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Show ! Sinners in He ax? en J 1 1 By CL1UE ARDEN i j g ' Copyright by The Bnbbs-MrrI11 Co. tauauumuuiiiiLUiuuiiuuiiUiUiUuiiii PART FOUR Continued 20 -I kllli-il Iil.n? I killed Hulinorna it ninn ?" Swiftly lie How tier lin wltti his own. u'ltti u !-k piTc-fpilun of 'In' fl'i-cls, whlili n-ni'iviM civilization tnli;lit have hud u"i tin' primitive In-Kll.u-ts HroijNciJ on tin1 Islmid. "I ou my very llr.; to ym. ife of my ln-iirl." hi- wlii.sicTi'il. I'nl In ri-llci-llons wen- misplaced. "Tlmnk Cml!" Hlif crli-il tin-: t -ly. "I uniilil Hiill kill iiiiylioily any (ln.v-v.lio Htli-niili-i to hurl yon." "'.N'o.ii de I l-n !' ' In' erlioeil the I'l-onclniicii. "Our life will !' u rlicck-eri'd rlicck-eri'd cnrccr." Tln-n r.aihiirn fully recognized once more llo' olil Ainu of llcsli nn.l hlood. deep moods mill light hunter, poeilc 1 1 it'll 1 in nnil prompt inlion d.-llcious-Jy human, warm ullli love ti ml life. Slie miililiTly I ii i 1 1 c I . tin" licw ihlered Hcnsc of shock fulling from her t Me llrnt real Hpoi.hincou.s laugh of miiny weeks. "A lit n ! Alnn ! Nothing mutters hut the fact tlint yon lire here alive! lint I can't understand It till. How was Mich n iiilstake imiileV" "'ery ensily. Because De P.orcenn rlliln't, of course, know frleml from foe! Things were going all right with us. Hut when one of the devils set lire to (lie hut ami the friendly spear knocked me out, De liorceini luiMir illy though all was up. Some of l'.uhoo-iiiii'h l'.uhoo-iiiii'h lot tried to reach you, hut Koowa frusl ruled them, Then De Iiorceau was staunch to his oalli. lie fought iinvhody who came near you, like a medieval knight, and carried you off to safety. Poor Koowa thought he had stolen you from me, and nearly went mad!" ile laughed remlniscently. "Hut you? What happened to you? The expedition searched the Island. And what became of the De Borceaus when they returned ?" lie sank Into the big armchair, still clasping her In his arms. "It's quite a fairy story. You remember the wood In the east where, that first Christmas Christ-mas day ?" "li'verv lenfl" she hrejiflipd. lie smiled Into her eyes. . . . "lint not every moss-covered rock. In that wood was a very cleverly concealed con-cealed entrance to a subterranean passage pas-sage lending to a kind of vault. This narrowed down into another outlet quite impassable on the shore, which allowed a little fresh air and glimmers of light. Tills cave was tabu. In happier days, when the tribe was sufli-clently sufli-clently self-supporting to provide its own meat, the condemned dinner was well, we need not go Into detnils! Hut that cave was supposed to be haunted with the spirits of past feasts. Nobody liked to speak of it, or go near It. When I was considered dead, our friends, very naturally, carried off my bleeding corpse " "Oh, don't !" cried the girl who had mffered so much from this well-meaning well-meaning act. She buried her face on his shoulder. . . . After a lucid Interval he resumed his narrative. "When they realized you had been "stolen' and I was still alive, the fear arose that the 'bird of 111 omen' would return and make off with me, tool So, to Insure my safety that was the Irony of It all they raised the tabu and hid me In the cave. Only Koowa was courageous enough to enter with food. I was knocked out for some time. When I recovered Barbara! Can you possibly Imagine my feelings upon discovering that the rescue party IiSd come and gone? I was raving mad ! The poor beggars had done it for the best and were bewildered. Nothing convince them that the wMte nittr ncce my friends. I spent what seemed years of agony, doubtful If any further help would come. My only hope lay In you." "In me?" "I thought you would persunde De r.orceau or somebody to try again, not rest content " "I wanted to come myself." she cried. "I Implored ami threatened threat-ened and Oh! everybody was so pig-headed. Rut what happened to De Borceau?" "As soon as the plane's arrival was known the whole tribe raced pell-mell t. the shore and burned it to cinders. 