Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1910)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY, HORNING, DECEMBER 11, 1010 - -r - ' ' !iJL AJ w tin i T IT CoPYaioHT.l9ib;'DvTl YNOPSIS: Damans Ellwood, a young , i Englishwoman, resolves to hide her identity and live for'a time among the npioycs of tier large couvn mms m ' .; jitf way learn to understand the working cc pie . and. appreciate the, trials they are .'arced to' undergo. She is an orphan and has or companions at her home an uncle, Joseph Jlzvood, and MrsMitchinsont a chaperon. There, is a close understanding between the vr.de and the chaperon, and while they openly oppose the' girl's plans it is evident that they ere not averse to tier losing herself for a time., before she goes, however, there is a mysteru cus burglary, the evident intent of which is to ' secure some secret family papers which have . I e en closely guarded since the death of Miss Ell-u.vod's father. : s Once Miss Ellwood leaves hefhome 'her tiempt to hide herself if only too successful. (CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY.) CHAPTER XXI The Plot Thickens ' na listening to the bell calling to evening service, Damarls aald to herself that bar position i was Incited serious and that aha must think : very careful .what to dp next ,Tbi around her vera either In the plot against her or else really believed her mad. If she were to shriek for help .till she roused tha whole neighborhood, ' as abe ' sometimes thought of doing, aha would only' be strengthening this notion of her mad ness. It seemed to her there was nothing for her to do but to He ' still and keep aa Quiet as Bhe could - till her foot was better, It la true that some- v times a fresh fear came ever her. a terror of what else her unknown enemies might be planning against ber. The man J"reara for t Instance.. who had scalded her foot, what If he had coma other and more desperate expedient In his mind! Damarls told herself , these were foolish fears. , her common sense showed her that so long a Lizzie was with her and she was being attended by a respectable " medical man, no harm could come to hen No doubt . Frears had just wanted to prevent her departure, and ad taken his own brutal way to that end, Probably advantage was being-taken; of her absenea to fob her In sbiae way, but that Damarls felt she. would not . care mucn about. A few thousands stolen Would not make very much difference to her. Yet aha never once osked "herself what part In all this her uncle might be taking. The truth Is that the dared not i ;-: "Lizzie," she said, for though ahe tried to per euade herself she was atlll in no real danger, it was to Lizzie's presence that she truted aa her best safeguard, "Lizzie, you will not leave me, will you, till my foot , Is betterr . ':':..' "Nay, lass," Lizzie promised readily, Van they mun just manage aa best they can at th' mill Only- she added. - ' '; . t "Only what?" esfced Pamaris sharply,' . v.; "Nay, lass," said Lizzie, "'tis nowt but V money as I'm thinking on." Like most of her friends and acquaintances, Lizzie was more used to earning and spending than to sav tng. She made on an average about thirty shillings Weekly-no bad pay for a single woman and eh t pent It as' last as she made it, her only Idea of , thrift being to put ; two or three shillings weekly In . the mill savings club, to be drawn out and spent dur lng the weekly "wakes'' holiday. She was, therefore,' In no position to face with equanimity the sudden an' complete disappearance of the whole Income of the house. '' ' -' When Damar! understood this difficulty ahe was at first simply Inclined to be cross and contemptuous, having always had justi as ' much money : as. a she wanted, the did not quite understand - what - an etacle the. lack of It can be, nor had her few weeks ct playing at poverty given her any. real Insight into the strange power of money. But one or two remarks Lizzie dropped about the cost of food rather stag- gered Damarls, who had not hitherto realised that there was much .connection between food and money. Still, though she did "perceive; the dlffloulty, the could not take it very seriously when she remembered ' how much, wealth she was really the owner oi She even managed to sleep pretty well until in the middle cf the night she was awakened by some sound, 'ghe opened her eyes and looked, and saw by the llsrht of a candle he held above his head, staring at her round - the open - floor, i the dreadful ' and ferocious1 face of that big and powerfully built man,! whoso counte nance she had first seen on the platform of the station on the day of her arrival at Broadmoor, and whose' huge bulk had then reminded her of one of the two men who had robbed hef pf her locket .'