorry to say ; but as what must be must be, it shall be done at once V Vaguely uneasy, but full of trust in the speaker, Dorothy permitted herself to be led to an outhouse, the door ot which was unlocked by a policeman, and which was tenanted by her fellow-passenger of the preceding day. ' You identify this man ?' she was asked, as she shrank nearer to Fred with a cry of recognition, and was instantly led away. ' How came he to be our prisoner 1 Well, you see, Frank and I, talking over the affair, thought it very unlikely that the fellow, on discovering the loss cf his booty, would quietly submit to it. It was more probable, we argued, that he would follow you up and try to regain possession of it. And this is just what he did. But we had taken onr policemen into our councils, and while they kept watch outside the house we did the same within, and he was caught in the act of creeping through a casement the servants had neglected "o fasten. Dorothy had but little to do with the case, and for this she was very thankful, though any pity she may have felt for the guilty man was merged in disgust when she learned that the person he had robbed had been a very gracious friend to him in spite of his unworthiness. She has never made another journey without male protection, her cousin Fred having won a promise from her rosy lips that warrants him in acting as her escort wherever she goes. L.L3.