1 found the brothers hiding for their life in rhe forest." lie gave an Irrepressible Ir-repressible bubble of laughter. "They literally fell from the trees upon my neck ! We have been kissing each otiier's hands or faces ever since. So, again, nothing remained bur to wait snd hope. 1 thought at least a missionary mis-sionary party would turn up. That second expedition was infernally slow-!" He laid his cheek Impulsively down upon hers. "Put De Iorrau could fe me news of you. Tie told me every thing about Singapore " Her lips turned, trembling a little, to his. -And." she whispered. " 'It' '." "And 'It.'" His arms tightened. "And otner things. I Insisted. He acted loyally for us both. Barbara. But by heaven! It made my gorge rise to know what you were facing the Inferences, the And there I was. powerless as a stranded infant to ateii you " .IUU UUtllUUilUUiUllUUllUiUlU liUUUilUl I "It was h I !" she murmured briefly. brief-ly. "Have you heard ?" "Mudge lold me everything. She got the news of our rescue hIiiiosi directly after 3011 li ft London! I came home like the very devil by sea. air, niul land to find you had disappeared gone to break your little heart alone, where 1 couldn't linil you " "I had to come away, Alan. 1 was In a turmoil " ".My Barbara, don't I understand!" Suddenly his eyes blazed In their old way ; and he dashed an arm upon the table, causing the llame of the lamp to Jump. "Those blighted Pharisees! Those d d, gossiping" "Ob., my dear!" She laughed again at this familiar vehemence. "I went to Darbury," he explained hrielly. Her laughter fled. "You went to Darbury, Alan?" She glanced apprehensively appre-hensively Into his grim face. "What what happened?" He remained- silent for a moment, then met her eyes with a smile. "Well . . . No deaths occurred." "Did did mother say ?" "There was a very free, candid Interchange In-terchange of opinion! I honestly tried to reconcile ,vour mother, hut" he gave one of ids old careless shrugs "he considers herself disgraced, and talks darkly of being obliged to leave Darbury. ... I saw Kochdale, too " Barbara raised her head again. "Ah! Dear old Hugh ! He has been splendid, Alan. His friendship his struggle to to believe " Her vcice quavered. "I know. And he, of everybody concerned, con-cerned, might with Justness have condemned con-demned " They fell silent awhile, each knowing, know-ing, by their own Joy, what It all meant to the friend who had lost. . . . A realization of what this return would mean to Mrs. Field combined with her own overwhelming Joy to draw from the very depths of her heart a voiceless prayer met thanksgiving. thanks-giving. In the luminous, darkened Li "Oh, Don't!" Cried the Girl. eyes that met her own. she saw the same look of almost reverent awe. Never had he seemed so gloriously alive, so radiant In spirit. Again she raised her hands to feel the features she had never thought to see ngaiu; then drew the dear head, with passionate pas-sionate tenderness, down to her breast, and clasped It there. . . . To both of them, beneath the superficial super-ficial lightness of talk, this hour equaled in sacrednpss that of their marriage morning In the dawn. But this held lu It. also, the half-fearful Joy of n resurrection. The past darkness, dark-ness, witli the struggle toward the light, had left Ineffaceable marks upon each soul. . . . 'Can't w-e go back to the Island?" she whispered at last. "Some day." He raised his head and smiled. "We'll retire there, now ond then, and live It all again! But our first Jaunt Is to Australia. I've been commissioned to rebuild the old bus. There's been an awful lot of Interviewing and publicity since I got back ten days ago " "Only ten days! And you've ben to Darbury " 'That's not all." He looked at her with eyes which held something of their old Inscrutability. Inscru-tability. "Your relations showed unflattering surprise at what they termed my 'constancy' 'con-stancy' now we are rescued. Oh, lord !" 