Show 0 ial 41 I 1 0 az ak it k pik 0 k ir 7 P 3 1 7 31 1 I 1 11 GUILTY OR I 1 e 1 I 1 y J I 1 t r I 1 41 ilk TT TT 40 r va ia I 1 it V INN CENT 8 r 11 a I 1 JL 3 J 8 ja i 1 4 1 I r I 1 it I 1 Z e by AMY BRAZIER m f P 0 e f X e ke e 1 1 iff afaf f W k k 4 4 4 ok 1 CHAPTER III continued only george does not tell barbara of a grim grina shadow that haunts him night and day a shadow so grim and b ack even his love tor for barbara cannot make him forget it a trouble so dark he dare not face his mother s gentl eyes a trouble he locks in his own heart while day by day the end comes nearer even if he told barbara she would not under tand racing debts and promissory notes would be greek and latin to her but by degrees george becomes graver and quieter his sunny smile is forced sometimes and his I 1 hearted gaiety seems to have deserted him and then mrs bouverie falls ill so ill that any shock or worry might be fatal and george sits site and looks at her with a lump in his throat and wet met eyes and now ill hia heart is breaking with his own tro ables a sea of debt is engulf ing him in a month a bill tor for one hundred pounds talla falls due and he has nothing xo thing to meet it with his own al lowance anti long ago and the ri mother lother who might have helped him lying too ill to care now nov no excite me it the doctors say the least shock would prove fatal no wonder george bouverie Bou verle looks miserable and his face has a drawn gray look dishonor is an ugly word and that is what it nil mill mean the man mail who lad helped him into the mess will not help him out of it he has left the country and george has to bear it all alone how to get a hundred pounds that is the problem that haunts george Bouie bodene rie with a sick agony of unease aass that will not be quieted it la is always baere the certainty of ruin and the shame of it is horrible money borrowed to pay his racing cebas it seemed so easy at the time and three months seemed such a long way off he mould be sure to have a run of luck and be able to pay but the man who had lent him h s name has gone and george has no me means of procuring a hundred pounds with a sinking heart he remembers remember s with a blush that scorches s his cheek that his mothers income is very slender she had given nearly all to him saying in her sweet lovable way what can an old woman like me want A young man must have pocket meney malley if she had only been harder on me when I 1 waa was a little chap groans george now realizing too late that hia his own way has not been a good way even barbara cannot comfort him now the winter has worn itself away and march has come march that has more of the shy witching of april than the usual boisterous month that proverb ally enter as a lion still no answer from tasmania does mr vr sav lie ile also mean to ignore the engagement 7 9 it were hard to say but it looks like it mrs bouverie slowly creeps back from the borders of the shadow land and gorge keeps his misery to him self while the day of reckoning draws nearer and nearer today the lovers have met bar bara has ridden over on her bicycle to ask for mrs Bou bouverie verle and george walks with her do the avenue bar bara cannot tall fall to notice his dejected manner the look of trouble that blots the sunshine from his face they stand together in the sunshine and the light falls on their young faces and out across the lawn the sunbeams tour touch h the daffodils barbara looks at them v ith a smil I 1 always think of Word wordsworth a lines she ays and quotes them softly the waves beside them danced but they ouid d the sparkling waves in glee A poet could not but be gay in such a jocund company I 1 gazed and gazed but little thought nhat wealth the show to me had brought george onla sighs she slips her hand into his as he wheels her bicycle beside her poor george it must have been bem such an anxious time tor for you but bour mother is better really better now yes he says moodily looking with unseeing eyes ey es at the nodding dancing daffodils and drawing another long sigh then hi lil eyes rest on her face with a sudden agony of regret she can not fathom barbara my darling I 1 am not worthy of you he exclaims I 1 a voice that speaks of desperation she lifts sweet smiling era eve you must not sav abit ceorge georgej an N k but dear why do you look so un appy I 1 can t help it be he bursts out barbara I 1 am a most unlucky fel low dear it would be better for you it if you never saw me again she looks half frightened but her hand creeps closer into his palm there isn t any fresh trouble ile la is there she asks noting all at once the haggard look in his face then he tells her suddenly and abruptly almost roughly making the worst of it almost in his self reproach and misery sparing himself nothing pouring it all out in a whirlwind of de now you know the sort of man you have promised to marry he says with sudden fierceness A gambler and a gambler who cannot meet his engagements no bouverie Bou verle ever dis graced himself like that before you had better say good by to m me e bar bara your aunt was right I 1 am not fit match tor for you barbara s cheeks are pale enough now george leans the bicycle against a tree and leads her across the grass to a wood where the green moss grows in feathery tufts like sofa pillows and where here and there the ceI celandine andine Is lifting its sparkling spring like face the birds filling the air with song all the world appears full of hope and promise hope seems everywhere but in the heart of george bouverie Bou verle barbara s eyes are slowly filling with tears but what Is that in worn an s love that makes her then more tender to the erring and more lenient to the failures so ready to forgive 9 she and george have seated them selves on a fallen tree and she Is the comforter his hand is held to cpr bosom her face full of love and pity is upturned with the tears quivering on her lashes I 1 feel as if I 1 could shot shoot myself george cries passionately swept heart I 1 have only baroug brought sorrow an you barbara looks at him bravely george when I 1 promised to marry ou iu it was to be for better tor for worse it Is the same as if we were carrl marred d now I 1 am glad you have told me your trouble it is very dreadful I 1 hardly understand what it means but my dearest I 1 will help you to bear it how sweet are her words how earn carn el eat t the pure and lovely face george only groans barbara does not know of the mire of difficulties that so