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MKXOCOrY RtSOUITION TfST CHART

(ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

A /APPLIED IN/MGE

1653 East Main Slre«t

Rochester. Near York U609 USA

(716) 482 - 0300 - Phone

(716) 288 -5989 -rax

SUK CLlTCilKl) WITH IIKR UNOKRS AMCNC. THE STONKs"

CHLORIS OF
THE ISLAND

J Novel. By H. B.
Marriott Watson
fVith Illustrations

TORONTO

LANGTON &• HALL
1901

TZ3. VV3 3B C ^

-*// rights rtstrveit.

CONTENTS

CHAFTBR

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

PACB

The Fight IN THE "Three Feathers" . ... i

Roger Warburton Remains 17

The Home of the Carmichaels 29

The Skittles and the Cavern 42

Warburton Gets a Warning 56

Warburton Strikes a Bargain with Himself . 66

Upon the Lawns of Lynsea 78

The Beginning of the Adventure in Lynsea . 90

Warburton Makes a Discovery 102

Sir Stephen Carmichael Swoons 114

The Upper Room 1*7

Thk Eyes of Chloris i35

The Chapel on the Dunes I45

The Spy ^5^

Philip Talks 169

The Carmichaels Take Counsel 182

Warburton Makes a Surrender 196

A Robbery and an Arrest 212

Warburton Sails for the Island 225

What Came with the Storm 235

What Met Chloris on the Threshold ... 246

The Vengeance of Nicholas Carmichael ... 259

On the Sands by Lynsea 271

iii

ILLUSTRATIONS

SHE CLUTCHED WITH HER FINGERS AMONG THE

STONES Froniitpuct

THE INNKEEPER REGRETTED Facing 1^. lO

" YOU HAVE KILLED HIM !" CRIED WARBURTON. . .

SHIRLEY'S BODY LAY STRETCHED IN THE FIRELIGHT.

"what's AMISS WITH A JOB?"

SIR STEPHEN STOOD AT HIS ELBOW

CHLORIS SEIZED HER BROTHER'S WRIST WITH BOTH
HANDS

HE CRAWLED OUT OF THE REACH OF THE WATER . .

TWO HORSEMEN DASHED AROUND THE BEND . . .

WARBURTON BOWED AS THE VISITOR ENTERED . .

SHE STOPPED A FEW FEET AWAY

WARBURTON'S UNCLE

UPON THE GREEN SWARD LAY CHLORIS

SIR GEORGE BOWED IN ADMIRATION

PHIUP CARMICHAEL AND DOROTHY HOLT ....

WARBURTON STOOD WITH THE LETTER IN HIS HAND

SIR STEPHEN LEANED BACK UPON THE TABLE SUP-
PORTING UUiSSLF

18
32
36

58
63
70
72
76

114

124

ILLUSTRATIONS

"CHLORIS. YOU LOVE me!" Facing ,. l^t

SHE STARED OUT OF THE JEWELLED PANE INTO THE

NIGHT « ,,„

140

AS THE LIEUTENANT DRANK, HE TALKED MORE GAK-

RULOUSLY 14 2

CHLORIS CLUNG TO HIM DESPERATELY " ,56

DOROTHY'S EYES FLASHED 4t jg

"I won't have YOU PASSING BEHIND ME". ... " 184
NICHOLAS STRODE FROM THE ROOM IN HIGH PAS-
SION .4 ,„,

WARBURTON HAD A HORSE SADDLED FOR THE JOUR-

''^V " 8IO

"YOU ASK ME TO GIVE THIS UP TO YOU UNREAD?" . •« 316

NICHOLAS AROUSED THE INNKEEPER «• ^21

MR. POWIS PERUSED THE WRITING AGAIN .... " 226

WARBURTON HURRIED FORWARD •' 24a

CHLORIS AIMED THE PISTOL AT THE HEAD OF THE

OLD SERVANT '• 256

NICHOLAS CARMICHAEL STOOD IN THE OPEN DOOR.

WAY .. 26^

"THEN I AM SIR PHIUP" <• 280

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

CHAPTER I

THE HGHT IN THE " THREE FEATHERS

IN the month of May of the year 1805 a chaise was
travelling at a great rate across the rude moor-
land between Feldway and the sea. The two
horses were kept at a fast trot, and broke now and
then into a canter under the whip of the postilion, so
that the carriage rocked and pitched over the stony
ground, and the occupants rolled from side to side
and jostled each other within the body of the coach.
One of these was a young man, most elegantly dressed
in the height of the fashion.

" The devil I" said he. as he was thrown against his
companion, and he laid his arms about her. " Dor-
othy, you repent not ?" he asked, tenderly. '' Tell
me, my love, that you are happy. Faith, I would
have you saying so all day."

" Yes," she murmured, " I am happy, yet I fear."

" Pooh !" said he. " What should you fear ? I am
with you, and a match for any half-dozen rogues. Let
me tell you this, sweetheart—"

But at this moment, ere he could proceed further

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

with his reassurance, the chaise came to a pause,
sharply.

" Why, the devil ! What are you about, fool ?"
cried the young man in a fury, and, flinging open the
door, he abused the postilion roundly.

" Beg pardon, sir," said the man, humbly enough,
" but, knowing you were flying the law, I thought I'd
mention that there stands a horseman yonder."

"Gad ! so it is !" cried his master, in alarm ; "but
pooh, one man ! D'ye think he has cut us off, Payne ?
He may have others with him. He stands by the
cross- roads. There's his face against the moon, damn
him ! Well, what do I care ? Drive on, and drive
over him, rascal. The lady and I must reach the port
to-night ere twelve."

So saying, he pulled to the door, and the chaise
rattled on at a sharper pace even than before. The
young man looked out of the window. " Faith," he
said, "this looks like the high toby, Dolly. I will
blow a hole in the scoundrel. Damn me, if Sir George
shall take me now — not if I have to eat a dozen of
his rascals."

He primed his pistol and loosened the sword by his
side. " D'ye think I'm not fit for one— or a dozen,
Dolly ?" he continued, with a perceptible swagger in
his voice. " The deuce take me, but I will bring down
a brace at one shot. By the Lord ! he movefe, and is
forward to attack us ! No doubt he has some fellows
behind him. Now's my chance fallen to me. Duck
your head, Dolly dear, and I will settle his account."

With these words he threw open the window and
laid his pistol across the wood-work. The horseman,
who was at rest some twenty paces away on the cross-
road, suddenly dug his heels into the nag and came
with a cry towards the coach.

FIGHT IN "THREE FEATHERS"

" Stand off, by Heaven ! or I will send you to the
other place !" shouted the young man.

The horseman reined in quickly, and broke into
laughter.

" You hot colt, Jack !" said he. "Put up your toy.
I am no fly-by-night, nor yet an officer of the
law."

The coach came sharply to a stop at an eager com-
mand from the young man, and he leaped forth ere
the wheels had ceased to roll.

" Hang me, Roger, but you should have had a bul-
let in your stomach in another five seconds. What
brings you here? You never were closer death. I
can't brook to be stopped now. But I'm devilish glad
to see you. See, I've done the trick ; I've put out the
trump. Here she is, pretty girl !"

" Is this Miss Holt?" asked the new-comer.

" Aye, 'tis Dorothy. Come out, sweetheart, and let
Mr. Warburton see you. He is my very old friend, as
you have heard."

The girl stepped diffidently from the chaise, and the
three stood in the rising light of the moon. Warbur-
ton made a sweeping courtesy, which she acknowl-
edged as deliberately.

" You are bound for the port, Shirley ?" asked War-
burton.

" That is so," said Shirley. " We are bowling along
for Redmouth.and must fetch there by midnight when
the boat sails."

" Whither do you go ?" inquired Warburton, after a
silence.

Shirley laughed, as though tickled by a sense of his
wisdom. " Why, to London !" he answered, " the last
place we shall be looked for. I'll be bound Sir George
will not suspect London. He will hunt the country

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

and go north. He will keep his eye on Gretna Green.
My faith, we'll plague him."

•' Sir George Everett is a shrewd man, remarked
Warburton, and stared at the girl whose face was ill-
revealed in that fine thin light. " It is a grave thing
to abduct a ward in Chancery," he said, m his slower
voice. " Have you considered what you are risking,

Miss Holt?" .,, , . .

" Damme, Warburton, I will have none of these
croakings," interposed Shirley, angrily. " D'ye sup-
pose she wants to listen to an old raven like you ?
You shall not prevent her." ^^

"Zounds, man, I wish to prevent no one, said the
other, with a laugh. " You need not fly out on me. I
am here only to bid you Godspeed. I wish you hap-
piness and Miss Holt too. I intended to catch you."
" You've a good heart, Roger," said his friend, as
swiftly veering in his mood. " Hang it, you shall ride
along with us, and see us despatched. What's this I
see yonder? Why, 'tis a light in a window."
" 'Tis a way-side tavern," said Warburton.
"Gad, then, you shall toast Dolly and drink to our
luck. Come along ! Those fools will not be on our
track. I will have you drink to us."

Warburton good-humoredly followed the impetuous
fellow, and, leaving his horse in charge of the postilion,
entered after the girl and her lover. They came into
a cosey little room and sat to a rude table, Shirley or-
dering port-wine and brandy.

He was a good-looking, very young, and eager fel-
low of middle height, with dark glancing eyes and a
strong complexion. Warburton, on the other hand,
who was some seven and twenty years, stood very tall
and broader, and was wholly of another cast. He had
the brown English hair, and his eyes were indefinite

\ .

FIGHT IN "THREE FEATHERS"

between gray and blue, bright and clear as steel. His
face was of a particular healthiness and somewhat
tenderly shaped, save for the jowl, which was large,
harsh, and dominant. The whole aspect of his face
was that of strength, even of brutality, yet he carried
with him an air of good temper, even to the point of
patience. His actions were as deliberate as the gaze
which he now fastened upon his friend's companion.

What he looked on was a slim and delicate creature
of some nineteen years, neither high nor low in stat-
ure, but properly modulated in her figure. It was in
her color that she showed so delicate, which was of a
soft golden-pink that stole to and fro of her cheeks
with her emotions. Her eyes were wide blue, and her
tresses, gathered in the pretty ostentatious fashion of
that time, were golden brown and crimpled. The fine
features of her countenance sparkled with light nnd
faded, as an ember glows and cools, in turn. H< ks
were infinitely seductive, and changed and wa\ ed,
breaking in a score of embarrassments under Warbur-
ton's gaze. His eyes left her face slowly, and as if for
the first time conscious of their boldness, and strayed
leisurely down her body, from the high girdle at her
bosom along the yellow silken gown. Then he lifted
his glass.

" I drink luck to Miss Holt," said he, in his deep
voice.

" Hang you ! to me, Roger, also !" said Shirley, im-
pulsively, " you shall not drink to her alone. She is
Miss now, but she shall be Mistress to-morrow— stab
me, she shall."

" Why, where are your manners. Jack ?" laughed
Warburton. " D'ye think I was going to couple you
with this pretty figure? You may couple yourself,
not I. I own to a jealousy against it."

C II LOR IS OF THE ISLAND

He laughed loudly and good-naturedly, as lhouj;Ii
he saw unusual humor in his jest. Hut Shirley
leaped to his feet in a passion of rage, and with an
oath.

" What ! Would you make eyes at her under my
very nose ?" he cried, red as a turkey-cock. " I will
teach you a lesson in manners. I see now why you
pursued me so far, you with your pretences of friend-
ship. But, gad ! y » are found out, and I will cut out
your false heart."

" Peace, silly fool!" said Warburton, sternly. " You
are like a pistol at half-cock that flies off anyhow.
You insult this lady. She turns color at your in-
sinuations, and if there were time and place, it is I
that would teach you a lesson. But, faith ! we are a
sorry wedding-party. I have given you my toast;
I add to it your name, Jack, you fool. Here 'tis ;
and now I will drink it myself. To your fortune
and happiness, and confusion to Miss Dolly's guar-
dian !"

" Bravo !" cried Shirley, with every symptom of
his fury fled, and now laughing gayly.

The girl shifted her eyes under Warburton's glance,
and the pink flooded her golden white cheeks. There
was vanity in that face, thought Warburton, and
there was cleverness ; but there was timidity aLso.
He drained his glass and set it down.

" This brandy paid no taxes," said he. " 'Tis a good
omen that you also shall deceive the law."

Shirley swaggered out of the tavern laughing, and
presently they were again upon the road. The way
now was descending from the high, bare moorland
into a long and broken combe, sheltered with the
great walls of the hills upon each side, and black and
ragged with woods. The trees sought the cover of

FIGHT IN "THREE FEATHERS'

these close valleys from the wildness of the sea
winds, and here they grew rankly, full of leaf and
h|r>8»om, in this rich May weather. The road had
narrowed, forming but a track cut through a thicket,
and fenced from the lK»ttom below by a hedge of
thorn. The sky above was plunged in darkness, as
the clouds overran the moon, and at the same time
the noise of voices came from behind like a clap on
Warburton's ears.

"Jack, they're on you," says he, shouting through
the window, and urged on the horses himself with a
stroke of his whip.

The chaise increased its speed, rattling and shriek-
ing on its axles, while the postilion shouted and plied
his whip; bu* '* sounds drew nearer from the rear,
and the paddir of horses at a fast gallop was now
audible in concert with the human voices. It was
evident that the runaways would be overtaken.

"'Tis no use," said Warburton, above the noises.
" You have no hope, Jack, to outstrip them."

" I have a pistol, damn 'em !" shouted the other.

"What, you fool!" remonstrated his friend, "you
would proceed to that extremity. You will be
hanged. Here they come. Sit still, you block-
head !"

As he spoke there was the thunder of hoofs upon
them, and out of the blackness emerg'^d three horses
abreast, their noses to the earth, their feet lashing
and pounding in that fierce descent. The moon had
broken out of her bondage, and lit a clear space of
sky, throwing of a sudden these furious riders into
relief. The chaise, which was still running quickly,
was pulled sharply to the side by the postilion, in
order to avoid the onset ; the horses backed in alarm
upon the verge of the road, which here was unguarded

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

by any fence or hedge. Three figures flashed forth
into the brightness and drove upon them.

" By Heaven, what are you doing ?" demanded War-
burton angrily, and his chestnut, struck in that head-
long passage, swerved and stumbled among the horses
of the chaise. "The devil take you !" he cried, as
with a noise of ringing laughter the riders swept by
and plunged forthright into the pitchy darkness of
the steeps beyond.

The chestnut reared and flung out his feet, and the
chaise backed and toppled, threatening to roll over
the edge into the valley below. But Warburton sprang
from his seat swiftly among the struggling horses, and,
seizing them by the reins, dragged them, partly by
force and partly by sounding oaths and cajolery, into
the road again. The imminent danger was over, and
he came out of the medley of legs, holding his left arm
Shirley had sprang out of the carriage, and now met
him.

"What's the matter?" he cried, anxiously,

"A kick from my own nag, the fool !" said Warbur-
ton, breathing heavily. " He should know me by this
time."

" By God I I could teach these gentry manners, had I
the chance," declared Shirley, furiously.

Warburton stared down the road into the darkness,
rubbing his forearm. " There was a woman with 'em,"
he said, musingly.

" The more shame upon her !" said Shirley.

" 'Tis the Carmichaels," interposed the postilion,
speaking now for the first time.

" And who the deuce may they be?" inquired War-
burton.

"They're a considerable family hereabouts," ex-
plained the man, "and upon Lvnsea."

FIGHT IN "THRE^ FEATHERS'

Warburton made no answer but approached the
chaise, putting in his head. " I trust you are not in-
commoded, Miss Holt," said he, politely, " nor too
greatly alarmed. 'Twas nothing save some uncivil
riders."

" Damme, I thought 'twas Sir George, at last," said
Shirley, with a laugh. " Confound those Carmichaels !
I am in a sweat to keep my fingers on the trigger.
Where are we, Payne?"

" At the bottom of the combe lies Marlock, and 'tis
but a walk to t' e sea thence," said the postilion.

" Marlock !" said Miss Dorothy, in surprise, " why,
'tis here Sir George has a house."

" What !" cried Shirley, laughing. " 'Twould serve
him finely if we set ourselves up there. Hark ! I hear
the water," he went on, abruptly, " I smell the sea. By
Heaven ! Dolly, we are within an hour of the harbor
and safety. None can take you thence." He consult-
ed a large gold watch under the moon. " What's
o'clock ? Why, 'tis early yet, and we shall take some
food together ere we move farther. We have eaten
nothing these six hours, since we left Feldway. Payne,
drive on."

They renewed the descent of the combe, and shortly
after the chaise drew up before an inn, from which
swung the sign of the " Three Feathers."

The room into which they came next was long and
low in the ceiling, with a black oaken wainscot ; and
two tables were spread there, one at each end with a
space of some twelve feet between them. On the
threshold of the door, Shirley, who was leading the
party, stopped with an ejaculation of disgust.

" What ! There are guests here already !" he ex-
claimed. " Landlord, can you not find us another
chamber ?"

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

The innkeeper, who was at their heels, regretted,
with a helpless humility, that this was his only guest-
room. " But they will not interfere with you," he
added, hastily ; "they are gentle-folk, like yourselves."

Impatiently Shirley strode into the room, and the
eyes of the two men at the table next the door rose
to his and fastened there with undisguised indiffer-
ence. A woman,who was seated in a deep chair before
the fire, did not so much as turn her head.

"Go on, Nick," says the younger of these two men,
helping himself to a generous glass of brandy. " What
did you when the mare slipped ?"

The man addressed still stared at the strangers out
of his bold eyes. He was over Warburton's age, as tall,
but slighter, and in every other particular in contrast
with him. Black was his hair, and stark and black was
his aspect, his face of a handsome swarthiness, and the
only character in the face that spoke not of foreign
blood was the grayrtess of the eyes.

Shirley and his party seated themselves at the fur-
ther table, and in no good-humor the young man gave
his orders, calling for a flagon of Madeira. By this
time, the younger man at the first table had recognized
the presence of Miss Holt, and was gazing at her with
interest, even with admiration. His mouth dropped
open in his unconscious wonder to see her there, and
then he looked at his companion with a smile. He
cracked a walnut with his fingers, and threw it at the
fire with a gesture of disgust.

"Bah! Tremayne," he said; "you've buried them
too long."

" Aye, sir," assented the innkeeper, " 'tis late for
them."

Warburton eyed the pair with curiosity. They
were both tall, and the one was as fair as the other

0,^:7"^

THE INNKEEPER HFr.RF.TTF.D

FIGHT IN "THREE FEATHERS'

was dark. Both were dressed with taste, and some
distinction picked them out. Both faces were at that
moment directed upon his table, and he observed with
surprise that out of eyes of the same color sprang two
very diverse expressions — the one defiant, lowering,
the other gay, debonair, and kindly. If these were
brothers, as a nameless resemblance seemed to sug-
gest, they were discriminated by a marvellous incon-
gruity.

The two resumed their conversation and their
drinking; and presently Shirley and his lady and his
friend were engaged upon their supper. Under the
influence of the wine and food Shirley recovered, and
laughed and talked a good deal. At both tables there
was much liquor drunk, but the two strangers were
drinking brandy. Presently the younger called out
in a louder voice.

" Sis, you'd best sip of a glass," he said, addressing
the woman in the chair. " Come, sis, be not foolish.
You will be sensible of the cold."

She paid no heed, and he swore a little, laughing,
but resumed his talk with Nick. Presently the girl
rose from before the fire, and, walking leisurely to the
door, went forth, her face undetermined in the low
lights of the room. As if some reins were relaxed, of
a sudden the two brothers' merriment broke out nois-
ily. They had drunk a great deal of spirit, and showed
no signs of abating ; and now the effects of these po-
tations came to be manifest, particularly in the young-
er. The talk swelled so loud that Warburton could
scarcely catch what was said at his table, and Shirley,
who was constantly dipping hi? nose in the Madeira,
glanced up angrily and scowled. As it chanced, this
ugly look was noticed by the younger of the brothers,
who jumped quickly to his feet.