'They would!" she cried, with Indignation. In-dignation. "The fear that we meant brar.enly to defy the English law possessed them. They besought me to marry you 'properly. 'prop-erly. In a church.' Your aunt particularly particu-larly insisted upon a Protestant church not a registry oflice, or chapel." j ' Just like Aunt Mary !" She laujhed uiuiiUiiiuiiuuiuiutuiuiuiuauiuuaiics rather bitterly. "I couldn't feel more married." she added, with the quick shy look he loved. Ills gray eyes darkened ; with a little cotih of the breath bis arms tightened. "There's one thing, therefore, which bold had barons must have In their pockets when they chase their victims to Darbury, to prove their good Intent." In-tent." "What Is that?" "A special license. I know a pnrson near here. We haven't met for eight years; hut I wired this morning to tell him we should arrive at his church to be married tomorrow " "My dear whirlwind!" she gasped. He bent, with his old violent suddenness, sudden-ness, and caught her up so close she could scarcely breathe. All the old passionate, dominating love, which had so often swept her away, poured forth and surrounded her; so that, panting and glorying, her individuality, after all Its lonely travail, once more transfused, transformed Into his own. "So," he whispered, "we must have another wedding, my Beloved! But It cannot be more beautiful more real than the other In the dawn " "With a little sobbing, tremulous sigh, stie clung close. . . . "If we had one every year, In every land and every tongue," she murmured whimsically, whim-sically, "they would all seem beautiful beauti-ful to me." The landlady discreetly entered at last to lay the supper. She cast one comprehensive glance at the armchair, and her smiling face grew more radiant. radi-ant. "We are to be married In the mcrn-ing." mcrn-ing." Alnn remarked. Cornish people take life calmly. They do not lose their heads or forget their duties In any crisis. "Yes, sir!" Mrs. Tregutheran agreed brightly. "I'm sure I du hope you will both be happy. And will you have eggs tu breakfast, sir or bacon?" "Both heaps !" They smiled at each other when she left the room. "Somebody must feed us," he observed, ob-served, passing his fingers through her tirh- holr "Kvppv Utile note tine Itta niche." Hugh sat long over a lonely breakfast, break-fast, a few days later. The "old people" peo-ple" were away. The London paper, with Its list of marriages, lay upon the table before him; but he stared nnny absently, through the window, without turning the page. . . . Presently, with gun and dogs, he stepped out into the raw February air, turning aimlessly down a lane. . . . An hour later, followed closely by six puzzled brown eyes, he walked slowly up the pathway In the little wood where aeons ago he and Barbara had discussed their honeymoon. The gun still rested unused within his a-m, the cartridges untouched within their bag. . . . Underfoot, the flr needles lay soft and damp with here and there fronds of sodden dead bracken drooping upon them. The tall pines swayed a little, whispering their everlasting, murmurous murmur-ous song ; dropping, sometimes, splashes from their wet leaves like tears, upon the dreariness below. All the world appeared gloomy, dead, sorrowful. sor-rowful. It seemed impossible that, soon, the sap would run in the tali trees, the young green shoot forth upon the hedges, spring with its fresh myriad life awake with the "singing of birds." ... The unloaded gun dropped unheeded to the ground. . . . The six brown eyes questioned one another won-ier-ingly ; then looked back at the tweed-clad tweed-clad figure lying face downward, with head buried In his arms. . . . At last Shag. Hugh's favorite terrier, ter-rier, ever the most tender-hearted of friends, approached cautiously ; sniffed; then gently licked what was visible of a much-loved cheek. (THE END.) |