.. . Loud and piercing rang out Pamaris shriek of terror, and in a moment Lizzie was out of bed, though not before candle and face were alike swiftly with drawn.- -" "'-'- '" - '-. ' f-'j;''." ' "")-''; - .',1 "It was' a man, a man," Pamaris shrieked, "there was a man looking In at the door," v "Eh, lass," said Lizzie, who had now struck a. light 'the door's shut an'. locked," she added, feel' lng It. "But saw him," Pamaris persisted, trembling from head to foot, . " " . " - " . ' "Eh, then, I'll go an' look," said Lizzie, "we want none chaps doing the like o that" . '; "Oh, no, no," Implored Pamaris, "don't leave me fclone." . - ' ' "Well," said Lizze, "I'll call up teyther." ' : She called him accordingly, and when she had made him understand what was the matter it seemed he had been too sound asleep to hear Pamaris cry he went grumblingly to look through the house. It was not a long, operation, and he came back In a vile temper. ... ."Alia, fast," he snarled, "what dost bother' so ubout a crazed lass' foolish notions?", l.iMie looked pityingly at Damaria, who was still la a wtstw of extreme terror, and tried to persuade 1 r she had Just suffered from eome bad dream. But the impression on Damarls! mind waa too vivid for Hint, and yet ahe saw that the more ahe declared the truth cf her story the more Lizzie believed her mad. 1 'tunaria gave up the attempt presently, and M-zio got back- Into bed, and was asleep . lm i H ui.itely. But tor Damaria that wae impossible, and cl even elio,. M'hen the morning; came, wondered If' J.i r irne.K inatioo had not deceived lur . ' I.17.U Kot up t the usual time and busied herself vlth housowork. Khe brought Damarls some break i :'-t upstaira and though tha glri could not eat h, ahe was plad enough of some tea She wae j. into a light doita after it when onea aaln . i.uuLkd aMibL.oia.juidUMinifBMwrr1nM tn h?r round the door that same awful and i ... face hs had tern in the jnlddle of the ! i '..',.'.' , . y, (..i . , i . h:"v rnnsr out her startled acream, and In a t i.l- ! ivn- ilattcrlnj,' hpnvlly up the stairs, - I ) r H'n! oulftiinp terribly, Damarls atam- i t lnr norv, and 1A7,7A9 looked eaualjv ' ii vl aj4 Cutrtsscd as-ahe listened. - h f N'l ' . . y-s v 'K-,hl 1.1 ''ft m, V n :r0y '.?,:: I "lu the middle of tin nlgKt iha . ."j.u the protested, "It's cfean Impossible. , I've been aboot all th' time an; nobody could ha' got past w'put myaeelng 'em." , - "Then he must have been hiding In the other bed room," declared Pamaris. : "I'll go look," said Lizzie, and, came hack In, a moment. "There's no one there," she aald, "an' I looked under th' be4.'f ' "He must have run downstairs then," protests! Damarls, "or climbed out of the window." . "Th window's .fast," LUzle answered, patiently, "an' feyther'e elttln' In the kltohenao chap could ha' coom dowq stairs wi'out him knowln. Feyther," she shouted down the stairs, "there gln't toe chap passed thee, has thcerT . Oor Polly says M PI" chap Jookln' at her rounddoor" "Oor I'olly'e clean erased, an' thou'rt little hatter for Usttnlng to her so," grumbled Frsars, surlily. "Coom down, will 'eet There'i '$lf V trtet 'ere '.asking what'i to do." , . ... Thla was a alight exaggeration, hut there were one, . or two f the, neighbor at the door, wanting to know what waa the matter. Damaria could hear scrape of the conversation; words of pity and eymi. patny, and references to "lunacy" and ''madness," and i tt aonie-one who had recently been "took: away," being the most frequent that reached her tare. When the neighbors had finally departed, ahe heard Frsara say gruffly; ! ?' . ' , ' :, ; '; "Summat mun he done about oor felly. Lleile, She can't atop here shrieking fit to acara all the neigh? bora. Resides, how art thpu to manage if thou donna go to mllir ;.:'..