I 1

5 i

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" I trust we do not inconvenience you, sir," said he,
with a fine bow.

" You do — damnably," said Warburton, shortly and
coolly.

"That I should be unwilling to think, seeing the
presence of this lady," pursued the other, easily.
" Gad ! I am a chatterbox, madam, and I must hear
my own voice."

" Get you back ; you are drunk !" cried Shirley,
furiously ; " you insult this lady."

" Leave them be, Philip ; we have no time," called
out his brother, impatiently.

Philip made another bow. " Gad ! you are frank,"
he said, lightly, but speaking in a somewhat uncer-
tain voice. " I may be drunk, but I know my man-
ners, and better than to charge the offence upon a
gentleman in the face of a lady."

Shirley made a movement to rise, but Warburton's
strong fingers were upon his arm.

" Peace, you hot-blood," he murmured ; " you said
yourself they are tipsy."

The stranger walked back to his table, picking his
way with a mixture of dignity and diffidence, but his
brother uttered an oath under his breath, and rang
loudly on the bell for the innkeeper.

" Another bottle, Tremayne," said he, curtly.

"Certainly, sir; certainly, Mr. Carmichael," re-
turned the man, subserviently.

" Did you hear ?" cried Shirley, in the act of lifting
his glass. " Carmichael was what he said, Warburton.
My God ! but 'tis they that drove against us. Here,
landlord," he called, "what name was it you called
just now? Was it Carmichael ?"

" Hush, sir ; yes, sir," said Tremayne, in a low voice,
and casting a glance of fear towards the other table.

FIGHT IN "THREE FEATHERS"

*' Damn me, man, d'ye suppose I care for your ter-
rors ?" said Shirley, flying out. " I am glad to know
"em— that's all. I have something to settle with 'em.''

" If you sit not down, Jack, I will break your neck,"
said Warburton in his ears. " You should be ashamed
of yourself, with Miss Holt here. Contain yourself."

Shirley flung off the arm which detained him.
"Hands off! 'Tis the second time you have set me
back. I will have it out with these Carmichaels," he
said, quite loudly, for he was now inflamed with wine.

At the sound of their own name the Carmichaels
looked over, and a curious hard smile moved upon
Nicholas Carmichael's face. Warburton was vaguely
aware that behind that furtive sneer was latent some
strenuous emotion, but the man spoke calmly enough.

"Well, sir, and what want you with the Carmi-
chaels ?" he asked.

Shirley rose to his feet. "'Twas you rode us
down," he Said, angrily, "and I would wish you to
know how I think of you."

" Ah, 'twas you, then, in the runaway chaise, was
it?" said Nicholas Carmichael. "Hang me if you
should not have been spared if we had known you
carried so handsome a lady." He spoke with a
laugh, and his manner was even more insolent than
his words. Drink had bred in him a black passion.
Philip Carmichael sat across his chair, in his long
and fashionable coat, giggling foolishly.

Holding Shirley back by force, Warburton spoke
with command. "Sir, you were best to withdraw.
You are not fit for a lady's presence."

Nicholas Carmichael turned his gaze on him, and
deliberately lifted his glass.

" I will propose you a pretty toast," he said, " the
prettiest toast in England, by God ! and there sh-

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

stands." He got no further, for Shirley, drawing his
sword sprang out upon him.

" You base-born lout !" he cried, and his weapon
clashed upon Nicholas Carmichael's.

" Hold, gentlemen— hold !" cried Warburton, in a
loud voice. "There is a lady here. Cease, if you
have any shame."

" By God ! Nick, that's true," exclaimed Philip Car-
michael, suddenly sobering. "Put up, Nick, you
tiger."

But these interpositions were of no avail, for both
men had drunk deeply, and each was swollen witii
anger. At the first onset Shirley's point, carrying
all before its vehemence, struck into the flesh of his
opponent's arm. Carmichael drew back, his dark
face colored, and, his eyes shining like gray wolves',
he hurled himself in his passion upon the youth. His
sword flew over the guard like a streak of fire ; Shir-
ley dodged and wavered, threw up his hands feebly,
and then he fell heavily against the table, and came
to the floor.

" My God ! what's this ?" cried Philip Carmichael,
now wholly sobered.

Warburton sprang forward. "You have killed
him," said he, furiously. "A foul deed to take a lad's
life !"

The room was wellnigh in darkness, save for the
fire; for the candles had been overturned in that
fatal fall. Nicholas Carmichael made no reply, and
his features were working still, unrecovered from the
frenzy. The innkeeper was shaking like a wand and
crying out. Warburton stooped over the body, and
fingered at the breast. As he did so the door opened
and the girl who had previously gone out returned,
carrying a light aboye her head.

»4

VOU HAVE KILLED IILM !" CUIEU WARHIRION

;

I i

FIGHT IN "THREE FEATHERS"

" What is this ?" she asked. " Why are you in dark-
I ness?" and her eyes paused on the group and the

-- body.

Warburton's attention momentarily strayed to the
new voice, and he beheld, rising out of the pale light
of the candle and set upon a tall figure, a full white
face, about which gleamed red-brown hair. The fire-
light flashed upon a dull green habit, and a three-
cornered velvet hat crowned the head. These im-
pressions he realized afterwards ; at the moment he
took in nothing save a new presence.

"What is this?" she repeated, wondering.

Nicholas Carmichael turned. " 'Tis nothing, Chlo-
ris," said he, harshly, " save that some one has been
speaking ill of the Carmichaels and has been pun-
ished."

She stared, and uttered a little trivial laugh of
scorn.

" They will learn wisdom in time," she said.

" Get away, Nick, get away," said Philip Carmichael,
earnestly ; " I tell you, you are best away."

He was looking at Warburton anxiously, who still
bent over his friend.
4 When Roger Warburton looked up he met the
» eyes of Dorothy Holt. She stared at him, white,
stricken, and bewildered, and she choked on a sob.

" He is dead for sure," he said, quietly, and turning
suddenly ran out of the door, through which the
Carmichaels had already departed.

When he re. hed the street the Carmichaels were
already on horseback, and the innkeeper was crying
out to them that they had ruined him, and that this
affray would be terrible news in the country-side.

" 'Tis all right, old cock," laughed Philip Carmichael
out of the darkness, for he seemed to have resumed
t '5

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

his equable gayety. " You know where we are to be
found."

"Ah, 'tis a grave matter, Mr. Philip," cried the
frightened landlord.

"Well, well, set it down in the bill, Trcmayne,"
called Philip, indiflferently, as he launched his horse
down the street.

Warburton had sprung into the roadway with a
stretch of his long legs, and came now among the
Carmichaels. They turned and struck away from
the inn, and, in a great gust of indignation and fury,
he grasped wildly at the reins of the hor..e nearest
him.

"Come down! Come down!" he shouted. His
hands, fumbling in the night, came upon a woman's
.skirt, and as the horse plunged forward, simultane-
ously the knob ^i a heavy whip struck on his face.
He let go the bi Jle and stood in the road gazing into
the blackness, through which the Carmichaels were
galloping for the sea, as though his physical sight
might follow after them and reach ''-em, while gouts
of blood, unnoticed, trickled from his cheek-bone and
distained his cravat. Then he turned on his heel
and walked back to the " Three Feathers."

» t

CHAPTER II
ROGER WARBURTON REMAINS

WARBURTON re-entered the inn with a
smile upon his face, and stood in the hall,
deliberately patting the red abrasion on
his cheek with a kerchief. Here the inn-
keeper, Tremayne, met him, displaying many marks
: of agitation.

"This is a terrible business— a terrible business,
sir," he kept repeating.

Warburton eyed him coldly, seeing in him a mere
I craven, who shrinks from risks and responsibilities.
' " You must prepare a room for the lady," he cried,
j shortly ; "she will have to stay here t !-r ^ght."

" Was she— was the gentleman married, sir ?" asked
[Tremayne.

No, the lady was to have been his wife. 'Twas a
j runaway match," said Warburton, turning from him.
" Good God— to think of that! I would have given
j worlds that it shouldn't ha' happened!" cried the mis-
s erable innkeeper.

" Warburton opened the door of the long room,
[which was still in darkness. The wood fire splut-
|tered and danced and shot long streams of light
lacross the wainscot. Shirley's body lay stretched as
[he had left it, a patch of yellow flame illuminat-
h'ng one side of the face. Beside him crouched
B ,7

i s

I f

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

Dorothy Holt, gazing with stupefaction at the dead.
He addressed her :

" Come, Miss Holt ; I have ordered a room for you.
You had better drink a stiff glass and rest."

" What would you do with me ?" she asked, in a lit-
tle whisper, as though she were surrendering herself
like a child.

"You shall go home to-morrow. 'Tis too late
to-night," he returned. "I will convey word to
Sir George."

She burst out sobbing so that her body was shaken.

" Come, come," said he, very kindly, " let me lift
you. You are no weight, madam. There is a room
elsewhere which you must seek."

He led her, half supporting her with his arm,
through the doorway, and presently conducted her
to her chamber. On the threshold he paused.

"Will you send me back to-morrow?" she whis-
pered, clinging to him.

" Perish me if I don't !" he said, heartily. " I'll
have you at home to dine comfortably, I promise you."

" What will you do ?" she asked, with an hysterical

sob.

" I am needed here. Miss Holt," he replied, after a
perceptible silence ; " yet I will see you home, child,"
he added, soothingly.

" Don't leave me!" she pleaded, with an outburst.
Her slender arms were about his shoulders.

" You have my word, child," said Warburton, im-
perturbably.

She leaned her brown-gold head towards him, and
cried fiercely in his ear, "Kill them— kill them for

me!"

" Faith, my dear," said Warburton, good-humored-
ly, " I am going to do that for myself."

hlllKLtV S KultV l.AV .SIKKICIIKL) IN lllK I- IKKI.Uill 1'

II'

4 ■ >. :

i (

! !

t r
* ' i

ROGER WARBURTON REMAINS

He put her gently through the door, as if he had
more important matters which called him, and de-
scended to Tremayne.

"The time is near eleven o'clock," said he "I
would be awoke at six to-morrow, and the lady too
Also give word to the postilion of what we intend " '
Yet these designs were not carried out according
to his purpose, for scarce an hour was passed when
there was a deep commotion at the door and a
^knocking followed. Warburton looked from his
nightcap, and then, throwing aside the curtains
peered into the night. What he saw there drove
him quickly from the room, and he came into th^
hall as a short, brisk, elderly man entered.
'' Sir George Everett." said he, bowing solemnly.
" Mr. Warburton," said the older man. " I know
your family. I expected not to see you here, nor that
you would meddle in this business."
; " I assure you, sir, I have meddled in nothing " re-
turned Warburton, coolly, " but I desire you to take a
seat with me in this room."

i Sir George Everett waved his hand impatiently
£ I do not know how you stand, sir," he said " buw
_ shall know shortly." And then to the innkeeper
Have you a lady here that arrived with a young
gentleman, it may be some two hours back?"
Tremayne hesitated and stammered.
" Come, quick !" said the baronet, impatiently
'Tis true, your honor, that two such entered
here some time back." replied the poor innkeeper,
but indeed I am not responsible."
"Bah!" said Sir George, interrupting; "I care not
What you are responsible for. Let the lady know
that I am here.

"Sir George," said Warburton again, " I repeat, I

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

desire you will take a seat with me to discuss certain

matters." .... ,. t

" Be damned if I do," said Everett, irritably. I

have had pother enough in this pursuit as it is, to

lend myself to more talk."
" Well, sir," said Warburton, curtly, then you will

have it.' Your ward's name is sadly tarnished by

this flight." , ,. T

" She may be picked out in spots for what 1 care,

said Sir George, pettishly.

"Nay, you do yourself injustice," remonstrated
Warburton. " But she must go back with you."

" My good sir, I am come for that," said Sir George,
impatiently, "and to clap her friend in jail."

" That you may not do," said the other. Everett
regarded him questioningly. " He has been struck
dead He has had judgment delivered on him al-
ready," said Warburton, ironically. " He has escaped

you, sir."

"Why, the devil! what is this?" demanded Everett.
"'Twa's a bloody fight with some black bravo,"
said Warburton. " He lies yonder, and your ward
is asleep in her room."

Sir George Everett lifted his eyebrows and shrugged
his shoulders. " 'Tis a bad piece of work, as I hear it
from you," he said, " yet I may confess it mightily
conveniences me."

"They would be at sea otherwise," explained War-
burton.

" Pish !" said Sir George, with a sneer. i he ]ade
does not know her mind, and she hath no heart.'
He commanded the innkeeper to fetch her down ; anc
in response to Warburton's objections : " I tell you
Mr. Warburton, I will tarry no more here. The soonei
the better, though we ride all night."

ROGER WARBURTON REMAINS

Yet when his ward was brought he addressed her
not unkindly.

"I catch you on a fool's errand, miss," he said.
"Go, prepare for a return forthwith;" and he added,
with some sensible consideration in his voice : " You
are to go home, child. This is no place for you, and
you have no right here."

" To-morrow," said she, exhibiting some spirit for
the first time — " to-morrow I should have had a right."
"All flesh is grass," said he, with a grin. " You are
in bondage again, for all your trickery. Yet I would
not be hard. Dorothy, you must obey me."
Her eyes dwelt on Warburton's face, as though
! making an appeal to him, and he came forward.
" Can I be of service, sir ? Use my offices if you
have any need of them. You are welcome."

"No," said Sir George ; "you will stay here, I sup-
pose. You are kind, but I can manage a wayward
girl. We shall lie somewhere upon the road. I
-will not have her here. You are right to stay. I
i thank God it has ended comfortably," with which
Iqueer sentiment he bowed to Warburton and with-
|drew into a private room until Miss Holt should be
|ready.

When these were gone, Warburton himself went up
to bed, considering with himself not a little. He had
resolved to stay until the coroner had sat upon the
;body ; and. indeed, if he had desired to depart, he
was not allowed for this reason. He was a witness
of the death, and he asked no better than to give his
evidence on that cruel deed. Warburton was but
slowly moved, but once in motion he stopped with
difficulty. At present his deliberate wits were en-
.|gaged in turning over the incidents of that tragic
|night, and neither he nor any other could determine

i 4

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

as yet how they would affect him. He had a notion,
but there was nothing of it expressed upon his smooth
face the next morning, when after a wholesome break-
fast he began to put questions to Tremayne. He
wanted to know who were these Carmichaels, and by
what right they bullied the country-side.

"They're a proud race, sir," was the innkeeper's
answer; "they've always held themselves high, and
other folk, too. They live on Lynsea."

"Lynsea," said Warburton. "Where is Lynsea?"

The innkeeper pointed out of the window. "If
you mount that bluff of sand, sir, you will look out
upon the Gut to the northwest, and the Gut is what
separates Lynsea from the mainland."

"Ah, 'tis an island," mused Warburton, " and these

gentry own it?" .

" It was the property of the Tantelhons, explained
Tremayne, " and Sir Stephen Carmichael bought it
from the heir-at-law some fifteen years ago."

" They give themselves airs for such new-comers,"

said Warburton. . , v , j

" I would not say any harm of them, said the land-
lord, hurriedly; " they are very good customers to me.
But'Mr. Nicholas has a quick temper ; no doubt of

that."
The phrase tickled Warburton's sense of humor

agreeably, and he laughed aloud.

" Why, yes, he has a very quick temper, as you
say," he said. "A quick temper has Mr. Nick. We
might say that there is something of the devil
behind him, and spurs him on. He is an ugly en-
emy."

" That is so, sir," ventured -he innkeeper, respect-
fully, but with a clandestine look at his interrogator.
" No man hereabouts would like to cross Mr. Nicho-

ROGER WARBURTON REMAINS

las. Not that he is not generous enough, but he has
a sore temper. "

"Aye," says Warburton, in a dry, meditative voice.

" 'Tis a nasty cut you have, sir," pursued Tremayne,
as if not unvilling to turn the conversation. " Was
it a fall ? I have a simple for an open bruise on the
bone."

"Thank ye, I will not use your simple, landlord,"
answered Warburton, slowly. " No, 'twas no fill. I
think it was a blunder. I dare say I shall carry that
mark with me to the grave. In truth, I would not
lose it immediately. It has some close associations
which I do not wish to dispel. I will keep it open,
that I may be reminded. I should be loath to miss
that scar for some time to come."

Tremayne, who was a very brisk man with sharp
eyes, but a sad coward, studied his averted face atten-
tively and with anxiety. He showed uneasiness in
his guest's presence and reluctance under his exam-
ination, which facts had been noted by Warburton,
whose observation was quick enough, if his brain
worked leisurely. It was plain that the man went in
fear cf these Carmichaels, but for what reason War-
burton could not guess.

The inquest was appointed for four o'clock that
afternoon, and towards three War 'carton was in-
formed that Sir Stephen Carmichael begged the
honor of an interview. He descended and found a
tall and venerable man, who accosted him with great
ceremony. He had the gray eyes of his family, and
also its high stature, and he was about sixty years of
age, though his long hair was as white as at four-
score.

"Mr. Warburton," he began, with much grace, and
leaning heavily on a stick, " I am come about this mis-

^itil

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

erable affair. I deplore it. That unhappy youth — "
he made a vague and indifferent gesture towards
the room in which lay the body of Jack Shirley,
waiting the coroner. " I lament the trivial origin
of modern duels ; but I am not a young man."

" The stroke," said Warburton, coolly, " was an evil
one. For an older man so to thrust a young lad, and
with such vice, was assassination. Moreover, the af-
fray was provoked."

" Ah !" cried Sir Stephen, with a sigh. " You agitate
me. My poor Nick! He has a damnable temper. We
are of Irish blood, Mr. Warburton, and it breaks out.
I am too old, but Nick is young, and he has a devil."

" Aye," said Warburton, nodding, " that he has."

Those keen eyes were bent on him, as though they
could strike into the private chambers of his heart
and pry out what he thought. But Warburton stood
like a wall of stone, impervious and impenetrable, and
after a pause the baronet turned away with an impa-
tient adjustment of his fingers, as though he would
dismiss forever this stolid, stupid Englishman. But
what he said was dictated by a delicate courtesy and
characterized by fine manners.

" I trust I have not disturbed or offended you in
this call, Mr. Warburton," he said, " but ^ could not
resist the impulse to tell you of my profound regret.
I know nothing which has upset me so these many
years."

" You are very good," said Warburton, civilly, bow-
ing.

There was nothin-j said after this, and Sir Stephen
left, walking with ciifficulty by the aid of his stick.
When he had gone the younger man returned to his
occupation, and read quietly until the coroner was
announced. Then he made his way into the long

ROGER WARBURTON REJIAINS

room, where the body of the unfortunate boy was ex-
posed upon a table.

Coroner's inquests in those times, and particularly
in such outlying and private corners, were by no
means ordered with the formality and precision of
later days. Yet there was about this a fine show of
decorum and all the austerity which characterizes
English justice. Nicholas Carmichael gave his evi-
dence, which was supported by his brother ; and the
poltroon, Tremayne, corroborated both. The story, as
they made it out, differed in some particulars from
that which Warburton had to tell. According to
these three witnesses, the dead man had conducted
himself truculently, and so provoked a quarrel. He
had defamed the Carmichaels, and challenged Nicho-
las to the duel. This had its rise in an unfortunate
accident which occurred earlier in the evening. The
Carmichaels had been riding hard down the combe,
and unluckily collided with some horses in the dark-
ness. These, as was subsequently discovered, were
conveying Mr. Shirley's chaise. Mr. Shirley had
chosen to take affront at this accident, and had used
it to provoke Mr. Carmichael. The version was ex-
ceedingly plausible; nay, Warburton himself could
not contradict it mi any detail. Yet the spirit of that
fatal conflict was not rendered in such a mild trans-
lation into language. Nicholas Carmichael's ferocious
eyes still sparkled in Warburton's fancy, and he re-
garded the man as he gave his evidence with amaze-
ment and curiosity. He was dull and dark of face
now, a sombre, even a sullen, temper cloaked him ; he
was not alive nor quick with anything, but hand-
some still and black and graceful, as Warburton had
learned all the Carmichaels were graceful.

