PAID IN FULL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21195, 19 August 1940, Page 12

PAID IN FULL

I NEW SERIAL STORY E

by H. S. Sarbert

CHAPTER 11. . A Farewell Letter David Preston was suffering.

There was no doubt whatever about that. He was suffering more than ever before. It was Harry who had done this thing to him; his boy, ! the boy for whom he had sacrificed j so much. Harry had gone off in ! this way, leaving only just a note | behind. j The letter had dropped to the floor, I and it was Viola who stooped to pick j it up. “Here’s the letter, Mr Preston,” ! she said “The letter? Oh, yes, that’s right— j the letter he left me! You read it, lass, j Just, see what you make of it.” j Viola read it through slowly. It j ran as follows; j “Dear Dad,—l don’t know what | you will think of me leaving you j in this fashion, and I would ask j you to believe me when I tell you j that it isn’t easy for me to go. I 1 know that I owe you everything, j I am deeply appreciative of all that you have done for me. “But there is a matter on which we do not agree. In Carrie Lucas I have met a girl who means everything in the world to me. You have done her an injustice, i and one day I hope you will see ! that yourself. When you do, I j know that you wijl be the first to I admit it. Meantime, I have given up my job and gone to London— | to make good—to make a big name j for myself. "I have passed by final exami- • tion, thanks to your love and j generosity, and I have been offer- j ed something really big in Lon- i don; a chance that never could come my way in Shallord. I'm j going to make you proud of me. ! “Please give my love to Viola, | and tell her that I am sorry I j shall not be able to keep the ap- j pointment tonight. I own up to j being a bit of a coward, Dad. I ! wanted to get away quietly. I i funked anything in the nature of a scene with you before I went. j “Forgive me if you can, and I believe I am doing all this for the j best. Harry.” No address was given. Harry j Preston did not say where he was j staying; only that he had gone to | London. And one might as well j look for a needle in a haystack as look for anyone there. Viola heaved a sigh as she put the letter down on 1 the table. It was the end of a ro- . mance for her. Harry did not care for her any longer. Any love that | he may have had for her had just ( gone. Harry’s father was right when he had said that his son had 1 thoughts only for this other girl, who , had bewitched him. It was of i Carrie Lucas Harry was thinking all j the time, the grand London lady, i with her beauty and her style. She, ! Viola, was just the little country | girl. “He’s treated you badly as well, | my dear,” David said. “There’s no doubt about that. He’s served you

: very shabbily. It makes me feel as : if he should be punished. Ay, for : the first time in my life it makes : me feel as if I’d like to give him a ■ sound thrashing—loving him as I do.” ■ Viola turned swiftly. "You mustn’t talk like that,” she cried. "But I mean it!” David retorted. “I tell you, lass . . "Just one moment, please, Mr Preston,” Viola interrupted. "There’s i something I want to tell you. You ; j mustn’t blame Harry for a single thing so far as I am concerned. We ! were just good friends—that was all.” j David laid his hand on the girl’s j shoulder again, letting it rest there ) in loving sympathy.

“You’re true-blue, all through, my dear. God bless you!” he told ; her. “But there was more to it j than that. You can’t deceive me, j Viola! You loved that boy of mine. | Unworthy as he has proved of such j love—you did care for him, and he j cared for you, too. until this other ! girl came along and bewitched him. j He would have married you, and I ! should have been pleased to see such | a match, for I know you would have j made him happy. You would have J made his home bright and cheerful; would would have helped him along j life's pathway. A smooth, straight i pathway it would have been with • you by his side, but now he’s got j it all tangled up. My dear, if only j he had kept true to you.” : “Don’t—-please don’t, Mr Preston! I Don't let’s talk about it any more. ; There—there’s a limit to what I can j bear!” : Viola’s words came quickly. She i was not looking at him. She was staring straight ahead of her; but there was a deep pain in her eyes, a pain that came from her very heart. Their home together! Yes, it had ' been her dream. She had not I planned anything in which he was i not to play a part. And now—it j was just the end of everything! j But Viola made up her mind that she must not wear her heart on her sleeve. Her natural pluck came to her aid, and in any case, she knew I that it Avas all right where Harry’s j father was concerned, big-hearted i Mr Preston, who loved her as if she 1 had been his own daughter. ] Wasn’t he suffering as well? I Wasn’t this situation just as bad for I him as for her? Of course it was! | “He didn’t give any address, did i he?” she whispered. | "No! But I’d soon find him out. i London is a big place, I know, but | I’ll find him if ” | David left her side and began to pace up and down the room, his head bent, his hands thrust into the I pockets of his coat. It was good j that Harry had passed his final exaI mination. He was fully qualified j now. David had been so proud about | that, to think that he had qualified i so young. Presently he spoke again, j “I’ve changed my mind, Viola,” he j said. “I don’t think I’ll go at once. I’ll let a week or two pass. After all, Harry’s a man. I always think 1 of him as a boy, but I mustn’t be I forgetting that he’s over twenty-one now. No, no, I’d best wait a bit! I Just a week or two. He’ll come to 1 his senses. He’ll write to me again. He can’t act like this for long. He’ll 1 see that it’s not right—not fair. I’ll i just wait; just carry on with the i business, and see what turns up. It’ll ' seem lonesome without him, though. | I used to look forward to him comj ing home, and this is—well, suddenI like, my dear isn’t it? | “I remember last year when he j went away for his holiday. I missed ; him terribly,” David went on. “We j | generally spent our holidays to-

gether, and it seemed a long while till he came back. And he said he missed me! He’ll miss me again, I expect—and that’ll bring him back, eh? I shouldn’t wonder, should you, Viola?” _

1 I Viola shook her head, blinking !' the tears from her eyes. She stood i on tiptoes so that she could put her arms round his neck, and kissed him. (To Be Continued) —*ja.

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