---;v. v.-v-.--.';-.'--.!;'---: tlszle flghed In a very puzzled way, and then went Upstairs again. As Boon ae she entered the room pamaris, who waa still In a state of great agitation and distress, and who believed that something mors dreadful and terrible than anything aha had known yet must be being planned against her, exclaimed; "Lizzie, you must get me away from hers, am not Sfe here. I must go at once; I dare tot atop hers another minute." "Sh, now," aald Lizzie, "th folk' has just been saying as 'ow thou ought to go to Prestwich, but f aald, thou i ahouldst stay here." 'To Prestwich,'' repeated pamaris, puzzled for . the "moment ": ' - ' - f- ." Then it flashed upon her that Prestwich waa where the, public lunatic asylum was situated. For a moment she shuddered and felt her blood run cold, while her tongue seemed to go dry and furred and to atlck unpleasantly to th roof of her mouth . But aa the idea gref mors familiar to her she began to see that it offered certain advantage. , in .a large publlo institution ahe would at least be safe from any a4tempte4 violence; and she had sufficient faith In her own sanity and strength of Will to be certain thai, though shs were accepted there as lunatic, aha would aoon be able to show that she was nothing of the sort." Then it flashed Upon her that sq old schoolfellow of hers had recently married and gone td live In the neighborhood. This lady, Mrs. Wells now, would be ablet to testify to her Identity. Then, too, t Pamaris remembered that a curate from their parish at home had only a short time before been appointed to a living Just outside prestwich. Both Mrs. Wells and this clergyman couVl be summoned at once, and would be able to prove who she was. "Tea, yea," she aald eagerly, "t will go to Prestwich, but you must go with me, Lizzie eromlse me that-ZdareV not go alone or with any one hut you promise ydu wtll go with me and not leave me till I am safely there." - "Of course, I'll go wl' thee," said Lizzie gently, and then went away and had a long consultation with her father, who urged so many good reasons for "oor Polly." ' as they , both called her, being -sent to the asylum to recover, that Lizzl at last agreed to the idea. Then she went back to Damarls, and told her that ' the doctor was coming to see her again, and would bring another with him. Intent on her new plan, "and feeling that she was not safe from moment, to moment so long as she remained under this roof, Pamaris made no attempt to discuss her sanity with the two medical men when they appeared. The only point she insisted on was that Lizzie must accompany her, and to that every one at once agreed as being the most natural Idea possible. -, "What Is the use of my arguing the point with you when you are so certain I am insane?". Pamaris asked the two dootorsi as tb;ey continued to question her. "Let toe go to Prestwich. I suppose they have experts. In lunacy there. They will be able to decide." "But you still persist" said ths new doctor, " that you . are MIse Damarls EllwocdT".-- i ;-VV-i" "Of course I do,'; said Damarls sharply; "why ask me to repeat the fact when you do not believe ItT" ' "Well, you see," he remarked. "I attended Vise Ell wood's funeral short time ago." ' . ' - "A case of burial alive, then, I think,'' said Pamaris; "surely a, medical man should. have protested 1" "And you think.you see faces in the doorway?" con tinued the doctor, slightly .nettled at the tone of grim, contempt in which, Damarls spoke. "No, I don't," retorted Pamaris, "but X have seen one . man look at me round the door twice over. Therefore, I do not feel safe here, and I wish Lizzie to take me to Prestwich." , 'i' :)r: yr-':-:-, ' iyS "Peluslons of personal identity," said the1 first doctor, shaking his head; "delusions of persecution, 'and hallu- ' clnatlons of acee I think It is enough, eh?" '' "Haveya-wwr-stoHeed -anythiniT'-riwerabotit ' sister before r' the second doctor asked Lizzie. , "Eh, yea," kald Lizzie, piping away a tear, "her ways were that queer ae never was I never knew nothing like her ways and herxmamier of talklng-but a heart of gold, doctor, she has, and I'm sure I never thought as 'twould ,: coom to this."