The innkeeper it was who most excited Warburton's

ill

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

anger. He was visibly affected with fears, and shrank
from questions. Yet he bore out the brothers' state-
ments, acknowledging that Mr. Shirley was the first
to attack, but declared that he saw nothing of the
fight, since he had rus'-ed from the room in search of
some one who might interfere between the combatants.
It was not long ere Warburton could see in what di-
rection the result would lie. He displayed no ani-
mosity in his own evidence, for he had already decided
that restitution for this crime must be exacted out-
side the courts of justice. The law, or at least those
rude jurors, living under the terror of the Car-
michaels, would look upon it benevolently. He ad-
mitted, therefore, that his friend had been excited by
wine, while adding that he had been very justly
aggrieved by the accident in the combe. '* What I
vant to say is this," he said, deliberately, looking at
N'cholas Carmichael, "that this man wilfully and
viciously killed a boy of twenty-one, who had little
skill and no head, and who was already half-tipsy
with wine."

He was called to order sharply by the coroner, who
admonished him that what he saw and not what he
thought was required of him.

" I have said what I have to say," said he, simply,
and stood down.

By assiduous study and the most diligent consulta-
tion those free jurors came to a conclusion, which,
however negligent of official form, must have admi-
rably suited the Carmichaels. They found that " the
deceased was dead, having been killed in a duel with
Nicholas Carmichael, Esq., of Lynsea, who had en-
deavored to avert the same, and upon whom no re-
sponsibility rested."

" In fact, sirs," summed up the coroner, upon the

ROGER WARBURTON REiMAINS

top of this deliverance, " Mr. Carmichael's honor re-
mains unstained."

Warbiirton listened without a word, but his nostrils
distended and his cheeks flushed slightly. He met
Nicholas Carmichael's sneering countenance, and
stared on him full for some minutes. Then he left
the room and put on his hat, walking down to the
village, which was a scattered collection of houses
gathered to the sea. Here some time later Philip
Carmichael met him, and gave him an impudent and
friendly nod.

"Gad! this is a devilish nasty business, Mr. War-
burton," said he, easily— "a devilish nasty business."

"I suppose it is," answered Warburton, eying him.
The younger Carmichael stared as though he were
puzzled by this exhibition of indifference.

" He was a hot-head, was Shirley. So, too, is Nick,
Nick has the deuce of a temper."

" So I have heard," said Warburton. " So Sir Stephen
Carmichael was good enough to explain."

Philip's face looked something perplexed. "You
have seen my father?" said he. "Well, I'm devilish
sorry for it all— so I am."

Warburton nodded and passed on. Sir Stephen
also had expressed his sorrow for the tragedy, but
that was before the verdict. Warburton was shrewd
enough to guess with what intention the old gentle-
man had called upon him. Yet there could be no
furtive design in Philip Carmichael's chatter. Per-
haps the family was not wholly bad.

When he regained the "Three Feathers" the inn-
keeper attended him, seeming now more cheerful and
sprightly. Warburton's disgust did not sound in his
words as he congratulated the man on being clear of
a trouble.

■^^..^-.I

>i''!i

(■

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" I go to-morrow with the body. The boy must He
with his fathers," said he.

" Ah, sir, I was intending to ask you that," said
Tremayne, briskly. " Now these sad events are over,
you will be thinking of going. I'm sure I'm sorry to
lose your custom, sir, seeing that there is little
enough — "

"Nay, worry n^t yourself, my good fellow," inter-
rupted Warburton, " I shall return."

"Return!" echoed the innkeeper, in a voice which
rang at once with amazement and disquiet.

"Aye, sir, return," pursued Warburton. "The
truth is, Tremayne, I like your wine, and I have a
particular zest for your brandy."

" To be sure, sir," said the fellow, whose face had
fallen cold and flabby

" He wants me gone," said Warburton to himself,
as he strolled out of the inn and made his way towards
the dunes. " Why the devil does he want me gone ?"

He walked in a meditative state for an hour or
more, taking the strong winds that blew off the
water. But just as he was purposing to return he
saw below him on the sandy beach of a little cove a
man's figure busy with a boat. He watched it idly
until the skiff was launched, when of a sudden (he
knew not how) a familiar character brought the man's
identity to his mind. It was Tremayne.

Warburton watched him laying his course for the
island of Lynsea, which rose a mile away to the north-
west, and he frowned.

" Now why the devil," he communed with himself
— " why the devil runs this sorry fellow to acquaint
the Carmichaels that I am not leaving Lynsea? I
seem to be of some interest to them," said Roger
Warburton, "and, by God! so shall I prove."

CHAPTER III

THE HOME OK THE CAKMICHAEI.S

THE village of Marlock was stretched upon a
little flat which stood open to the sea, be-
tween two ranges of high cliffs. This gap
in those defences of the sea ■ wall was, in-
deed, the bottom of the combe where it ran out upon
the sea-shore, spreading fan-like in the act. Behind,
the combe was clothed with wood and farmlands to
the edge of the moorland above, but the space in
which the village had grown was barren of all save
grass and sand and some small bushes. The salt
winds from the open sea swept it and drove back the
vegeta m into the friendly valleys; dwarf shrubs
cowered in the hollows of the tussock-covered dunes;
and creeping plants lived furtively and bred among
the ranker grasses. Upon any day save that of
hij:h summer the place wore a de t iate and dreary
look, with its white houses gleaming in the eye of the
sun, the gray expanse of flat, and the yellow dunes
that rolled upward into the heights of the north, "'t
was a cold spot, too, when the sea-winds broke into
the gap and fled shrieking up the combe, as though
escaping from fiercer spirits out at sea, or, maybe,
pursuing something in their turn, even into tie warm
bosom of the land. Upon the southern side of the
village the cliflFs rose swiftly to a great height, run-

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

ning hurriedly out into the water half a mile or more,
and terminating in a promontory against which the
huge waves threshed all day and all night in the tem-
pestuous seasons. Indeed, this cape was always at
war ; the broken water about it was never silent, but
grumbled and tossed even in the gentlest weather;
and the wind snapped in and out of the caves that
the tides had worn through many ages. On the stillest
day these winds were screaming, no doubt because of
reverberations among the many hollows of the rocks;
and though the water was at peace the tide could be
heard sucking in the holes below, and drawing off and
returning with a moaning, seething sound that was
not comfortable to the ears. Yet this great wall
served to protect Marlock upon one side from the
fiercer gales. Out of the village itself you might de-
scend upon a reach of fore-shore which ran north-
ward for a mile, under the great dunes. These were
precipitous towards the sea, and covered with the
coarse grasses that inhabit such soil. But as the laml
ran to the north it sloped outward into the ocean,
which fell away, and fell away before the advancing
dunes until a second point concluded the movement,
and stood up like its southern fellow to the assaults
and investments of the elements. Marlock thus lay
in an arc of the land, and huddled from these rough
friends. The space between the village and the north-
ern point was filled in with a great waste of dunes,
mounting and descending, so that a man might wan-
der there for days uncertain of his way. It was from
these melancholy hills that the traveller's eye might
fare still farther north and strike the island of Lynsea.
The island lay beyond the point, and scarcely half
a mile from it. It was embayed in a curve of the
coast, and, thus protected, faced a piece of mainland

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HOME OF THE CARMICHAELS

that was bright and smiling with fields and hedges,
and rich in trees. The country here, in fact, had
quite another appearance, for the harsh winds did not
reach these farms, which were as safe as in the refuges
of a valley. The habitations of this tract of coast
were sparse. It forbade and lowered on the culti-
vator. There was work indeed for fishermen when
the weather served, and even now on this May after-
noon a little fleet of boats stood at anchor off Mar-
lock, their noses pointing from the land, and strain-
ing at the cables before a brisk southerly wind.

Warburton had returned from his mission, the dead
body of the unfortunate Shirley reposed in the vault
in which his fathers lay, and now, that melancholy
office concluded, his friend stood upon the bleak
dunes and kept his gaze towards the island of the
Carmichaels. Here the assassin (as Warburton held
him to be) had sought refuge, and here he must be
sought and brought to bay. The sun was shining
warmly and the water was dancing merrily. It was
of a deep blue, the color of lapis lazuli, but close to the
shore the breakers showed their white heads, and a
low thunder rose in the air. Warburton turned and
walked in a leisurely fashion, yet as one whose mind
is determined, towards the village. The dispirited
prospect of the bare dunes did not affect him ; he
was not one that moved to the impressions of his en-
vironment. His sensibilities were dull, as dull as his
senses were sharp ; nay, rather, they were grave and
slow, and found no passage to his soul. The bland
sea invited him, its treacherous flaws hardly discerni-
ble upon the immeasurable face of moving water.
He descended into Marlock and passed to a group of
fishermen who stood chatting by their boats.

" Which of you has a boat for hire ?" he asked.

3«

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

A sudden silence fell upon them, and none hastened
to reply.

" Come," said Warburton. " I see a flotilla yonder,
kicking at anchor. What's amiss with a job ?"

" Where might you be going, sir ?" inquired one of
the fishermen.

" Oh, deuce take you ! I have a mind for a sail. I
offer good money," returned Warburton, impatiently.

The man cocked his eye at the sky. " It will be
blowing later," he observed, reluctantly.

"Come, come; that's my business!" exclaimed
Warburton, with asperity. "What is your price?
Shall we say a guinea ?"

The sum appeared to overcome the laziness or the
distrust exhibited by this fellow, for he began to
push his dinghey into the water. The others of the
group exchanged glances, but were silent.

Warburton was in no way irritated by these signals
between them. He stepped indifferently into the
dinghey, and was pulled out into the open water
where the fleet rode, rolling in the swell. The fish-
erman jumped aboard his boat, and set about hoist-
ing the sail. This took him some time, and meantime
Warburton sat in the stern watching. He had not
missed the point of the reluctance with which his re
quest had been granted. The anchor was already up
and hung at the prow.

" There's your coat in there," said he, nodding to
the dinghey, and the man, obeying the suggestion,
stepped over the side into the smaller boat. War-
burton threw off the painter and pushed up the
tiller. The boom flew over and the canvas cracked.
" Hi!" called the fisherman in alarm.
" No, my man ; I want not your help," said War-
burton. " I will manage the boat myself."

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HOME OF THE CARMICHAELS

The space separating them widened swiftly. The
man cried out between anger and amazement.

"Oh, go to the devil!" said Warburton, impertur-
bably, and threw up the tiller. The freshening breeze
struck her; she began to hum like a top ; and, heel-
ing over, flew out across the bar.

He laid the course towards the northern point round
the corner of which the island of Lynsea was hidden.
It was now three in the afternoon, and there were sev-
eral hours before the fall of darkness. Warburton con-
sidered that he had time enough to carry out what he
was come for. The wind took him abeam, and, whist-
ling nerrily, drove the cutter through the huge rollers
of open sea at a great pace. Little time had passed
when he turned the point at a safe distance, and began
to run down upon Lynsea under a stiff breeze which
was now full abaft. Warburton was not an expert sailor;
to confess the truth, he knew very little about the sea,
and what he did now he was accomplishing mainly by
guess-work. The rudiments of navigation were vague-
ly appreciated. His mind floated about among them,
very much as his boat now bobbed upon the tide that
made for Lynsea. Yet, when once his mind was set,
nothing might turn this obstinate fellow. He had re-
solved to reach the island and make some investiga-
tions, and he would not go back until this c -ct was
effected. Yet, save to a sailor's eye, perhap.,, there
was nothing in the prospect of the sea to alarm.
The sun grew warmer, the water brighter, and the
cutter dipped her beak and galloped faster than ever.
It was a pleasure to live in such a race, and the blood
sprang more rapidly in Warburton's body— all his arte-
ries pulsed with satisfaction. In a very little time he
had slipped down upon the southwestern margin of
the island. This was very rugged to the eyes, bearing
^ 33

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CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

the brunt, as it did, of the rough storms that blew
along the coast. The cliffs were fully one hundred
feet in height, and descended sheer to the sea. They
were naked, jagged, and misshapen— most stern and
inhospitable guardians of that remote domain. As
the wind bore Warburton closer, his attention was
caught by the figure of a woman upon the summit.
He made this out to be a woman, even at that dis-
tance, by the skirts that were driven and blown with
the wind. He fancied, too, that she held one arm to
her hat, or it might be that she screened her eyes
from the sinking sun in her seaward gaze. The cur-
rent was spinning about the outlying rocks, drawing
faster and faster under the wind ; and even upon
Warburton's unskilled mind it dawned at last that
he was piloting among many perils. He spied be-
neath the green water a great stretch of blackness,
which he guessed to mark a reef, yet, with the wind
and tide, it was now too late to avoid the path.
He kept the tiller firm, and she jumped gallantly to
the danger, sheering into the open water with a lit-
tle grinding sound below. At the same time he
heard a voice crying above him, as it were out of
heaven, and looking up, regardless of his rudder, he
.saw the woman upon the cliff, now nearer, still
shaken and torn with the wrangling winds. He
could not hear her words— they were lost in the
roar— but guessed that she meant to warn him.

" What is the use ?" said he, grumbling. " The devil
is in this boat. She has taken the bit. They may
warn me, but what I want is that some one shall catch
and stop her."

In the nick of time he put the tiller round, and
upon the verge of the great rocks at the foot of the
cliff, where the waves were breaking white in a tire-

HOME OF THE CARMICHAELS

less, pitiless assault, the cutter stopped, turned, and
with a kick slid past the point, and, backing into the
new course, danced away for the Gut.

From here to the shoreward side the island stretch-
ed for about two miles, and it was upon this northern
quarter that the house stood. The coast, though
broken as upon the other faces, was low in parts and
thickly wooded, and upon the slopes behind Warbur-
ton could see sheep and cattle. The tide still ran,
for by an odd criss-cross of currents, due to winds and
the configuration of the land, all the body of that
water seemed to be posting hard for the channel
which separated Lynsea from the mainland. In the
Gut itself, as Warburton found afterwards, was a great
race of seas, tumbling and heaving perpetually, with
that quick current ever drawing towards the rocks.
For this reason the narrow road to the mainland was
rarp'y used; and there was another and a better reason
which will appear later.

Warburton steered the cutter under the land, and,
spying a pebbly beach in a little cove that opened
pleasantly, he put her nose ashore. In a few minutes
she had grounded, and he leaped out. Making the
boat fast, he walked inland through a great grove of
waving tamarisks. The path was twisted and closely
beset, so that he could not see to what he was advanc-
ing; and the house burst upon his view with the
suddenness of a surprise as he turned a bend in the
narrow path. It was by no means large, but had an
ancient look, and stood upon a rise at the back of an
ample garden, much sheltered by trees. Warburton's
gaze went to it upward, across a reach of pleasaunce
pied with flower-beds. It peeped among the trees, its
eyes twinkled on a broad green lawn, and down ave-
nues of pine and oak and fir, interspersed with patch-

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CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

es of border, in which the spring flowers were rising.
A white portico fronted the garden, opening upon a
white stone terrace, from which descended white
stone steps.

Warburton had barely made these few observations
when he was startled by a voice in his ear.

" You are welcome, Mr. Warburton," it said ; " if you
had only said you were to arrive, we would have met
you."

It was Sir Stephen Carmichael that stood at his
elbow, very bland and venerable, supporting himself
upon his stout stick.

" I was not aware, sir, that I was trespassing in your
garden till this moment," replied Warburton. " I
offer you my apologies. It was inadvertent."

Sir Stephen waved his hand politely. "We are
charmed to see you. No doubt you are come on busi-
ness with us, or you would not be here."

" I doubt, sir, if there is any business between us that
may be settled out of hand," said Warburton, slowly.

"You are the better judge, it may be," returned
Sir Stephen, equably, " but I suppose you have come
to try. This is a very private island, though we Car-
michaels are delighted to exhibit it to any friend. If
it is so we may claim you, Mr. Warburton, I shall be
honored." He looked keenly into the young man's
face, but read nothing there save bluntness and ob-
stinacy.

" No, I may not lay claim to any such privilege,"
was Warburton's answer, deliberate and cold. " I
have no doubt that there are many who enjoy your
friendship, sir. As for me, I am a passing stranger."

Sir Stephen elevated his eyebrows. " Ah, you
must be here on business then. I had a notion it
was so. Well, if you will pardon me, we will sit

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HOME OF THE CARMICHAELS

here to discuss it, as the house is far and I walk with
difficulty."

" I do not think, sir, that there is any matter for
conversation between us," said Warburton, slowly,

"Come, come!" said Sir Stephen, impatiently; "or
why are you here, a stranger, as you say ?"

"Being a stranger, I have blundered, sir," said
Warburton. "It is possible to excuse in the stran-
ger what may not be pardoned in another."

Sir Stephen looked thoughtfully towards the arbor
which lay under the ilex near by. Some reluctance
was visible in his expression.

" If that is so, sir, we will make no more*ado about
it," he said, presently, with a return of his blandness,
" and if you will honor me so far, as a stranger, as to
drink a glass of madeira with me, why, I am con-
tent you should go, and I will show you on your
way, so that you shall not fall into this accident
again."

As he spoke he entered the arbor painfully, and
after a pause, Warburton followed. Sir Stephen sat
down, and, drawing from a little cupboard a bottle
and glass, set them on the table.

" I thank you, sir, but I have no palate for wine "
said Warburton, politely. " Tis a pity, as I have no
doubt the liquor is wonderful."

The men's eyes encountered across the table.

"Ah," said Sir Stephen, after a silence, "and my
gout troubles me. 'Tis a pity we are both debarred
We might have pledged each other, and drunk to
peace and happiness."

The bottle remained unopened, and Warburton
rose, bowing. "I thank you, sir, for your consid-
eration, said he ; "and now I will be gone."

Aye, and I wil! see you on your way. I would

■

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

not have this unfortunate mishap befall you again,"
replied Sir Stephen. " These coasts are rough."
" You describe them well, sir," agreed Warbur-

ton.

The two men descended to the water's edge through
the tamarisks, the elder with difficulty. Warburton
courteously waited for him, and on several occasions
held back the branches that protruded across the
path. He pushed off his boat and jumped in ; and
without a word more the two men exchanged bows
and took off their hats. Sir Stephen watched the
cutter till she disappeared round the elbow of the
cove ; after which he mounted slowly to the house,
with a deep shadow upon his face.

Warburton stood out to clear the next point, as also
to fill his sails. He was still under the lee of the isl-
and, and made but little way by reason of the strong
flow beneath him. But as he crept out his quick eyes
discovered something that moved upon the face of
the cliff above the point he was endeavoring to
pass. The verdure of the hills came down to the sea-
margin, and trees and shrubs overhung the water,
aspersed here and there by the scattered spray. But
where this nose of land abutted the scarp was torn
and rugged ; no vegetation clung there, and the
detritus of crumbling earth and rock descended in a
precipitous shoot towards the sea. Upon the top of
this slide was the figure at which he was gazing. Sud-
denly and with an exclamation he threw over the
tiller and brought the beak of his craft into the
wind ; for he had perceived that the form was that
of a woman, and that she stood in peril. The cutter
moved slowly, but by degrees came under the point,
where a deep pool of water lapped among the rocks.
High above him he could see the woman, her back

HOME OP THE CARMICHAEL

towards him, and now sunk upon her hands and
knees in an effort to prevent herself from slithering
downward with the loose shingle. Her attempt to
crawl upward brought a commotion among the t\6-
bris ; the shingle poured down in a shower, and she
slipped with it. It was evident that unless she could
secure a firm footing she must inevitably go down
with that treacherous shoot upon the rocks and into
the wells between them. Warburton did not hesi-
tate. He threw the painter about a point of rock,
and, springing upon the ledge nearest him, began to
climb the ascent. The slope lay at an angle of sixty
degrees or more, but he guessed that one ascending
from below would have a better chance of progress
on the rolling shingle than one under whose feet the
mass could gather impulse from above. He called to
the woman to lie still, for she was now cast prone
upon her face, clutching with her fingers among the
stones, and step by step he won his way forward.
The jhingle slipped from under him, but he moved
on, crawling on hands and knees, and making use of
the few tufts of grass that had sought harborage here
and there. The ascent took him ten minutes, but he
accomplished it, and came up to the quiet figure. He
laid a hand upon her arm.