nearly submerge him he turns his haggard gaze on her nothing can help me unless I 1 get a hundred pounds and what I 1 feel most Is what this will mean to my poor mother he might have thong thought of this before but barbara does not say so on ly leans her cheek against his der and looks away at the golden golde n sea of daffodils that flutter go so gaily gally in the mar march ch sunshine I 1 would rather release you george says say s huskily I 1 shall have to go abroad or somewhere I 1 will go with you barbara says in a sweet unsteady voice you cannot give me up george tor for I 1 won t be given up unless yo do not care tor for me any longer I 1 must love you till I 1 die diet cries poor george love and remorse ma making king him well nigh debbe desperate rate but even barbara cannot raise bis his spirits nothing can lift the gloom from his face A trouble like this takes the life out of a man the girl puts her arm about his neck and draws his grave unhappy face down to hers george after this you will never bet on those horrid horses again once this trouble passes away and it will pass dear you will be brave I 1 think george oh I 1 don t know how to say it but do you remember the preacher in the square squared he said god will help people to resist tempha tion even in the little things of avd day life that is rubbish george returns answering her cares my old mother talks that sort of nonsense I 1 don t believe she buys a new bonnet with out asking for guidance as to the color of the ribbon he laughs a mirthless laugh it stands to reason darling I 1 don t look on a mess 11 like ke mine as what mother calls a chasten ing of the lord I 1 have brou brought it all on myself worse luck and I 1 don t expect a miracle to get me out of tho thil hold my barbara my own lov love you v ve e lost your heart to a worthless sort of chap even sebastian saville but no I 1 would hang han myself if you were his wife W the misery seems darkening every moment that awful promissory note given to pay that wretched racing debt Is ever in his mind not evena even v barbara barbaras love can help him cowf now he ile stands up a tall splendid figure in tweed so goodly to look upon so wretched and unhappy as his haggard face shows I 1 have only about a fortnight he walk back to says as together they where barbara left her bicycle af after ter that oh my darling what am I 1 to do barbara s heart echoes the cry her face Is as sad as his as she wheels avay in the sunlight and george thrusting his hands in bis his pockets and sinking his head on his chest walks SI slowly back to the house CHAPTER IV mr saville s answer has come it Is not in the least what barbara expected it is a very short letter and out of it falls a cheque for two hundred pounds and there Is nothing about her engagement at all except a casual allusion to the danger of flirta eions that can end in nothing and barbara Is to come out to tasmania at once by the next steamer that sails after she receives the letter the two hundred pounds Is to purchase an outfit and defray the expenses of the voyage mrs saville also receives a letter which is possibly more lengthy and may contain more information than the communication to barb barbara in which her father only says he is lonely and wants her to manage his household tor for him mrs saville looks keenly at her niece as she sees her reading the let ter while the color forsakes her face and sebastian watches barbara too father wants me to go out to him barbara says lifting her great troubled eyes in her heart she knows that this command Is only to separate h her er from george mrs saville folds up her own letter yes so your father says he thinks you are old enough now to be at the head 0 of chis hia house but we will miss you dear dea r and I 1 see he expects you to start at once he ile mentions the steamer that some friends of his are going out by every thing will be dreadfully hurried we must go 90 to london in a day or so and get your things barbara sits white and miserable to leave george that Is her one thought to put thousands of miles be tw tween een them the thought is intolerable but not till breakfast Is over and sebastian with another In compre hen hensl sible ble look has lounged out of the room does barbara speak then she looks at her aunt aunt julia julla d es father say nothing about george 9 tiou 1 ou know we are fire engaged mrs airs saville smiles rather provokingly I 1 do not think your father has hats any 0 objection b to your considering yourself engaged he ile hardly mentions the subject barbara a color rises she Is to be treated as a child then who has set its heart on possessing the moon and every one knows it Is nonsense I 1 will go out to father as he wishes she says proudly but when I 1 am of age I 1 will marry george bou verle so there will only be a year to wait and then nobody can make any jobje tion I 1 I 1 was not aware that any on one e had objected mrs saville returns I 1 have not tried to prevent your edgag i ing yourself to any one barbara barbaras s lip quivers this tacit ignoring of her engagement is hard to bear mrs saville who has no sympathy with her proceeds to discuss barbara s clothes you will want some gowns she says I 1 am sure I 1 do not know what kind of tunings you will want I 1 believe belleve it Is a nice climate but I 1 fancy some one told me there Is always east wind and that Is ts so trying but barbara can take no interest in her clothes I 1 have plenty of things I 1 shall only get a deck chair she says almost crossly tor for this banishment to the other side of the world la Is very hard to endure besides her nerves are on the rack on account of george bouverie Bou verle s troubles your father has sent you a check cheek for your expenses mrs saville says presently and barbara says yes and no more mrs saville gathers up her letters and rises from the table I 1 must go and tell mason to corn com mence packing really it Is hardly fair to make you start at a minutes notice but the steamer your father names sails in a few days and we have to meet these people who are to take care of you ba barbara abara bursts into tears she la Is stung to a pitch of excitement and can only realize the one awful fact she m must say good by to george and li leaver ave 0 him in his trouble my dear there Is nothing to cry for mr saville says crossing the 1 i room in ner trailing garments and arid k 1 leaving it as sebastian ente enters r s i qa j i 4 i S I 1 0 can to he bs 9 i 1 I 1 0 k I 1 t |