...": '...-.:;... .;. , v - -- The doctors went away then, and apparently algned some papers in the kitchen; and presently Lizaie returned -...'- .1 wai wakeneJ j ome pound," to tell Pamaris everything was , settled, and a cab would corns; to take her to' the station at I o'clock. "They've aent a telegram," said Lizzie, with another tear or two, 'an' all will te ready for thee, an' tbee'U . be better soon;, till thou art I'll coom-see thee every (Sunday." ' . ' "I flon't think I shan bs there long,' said Pamaris with smile, relieved to think the end of her troubles wpS rtow so near. j But at t o'clock there waa no cab, and a messenger sent for It discovered that there had been a mtsundet standing, and Jt had been thought the cab waa only -required for the next flay. However, tt would come at 4, In time for the next train. But at 4 a messenger came to Say that at the last moment the only horse in the stab. Is had fallen lams. Bo the next train was missed a well, and there waa not another till E.45. ' There seemed nothing that Pamaris could do, and yet shs had an uncomfortable feeling that all these delays had not been quite accidental that they had a purpose, : and tMt purpose to delay departure till darkness had Set in. She began to feel afraid again, and then refieoted that she was safe enough with lUzzie, jmA that in any ; eass q harm could come to her during a short railway journey, fler foot seemed hiuch better, too, and She felt . that if necessity arose shs would, not bs quite helpless.. This third time the cab turned up all right Pamaris, : refusing Mr. Frears' aid 1th a shudder of mistrust and fear shs did hot trouble to hide, hobbled downstairs and ' , settled herself In a comer of the cab. Lizzie got In after f . her, and Mr. Freara,' bare-headed and In his ahlrt Sleeve r-detatls that reassured Damaria, since they showed he had no intention of accompanying them-contented him self after hlg lata repulse by superintending everything from the door. But when all waa ready he cams forward. - "Thee mun he off now,", he remarked. "Has got th money for th' tloketsf" he added to lizzie through the window. ' "Aye," atd Uzzlo, and felt In her pocket "Eh, now," ahe aald in surprise, "If f hann left my purse, behind, an' Z could ha' awors as hacj lt.' "I think I saw it on th' fable," remarked Mr. yrears carelessly., , :- . . , - 'Pome 'p these flys I shall losd iny head for aura," ' commented Uzzls in great disgust " 8h jumped out of the cab and went Into tho house." It was all ao simple and So natural that even Pamaris had no sueptcion, as. ; wrapped Jn a big whits shawl' , Lizzie hid lent her, she reclined In the corner of tha cab. Then in a moment It had happened, and she knew she was again- betrayed. For with a leap like a tiger's;, hie ' ey desperati, tits clenched teeth showing whltf between his parted lips. Frears sprang Into the cab, banged the door of It behind him, and with one hand Snatched both , Pamaris, whilo ths other he clapped across her mouth so that she could not utter cry. Immediately ths cab started off at ai quick rate, and ' by an Intuition of despair, as shs ptruggled vainly against a strength ten tiraee greater than her own, Pamaris knew : how pzsls Stood distracted and amazed on ths threshold , pf ths house, and How ths driver of this cab was that man of the fierce and svil countenance who. had twice peered at her round the. door of her room.- i CHAPTER XXII ' Kidnaped ' . HOUGH FTearS hand clasped both her wrists so fiercely, though he thrust his other hand aa-alnst her mouth with, iuch brutal tore, though his weagnt pressed ber down so that ahe could hardly move, yet atlll Pamaris atruggled, wildly, fee- " bly. helplessly, like a bird token in a trap, like any wild soft thing; . the woods entangled la a cunning snare, v;.;':; . ," , . '-. - . ;--- Her Up had fceen out somehow, and a drop of bood " - curved down the aoft roundness of her chin. er de spairing' eyes turned to the windows of the cab, but .already It waa night and already they were beyond - the narrow limits of the town, fit seemed to ner they , had driven thus for hours, when? at last the caf stopped, and she heard the driver climbing down from his" place,; When he came to the door, and looked in Jirough the upper portion of the glass, she eaw, with- out surprise, that her. Intuition had not deceived her, K for' his was Indeed the horrid and ferocious counte nance she had seen peeping at her round tho bedroom door. , ; ,k .'