" Come, leave yourself to me ; look down and fol-
low where I go," he said.

She obeyed him without words, and with delibera-
tion. Warburton began his return. He had chosen
his path carefully in the places where the soil was
firmest, and he guided her. Ten minutes later they
stood upon the ledge of rock against which the cut-
ter rose and fell with a grinding sound. She was a
slim, tall girl, and he recognized her now on the in-
stant. It was Miss Carmichael. Unwittingly he put

I I

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

his hand to the scar upon his cheek ; but she broke
out warmly, her face aglow.

" You have saved me, sir," she said. " I owe you
my life."

" Nay," said he ; " but I have saved you, maybe,
some bruises." .

"I was a fool to venture," she cried, impatiently;
" they have warned me against these shoots. I should
have been dead but for you."

Warbnrton gazed at her. She wore a straight
gown of green, girdled tight under the bosom and
flowing loosely, and her face and her eyes glowed
under her emotion. He could almost see beneath
the light skirt the long fulness of her limbs, shadow-
ily denoted. She appeared more handsome even
than he had thought.

" I will put you ashore," he said, and would have
helped her into his boat.

She leaped from the rock lightly, and watched him
while he cast off.

" Was it not you I saw from the cliffs?" she asked,

suddenly. ,.. u •

'* It was you who waved to me, madam ? he in-
quired. " I owe you my thanks for that, though I
understood nothing."

"You are a stranger to these shores," she said.
" Have you been to see my father ?"

"No, I have been to see no one," he answered,

briefly. .^ , , •

He understood that she had not identified him as

one of those present in the inn.

" Pray, pardon me if I am too curious," she replied,
with the grace of her family. " But few strangers
visit here. It is a rude coast."

He put her ashore in a little sheltered wood, and

HOME OF THE CARMICHAELS

stepped back into his boat, staring at her fully, yet
not uncivilly. Her red-brown hair gleamed in a ray
of the setting sun, and over her fine eyes the long
brown lashes curled. A gust of cool air, snapping
round the point, set her garments fluttering He
surveyed her with critical eyes. Again the suspicion
of those long Imes was yielded through the flowin<r
gown. He turned his head aside, a queer little smile
upon his face. He saw in her a very beautiful wom-
an. She was twenty years or so. He had no doubt
but they should meet again.

" If you are a stranger to these coasts," she said,
with some hesitation, as though she were reluctant
to reflect upon his seamanshin, "you will find it
wisest to stand out from the clius. The wind blows
strongly."

He thanked ner and bowed low, shoving off. She
watched him moving slov.ly, until he fetched the
pomt, even as her father ha \ watched him from the
cove.

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CHAPTER IV
THE SKITTLES AND THE CAVERN

WHEN Warburton ploughed round the snout
of the island and faced southward he had
reason to admit the prudence of Miss Car-
michael's warning. The sea was like a
huge and moving moor, black with the impending
darkness of the sky, and barren of all save that black-
ness. The wind roared into a gale, so that he dared
not point direct for the beach at Marlock. He hauled
the sheet taut ; the canvas stood stiff as a board, for
she was drawn almost into the eye of the wind, and
racing even so she swooped out to sea. It was War-
burton's desire to run up as far as he might and tack
in under the cape below Marlock. But now he
learned for the first time with what violence the gales
blow upon that coast. The southwest flung him out
into the centre of a heaving ocean, and tossed him
like a pot on the water ; the waves rose so high as to
take the wind out of his sails, which flapped and fell,
and then settled again into line with a ripping, crack-
ing sound. The cutter plunged, shipping the green
water at every forward motion ; and about and above
him gathered an increasing darkness.

When he rose upon the crest of the water he could
discern far off and dwindling still the faint lights of
Marlock. He could not doubt that he was being

THE SKITTLES AND THE CAVERN

driven off the land, and that any chance he might
have had of getting back would be destroyed by the
fall of night. Warburton was no sailor, but he was a
man of determination, and sheer force of purpose
earned him through that struggle. Despair only
settled upon him finally when, the direction of the
hurricane veering, he was hurried precipitately into
the wilderness of mingled night and water without so
much as a star to guide him. Yet even now he was
resolved to keep his little craft afloat. He could not
see a yard before him, nor was it possible to dis-
criminate between the cutter and the environing
darkness. His hands, which held the tiller, were
frozen with the cold, yet still he clung to that office as
to the last hope. To add to his plight, a cold rain
began to mingle with the wind, and cut like knives

So far as he could judge he must have been three
hours tossing helplessly upon the sea when bethought
he saw glimmering ahead a dim yellow light, such as
might stream from a cottage window. That friendly
beacon struck new life into his heart ; his numbed fin-
gers pressed the tiller with fresh spirit, and presentlv
he had drawn close enough to make out whence the
light issued. It came from the lanthorn swung in the
head of a small schooner, faintly visible. She was
close-reefed, and was evidently riding out the storm •
yet even as Warburton made this discovery, and with
a sigh of satisfaction prepared to bring the boat near-
er, the schooner lurched forward, the lanthorn shone
upon a spreading pack of canvas, and she began to
walk away at a brisk pace.

This unexpected withdrawal astonished Warburton
but he was now aware that the worst of the gale was
past and guessed that those upon the schooner had
decided to make sail. It was clear, too, that she was

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

making for some port hard by, or she would not have
been riding in the offing. He shouted aloud, but the
wind was still crying, and his voice did not carry. As
long as he could keep her in sight, however, he cared
not; and, r oreover, he reflected that it would be no
easy matter to board the vessel in that tumbling
water. With cheerful alacrity he bent to his work,
which was now only to foUaw at the best speed possi-
ble. The cutter was running with the wind abeam,
so that he concluded the gale was beating from the
south. She made way very rapidly, and only once or
twice did he lose sight of his leader. After an inter-
val of time he was surprised by a great flare ahead,
appeari'i!^ to rise from the schooner. It flamed forth
and died "down, and presently a glare on the horizon
answered it. Warburton understood these lights for
signals, and supposed that they must be usual upon
such wild nights— hospitable lamps to draw the ad-
venturer home. The light on the horizon flashed
again, and this time as though it hung high in heaven ;
so that he wondered if they were approaching the
cape outside Marlock. The rain had now ceased, and
the wrack overhead lightened perceptibly, displaying
white gleams of a moon among the ragged edges.
She swam among the clouds like a silver fish, now
floating on the shallows and now sinking in deep
gulfs. In these re visitations of light Warburton could
at length make out his position. Before him, a black
hull upon the water, the little schooner, lying to the
wind, was heeling for gray and ghostly cliffs that rose
out of the waste half a mile beyond. Warburton
crazed in amazement, for she seemed to be careering
upon destruction. In a little they were close enough
to reveal more detail, and to Warburton's surprise he
recognized the cliffs as those that formed the deadly

THE SKITTLES Ax\D THE CAVERN

point upon the island of Lynsea-the Skittles, as they
were called m those parts. ^

Warburton altered his course in dismay. Were the
men mad? The schooner flew towards her ruin as
It seemed to him, with increased speed. He recalled
with a shudder the reefs among which he had picked
h.s way at so great a hazard that afternoon ; and now
there was the added peril .>f darkness and a strongeT

thought of those signals, and what they must mean
These men were neither blind nor set on their own
death. As this idea flashed in his brain he made his

mT.n r^' '''T"A'" '^' ''^'^ '^^ ^he schooner.
What all this signified he knew not, but this he knew
that where the schooner went he also could go, and
that he was resolved to do so. & » "

His small craft lay hidden'under the wake of the
larger vessel, and in the black trough of the sea Yet
he might not have escaped the notice of the sailors
had not all been so taken up with the approach to the
rocks. But now the moon failed, and night resumed
he. kingdom, so that he could detach little or noth-
ing from the surrounding blackness. Again a light

ITZ\T ''r ''^ ''''''' ^"^ ^'^•^ ''™« he couM
ereatrnU 'h .''°""" ^^' "'°'" '"' ^^'"^ ""de'" the
In?/ u ' ^"^ ^°'''"^' ^' *' appeared, among a thou-
sand deaths. The beacon burned brightly and lit the
water with ensanguined flames, yet Warburton came
I him i """°'r^- ^^' ^'^"''"^^^ °f the Skittles Z
i Ti;n a, Th if T"/ 'u'"^ furtively, without sound
sna ffl V I ^"".°^ '^' P''*-'"^ ^^^^«1 ^ith her long
spars flickered against the iron wall. He saw her
sl.de swiftly forward as though she would crack like

I nsta'n't "fnH 1'.' "'.'' ^ ^'^ ''''' ^''^'^'^ ^^us for one
instant— and then she was gone.

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

Warburton strained his eyes through the obscurity.
She was rapt out of sight as though she were some
wraith of a vessel that melted into the air. But of
that he was not afraid. Some guess of what had hap-
pened inspired him. Quickly he shot the cutter round
the nearest point, and she too rolled among the ter-
rible Skittles. The light above went out.

" Damme !" said Warburton, under his breath, " but
they will have me drown yet. I forgot their cursed
light. The Lord deliver me from these ugly knives 1"
The cutter was swinging along at a rate of six or
seven knots; she was dancing with a light heart
among sharp and jagged edges. At any moment she
might strike and founder, for at that pace she would
break like glass. Warburton raised his voice and
cursed angrily, calling imprecations upon the inhos-
pitable crew that had so deserted him.

" I will let her go," said he to himself, " if I am split
in two for it."

Suddenly he was aware that his sails were ftappmg;
he had come out of the wind. All was black about
him. He put forth a hand and searched vainly in
empty space.

"Now where the deuce am I got to?" said he. The
water was sucking and lapping with a great noise,
which notified to him the neighborhood of rocks. But
it rose with low and muffled reverberations, and that
set a new idea going in him. He poled his boat cau-
tiously in the direction from which he thought the
sounds issued, and presently his fingers touched a
wall As they did so a faint light sprang up about
him. It was the distant hospitality of a bright glow
far away, but it showed him where he was. As he
had imagined, he was in the mouth of a great cave.
Warburton had already framed a theory which would

THE SKITTLES AND THE CAVERN

well explain this noctural entry of the schooner, and
at this sudden confirmation of his suspicions he was
not greatly surprised. That these were smugglers he
doubted not, which was one reason why he had fol!
lowed them. Smugglers could hardly be using the
shelter of Lynsea without the knowledge of the Car
michaels In any case, he was anxious to get to the
bottom of the mystery, and counted himself lucky to
have fallen in with the schooner. This then promised
to be merely the opening of his adventure The suf-
fused glow revealed to him a pathway cut in 'the
rocks which led deeper into the cavern. He could .see
nothing of the schooner, but supposed that she lav
farther in, and was possibly hidden by a turn in that
huge catacomb. But he waited not either to make
more particular ob.servati<,ns or to come to a decision
upon his actions. He made the boat fast to a pro-
jecting needle of rock, and, creeping upon the ledge,

hi mi ir '"'^"°'' ""^ '^^ ''''''^'" ^' swiftly as

Cautiously he turned an angle, yet for all that cau-
tion was fetched abruptly into the light of torches
and into the presence of a bustling, noisy scene The
cavern was the theatre of a miniature dock In the
oreground beached upon a shore of sand and shells
ay the schooner, while under the conflagration of
torches a score of men were plying to and fro, rolling
barrels and shouting orders to one another. No
H "c f .7 deemed themselves secure in these intes-
tines of the cliff; there could be no unwelcome vis-
tor upon Ly„sea to overhear these rumblings from

UDon ^K J^ T'^ ' ^"^ ''''' ^"y «"^^h walking
upon the heights above or putting past the Skittles^
the roar of the water would effectually drown alj
other noises. Warburton was aware that a low com-

I li

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■I M'i-

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

motion filled the vault; it was like some monstrous
shell that hummed with the wind and tide. Ihe

sounds of the sea crept into -" /^'n'^'^hnndTed
moaned dolorously. It was as though a hundred
thousand voices whispered together out of the dark
recesses. A central light flared near the schooner,
and lit up the face and figure of one whom Warbur-
ton knew well. It was Nicholas Carm.chael, his black
hair tossing loosely, his strong features marked with
excitement and red with light. Roger Warburton
smiled in his heart, for he had come upon his revenge
very easily. He had not looked for so easy a tri-
umph Here was the connection between the Lar-
michaels and that illicit trade established beyond
Question. He saw now what was the nature of their
influence in the neighborhood. Mostly the men
wore the look of foreigners, and some had golden
rings in their ears, but some he guessed as natives of
Marlock AH these observations he made swiftly,
and ere he turned his attention to his own safety.
It was in the nick of time that he did so ; for Carmi-
chael had walked quickly and unexpectedly towards
the ledge of rock, in company with two others. One
of these was speaking glibly in broken English and
using his hands and eyes expressively to eke out his

narrow vocabulary. , , „ „ «.u,v

" But I assure you, sar, there was no boat, says tms
fellow " You are mistaken. Indeed, but there could
be none " " I tell you," said Nicholas Carmichael,
impatiently, "there v as a boat, and we took it for
yours I thought you had laid it up below. She came
upon your tail ; damme! right under your counter.

The foreigner shrugged his shoulders. He was a
nolite man, but obstinate. " If monsieur thought
so monsieur might look and see. Monsieur was wel-

THE SKITTLES AND THE CAVERN

come to his illusions." With an exclamation of dis-
gust Carmichael leaped upon the rude ledge and
came striding towards Warburton. The significance
of this conversation had not escaped the latter. He
knew now that his discovery was certain, tliat it
might be deferred but could not be prevented in the
end. He had no time to retreat and gain his cutter
and even if he were able to do so without attracting
attention, he had no hope to put oflf in that darkness
among unknown rocks and without the aid of any
wind. The darkness betrayed him a thousand times
worse than the light. Yet he took advantage of that
darkness now, as the only plan upon which his wits
could hit. He stooped, and, with Nicholas Carmi-
chael scarce twenty feet from him, he dipped sound-
lessly into the water and slid into the black shadow
that the schooner cast. For the second time this
nefarious boat gave him succor, but how long his re-
spite would last he did not bother his mind with won-
dering. It was impossible for him to venture from
this refuge, for the torches glared upon the water
upon each side of the dark hulk, and to move in
either direction would be to risk detection, which
was almost certain. So he lay under the water and
waited, trusting to the turn of chance. Presently
after he could espy Nicholas Carmichael running
swiftly along the ledge, and he knew that the cutter
had been discovered. Carmichael leaped to the beach
and turned furiously on the foreigner to whom he had
been speaking.

"You fool, Ditran," said he, "the boat is there- we
nave a spy among us." '

The words suddenly started the Frenchman into
lite. He threw down the cigar he was smoking with
an oath, and himself disappeared along the ledge by
D 49

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

which Carmichael had returned. In a short time
there was a hubbub among the smugglers, all work
ceased, and they began to explore the recesses of the
cave, lighting fresh torches, and scattering in the
search. The peril was now imminent over Warbur-
ton, but he kept his place quietly. One thinp the
new illumination of the cavern showed him. This
was a mammoth burrow, into which he had pene-
trated—a warren of holes which distributed from the
central hold. Several of the smugglers applied their
torches to the entrances of these passages, and peered
into them ; but Nicholas Carmichael shouted to them
presently.

" Cease, you fools !" he said. " He cannot have
reached the beach, since he followed the schooner,
and we were all here to have seen him. He must be
harboring on the water-side."

Warburton heard the words, and knew that sen-
tence had been pronounced on him. He turned over,
looking right and left to see if he could discern any
way of flight ; but there only remained the entrance
to the cavern, up which the flood of the tide rolled
heavily. Yet he would be captured if he stayed
where he was. He took a breath into his chest and
dived under, striking out across the line of light
towards the mouth. How long he was below he could
not guess, but his head was splitting ere he came to
the surface, and found to his chafrrin that the tide
had deflected him and that he had risen in the fiercest
arc of that illumination. A shout announced that he
was seen, and a bullet smacked upon the water by
him. Also, several of the smugglers plunged into
the sea towards him. He cast a quick glance round.
He was within ten yards of the beach, and two evil-
looking fellows stood abreast of him, one of whom

f ; "

THE SKITTLES AND THE CAVERN

was pointing a pistol, while the other held a long
knife. A few strokes brought him to the shore, and
he sprang out like a dripping sea god. The pis
to] flashed, and missed; and ere the two men knew
what he purposed, or could move to avoid it, he
had cracked the two ugly foreign heads together, and
had rushed on, leaving two insensible bodies on the
ground.

He ran for the back of the cavern, where he had
seen the openings, and after him sped half that law-
less crewr. The first ^-ole he reached was less than
the height of a man, but when he had entered, the
room increased, and he ran forward in total darkness
over a rough, rocky way, and, as it seemed to him,
downwards. There were several turnings in his
flight ; he went at random, as in a maze, and heard
roaring through the alleys the sound of his own feet
and those of his pursuers. Presently, above this dull
sound of echoes, he was aware of something diflferent
that saluted his ears. Even in that headlong flight
his cool wits had not deserted him. It struck on his
senses with a menace ; he came to an abrupt pause.
He knew it for the washing of the rollers against
rocks. At the same time a cold wind smote his face;
he put out an arm, and the spray of the open sea be'
sprinkled him.

As he recognized this new danger, and it came to
him that he stood somewhere in a lip of the cliflFs,
with the ocean growling and leaping from below, he
caught the noise of feet, approaching cautiously
There was silence next, and Warburton huddled
down into the rock, straining his ears to listen. Af-
ter a short space of time he heard a laugh, a flint
flashed, and the light of a torch was flung out upon
the waters. '^

5»

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

"Gone over, by God!" said Nicholas Carmichael;
and as the words left his lips he saw his enemy.

A smile played about his mouth, which was pas-
sionate and cruel, and he raised his pistol. Warbur-
ton held his already in his hand, but he knew that
t he priming was damp from his immersion. He flung
the weapon hard at Carmichael's face, but he, dodg-
ing his head with an angry laugh, brought his pistol
to the sight, pointing at Warburton's heart.

" I pay a double debt, Mr. Warburton," he said, and
pulled at the trigger.

At that moment there was a short cry, and out of
the darkness of the interior cavity stepped Miss Cur-
michael.

"You shall not, Nick," she cried, angrily. "You
are blood-guilty. I will not have you so stain your-
self."

" Get you gone, Chloris !" said Nicholas, savagely.
" Interfere not !"

Dropping the torch she held she sprang at his arm.
" Nay, I will be obeyed ! I command obedience !" she
cried, fiercely. " Do j a think you have some poor
serving-maid to reckon with? Put that down, you
madman !"

Nicholas uttered an oath. " Silly jade !" he cried.
" Hands off ! I will have my way on this spy !"

" You shall do naught," she said, and seized his wrist
in both her hands.

Her brother shook himself, to wrench his arm free,
so that she swung and swayed like a tiger-lily in the
breeze, backward and forward towards the verge of
the hungry sea. Nicholas Carmichael's flambeau wildly
rocked in the struggle. Warburton suddenly stepped
forward, and setting his strong grasp upon Carmichael,
pulled him backward so that he lay at his full length

F .1

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CHLOKIS .SKI/.I..I, HKK 1.K..1.1KK'S WKl.Sl Willi l:,-,.l IIAM,.

i' 1

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1^ '}

-i.l

THE SKITTLES AND THE CAVERN

upon the ground. Gently he detached the girl from
her fast and angry grip.

" Let him be, madam," said he. " I am sufficiently
in your debt."

He bound together securely the hands of the writh-
ing Carmichael, and, picking up the torch which had
fallen, dispassionately surveyed his prostrate enemy.

