PAID IN FULL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21198, 22 August 1940, Page 3

PAID IN FULL

by H. S. Sarbert

= NEW SERIAL STORY =

CHAPTER ll.—(Continued) ! This, then, was the type of man | upon whom Harry Preston was de- j pending. The man upon whom he looked as his benefactor; the man he trusted. Harry walked along the busy streets, a feeling of elation taking possession of him. Success had come to him at last. He had not to wait such a long time for it after all—not nearly so long as he had anticipated. His name would become known in connection with these new buildings that were going up. There would be a certain amount of publicity for him. Other work would come his way. It was wonderful! Very soon he would be able to go back and see his father, and tell him everything tha ! . had happened. He was looking forward to that time very much indeed. He had been terribly upset at leaving his father in the way he had. That action had gone very much against the grain, but it had seemed to him the only way to get his great chance. His father would not have wished him to get on. He would have put obstacles in the way. He wanted to go back to his father now, however; grasp him by the hand, and say: “Look here, Dad, I’ve done something big. All the money you’ve spent on me, all your care and generosity have not been wasted. I’ve something to show for it. Forgive the way I went off, and let’s be pals again, for now I shall be able to begin to repay you.” There was Viola, too—dear little Viola. Harry felt a pang of conscience each time he thought of her. He knew that he had not treated her well, but that had come about through things entirely outside his control. From the first time he had met Carrie Lucas everything had been changed for him. It was Carrie he loved. Carrie was the only girl he could think about as a wife. It would be wrong of him to marry one girl, loving another. He felt sure he would be able to make his father see that. Dad would end by accepting Carrie as his daugh-ter-in-law —of that he was certain. Half-an hour later Harry was being shown into the drawing-room of the Lucas’ town flat. A smartly uniformed maid had ushered him in, and Carrie, already in evening dress, was at the piano, running her fingers idly over the keys. “Is that you, Harry?” she asked, without turning round. The boy came over to her. He leaned over her shoulder, and as she looked up, their lips met. “Well,” Carrie asked, “and what’s the news, Mr Harry Preston?” “Can you guess?” His eyes were shining. Carrie rose to her feet. “I’ll take a look at you before I reply to that question,” she said, “and then, at least, I’ll be able to tell you whether the news is good or bad. Yes, that’s quite enough. It’s good news, anyway—isn’t it?” Harry laughed. “You’re right there, Carrie. It’s the finest news I could possibly have had. The plans have gone through, the work is to be put in hand at once, under my direction—or, at least partly under my direction; and —just look at this!” He took a pink slip of paper from his pocket: a cheque made out to “Harry Preston Esq.” for fifty pounds. “I say, that’s splendid!” Carrie exclaimed. “You deserve it, every penny of it, Harry. I know how hard you’ve worked since you came to London. You’ve spent night and day over those plans, haven’t you?” She returned the cheque to him, and he put it away carefully. “I have,” he agreed. “You see, such a lot depended upon it, Carrie. “Tell me exactly what depended upon it, Harry.” He sat down on the settee, and she came and took a place beside him, holding one of his hands in her own. “I was thinking of you,” Harry said; “first and foremost I was think- | ing of you. Success meant that I should be winning you, didn’t it? At least, that’s how I felt about it. And then again ” He paused. “Go on!” Carrie urged. “There was Dad,” Harry continued. “I couldn’t forget him at any time, Carrie. You see, we wero pals. He has always done such a lot for me, and the—the way I left him, it seemed all wrong to me. I knew it would hurt him dreadfully, and I want to put that right.” Carrie withdrew her hand. “You blame me for that, I suppose?” she suggested. “You never would have left in the way you did if it hadn’t been for me. Oh, I’m quite aware of that. I know that’s true. But your father hated me—” “He didn’t, Carrie—not really. It isn’t in Dad to hate anyone, certainly not a woman. He didn’t know you, that’s all ” “He hated me, I tell you,” Carrie repeated. “He hated me because I was a woman—a competitor for your affections—because there was a chance that I might be taking his son away from him. That was why he hated me. Harry, and it’s no good saying anything to the contrary. You say you love me ” Father and Son “Carrie, I do —you know I do! With all my heart—with all my ! soul!” | Harry spoke earnestly. His soul ' was in his eyes as he looked at her. Carrie rose to her feet. Harry did the same. They faced each other. “I’ll tell you something, shall I?” Carrie said deliberately. “You may not want to believe it, Harry, but it is nevertheless true—how true you will discover for yourself one day. A time will come when you’ll have to choose between your father and me. No, don’t interrupt me for a moment, let me finish. I know it —I feel it—just here!” She touched her heart. “It will be just like when he looked straight into my eyes that day I met him by the stile—the day I told you about. Remember what he said? That it would be better if I went out of your life entirely; that we never could be anything to each other; that I was not of your world. He said, too, that there was.another girl who was more suited to you—the girl he had chosen for you—the girl he wanted you to make your wife. All that he told me, Harry, and I could see for myself then—oh, very, very plainly—how much he disliked me. £To Be Continued)