. .-i,.'; A" ' y ' ' ' , " , , Frears took his hand from her mouth cautiously and ready to clap It back again at any moment "What are you going to dor ahe asked faintly. Neither of th.m t... v,- v..... th driver ann ne ariveP looked back at him, and then both looked at-her, askance and sideways, with a horrid and moody threat in their aomber manner. An -uncontrollable ahUdder seized Damarls and shook her from head to foot, and ahe heard her teeth chattering. The next moment the paroxysm passed, and she felt cool and collected. Bhe eald In her heart that now the bitterness of death was passed. "It's this way," said Frears, and paused and looked at his companion as If expecting him to speak. But the other man said nothing, though no line of . his savage countenance softened. After a pause Frears went on with an effort; "Tea, it's this way: we've got to put you through it; that's why we've brought you here." "You mean you have brought me here to murder me?" said Damarls, looking from, one to the other, "Why?" " ' ;.- - .. ., ' Her calmness daunted them, it seemed. Even ths man at the door of the cab shifted his feet uneasily, and Frears wiped a dampness from his forehead. ' ra ow aa.wa want. io-no -fiauung . ibe .kind,"- ae aaid: "only, ua being; poor men-" "Oh," interrupted Damaria with a gleam of hope, "so far ay that goes, I am rich enough, and I am willing to give you any sum you like to mention." Frears shook hla head, though with a touch of regret In hie manner. i "Ah," he f aid, "that would be th best arranre. ment but it can't be done. No sense of honor tlem police haven't, ven If you wanted to keep your prom- HP X laeuwnich probably you wouldn't ence you waa free you wouldn't be let. No, miss, aorry as I am, It tan't be managed that, way." "Then, what Is it you want?" .asked DamarU; "what do you euggestT" "We only want to come to some arrangement," be mumbled uneasily. "It would be wise, I think," ahe said, watching him keenly, for though It had seemed to her that the bit ternesa of death was parsed, now the desire for life waa stirring in her again; "and remember, if you murder me today there will always be a tomorrow, I have many friends, and inquiries will be made. .1 do not knjDW what you hope to gain by killing me, bat tt will not serve you much when they come to hang you for It." r "Oh, we ain't scared o" nothing V that sort,? replied Frears ''You ain't got no friends, bless you.. Miss Ellwood's dead and burled thla two months, and no one'll care naught aboot 1'olly Freara; no one'll hed it even, except her father, what's me, and Llszle, what can soon be shut up." .It etruck DamarU that all this waa very true. Thoss who aimed against her life had their great .f.ffiinrd in that they, had firat stripped her of her identity, by the aid of her own foolish actions. , After a pause, Frears continued; "Oh, It's easy enough; it only neede my 'and on your mouth for a minute or two and you'll be -a dead 'un, wl", nowt to ' show 'ow It 'appened. Ita all arranged. There's more in this nor us, 'you know. After it's done, then we shall tell our tale as 'ow you jumped sudden-like out of the cab, while we wasn't looking, In a fit o' madness, and got away, and 'escaped in the darkness, spite of all we could do to W0m - jjrr i i it. V fc,ou mean you liavo brqught TOQ follow you. There'll be search parties, but we sffaU,". 