*' Mr. Carmichael, I grudge not your attempt upon
my life. It is not the first time I have been 'twixt the
devil and the deep sea. Madam, I thank you. You
have saved me. We are quits."

" Quits !" she echoed, looking on him with astonish-
ment, her bosom rising and falling with her heavy
breath.

" Aye," said he. " That is how I regard it."

" I measure things in no such broker's way," she
burst out. " Yet you were better gone. There is a
passage hence through to where your boat lies. Hast-
en, or there will be others upon you."

Nicholas Carmichael lay glaring alternately upon
his sister and Warburton. His passion appeared too
great to find vent, yet he spoke then in a hoarse
voice :

"You shall repent this, Chloris. Know you not that
this man is a spy? He is come to betray us."

"Tis not true," she answered, hotly. "This gen-
tleman saved my life on the shoot to-day. He is here
by an accident."

" He is Warburton, by God !" cried Nicholas, rolling
Jmpotently in his bonds.

^^ "What!" she called out, struck aghast by dismay.
Are you he that was in the inn ? You are our en-
emy?"

" I am claimed so by Mr. Carmichael," said War-
burton, with a sneer.

i ,; l: .>

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

He turned with a bow to pass into the opening
which Miss Carmichael had indicated to his sharp
eyes, but she sprang towards him, a new expression
shining in her face. • It was alive now with an unrea-
soning passion.

" No, stay; you shall not go ! You are a spy upon
our doings !" she said. " That, then, is why you were
upon the island this afternoon. 'Tis that brings you
here now. 'Tis treachery you harbor in your heart.
My God ! I am too soft. Nick, stop him ! He shall not
go forth and betray you !"

In her passion and excitement she advanced towards
Warburton, whom this quick outbreak had amazed.
But, shrugging his shoulders, he stepped into the
passage without answer, and descended quickly tow-
ards the mouth of the cavern. When he was gone
the girl ran to her brother and slashed with a knife
at the knots that held him at his wrists and ankles.

" After him, Nick!" she cried. " He shall not escape
you! I will not have your neck in the rope for him!"
Nicholas Carmichael needed no instigation; he flung
himself into the opening, and flew down the passage.
When he reached the great cavern he flung a stream
of light from his torch across the water, and there, at
scarce twelve yards' distance, was Warburton clumsily
poling out his boat. Nicholas shouted, and the cavern
rang with hollow sounds; the alarm brought some
irom the interior to his side ; and seizing from one a
brace of pistols, he began to pepper the retreating
cutter. A splutter of fire broke out also from the
smugglers who had reached him.

" He must not escape, damn him !" cried Nicholas
" Put out your longboat, Ditran. The devil may be
split in the Skittles, yet we must not take a risk. He
holds all our lives and liberties."

THE SKITTLES AND THE CAVERN

As he poke, the cutter turned a point in the rocks
and disappeared from view. Nicholas started about
to carry out his own orders, and found Chloris by his
side, panting, disordered, her gaze fixed wildly upon
the vacant space of tumbling water from vhich War-
burton had vanished.

CHAPTER V

WARBURTON GETS A WARNING

THE dawn was changing the face of heaven,
and a dim Hght crawled over the waters, re-
vealing the huge rocks which formed the en-
trance to the cavern. Warburton brought
the cutter through these gates, and she began to
bob among the ragged points of the Skittles. There
was a moment of anxiety as he was spreading sail,
for she fell off and on helplessly among those hidden
reefs. But presently she got her wind and started
away. The light was clear enough now for him
to see the outline of the island. The tide ran under
him, and he w.is past the point in a very brief time,
making for the open sea. But short as was tlie in-
terval he could spy, in looking back, the shadow of a
second boat riding among the Skittles. He v. as be-
ing pursued, and he knew that every moment the light
would spread, and the chances of his escape would di
minish. His capture depended upon the speed of the
boats, and, more than all, upon seamanship. Warbur
ton was well aware of this. The long-boat stood out
after him, and it was plain that he was seen. He could
perceive now that the distance between them had
lessened, and he could count the three black figures
in the stern. It took him very few minutes to de-
cide that he must be caught if he continued in this

WARBURTON GETS A WARNING

course; that nothing could save him, and that he
would have to fight upon a crazy boat, and fight with-
out weapons against three armed men. Instantly he
put about the cutter, and, veering swiftly, she turned
her nose towards the coast once more. If he must
fight he would fight on land rather than upon that
rough, unfriendly element that had so betrayed him
The tide and the wind were making round the
northern coast-line of Lynsea, and, as in the after-
noon, the cutter flew sharply along. The long-boat
also changed her course and darted after her prey
butWarburton kept his hands firmly on the tiller and
his gaze steadfastly ahead, peering into the brighten-
ing sea. There was no more than a hundred yards be-
tween the boats, and this space was slowly decreasing
The tide grew under the cutter, and she spurted as if
aware of the danger. He was now opposite the cove
in which the Carmichaels- house lay, and he could see
the dark trees faintly visible in the mirk Yet he
dared not run in there; the island was too hostile-
that would be to venture into a den of wild beasts'
Ihe plan that he had conceived was more daring and
yet more prudent, as it seemed; he had resolved to
run for the mainland by the eastern channel.

This intention soon became clear to his pursuers
and they made new exertions in order to come up
mth him. But though they were constantly drawing
closer, the gap filled so gradually as to make it evi
dent that Warburton would get round into the chan-
nel first. And presently the cutter began to leap-
the water drew faster; with all the strength of those
secret currents she was galloping for the Gut. War-
burton could not have turned back now if he had de-
sired to do so. He could but pilot his craft. She
swung mto the Gut with a seething noise, as of an

)

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

angry meeting of two foes. The waves splashed
aboard, drenching him. He was buffeted about. Sud-
denly the whole of that water seemed peopled and
alive. Its body was torn by different currents and
variable flaws, so that it was broken and ran all ways.
The cutter knew not on which course to lie, but
tossed like a shell and took the seas at each jump.
She rolled and thumped, and the tiller kicked itself
from Warburton's hand. In a flash the boat plunged
broadside on to that raging water; and to Warbur-
ton's eyes she was but preparing for a last great dive
into the depths, when as unexpectedly a gust struck
her and she righted, dripping from every inch of can-
vas. He scrambled for the tiller, seized it, and en-
deavored to set her towards the shore. But there
was no order in her movements, and the rudder had
no authority over her. She sprawled like a drunk-
ard, reeling and falling and picking herself up, and
then flew about on a new course, only to carry out
the same tactics there. The devil was in her. She
thrashed towards the shores of Lynsea, but as War-
burton made up his mind to run her aground there at
any hazard, away went her sprit, and, nosing the
spray, she spurted for the mainland in a flurry. The
seas caught her, shook and racked her; she shuddered
in their fierce embrace; and down from the pinnacles
of the island swooped a gust of storm and blew her
upon her side. She lay whining and groaning be-
tween the buffets of wind and sea. A log might not
live in such water. She staggered forward on a new
tack, half full of green water, and to those that
watched her from the long-boat she stood in the eye
of the rising sun. Half a dozen deep lurches seemed
to threaten her fate. Those in the long-boat by the
point outside the Gut saw a tall figure standing in

f
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WARBURTON (JETS A WARNING

the stern of the cutter and reaching towr ihe sail.
She took the bit in her teeth and leaped n pacts

under the wind ; then she came down wii.. .. smack
upon the bubbling surface, rolled like a dolphin, and
disappeared from the vision in the hollow of the
waves. The pursuers in the long-boat waited breath-
lessly; they knew better than to adventure the Gut.
When the cutter reappeared she was floating, her
keel to the growing lights of the sky ; she tossed
weakly— she had given up the unequal conflict.

" By God!" said Nji holas Caimichaei, " the Gut has
him. We are saved the trouble"; and without any
further words he put the long-boat round again.

When the cutter rolled over and under, Warbur-
ton, who had seen that the struggle was become
hopeless, flung himself as far towards the shore as
he might. He struck the crest of a rising wave and
was carried forward on its advance. For a time he
was beaten about in the maelstrom, merely keeping
himself afloat, and in no wise resisting the flow of
the sea. This conduct undoubtedly proved his sal-
vation, for he was accidentally taken in the tow of a
current and went spinning for the shore ; whereas if
he had struggled for himself he would have lost this
chance. Indeed, so rapidly was he driven from the
scene of his shipwreck, that five minutes had not
elapsed ere he was flung savagely upon the sands,
even as though the elements were weary of him and
kicked him aside with one last vicious blow. He put
out his arms, clutching at the sand to resist the
plucking of the backward wash, and when it passed
he crawled out of the reach of the water.

Here he sat for some time, motionless, but slowly re-
gaining wind in his body ; and then he rose and began
to go along the shore. He saw at a glance where he

■

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

was; for this was the beach of a little ciipty valley
of marsh and stream, separated from Marisjck by the
great dunes. Towards these dunes, which stood black
against the rising sun, he now made his way. Yet
he had got no farther than a dozen strides when he
suffered a queer sensation in his balance. He knew
not if he were falling, or, if so, in which direction.
The beach moved up to meet him, rocking faintly.
He passed his hand across his eyes, wondering how he
had become suddenly giddy. Then he looked down.
The flat sands stretched before him to the dunes,
reddish gray, moist and vacant. Swiftly he f'll for-
ward upon his stomach, wrenching with ill the
force of his strong muscles to draw his feet free. He
was upon the edge of a quicksand.

This discovery was made in the nick of time ; an-
other step would have carried him into the running
slimes of the bog, in which he would have been en-
gulfed instantly. As he lay there he could see the
liquid mass quiver and shift, as though its evil mouth
watered at the prospect of its victim. Slowly his
legs came loose and drew out with a sucking sound ;
the quicksand groaned after its escaping prey, like a
mandrake that shrieks in the grass. He had sunk
into that horrible jelly in his struggles, but, lying
lengthwise, it might not gape wide enough to swal-
low him. He crept back into safety, and did not rise
to his feet until he felt the sand beneath him, hard
and dry. Then he surveyed his position. A little
stream dribbled down to the sea close by. He re-
solved to move upward by this, and strike across the
hills when he reached the firm land.

There were four miles of wandering ere he reached
Marlock. He had had nothing to eat or drink for
fifteen hours ; he was wet and sore ; his muscles ached

WARBURTON GETS A WARNING

in arms and legs He went slowly, picking his way on
the seaward side lest he should lose himself among the
hollows The morning sun was high in the east and
burned brightly ; it struck and glittered on the bast-
ions of the island. The Gut roared in the fore-
ground of the picture. Ere this scene vanished final-
ly behind an elbow of the hills, Warburton stood
and regarded it thoughtfully. He was thinking of
the Carmichaels m his patient and obstinate mind

It was not until late in the afternoon that he awoke
in his room in the "Three Feathers." The sun was
striking through the diamond panes that looked tow-
ards the sea ; and by these tiny windows he saw
two horsemen riding from the shore. He recognized
hem even at that distance, and hastily finishing his
toilet he descended and came out into the open space
before the ,nn. Immediately upon that Nicholas
Urmichael and his brother dashed round the bend
with the noses of their horses pointed for the combe
Warburton stood, drawn straight and tall and stronjr
in the very centre of the scene; and of a sudden the
elder Carmichael started and his horse swerved He
boked upon Warburton, glaring and amazed, and
reined in. Apparently he would have swung from
hs saddle, but his brother laid a hand on his arm,
pleading with him. Warburton watched the alterca-

tr;. ^" VT"!'^ ^^^ ^^"^^^ '^^^'^^d '" assent reluc
tantly. He shook his reins, and the two cantered past
he inn, Warburton still watching them impassively,
till hey vanished in the wood about the combe.

dead '.nH^rA"^''"'' '^^' ^^ '^^^ been accounted
TkIuI n ^" ['-•appearance had been the cause
thk S l^' ^armichael-s fury. It was clear, too. that
th. black marauder had been dissuaded from a public
aad personal assault, but how long would Warburton

»«CtOCOPY RISOIUTION TfST CHART

(ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

■ 2.2

135

13.6

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^ APPLIED IM^GE

1653 Eosl Moin Street

Rochester, New York U609 USA

(716) 482 -0300- P(,one

(716) 288 - 5989 - Fa«

'*'*

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

be free and secure? He did not inquire. Yet it was
with no surprise that an hour later he heard the inn-
keeper knocking on his door with the news that Mr.
Philip Carmichael desired to see him.

The younger Carmichael greeted him in a friendly
fashion. He was dressed very fastidiously, and wore
a spruce air, as of a young buck who was used to ogle
pretty women.

" This is a devilish awkward business, Mr. Warbur-
ton," said he — " devilish awkward. You have made a
mess of it — a devil of a mess."

" Why," said Warburton," I had supposed that I came
off very well, seeing the odds against me ! I assume
'tis to my attempted assassination that you refer, sir."

" Damme ! you use rough words, Mr. Warburton !"
replied Philip. " You play the spy and must look for
the spy's fate. You should have spirit enough to
stand the risks, sir, like a brave man. Gad ! I run my
risks without whining."

" I have not whined, sir, to my knowledge," return-
ed Warburton. " I was merely endeavoring to dis-
cover the reason why I am honored by this visit.
One of your name, of course, is always welcome ; still
— perhaps you would explain."

" Hang your wit !" said Philip, bluntly. " We know
where we lie, both of us, sir. I can tell you, Mr. War-
burton, that you are in a dangerous position. You
walk upon a plank, sir."

" 'Tis to threaten me you are come, then?" inquired
Warburton, raising his eyebrows.

Philip laughed. " I see no need to quarrel over
terms," he said, shrugging his shoulders gracefully.
" The fact is that you know too much, Mr. Warburton,
and there are those who will not endure that. You
are dangerous."

Ill

\ if

i ■, !

WARBURTON GETS A WARNING

" It appears, sir, that we are both dangerous," said
Warburton.

Philip eyed him. "Is it your intention to be so?"
he asked, presently.

Warburton gave him back his survey with even
more equanimity.

"And if it were so?" he asked, in his turn.

Philip Carmichael stared at him. "Do you not
know that such a confession would seal your ruin,
sir r he said. " You have seen the country here, and
guess how it is carried on, and where its interest
lies. I think you can form a guess, too, at what you
hazard. This is not Lon'lon, Mr. Warburton, and the
King's writ is very lightly regarded here. You could
have us hanged. Yes, but ere that could happen,
damme ! where would you lie? You have to deal with
men who do not hesitate, sir ; who live by steel and
fire, and shrink not from these. But, faith! I threaten
nothing. I but point out where these wicked fellows
may break forth. I am here on another errand, which
is to enlist your sympathy."

"In what object, Mr. Carmichael?" inquired War-
burton, civilly.

" Why, sir, you have seen too much, and we would
have you forget. I would ask your word, sir, between
gentlemen, that you will go home and keep your
tongue. What you have witnessed and suppose shall
be considered no affair of yours."

"You ask me to- promise oblivion, but 'tis my mis-
fortune to have a good memory," said Warburton.

"Zounds! let your memory act how it will! 'Tis
your voice I would control," said Carmichael, amia-
bly. " You have taken offence, no coubt, at your pur-
suit; yet others have taken offence at you. I know not
how you came to be wandering among the Skittles."

ill

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

"Poor, storm-tossed mariners must go somewhere,"
said Warburton, politely. " Whither better than to the
hospitable shores of Lynsea?"

Philip Carmichael paid no heed to this ironical an-
swer. "I am asking you as a favor, Mr. Warburton,"
he said, " will you not pledge me your honor to be
silent? You are no spy of the law."

" I doubt," said Warburton, slowly, " if you know
exactly what I am."

" No, I'm damned if I do!" said Philip, frankly; " but
I know what you will be if you are not wise and take
a piece of friendly advice."

"Why, you threaten and cajole me in different
breaths," said Warburton, smiling.

" I want you out of this," said Philip, shortly, and
turning looked towards the sea in an unusual silence.

" Sir," said Warburton, after a pause, " I am indebt-
ed for your frankness and your courtesy. You have
addressed me with plain arguments which I will not
pretend to answer. I am a simple man, and I confess
that I am not aware why this interest should be taken
in me. I had thought to m- ve about in Marlock like
any stranger, but it seems I am sought out and good
advice is pressed upon me. I am indebted to your
family, sir. But this air suits me, and I like the liquor
of this inn. I doubt not it comes from a good cellar."

Philip Carmichael turned sharply about— a frown
upon his handsome face.

" I will tell you this, sir," said he, angrily, " that,
since you find the place so promising, you are like to
stay here."

"Nothing would serve me better, sir," said War-
burton, imperturbably. " I will stay while I will."

Philip Carmichael examined his companion care-
fully and with some wonder.

WARBURTON GETS A WARNING

" Do you think, Mr. Warburton, that you are quite
aware of your position ?" he asked, at length. " You
fancy you can give information and avenge your treat-
ment of yesterday. You conceive that you have the
bridle on us. Well, you are wrong— damnably wrong.
You can do nothing. I advise you for your good,
and you reply only with sneers. Curse me if I waste
my temper on you ! I am done with you. But you
are a marked man. Your life is not your own, but
belongs to others, who will reap it when they choose.
And in that harvest, by God ! sir, you shall lament
this most obstinate madness."

"I wish you a good -afternoon, Mr. Carmichael,"
said Warburton, as the young man thrust on his hat,
and, swinging his whip impatiently, strode towards
the door.

h '

CHAPTER VI

WARBURTON STRIKES A BARGAIN WITH HIMSELF

A LETTER came to Warburton the next day
in a hand he did not recognize; and he was
oddly surprised when he discovered that the
writer was Miss Holt. She wrote from her
guardian's house, asking if "those wicked wretches
aad had justice done on them?" but her chief point, it
appeared, was to give the news that Sir George would
shortly visit his house by Marlock, the lady accom-
panying him. "I shall revisit that scene, which is so
terrible," she declared, "upon which i have wept such
tears, and which has broken my courage. I pray I
may have grace to bear so sharp a trial."

Warburton took the intelligence with impatience.
"Why the deuce does she write me this?" he asked
himself. "She should know better than to clog my
actions. If she be here, interfering, she will betray
us both. Sir George shall keep his home, or at least
the girl shall." Forthwith he sat down and penned a
letter to Sir George, in which he urged him not to
carry Miss Holt forward with him to the sea, "for,"
said he, " 'tis compassionate to suffer time to eclipse
these memories. She has passed through such an or-
deal in these parts that she will shrink to face them
again ; and 'tis wiser in yourself, sir, not to sear the
wounds that are already new and terrible."

WARBURTON STRIKES A BARGAIN

He comforted himself that this appeal would ure-
vent the disaster, and. addressing the letTer to sfr

dXTch^^^""' ''''-' '' ^^ ^^-^^- ^- '-tal;;

reSrd^'to 17^- '''''^" ^'^^^ "°""« ^e must take in
regard to his discovery on the island. He euessed
very well that if he opened his mouth he would runl
iftLfrf 7^'' ^"^;'"d««d, he was not at ail sure

He could iTr'"' r^'" ^""'^ ^^'^ f°^ him to speak
He could brmg disgrace upon the Carmichaels but
he was in no haste to do so H*. r^flJ.f i^ r '
thing , ha. „„„ Nichoir CaJchf would "beT
volved by his evidence. And more„v,r h. h I. J

n":VrSr„Vttnrr^^f""™^^^^

no traces of the use to which it was put. All he coulH
do hen, was to warn the revenue^loop and waU

coa -ItrT^-^"' ''°"^' '^ ^^"^'^^ by araTdof the

adeaufte 1 1 ^V'^""^" '"PP"^''^^ ^° ^^^ to be in!
adequate, to lack dramatic justness. Besides there

perwTan:=j^^-"tt-d^'i

wiin her handsome face? The srar hnm^^ *ii ^
his rhl>P^r f^ ^ ~- J t- , ^^ Durned still upon

nis cfteek to remind him of that Tezph^l Pr« , VJ

people „„^.'':rfor.hTp:;e'7„s^„?rheir'''T

W=nd-3 murd\rTh;;M%t"SU°p'fvre„T f"' j!^
own scurvy treatment Payment for his

er was civil beyond ordinary.'tL'^oreTht'utSry

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

I = f

timid. Warburton deemed him to be acquainted with
the transactions between the Carmichaels and him-
self. He was clearly in the confidence of the smii^j-
jjlers, which was the explanation of his good liquor.
Possibly he was used by them as a spy to give warn-
ing of his guest's movements. Warburton knew that
the smugglers must be aware that he had not given
notice to the authorities, for otherwise they would
iiave struck some blow. But what puzzled him was
the reason of their silence. He wondered that such
desperate adventurers as Nicholas Carmichael and
his friends must be .should give him so much liberty
and the chance to betray them. For if they reckoned
upon Tremayne's vigilance they were trusting to a
sorry creature. Warburton laughed at the thought
that he could be affected by Tremayne. He stayed
quietly, therefore, at the inn, awaiting the arrival of
the revenue sloop, which was due presently on that
coast, and casting patiently in his mind the various
courses which he might take.