'ave 'ldden you well, and you won't be found for long enough. When yW are, there'll be no telling what's 'appened; .and the Jury'll bring it In 'Death from misadventure,' and no one'll trouble any more. s No one can't even 'ave suspicions, except Lizzie, and who. care what she thinks so long as she daren't say nothing?" ( ' ) - - , Pamaris looked up through the glass of the door to where the stars shone so far above, and wondered, abstractedly if It had ever been the lot of 'any other human being to hear the details of her taking off planned , out With such callous tafe- and- cruel thought She masked herself In her teart if it could be that her God had forsaken her. , ' "JTust one point," she observed, as If some one elae spoke, "you'll be asked why you took me up here. Xf was arranged Lizzie was to take me to Prestwich by train." . ;v i- .;. ; v '. ', ' 1 "Not' a' bit of It, he answered. ' "I. spoke to tho doctors myself, and they agreed as you had better be took In a cab for fear o' seeing more faces at doors ; and sueh like. Prestwich ain't so far by road, yon know, v It was to make you willing to go. since w , knew we)dldn't dare put you through it while you was In the house with the doctor and Lizzie. fussing about u that Bill came and spied at you round the door." r "Frears stopped to laugh at the' recollection. "It was fine, that," he said, "first time ha just dodged back and hid In my room; second tlm. he dodged down the stairs and out of the back, while Lizzie was with you. Of course, I swore no one could have ' gone by me without me seeing 'em, what was true enough, and they took it down like butter. X tell you, my dear, you're safe as a .mouse In a trap." , - "Safe as a mouse In a trap." echoed the man at the door, speaking for the first time and in a voice . ! as brutal as his appearance. - ' "Tour arrangements appear very complete," said Damarls. "It seems to me there Is only one point you have forgotten." "What Is that?" asked Frears, quickly and rather uneasily., . . - '. v "The existence of God,' ahe answered, ' . "Oh,t he said, and Stared. Then , he laughed and ths man at the door growled but a blasphemy. "Eh ,1've reckoned without God all my life,", said Frears, "and I ain't done' so badly." , '. V ; "v V ' "Well. . well," said .Damarls mildly, "one never knows; but why are you telling-me all this?" 1 . "Because." answered Frears with hesitation, "we.' don't want to put you through It if we can help It - Why Fhould we? There Just one safe way." - . --What is that r-asked Damartrbut'Wtthont"mnelr Marry . him," said Frears. and Jerked his head towards the silent and sinister figure of the man at " the door. . ,-. ' l. . - . i' : Damaria did not understand. She ldoked at him and then at Frears. V ' . " "! don't quite follow you,""she eald; "marry whom?" - "Me,' said the man at the door. ' She turned and looked at him, understanding now. ::,,V ' . Is;? m . , s.. , r ,11' . :, V" 1 " ' One knows not why, but beneath her clear and inno cent regard he actually seemed to know again that shame he had supposed, lost long years before, before even he had become a man. lie turned his face away and finally atood sideways, presenting his shoulder to her regard. She glanced back then at Frears. . "You "see," said Frears, "that would give us such a hold on youso that you wouldn't be able to go back on us, and no one wouldn't be able to make you either. It would explain your disappearance, you see, for you could tell folk as how you had fallen In love with 'lm and gone away to marry 'Ira. Then your precious uncle took advantage of your absence to pretend you waa dead. Back you cornea, with your lovln' 'usband. Uncle goes into quod and every one lives 'appy ever after. Think it well over, miss," he went on In a low, fierce whisper, 'for mar-ring's better than " and he made a significant gesture with his handa .. : '! ' ". . ... Pamaris looked from one man to the other; there .waa something In Frears', flushed eager face, some thlng in his companion's attitude of sullen -waiting, ', that convinced heir( they were putting forward their suggestion quite seriously. ' ' . . ; , . "If that la. all you have to say," she remarked, "drive on."