The arrival of a second letter from Miss Holt near-
ly a week later amazed him. She communicated the
information that Sir George Everett, with herself,
would arrive that same day, "about two of the after-
noon, in that lamentable village of Marlock. Alas!
sir, 'tis well named, for I will confess that to me the
sound is ominous. I shudder at it. It is like a passing-
bell in my ears. I shall- never forget that bight of
sand and sea and that act of blood."

Warburton frowned and swore. Sir George Everett,
then, l;ad not deigned to take his advice. " Damme!"
said he, " he has no manners ; and as for this pretty
creature Dolly, she breathes too many sighs for my
taste. I shall be mightily embarrassed by her."

Sir George's house lay at the back of a small ra-

WARBURTON STRIKES A BARGAIN

vine towards the moorland, and to reach it from
inland it was not necessary to pass through Marlock
Warbutton had identified the place by inquiry but
there was nothing further from his purpose than to
take Miss Holt's hint and present himself at the
house that afternoon. Indeed, to avoid her he had
thought of leaving Marlock for the time. He issued
out of the "Three Feathers" towards evening and
bent his steps up the combe. It was growing dusk
and a pleasant little wind blew off the moors He
walked long and briskly, and came out upon the
upland as it fell dark. Here he was aware suddenly
of whispering voices in the copse, and next a shot
rang out and whistled past him. He paid no heed
save to quicken his steps, and there followed a second
shot, which ploughed across his sleeve. He stopped
and listened. Thus he stood in the full glow of what
light remained, and must have been visible from the
copse even plainer than before. But no further dis-
charge occurred. After pausing some minutes he
began to move forward again; and again his ears
were saluted by the report of a musket. Warburton
stopped, considering with himself. He guessed at
what this signified ; he was i.ivited to return • by
these uncivil greetings he was warned back He
began to appreciate the justice of Philip Carmichael's
threat He was not to be allowed to leave Marlock
until the free-traders had done with him. He gazed
at the piece of wood from which these signals had
come, and then, leisurely turning, retraced his way

.uu •*,","• "^ "^^^ """^ prepared for an encounter
with hidden assassins, but he was quite ready to add
to his growing grudge against the Carmichaels. He
was also a little exercised by the forbearance of his
enemies. Why was he not shot? Yet it might very

ft!

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ill

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' If '

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

well be that they were unwilling to provoke the
active hostility of the Crown, and face the outcry
which would follow the murder of a gentleman of
such position and such powerful connections He
felt indeed that Nicholas Carmichael would stay at
nothing, yet Sir Stephen and the younger brother
might have some influenoi over that dare-devil, and
more prudent counsels might have prevailed.

Warburton had had news of his imprisonment ; he
was now to learn something further. Even in the
daytime he recognized that he was watched. It was
never possible to affirm absolutely that any particu-
lar fisherman or idler had his eyes upon him, but
Warburton was certain that the whole village was in
a conspiracy to keep him in view. He might not
stray ; he knew too mucn. He was treated much as
a cat treats a mouse e.e she finally kills it. But
Warburton was not troubled. He walked a good
deal among the dunes, where no man came, and here
he saw no marks of any spies. Probably they deemed
that wilderness a sufficient prison in itself, for the sea
and the marshy valley above the quicksand were the
only outlets from it. One day he returned from his
travels among these desolate hills, and on re-entering
Marlock took a circuit up the ravine. He had for-
gotten th-t this route led him close by Sir George
Everett's house ; he had turned inland merely to be
rid of the crying sea that tormented his ears all day.
But he was aware presently of his vicinity by the fig-
ure of a gi i approaching down the lane. She stopped
a few feet away, He bowed profoundly.

" 'Tis you, Mr. Warburton," she said, eagerly ; " I
thought you had gone. I wrote you two letters !"

"Aye," said he, slowly. " I received them. Miss
Holt."

hi.:

t '.

i.JM.fe:

WARBURTON STRIKES A BARGAIN

" But you answered nothing," she exclaimed, with
some petulance.

"That is true. There was nothing to answer to
you, madam. Yet I made bold to write to Sir George
I would not have had you here."

She opened her eyes. "La!" she said, "was it to
persuade Sir George against my coming that you
wrote?" He bowed. "He got no such letter," she
went on. "There was nothing came to him from
you, or I should have heard. But had I known, Mr.
Warburton, that you desired me away, indeed I
would not have come."

Warburton was perplexed. " He got no letter," he
repeated, and suddenly the reason was clear to him,
so clear that he wondered at his own simplicity iii
expectmg any letter of his to arrive at its destina-
tion. The cords were about him more tightly than
he had thought.

"I have vexed you, sir," she said, seeing he did not
reply to her last words.

'^nV^^^ y°" ^^^^ "ot'" he returned, promptly,
trad! madam, no such prettiness as yours could
vex me. But I will confess that you have disturbed
my plans. I shall have to reform them, Miss Holt-
you must fall into line with me, I beg you."
^^ " You can depend upon me, sir !" she cried, eagerly.
I will work with you. You shall have my poor as-
sistance Heavens! that I should be treading on
this nielancholy soil ! I will not rest till we have
brought these miscreants to book— in the name of
that dear martyr !"

"He was very dear to you, madam?" inquired War-
burton, regarding her steadfastly

She lowered her eyes, her face brightening with
color. Aye, that you should know," she said, in an

'4i- ',

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1 i

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I-

I f [H

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

hysterical murmur. " 'Tis a sacred memory I hold.
I am sworn to cherish it. Judge you, Mr. Warburton,
how deep a debt these Carmichaels must discharge
to me."

" I have no doubt that they will discharge it to the
full," he answered. " Yet how do you suppose this
will be?"

She lifted her gaze to him again, and it was now al-
most demure in its expression. Softness commingled
there with a certain wistful pleading, as of a child that
begs silently for assistance. Her prettiness touched
him, though he was aware of some strange capacity
that animated her looks. She was nervously wrought,
yet contained herself.

" The law," she said, simply, " has failed to reach
them. It may only be through private means that
they may be punished. Perhaps vengeance shall be
executed righteously in the very mode by which the
crime w^as wrought."

Warburton understood well enough what she in-
tended : she looked to him. The sentence was not so
simple as her voice would have it. He smiled quietly
to himself, but answered, gravely :

" It is right that we should wait the course of events.
Justice delays, but her hand is strong in the end."

" I pray God it may be strong !" she cried, sharply,
a sob choking in her throat.

" I shall beg to pay my respects to Sir George," said
Warburton, stolidly, after a pause.

" He will be honored, sir," said she, quickly, in an-
other voice, and surveying him amiably with all signs
of her recent emotion gone.

He took off his hat and left her. Her eyes sparkled
after him restlessly; she was fevered to her marrow,
afire with contending emotions in that frail body.

1m,! i I.
Ilitll

' * i' ? ' 9 '^~

* r - ■ ■ '* '

WARBURTON STRIKES A BARGAIN

Warburton turned the corner of the lane out of her
sight, and came face to face with Miss Carmichael.
She looked him strongly in the eyes, with some fierce
earnestness.

" Mr. Warburton, I would ask you one thing," she
broke out. "Are you a spy?"

Warburton drew up beside her coolly. " Madam,"
he answered, with deliberation, " by what right do you
put such interrogations upon me? You know me as
a stranger, as one who has had the good fortune to
aid you in a little difficulty, and who owes you some
thanks. Yet you claim the right of inquisition?"

"Ah, sir !" she cried, quickly, " I forget nothing, but
I remember also how we last met. What did you in
that secret place?"

" I admit no claim on your part to question me,"
he replied, coldly, " but I answered you as a woman.
The wind blew me to sea, and I returned in what
I fondly imagined to be the friendly wake of a
schooner."

Her eyes danced. " I knew 'twas so, or somehow
so," she said, swiftly. " I beg your pardon, sir, for
what share I had in that adventure."

" Nay, madam," he said, shortly, " but if I recall
the particulars aright, it was you that protected
me.

" 'Twas I that would have been your death !" she
cried, impulsively. " I, that owe you my life!"

" You owe me nothing," he said, bluntly, " and for
what I owe you we are quits."

"Quits!" she called, aloud, "'tis the second time
you have spoken that ungenerous word. Are you a
trafficker in pawns and pledges that you deal so for-
mally? I know nothing of the word except in respect
of my enemy. It has no place in my dictionary."

M *

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" 'Tis possible that we regard it in the same light "
he answered, with meaning. '

He had desired to convey to her that she must not
look upon him as a friend, or even as an indifferent
stranger; yet she put no such interpretation upon his
sentence.

"Sir," she said, hotly, "you have said you are no
spy. What are you, then ?"

" You will remember, madam," he said, " that I have
some secrets that I have not blabbed."
^^ "I can make nothing of you," she said, in despair-
your face is a blank wall that holds all things privy
and silent. But yet you must abide your fate."

Her moving face was figured with some strong emo-
tion, and stirred him deeply.

" Why." he said, slowly, " a duel. Miss Carmichael, is
a duel. What is fought for is fought for. I like not
your brother. He is foreign to my ways and fancy,
and I think he is too hard and skilful for boys."

She gazed at him, drawing a deep breath, and put
out her hand to touch his.

" You make a mark upon me which I do not under-
stand," she said, with animation, " but I see you as
you are— an honest gentleman, who saved my life."
" I have said we are quits," he said, impatiently.
"No! no!" she cried, in a burst of anger.
"I will not have that or any such action laid to mv
credit," he said, deliberately.

Her voice w. s as rapid and rich with feeling as his
was cold and orderly.

"Ah, you are generous!" she cried. "I know you
are no spy." ■'

He answered nothing.

She came a little closer, and again set her fingers on

his arm, but this time they gripped him warmly.

WARBURTON STRIKES A BARGAIN

"Mr. Warburton," she said, in a low voice, "I am
told that my brother Philip warned you. Why are
you here?"

" I am not used to take warnings," he replied, scarce
heeding her words, but affected strangely by the
clutch of her hand.

" They said you had the chance to go," she went on.
" It was madness in you to stay."

He cast his eyes upon the fingers that moved upon
his sleeve, and thence his gaze shifted to her face and
body. There was the blaze of some passion in her
gray eyes which he encountered.

"I have said that I take no warnings," he answered,
considering within himself that she should not so be-
guile him to flight. He had no doubt that she was
sent on this errand by her brothers, to cajole him
into a promise of secrecy.
" How came you to seek me here?" he asked.
" I followed from the inn," she said, simply. " I was
resolved to see you."

" I will stay where I will," he said, bluntly. " None
shall move me till I will."

Their eyes met again, and there was some despair
that looked out of hers. He felt the thrill of her hand
upon him. She dropped her arm.

" You are a fool !" she cried, suddenly, and with sav-
age vehemence— "a fool to throw your life away! Do
you think I do not know what the end will be? Oh,
but you are mad, sir, you are mad." And then, " Mr!
Warburton, I beg you to desist," she pleaded. " Be
not moved by this blind obstinacy. Conquer your
pride. What if others have maltreated you in error?
I it was, 'twas I also, that sinned. Do you bear a
spite against me? And if not, why against others?
They desire no harm to you, I do believe."

«^

U.i

! ■: i '

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

He listened imperturbably. " Why is it, madam
you show such anxiety in my behalf?" he asked'
plainly.

"Because I desire no man's death in innocence"
she burst forth with passion. '

" Nothing shall move me," he said, with a coldness
that was almost brutal.

She turned on him like a storm. " Why is it you
stay?" she cried. " Is it only out of injured pride'
Who was that that left you in the lane? Is't she
then, that keeps you?" '

"Madam, you spy upon me," he remarked, with a
sneer. '

"No, I chanced to see her. Are you ashamed of
jier? she cried, white now with her animosity. " If
It be she who keeps you, with those wandering eves
we shall not be rid of you. But you shall die where
you rest and in your folly."

"Madam," he said, quietly, "the lady is she that
loved a dead friend."

She came to an abrupt pause, almost ceasing to
breathe, and he eyed her in silence. He had an odd
sense of discovery in that moment; it stirred sharplv
in his heart, and went out. He knew now that he
was master; against that passive force of calm and
determination she would beat in vain. Her blood
and her sex alike betrayed her ; they were no match
for one of that cold race and patient manhood. She
knew nothing of this; the spirit of such a creature
bent not to reflection; it felt, it sufifered, it rejoiced
and was bitter, passionate, and cruel in a breath But
there was some faith she drew from him in those
brief seconds. An impression passed into her blood
although she guessed not whence her impulses had
sprung. She gasped in her breathless emotion and

M I

WAkliURTON's UNCI.E

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■H

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'• I

WARBURTON STRIKES A BARGAIN

he, in his turn, put forth his hand and touched her
gently.

"You are kind, Miss Carmichael," he said, softly,
" but indeed I tell you that you mistake me. Others
shall do as I will, not I as they."

Her eyes kept his face. " I have done what I
could," .she said, with a sigh, " but you despise my
advice." She turned away without more words, and
he looked after her. There was that in her quick,
lithe gait that again affected him.

"By God!" said he, "a handsome girl, a devilish
handsome girl — and as devilish as handsome. I will
have the devil in her cast down. I will exact a
proper penalty from my lady jade. Damme! I will
exact what I will."

CHAPTER VII
UPON THE LAWNS W LYNSEA

ON the afternoon of the following day Warbur-
ton resolved to visit Sir George Everett. He
was in no way anxious to do so, yet he felt that
common politeness demanded the ceremony,
now that he had been discovered by Miss Holt. Ac-
cordingly, under the vigilant eyes of the innlfeeper,
he set out for the valley in which Sir George's house
was placed. It was a walk of a mile or more by very
pleasant lanes now bright with late lilacs, and drop-
ping the gold of the laburnum. He had by this time
come to ignore the watch under which he lived, and
though he supposed that some one followed him on
this occasion, he cared not, and gave his attendant
little thought.

Sir George, who was an irritable, plain-speaking, hon-
est fellow, full of many bothers, which he took hardly, re-
« eived him with some warmth. He had come here', he
declared, to be quit of his daily troubles ; he was pres.s-
ed by the affairs of his country, was being urged into
political courses which he would rather avoid, and de-
nounced all his neighbors for rogues and nincompoops.
To Warburton's mind he seemed a brisk, capable
man, who would do his duty, if with much grumbling,
and put the responsibilities with which he charged
himself above his convenience. This consideration

! f

UPON THE LAWNS OF LYNSEA

renewed in him the doubt if he should communicate
his knowledge as to the illicit trade on Lynsea. He
turned the ma.tcr over in his thoughts.

"Sir George," said he, "I believe you to be a
justice?"

" Aye," assented Sir George, "I have had the hang-
ing of several rascals."

" A man might lay an information before you even
in these parts?" asked Warburton.

" For certain ; a magistrate is a magistrate, and
carries the Kmg's authority with him where he goes,"
returned Sir George, with dignity.

Warburton sat considering.

"What is it makes you inquire?" asked the baronet

Warburton opened his lips, u. at that moment
the soimd of wheels upon gravel t-ught his ear He
looked out of the window and saw a chai.se drawn up
before the house, and the flanks of the horse were
steaming as if he had been severely driven.

"Why, what is this?" said Sir George, who also had
peered out. "These people are in a mighty hurry it
seems." As he spoke the door of the room opened
^"f.frJ"^"'^®'"^^"' approached, announcing a visitor'

... . ° '! this?" said Sir George, harshly.

"Tis Sir Stephen Carmichael, your honor." savs
the man. ' ^

"Ah, I have heard the name. He has some estate
by here, purchased from old Tantellion," said Sir
George, with a nod. "I am honored by this visit,
bhow him in."

Warburton stood and bowed as the visitor entered
Sir Stephens gaze rested lightly on him for an in^
stant as he returned the bow, yet Warburton fancied
that there was inquiry in the look. He leaned upon
his thick staff and was magnificently civil to Sir

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

'^1

George, deploring his gout, which had held him from
calling before. His eyes, nevertheless, as Warburton
thought, were fixed like a cat's upon his host, watch-
ing and wondering. He appeared to be seeking for
some information. Warburton laughed softly. He
was aware now why the horse was so lathered with
sweat, and what this ceremonious visit signified.
They were afraid of him. Yet it must have been
manifest very soon from Sir George's friendly bear-
ing that he knew nothing. The sharp senses of Sir
Stephen were not likely to miss that fact. Indeed, he
glanced at Warburton presently with a faint smile,
in part of condescension and partly of reassurance.
Warburton laughed aloud this time, but checked
himself and rose, bidding the two good-day.

No sooner was he out of the house than he espied
Miss Dorothy ascending the drive. He would rather
not have met her, but could do nothing save go for-
ward, for he was visible to her plainly. But when he
reached her he was smiling and debonair.

" Faith, you walk abroad a great deal, Miss Holt,"
said he.

" What have I to do but to walk ?" she said, with a
sigh. "I am too deeply intricate with life to pluck
my fingers at home."

"Poor creature!" said he, eying her. "But you
must not suffer sorrow to eat you like a canker. You
are too handsome a young lady to wear sackcloth all
your days."

" I will talk no more of it," she said, quickly ; "'tis
no pleasure to a town gentleman such as you, sir, to
entertain lachrymose maidens."

" Nay, I believe I am not modish," he declared.

She j-jlanced at him furtively. " Sir George saw
your honored uncle, my lord Crayle, in Town but a

UPON THE LAWNS OF LYNSilA

week ago. La ! he was greatly flustered, having his
wig blown from him."

Warburton laughed. "Fie on his bald head! I
would I had seen him. Poor devil! he shows his
years badly."

" They say that Crayle Park is beautiful," observed
the girl.

"Tis so," he murmured, indifferently. "'Tis a
pretty place, and mightily expensive."

"Mr. Warburton," she said, suddenly dropping her
voice to a whisper, "there is man who is hiding
in that hedge and spying on us."

"Indeed! Faith, let him spy," said Warburton,
heartily. "I am not ashamed to be seen in such
company. Gad ! no, madam, I am proud of the prox-
imity."

He did not even turn his head, but his eyes twinkled
good-naturedly in her face, which had run delicately
pink.

"But why should he spy on us?" she asked, fearfully.

"How should I know? He is a curious villager,
madam. He has heard that a new Toast has arrived
here. In truth, you have already a visitor."

"Who is that?" she asked, following his upward
glance at the chaise.

" 'Tis Sir Stephen Carmichael," he answered, with
a grin.

She started and made as if to go. " I will not see
that dreadful man," she said.

"On the contrary, you will find him a most civil
gentleman," he declared. "Sir George is greatly
taken with him."

She hesitated, a change passed across her features,
and she said, haltingly, " You are right, Mr. Warbur-
ton. You have lectured me justly. I will not give
F 8i

i 1 '

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

way to my prejudices. I must do my duty to Sir
George's guests." She bowed to him prettily, and,
staring at her in surprise, the man returned the salu-
tation. Then he descended the slope with a shrug
of his big shoulders. Indeed, he had not at all
fathomed this dainty creature of dimity, and he be-
gan to comprehend this.

A warm belief in the treachery of the Carmichaels
and their nefarious plans possessed Warburton. He
had reason enough for his faith, and nothing could
subvert it. The arrival of Dorothy Holt vexed him,
for he saw in it at once a trespass upon his own cam-
paign, and a personal danger to herself. Her presence
on that coast could only enforce the warningof his own.
The conjunction would signify to the Carmichaels
that they were pursued by vengeance. It was clear
that they suspected him, alone, of that design, and
how greatly would Miss Holt assist their conjectures
into certainty ! In any case, he stood himself in a
desperate peril, and he would have none join him in
the hazards. A girl of such delicate mind and body
had no right to interpose. Her strength should be
the measure of her participation, and she was as weak
as the bent upon the dunes or the water that washed
in the shallow trough of the Marl.

Warburton came down to the village hastily the
next morning, sharpness and impatience in his voice.

"What boat is that?" he asked of a fisherman, and
pointed into the offing where a white sail was tack-
ing northward. He had his answer in no very civil
terms : " It was Pavitt's boat."

"Aye, but who sails in it?" he inquired, more
sharply.

The fisherman gazed at him, and professed his
ignorance.

UPON THE LAWNS OF LYNSEA

" I believe that a young lady has put out for a
sail," he added.

Warburton remembered himself in time. He had
already tried several times unavailingly to hire a
boat here. Even his friend from whom he had taken
the little cutter, and who had been extravagantly
compensated, was deaf to his offers. He made no
sign of his emotion.

"Oh, a young lady!" said he, and turned indiffer-
ently away. He had no doubt now that what he had
suspected ws true. There were no visitors in Mar-
lock, and f^ ' young ladies to go a-sailing for amuse-
ment. Miss Holt was in that boat, making for Lyn-
sea ; and that she had succeeded in getting a boatman
to take her showed upon whose authority she went
She was going on the invitation of the Carmichaels
To Warburton's fancy the web these islanders spread
lay thick and deadly about Lynsea. They enticed
like sirens calling in the ears. No doubt it was Sir
Stephen himself who had offered the hospitality of
the island with that fine grace of his. What did they
want with her? And what motive carried her to
that black spot? Warburton could not answer th-s
riddle, but feared vaguely. He began to go by the
dunes northward towards the village upon that side
which, embowered in a smiling country, seemed t..
stand remote from the winds and wars and the
darker secrets of Marlock and the island It was
more than two hours ere he reached his destination
but he was successful at once in obtaining a boat'
As he put forth, the mid-day sun was shining upon
the green land and the loose, quiet water; but a mile
away southward the heights of Lynsea rose black
solid, forbidding, under a passing shadow of cloud'
obscured in a twilight of mystery '

1]i

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

No sooner had the boat left the shore than a man
ran out upon the beach, breathless and red of face.
He stared stupidly after Warburton.

Warburton ran down to the island swiftly, in the
stream of a full tide. He recognized it as a more
urgent duty to intercept the girl, or at least throw-
over her some protection, inasmuch as he had said
nothing to her of his own adventures. She was
therefore not forewarned. She forbode nothing, and
had accepted the invitation to Lynsea without mis-
givings, if with no alacrity.

It was impossible to guess what incentives the cere-
monious Sir Stephen had used.

The thought flashed through Warburton's mind
that she had been inveigled thither to detach her
from the vendetta of which they must now have been
persuaded ; and if so, it was still necessary that he
should be present to defend himself from a betrayal.
In any case he thought no more as to the wisdom of
his course ; he was resolved to reach Lynsea, and to
discover what this visit meant. He had got half-way
to the island when he noticed in the wake of his boat,
far away, a second boat, steering in his tracks. This
he watched for some time, and at length remembered
his state of supervision by spies, which, in the excite-
ment of his recent discovery, he had completely for-
gotten. Plainly he was being followed, and he was
anxious to be rid of his followers. He had thought of
making for the cove of tamarisks by the house, but
now he changed his mind. He turned the boat's
head, as though to run down upon this harborage,
but no sooner was he by the sheltering point than he
slipped past it, and poling under the lea of the wooded
land, round the ju*^*^ing crag one hundred yards be-
yond, disappeared into a narrow neck of water which

UPON THE LAWNS OF LYNSEA

formed a sort of creek and received the volume of
some upland streams.

Tying the painter to an overhanging bush, which
also hid the body of his boat, he landed, and climb-
ing the hill above, dropped cautiously down up-n the
valley of the homestead.

The road he took was by thick coverts, already in
full leaf, but green and yellow, and not yet hardened
and deepened by the summer sun. There was no
foot-path ; he made a way for himself among the
young wood and undergrowth and springing ferns;
and the tall sycamores that sheltered him with broad
fingers from the sun, concealed also the immediate
, ospect. He had descended into a bottom, in which
a ribbon of brook trickled pleasantly towards the
sands. The waters of the sea broke peacefully upon
a hidden beach ; he could almost hear the fret of the
shells as the wavelets rolled among them. But he
knew not yet where he stood, nor whither he was
wandering. As he came to a pause in this indecision,
he thought he perceived that the copse was sparser
in one direction, and in this he moved. The bushes
opened out, the spaces spreading into little glades, in
which flowered the bluebells in a multitude. He went
forward still, passing a clump of yews, and the next
moment there broke upon his vision a widespread
pleasaunce, bright with blossoms.

The sun stood at his zenith, yet the cool sea-breezes
subdued the heat of that early summer day. Under
the warm influences of a genial season the foliage and
the flowers had started into quick, full life. The l;lac
was alive ^ ith odor, and the laburnum with bold g-o.'d,
while in long, low hedges that lay formally across the
lawns, the white rosettes of the guelder gleamed in a
profusion like great white daisies. Wafts of f ragran zc

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

ascended from the Florentine iris in the purple beds
and the elegant stems of the columbine rose in
bunches from the foliage, lilac and white and blue.

In the centre of this lawn of flowers and flowering
shrubs was an ancient dial, on which the shadow of
the style pointed past noon. Below this, upon the
greensward, half enveloped by the tall spikes and the
umbrageous star leaves of the lupin, lay Chloris Car-
michael, her chin upon her hand, her gaze rambling
idly over the blue and empty sea.

Warburton stood watching for a brief time in si-
lence and without demonstration. Not a particular
of that fine prone body escaped his steady eyes, from
the copper-brown hair to the foot that tapped easily
and m a measured rhythm upon the lawn. He saw
here no tigress frantic against her foes, not even a
woman shaken with vehement fears or vehement pas-
sion; it was merely an idle girl that dabbled among
the grasses, and let a vagrant fancy loose among the
clouds. The impression of her face and posture was
purely sensuous ; he judged that she swayed between
her physical feelings like a scale in balance that moves
to the touch and vibrates inordinately with each com-
motion. She seemed to him now more of a girl than he
had supposed, and she might have innocent thoughts
It was clear she was quite happy ; she had the air of
baskmg in delight as she basked in the sunshine She
drew Warburton's eyes with admiration.

As he stood there her gaze unexpectedly alighted
on him, and she got to her feet swiftly and came run-
ning to him, every sign of her quiet vanished A
blaze of some feeling flared in the iris of her eyes so
that they turned almost the warmth of her tresses.
She went off, as Warburton reflected, like a gun
snapped at half-cock. But why she ran thus upon

I i

i'l

Uro.N TllK GREKN SWARD I.AV CHI.OKIS

UPON THE LAWNS OF LYNSEA

him he could not guess ; yet he had not long to won-
der.

" What have you come here for?" she asked, eagerly.
" Do you not know, Mr. Warburton, that you are mad
to venture here again ? You must go back."

" I came here of purpose," he answered, slowly, " and
by Heaven ! I will not go back until it is accomplished."
" What purpose ?" she said, swiftly, but in what was
almost a murmur. " You must go back."

He read the restless sparkle that died and flam.ed in
her face; there seemed no secret now in the trembling
of those slender hands. She beat again upon him as
vainly as she had beat bef(jre. A spirit all fire pre-
vailed nothing against such solidity ; the great wind
broke and roared in vain upon the battlements, and
afterwards issued a still, sweet voice.

" You must go back. You must give up your pur-
pose."

He put out an arm to her. " I will not go back.
Miss Carmichael," he said ; and the excellence of her
presence, the temptation of her neighborhood, thrilled
him to the marrow. " By God ! but you are Chloris to
me," he said, " and Chloris you shall be, for all the
Carmichaels in Christendom."

" What mean you ?" she panted, swaying under his
grasp, yet facing him with open, burning eyes that
were neither afraid nor ashamed.

He drew her closer roughly, and still she shrank not ;
the blue knot of ribbon at her bosom rose and fell
like the undulation of the sea ; she was carried nearer
till it came to rest upon his coat, fluttering into Sl U-
ness; and then a convulsion shook her body through.
Warburton suddenly and abruptly put her away,
surveying her out of disturbed eyes. Some doubtof
his interpretation of her had sharply stung him. She

f i

11 !'

CIILORIS OF THE ISLAND

surrendered herself to him with more than the passion
of a maiden, but it was certainly surrender He dis
trusted his judgment; this slim, full, passionate Kirl
thwarted him. He knew that he was master, and yet
he had this flash of uncertainty. His steady mind
wavered like a reed, and then settled again into its
stiff decision. He saw her a handsome, glowinir
creature. animated with bright blo(,d and the devil „f
a spirit, and touched by her senses to gross issues
bhe was an amazingly beautiful animal, to love to
be jealous, to hate, and to be cruel. Like all that
heathenish house, she had the distemper which
should put her outside the pale of consideration. In
his insular intolerance and ignorance of this unfet-
tered foreign blood he regarded such people as a pest
in the kingdom, deemed them as far from the healthy
norm as lunatics or outcasts or the tenants of thieves'
alleys. A strong sensation stirred in him now as
he recognized the truth ; he put out his arm again
with something betwi.vt a laugh and a gasp, but
Chloris Carmichacl withdrew a pace, her wonderful
eyes upon him. They consumed him with their re-
gard.

"What purpose has brought you here?" she asked.

"Chloris, 'tis you, I swear!" he exclaimed, eagerly
reaching for her.

She struck up his arm angrily, then turned away,
her head fallen heavily upon her bosom. Ke watched
her go some steps, and then pursued after her catch-
ing her hand. '

" Let me go," she said, earnestly—" I beseech you
sir, to let me go !" '

"Nay, dear," he said, "that I will not. I am not
done with you."

The color rose hot in her cheeks and then with-

^ir

UPON THE LAWNS OF LYNSEA

drew, leaving them of the pallor of death, while her
eyes were frightened and glistened with emotion.

"I may imt," she pleaded ; *' for pity's sake leave me !
Be merciful. Nay, sir, you have shamed me. I have
forgotten all my modesty and what my maidenhood
requires."

"Faith," thought Warburton, "she plays me well,"
and would have pulled her again to him.

"Do you not see? Is it not enough?" she cried,
crimsoning afresh and with an angry stamp of her
foot. " Oh, you are a brute, to torture me so ! I hate
you ! Let me go, let me go— ah, let me go !" and her
voice passed from the passionate accents of anger
through those of piteous entreaty into a soft sob of
contentment, as she was drawn within his arms.

The next moment she was flying through the plea-
saunce, across the lawn, and by the hedges of the way.
She sped like Daphne, and upon her heels followed
that merciless pursuer. The way ran among the copse
ajram, and down by tortuous courses to the .sea. The
loose white gown of the fugitive flew out behind her
flying heels; the skirts jumped and fluttered, spread-
ing like a flag, her bronze hair, fallen from its con-
hnes, rained upon her neck in a bright shover as she
darted from sunlight into shadow in her flight.

Suddenly the copse ended once more, and Warbur-
ton found himself abruptly upon the margin of an
c-dered garden, with the white house of the Car-
michaels frowning upon hii Scarce out of arm's-
'-'"^^h the girl too had come to a pause, panting
hard, the color deep in her face, yet with a startled
expression in her eyes, and an admonishing hand
Iwenty paces distant stood Sir Stephen Carmichael
eying them strangely, and with him was Sir George
Everett. *

CHAPTER VIII
THE BEGINNING OF THE ADVENTURE IN LYNSEA

WARBURTON stood for a moment irreso
lute, stayed in the very heat and flurry ol
his chase. He cast flashing glances nt the
silent group, and then moved forward slow-
ly to it. Sir George broke into a cackle of laug' tcr,
being the first to give tongue to any sound.

"Gad! what is this g: e of nymph and saiyr?"
he said. " It is an Arcadian grove that you keep in
this pretty island of yours, Sir Stephen. But, faith,
you must present me to this maid. I vow she is a
toast, whoever she be."

" She is my daughter, sir," said Sir Stephen, dan-
gerously civil.

" Oh !" said Everett, sweeping off his hat, " a thou-
sand respects and admirations, madam. Forgive an
old man his blunders, for my eyes are not what they
were. They look through dark glasses, yet. Miss Car-
michael, I protest they find you fair."

Chloris said nothing, but merely bowed, for she had
her eyes on her father with some anxiety, her face
warm with her confusion and her excitement; and,
turned thereby to a sharper beauty, she glowed like a
jewel in the sun. Sir Stephen waited until Warbur-
ton reached him. He had cast a glance at his daughter,
and after that continued to regard the young man.

^ii!

i ;5l

; ;tf

BEGINNING OF THE ADVENTURE

The two confronted each other ..:id Warburton grave-
ly saluted the company, ^'o made no explanation of
his odd arrival, nor attemp ed to refer to Jhloris.

" I should offer you an e.. u -e, sir," he aid, " for my
trespass again upon this i.-..ai^'3 ; but x am over on
business. Yet if I had known what now I know I
need not have come," and his gaze dwelt lightly on
Everett.

"Any man that comes on business has a right here,"
said Sir Stephen, coldly. " Yet last time you came on
no business, but as a stranger who trespasses."

" I will trespass no more," he answered, " for I see
I am not needed here."

"What, Mr. Warburton!" said Sir George, in a
friendly voice — " You are not going already ? You
shall go back with me."

" Sir, I must beg you not to cut short this honor
you have done us," said Sir Stephen, quickly. "As
for Mr. Warburton, no doubt you think it strange that
we meet so coolly. But you are aware of a sad acci-
dent that befell some time since. My son Nicholas
is a hot-blooded fellow ; there was no excuse for him
save wine, and a quarrelsome temper on both sides.
Well, what will you, my dear sir?" He shrugged his
shoulders expressively. " But Mr. Warburton and my
son are still at loggerheads. It is wiser they do not
meet. Hence my recommendation. He is better
away, lest another quarrel be brought upon us."

"Why, damme! Warburton, you are pugnacious,"
said Sir George, reproachfully. " Let ill alone. Shir-
ley was a hot fellow too — poor devil ! It is no affair
of yours. I had forgot that there was any such
bother; and Heaven is my witness that we cannot
carry other people's worries. I am glad to be quit
of them. Besides, the girl's heart was not in it. Yet

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

ij :i

will take you

I must be going immediately, and I
home."

" I entreat you to spare me yourself a little longer
sir," said Sir Stephen. " But Mr. Warburton is an-
other case. You see he looks moro.se and broods
lie had better begone," and he laughed lightly and
[)leasantly.

" By the Lord! but my girl mu.st not see this Nich-
olas of yours," broke in Everett, suddenly. " It es-
caped me. She cannot have known when she con-
sented to come. Heavens! she breaks out like a
bitch when she is spiteful. She must be carried away
at once."

Sir Stephen, seeming to resign, motioned his guest
gracefully towards the house, as though he would
offer him his last compliments. He called his daugh-
ter to him, and, leaning heavily upon her shoulder
went up the lawn. Warburton followed, for he had
not yet done with Sir Stephen. At the terrace of
white stone the old man paused, lifted his hand from
his daughter's shoulder, and turned on him.

" Hark you! Mr. Warburton," he said, more harshlv
than he was used to speak, " you were best away. I
think no gentleman should require a further intima-
tion."

" I am not here as a friend, nor yet as an acquaint-
ance, sir," retorted Warburton, sharply. " I am a
piece of the law, a hook of interrogation, to question
you. I will not go without my answer. What is it
you want with Miss Holt ? Your family have done
harm enough. You should be ashamed to raise your
hand again."

^ "Is it true?" asked Chloris, swiftly, of her father.
Is Miss Holt here? Who is Miss Holt?"
He did not reply, but frowned on Warburton. "I

BEGINNING OF THE ADVENTURE

have warned you to be gone," he said, and with a
gesture of authority dismissed his daughter within
the house. " You know how matters stand here. I
do not give warnings in vain. You have declared
yourself hostile, and we are in a state of war. Do
not suppose that the Carmichaels will forget that.
They forget too little and aciiieve too much. I give
you leave to go now. Yet there is something to ex-
plain in what I saw just now. I shall ask for some
explanation of what conduct you showed towards my
daughter."

"Sir, I explain nothing," returned Warburton,
coolly. '•' Your daughter may."

Sir Stephen's eyes flashed, but a look of doubt en-
tered them, and he tottered up the steps on his stick
without answer.

Warburton went down the pathway, but, as he
turned the corner of the house, almost ran against
Dorothy Holt and a companion. This, to his aston-
ishment, he recognized as Philip Carmichael, very
cheerful, very handsome, and impudently smiling.
He grinned the wider on seeing Warburton, but
opened his eyes full.

"Lynsea seems to hold an attraction for you, Mr.
Warburton," he observed. " It is not every one who
loves us so much."

"I am here to fetch Miss Holt," he answered, sim-
ply. " It is not well for her to be here."

" Faith! I am the better judge of my behavior," re-
torted the girl, sharply. " I am not in your charge,
Mr. Warburton."

" No ; I was unaware that your guardian was with
you," he answered, " or I would not have ventured
upon this liberty. Yet now I am arrived here, I
would urge you to return. Miss Holt, 'tis not seemlv "

•J

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

The color rose in her face, though she was plainly
flustered by his rebuke. " Tis ungentlemanly in
you to lecture me," she said, "as if I were not a bet-
ter authority on manners! I know what becomes a
lady, sir."

"You are here a guest of those that slew one you
were to have wed," he said, bluntly, being angered
with her.

"La!" she said, with a little quiver, "you need not
to remind me. I bear it in my heart. But, indeed I
made a silly blunder in supposing a duel was not
honorable, however cruel it be. But, indeed, sir " she
said, turning prettily on Philip Carmichael-" but
indeed, indeed, 'twas cruel in your brother He was
most uncivilly drunken."
" That he was," assented Philip, nodding
Warbiirton was amazed by this change in her
spirit. He had never understood her, and he could
make of her even less than nothing at the present
moment What he saw clearly was that the grounds
of that hostility were slipping from under his feet
It this girl should give up there would be no excuse
tor him to maintain a feud, since his was a wrong in-
comparable with hers. He stared on her stupidlv
but getting his thoughts again, begged to have 'a
word with her in private. Philip Carmichael stood
apart, rapping his top-boots with his whip, or idly
chafing with it his smalls.
'' What does this conduct mean?" asked Warburton
\ou must not ask me," she said, veiling her eyes
with her long lashes; "you must trust me. I have
trusted you."

He frowned impatiently. "You have brought me
dan%r" ^ ^"^''^' ^^''^"^^ ^ thought you in

,^^-^^

PHILIP CARMICHAEL AND DOROTHY HOIT

rl i

BEGINNING 'of THE ADVENTURE

"In danger!" she echoed, with surprise in her voice.

"Aye; it is probable that we both are in peril
These Carmichaels have no scruples. Already my
life has been attempted. See yonder fine fellow— how
he watches us out of his soft eyes!"

"But why do they want your life?" she asked,
breathlessly.

" Because I have some of their secrets— I hold them
in my power," he answered.

"What is this secret?" she whispered, with a furtive
glance at Philip. But he lounged and appeared to
take no heed.