."v;-.'V;v:;,:.. ,; ; .: "If that is all you h'ave fb say," Frears retqrted mood ; lly, "we will drive on." ' " . - She made no answer. The silent drives f returned to his place.,. Frears with an unnecessary , brutality again pinned her. wrists in his hand and again bruised her mouth' and Hps with ths pressure of his heavy hand. They drove on quickly; and, held helpless, Daraarta could only wonder how long she had to live, and was amazed to find heraelf so cool and self-possessed. Zt hardly seemed she had any personal interest in tha matter. Was It really she herself who was shortly to be murdered? She did not quite think so. ' The situation had for her no polgnanpy of reality about It rather was It ae some absurd, dream from which she would presently awake. It, seemed to her quits certain that something would soon happen, and all would then be as quiet and commonplace as it had been in the uneventfut past. Her Stunned nd be wildered mind seemed insensible to her tme 'position; as It Is said that the victim In the grip of the lion becomes' at once benumbed, and knows neither fear nor pain. ' .' . She looked from the window as she lay .back In ths r- Aw 8 ft, "j 'W V jr . .... a. . i Here to murder moT said DarQUrij." . corned wnere Frears held "her, and she saw by the light of a street lamp in the road a man whom she knew welt , It. was Ostle, the detective she had had in her employ ment, but though she saw him she; could make nelthef " sound nor movement, so helpless was she In Frears' brutal grasp. In a moment the cab had passed, and Ostle had receded into the darkness behind. Yet hope fluttered onca more warm in Pamaris' breast, for how she knew ' friend was near, and she supposed somehow that he bad heard of her danger and ha.d come to her rescue, i . A few moments later the cab rolled close to another , man, who lounged idly against a milestone with the air of , one who waited. 5 Him, too, pamaris knew, and recog nized Clifford, Clifford who had warned her of her danger. Clifford who stood there now waiting to offer the help it 1 seemed she could not implore. And then It. flashed Into her mind 'that this was the cause of Oatle's .appearance) here. In the rush of events, In the terror of her position. She had almost forgotten that telegram she had cent oft ' on the previous Friday, but now she remembered it. ' -'She could afmost have laughed with the bitterness of her feelings, with appreciation of the deadly irony of tha ' course events had taken. Here were two men near, both her friends, both ready to help her, and owing to her own action, the sole thought of the one would be to seize tha other and take him to prison.; How strange it was that everything she had done had turned to the advantage of her enemies. By her own act she had rendered helpless1 the only man with power to aid her. By her own act she" had thrown away ail the advantages of wealth and social position that had been hers once. ' , "Betrayed yes, she had betrayed Clifford, and In doing . so she had betrayed herself." v It was ae. though a voice whispered the words in hef ear; she quite thought that she heard them. " . ' "For I love him," she said to herself with a sigh. Now that death seemed so near she felt she must be honeat and -true to herself. "Jres." she said to herseir, "I love him. , I, have always loved him. .It does not matter how. "I wonder why I fought ao hard agahmt ths Idea of loving him? How silly of me," she said with an infinite self-pity, as for a little child who, in Us great Ignorance, had committed tome grievous fault entailing lamentable and far-reaching consequences. . The next thing she knew-for she seemed to have sunk Into 4 kind of coma was the sudden stopping of tha cab. It was very dark and lonely, and she thought that they had come to an uninhabited place, ,- Frears was standing up, with one hand upon the half-open door ant) . one still pressing on her shoulder, while he muttered in a low tone to the driver standing Just outside, Damarls acted on tne lnmant, with the swift Instinct 0f a creature making its last eft .wift suddpn push. She Bent F - 'Jhiltl'ni8 fUif weight came on t: ercort ior us lire, with ona ? rears forward so heavily uie iiuii-o ii-n aour.. w iti swunir back beneath it, so that he stumbled out against ' the driver. In the. momentary confusion, before the two men could disentangle themselves, Damarls sprang to the1 other dottr ef the cab. ,. Bhe Bung It opn and leaped out,' and heedless of the pain in her foot fled away at the too of her speed, while the two: men , ran and fqjlowed. Shouting in a frenzy of rage and fear. (CONTINUED NEXT SUNDAY.) v- --