" No, I cannot tell you that," he replied. " To do
so would be to expose you to a great peril. They
shall know that you know nothing. I will make
that safe before I leave. But you would be safer
away. This man is one thing, but where is Nicholas
Carmichael, I ask you ?"

She shook her head and shuddered. "I was told he
would not be here. I could not have faced that mur-
derer," she said, and it was evident that she spoke
the truth.

"Get your guardian back as soon as you may," he
urged. "Miss Holt, you know not this family' nor
what they have to guard. Their blood runs like 're
in them ; it is as volatile as a spirit and always in
flame. They are stark animals, with fine hides and
handsome faces. God pity those that oflFend them '"
^ 'Then you run great danger already," she cried,

and God must pity you!"

"Nay, madam, but I think God shall pity more
those that offend me," said Warburton, grimly

Come, get you back," and he laid a persuasive hand
upon her arm. This act of entreaty might easily
have borne another meaning from a little distance,

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

and so Philip Carmichael interpreted it. He opened
his eyes and stared, and then resumed the tapping on
bis boot faster than ever.

Warburton turned aside, and Dorothy met her
escort with an engaging smile. "La! Mr. Warbur-
ton IS tiresome; he will harp upon that which is gone;
he thinks I must be forever wearing weeds and loiur
faces." *"

Philip disappeared into the house with this enchant-
ress, but Warburton was destined to another encoun-
ter. He descended the terrace steps to the lawn, and
hardly had he done so when Chloris Carmichael came
upon him with a rush.

"Who is that?" she asked, breathlessly. "Is it
Miss Holt that is here? It was that girl that I saw-
walking from you the other day."

"True," answered Warburton; "she is here as vour
guest." ^

" I want her not," said Chloris, fiercely. " I hate
her face. She is a sly doll. I know what she is here
for— to deal treacherously by us. I will tell Nick."

"You will do nothing of the sort," said Warburton,
sharply. " There has been enough mischief done by
your house."

" Who are you to command ?" she asked, indignant-
ly. " I will put Nick upon her. Philip is a fool, but
Nick shall answer her purpose."
^^ "What!" said Warburton, in reproachful tones.
" Your brother slew this child's lover upon the verge
of their match — would you in your turn slay her?"

"That I would," she flamed 'orth— "and you, too!
I would give you to death willingly. You are brutal
Jind treacherous. I think you are a spy. What are
you doing here with this girl ?"

" I am upon private business," he returned, sternlv

BEGINNING OP THE ADVENTURE

' I will not suflfer any wild woman to question me.

You break out too madly, Madam Chloris."

^^ He moved away, but she put herself in his road.

"Is it true, what you say, that you are not in

league with her?" sho asked, eagerly, her anger

vanished. Almost she implored him to deny the

charge.

" I should be sorry to league myself with any wom-
an," he answered. " I would count myself a fool and
more if I trusted my neck to any chit."
^^ "Forgive me," she said, quickly and penitently;
" but I could not guess what brings you here."

He examined her fixedly. "You will learn some
day," he said, with a faint laugh, and swiftly carried
her to his breast. She was still a moment, and then
wrestled with him like a tiger. He laughed and put
her down. He knew he had authority upon her, and
was joyous in his confidence. She was drawn by the
lode of his implacable will and strong nature, and he
had no doubt as to her feeling for him. What he
did not understand was its character ; he took it to
be of coarse grain— it was delicate, intangible, fierce,
and magical as fire. He had now two of the Carmi-
chaels under his hand ; he cMiId dance these to his
tunes, and he mu.st spread his net for the others
There was no yielding in his purpose ; he was adaman-
tine ; the highest and strongest passion might ham-
mer on his heart in vain. The man had set his face
one way, and not even black Nicholas Carroichael
with his spirit of a devil, could move him aside. In
truth, the pieces on both sides were dangerous be-
yond the ordinary. The two had met their match in
each other.

Warburton descended still farther upon the lawn
meanmg to go by the copse through which he had
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CMLORIS OP THE ISLAND

arrived ; but he was aware presently of some one whr
called his name, and twisting upon his lieel. awaited
the approach of Philip Carmichael. The youn^rer
Carmichael came up with some excitement shininc
in his face.

"Whither are you bound, Mr. Warburton ?" he
asked. "Are you making for the cove?"

"No, sir," said Warburton, bluntly.

" You are a very rash man, I warn you," said Car-
michael, in an indifferent friendly tone.

" Have you run after me to tell me .so?" asked the
other, with a sneer.

" Yes, I have. You have shot the mark, and some-
thmg more besides. Nicholas is away, as you see, or
you would not stand there so solidly. My father
cajoled him away. Damme ! Nick is a madman, and
he knows ;>(. thing of our visitors. You have your
own game -.o play, Mr. Warburton, but you are
matching yourself too highly."

"That is as may be," said Warburton, grimlv
though he was somewhat amazed to discover in what
fear even his own house held Nicholas.

" Well, I warn you in a friendly way ; I have no
quarrel with you for myself," said Philip, impatiently
" You are welcome to the news— that you were pur-
sued from the mainland, and that he who followed
has sought out Nick, who is upon his way, vowinsr to
be rid of you."

"Ha!" said Warburton, without emotion. "This
devil will come po.st-haste, then."

" Word has come before of his purpose. You have
just time to avoid him."

"Why did you tell me this ?" asked Warburton,
curiously.

Philip shrugged his shoulders. " I know not We

H:i

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BEGINNING OF THE ADVENTURE

have enjoyed enough of violence ; I am for a short
holiday. I would rather you went."

"Heavens, man. can't you restrain your own mad-
man?" broke out Warburton, coldly.

" I see no reason why we should, in your ca.se "
flashed out Philip, with a sneer. *

Warburton made no reply for a time; then "You
will hasten Miss Holt from the island?"

Philip nodded. " I will pack em off at once. My
father knows. I wish no more trouble with Nick
Miss Holt is an eletjant woman."

Warburton felt a faint and passing thrill of pity
that this well-meaning and undisciplined young man
must be mvolved in the fate of his family But he
could not spare it for the sake of one half-righteous
soul. He bowed politely, as if the interview were
thus closed, and resumed his journey. The fine
breath of the wind tempered the heat of the after-
noun, yet Lynsea appeared to shine and glisten
almost m a tropic haze. The way was long and by
side-paths, for Warburton knew not the direct road
to the creek in which his boat lay. He was neither
foolish nor foolhardy, and he had resolved to get back
to Marlock even before Philip's warning. That that
good-natured, arrogant youth had menaced him with
a ternatives did not in the least affect Warburton's
plans. He was not the man to be dissuaded out of
a purpose by false pride. If Philip Carmichael cared
to believe he had taken the hint and fled in alarm
why, he was mighty welcome to his faith On the
summit of the slope between the valley of the home-
stead and the wooded creek Warburton came to a
est Overhead there was a huge calm spread upon
the face of heaven. In the far north a great white
cloud hove m sight and anchored ; but presently it

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

began to move slowly, swaying under a wind, and
breakmjr its cables, stood into the blue, and lumboret
across the sky with all sails wide. Below, the sea
was skipi)ing with white-heads. He let his gaze «<
gently ah)ng the line of the coast until it entered the
narrow arm of the sea for which he was bfjiind
Something there arrested his eyes, and he arose and
watched. A boat was putting into the creek, and
even as he strained to see who piloted her,' dis-
appeared from his view. Hastily he began to de-
scend over broken ground and among furze and
bracken to the water. His figure might be easily
discerned by any one uf)on the beach below, but he
could see nothing save the strait of the sea and the
little arm of wood which border d it. As he drew
nearer, however, a boat shot out, the occupant poling
with his oar, and behind him trailed a second boat-
cutting a line of foam. The man presently dropped
his oar and set the sails. They drew slowly under
the land, but she slowly labored out, the second ves-
sel tossing in her wake. Clearly this was in tow
Warburton was puzzled, and then, instantaneously,
and inciting every nerve in his body, fell a thought.'
He quickened his pace, and, leaping down the hill like
a hart, he reached the shore. The man with his two
boats stood out a hundred yards, gathering a fuller
wind. Warburton sprang at the place where his skiff
had been concealed. It was gone.

He ran along the beach of the creek towards the
open sea, shouting, but the thief paid him no heed.
At the distance he could make nothing of his face,
but his figure appeared to be that of a sailor.

Warburton drew a pistol, primed it, and, taking a
steady aim, fired. After the report the smoke
wreathed m a heavy cloud, and was blown upward,

ICO

BEGINNING '^ F THE ADVENTURE

and there were the boats still slipping out to sea.
He put up his pistol carefully, realizing the futility
of further efforts. He had been robbed, clearly
enough ; but with what object ? The question danced
in Warburton's brain, and received an answer. Philip
had been anxious for him to go, but Nicholas would
have him stay. This thief, no doubt, was the spy
who had followed him. He had had his instructions,
and acted on them. Warburton was left on the
island. There was only one inference possible. Nich-
olas Carmichael meant that he should not leave it.

CHAPTER IX

' f^

WARBURTON MAKES A DISCOVERY

WARBURTON stood upon the brink of the
sea for some time engrossed in thought.
As yet he did not see clearly what course
it would be best to take. He was filled, for
one thing, with an amazing flare of anger, which
thrilled and excited him. He turned in his mind to
Nicholas Carmichael, as one ferocious animal tt an-
other. This man meant death, and death he .should
have. If he were to be kept on the island in order to
wait that death, he would stay willingly, but the death
he should await would not be his own. In a cloud of
fury his temperate eyes were veiled, as he struggled
with the various chances his mind cast up. He must
have remained there by the creek for half an hour, at
the end of which time he looked up fortuitously and
saw Nicholas Carmichael descending the hill towards
him.

With that recognition, unexpectedly his doubts and
madness passed, and he grew to be as cool as was
habitual with him, and his plans formed themselves
rapidly. As he himself expressed it, he had not yet
done with the Carmichaels, and he was not ready for
a personal encounter with Nicholas. His fingers
itched to clasp upon his pistol as he watched'^his
enemy drawing swiftly closer, but his purpose stood

103

WARBURTON MAKES A DISCOVERY

like iron; he turned and made his way into the thick-
et, whence he kept a watch upon the new-comer.
Nicholas Carmichael came hastily to the beach and
looked about him in quest of some one. Far out at
sea the boats had dwindled to a spot upon the water.
Carmichael gazed at this fleck of white and then cast
about him. He came down to the water's edge and
fell to an examination of the sandy shore. The marks
of Warburton's boots, as well as of the thief's, lay here
in some confusion ; yet Nicholas found what he sought,
with his eyes bent on the ground, and came up-
ward towards the copse in which Warburton was
hidden. Here he stopped, for the signs led him no
farther ; yet he had settled this much, as Warburton
•guessed, that his creatvre had got away with the boat
and that the man he hated and purposed to slay was
still on the island. He turned and went qujckly
away, striking across the hill by a foot-path, which
Warburton perceived for the first time ; and when he
was gone some way, the object of his quest issued
from his concealment and followed carefully after
him. The road taken by Nicholas Carmichael ran
over the spur behind the creek, and, instead of dip-
ping down into the vale of the homestead, struck
along the chine of the hills towards the western side
of the island. It passed under cover for the better
part of the journey, being hedged about by profuse
and greening woods; but here and there the path
emerged upon the bare hill-top, and it was on these
occasions that Warburton was obliged to be careful.
The whole distance was no more than two miles, for
the island was tiny, yet the caution with which both
proceeded made the way !"'ng. Nicholas Carmichael
looked about him a great deal, which made Warbur-
ton the more wary. If he had only looked behind, or

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

deemed that danger might spring from that quarter,
it is possible that he might have caught his enemy
and come to grips with him. But the thought that
he might be followed never entered his head; the
pursuer knew not that he was pursued ; his eagle eyes
went right and left, and his ears opened like a point-
er's ; but no signal of his victim's pursuit was brought
by wind or bush. Warburton kept as close as he
might, no sword to hamper him, but his pistol primed
and to his hand ; and it was thus they two came down
from the summit of Lynsea, and, dropping slowly,
passed into a dark green bower of junipers that lay
dwarf and creeping upon the bluff southwesterly face
of the island. There was now scarce a score of paces
between them, and it was plain to Warburton that
Carmichael had given up any thought of finding him
upon the way, and was bound upon some other business.
What this might be he had yet to guess. Suddenly
Nicholas came to a pause by a huge juniper, and,
stooping, crept below the bush ; there was some shuf-
fling and waving of leafage, and then all was still— he
had vanished.

Warburton crept as near as he dared, peering at the
spot. But he added his discoveries together, and be-
gan to guess pretty well what this disappearance por-
tended. Here must be hidden an inland entrance to
the galleries which led to the smugglers' cavern. He
made a note of the spot in his mind. " Indeed," ran
his thought, "it will be of service to have this informa-
tion. Captain Postgate, of the Osprcy, should be glad
to learn so much when he comes to make his surprise."

He waited for some time in his hole, and was re-
warded for his patience by the reappearance of
Nicholas Carmichael, who issued forth of the pas-
sage, followed by several others. At a glance War-

104

WARBURTON MAKES A DISCOVERY

burton perceived these to be, not natives, but for-
eigners. They were French to their finger-nails,
stained with tobacco, and he guessed that the smug-
glers' schooner was even then within the shelter of
the cave. Why did they venture forth in this day-
light, when their natural business should be under-
ground, among bales and casks ? The answer came
patly to his mind — Nicholas had need of them; they
were called out to execute vengeance for him ; the
secret which he dared not entrust to the villagers on
the coast might be confided safely to the foreign
tongues and tough consciences of these lawless
Frenchmen. A hunt was forward, and Warburton
himself, who watched them file up the pathway, was
the quarry these desperadoes sought.

When it seemed safe, he left his refuge and sur-
mounted the rise in the rear of these fellows; but
by this they were gone, and he could not discern in
which direction. Warburton, as is very plain in
these pages, was no coward, but he was not yet sure
that it was in keeping with his policy to remain on
the island. He was one against a dozen, and very
ill-armed at that. Moreover, he had other business
in his head, and trusted that he should bring these
Carmichaels down in a great ruin all together. Yet
the problem before him was to reach the mainland ;
and now he hit upon an idea which seemed to prom-
ise success. The Carmichaels had their boat, no
doubt, at the landing-stage in the cove ; he would use
that. His own boat had been stolen by their agents ;
he would steal theirs.

The time was now towards six o'clock, and the sun
was yet high and bright on the uplands ; but as he
began to go down into the northern valleys the shad-
ows drew out and evening fell upon him. His prog-

105

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\i if i}^-

M !

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

ress was very gradual, for he had to keep a strict
watch, ?nd several times he found that he had ex-
posed himself in the open fields to any that might be
spying for him. Hard on seven o'clock he reached
the cove in which the homestead lay, and, using even
more diligent care, got down to the water's edge.
He moved very patiently under a belt of tamarisks,
slipping point by point towards the little jetty which
was plain in the dull light. Indeed, that dulness
which had come with the lapse of evening threw up
the white woodwork into sharper notice ; the colors
of the land and the reflections of the water stood out
boldly, now the sun no longer glared upon them.
They glowed of themselves and with no borrowed
brilliance. Warburton wondered if he himself were
visible as clearly and with such atmosphere ; and
as the thought flashed in his mind he was struck
still, arrested by the warning of his eyes. Under the
tamarisks, lying into the neutral darkness of the sand
and rocks, was the outstretched figure of a man. He
was here, no doubt, as a sentinel, yet his attitude
was such as justified the assumption that Warburton
had not been seen. Manifestly, to gain the jetty and
capture the boat privily was impossible ; the advent-
ure would be one of risks and of conflict. Warbur-
ton had to decide if he would be wise to make the
attempt. He had a pistol, but there might be more
than one watcher. In any case the affray must
raise an alarm. He considered his courses carefully,
and resolved to take the risk.

Creeping now within the tamarisks, so that he
might not be observed, he went as silently as possible
between the bushes, and presently judged that he
had reached a spot above the sentinel. Then he
dipped down again to the margin of the beach. He

106

WARBURTON MAKES A DISCOVERY

peered forth from his ambush, scarce drawing breath;
and below him, still prone upon the sand, lay his vic-
tim. He had the air of a fisherman, or it might be
that he was merely a servant of that house ; but from
his open fingers dropped a musket, and it appeared
that the warm evening and the fresh airs of the sea,
together with that silence and solitude, had turned
him drowsy. He nodded, hovering between sleep
and waking. Warburton leaped swiftly from the
tamarisks upon him.

There was a short cry of alarm, followed by a gasp
as Warburton's fv igers settled about the man's throat
—but he was beyond resistance, and lay quiet, his
eyeballs protruding from the sockets as though in
terror towards his assailant.

" My good fellow, indeed I must trouble you," said
Warburton, politely. " You shall have no damage of
head or limb, but only these finger-marks. I war not
on such as you, who are put about to make a living,
I dare say. You must be bound, friend."

He dragged the man towards the jetty, and discov-
ered there some pieces of rope, with which he secured
the fellow's hands and feet. '' I have done the same
for your master before this," he said, "and, please
God, shall do again, and more also. I forget no favors
and no debts."

He stood over the body of his victim, regarding
him complacently, and now alive with genial senti-
ments. At his elbow the Carmichaels' huge boat
lapped on the water, chafing gently against the jetty.

"I will make bold to borrow your tub," said he,
cheerfully. " 'Twill serve my turn, and you can still
lie watching, gun in hand. You shall not have de-
serted your post, my good man."

Even as the ironical words left his lips he was

107

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

aware of some change that passed over the man's ex-
pression, in the air, and, of a truth, in the very wit-
ness of his own senses. The next instant a sharp pain
struck mto his arm ; there was a roar of sound, and
he reeled about, his face towards a number of figures
that broke out of the passage in the tamarisks. The
situation exacted a solution forthwith. Fight or flight
were the alternatives urgent upon him. They beset
his resolution— the armed men hurrying towards him
and upon the other side the cutter swaying on her
heavy chains. Yet neither was possible. He grasped
this almost as an instinct, and simultaneously had
taken the jetty in a bound, and was over the beach
into the dense thicket, with the pursuers barkinjr
angrily upon his heels.

His strong, fine muscles carried him through the
bushes at a good speed, and his weight assisted him
Though four or five were upon his track they had no
chance to catch him, at least until he reached the
open. The tamarisks gave way to a loose wood
heavily carpeted with creepers and ivies, and this ran
up to a considerable height and poured over the brow
of an eminence. By the time Warburton had gained
the summit he was sure that he had outstripped the
pursuit.

"Live to fight another day," he murmured, breath-
lessly, and examined his single weapon carefully He
was not greatly chagrined by the failure of his raid
on the contrary, he dismissed the thought and turned
cheerfully to his next duty. He was agreeably hun-
gry, not only from long abstinence, but from the
wholesome air, and had no difficulty in deciding what
must come next. He must forage on the island, and
as he could not hope to break into the house, he
would try the cave. Clearly, if the schooner were

io8

WARBURTON MAKES A DISCOVERY

there, food and drink also would be there. He struck
across the hill in the growing darkness with more
confidence, but still with care and vigilance. He
supposed that his flight up the hill had not been cred-
ited, but that they conceived him to have taken the
easier way towards the back of the valley. Yet the
island was so small that they would soon discover this
error and make in a new direction. Night drew
down, however, and befriended him once more, and
now he found his way but slowly, for the lack of a
moon. Stars were lit one by one in the heavens, and
a host were soon shining out of mild white eyes.
Several times he blundered as to his direction, but at
last came into the blackness of a wood which ap-
peared to him to be close upon the entrance to the
passages. No sooner was he safe in this refuge than
he heard the noi^^e of feet, and hastily hid in the un-
dergrowth. The sounds approached, and the faint
glow of the sky discovered to him the tall form of
Nicholas Carmichael, with a following. If these were
they which had chased him by the sea, he could not
guess, but evidently the hunt was still out. As they
filed past, Nicholas Carmichael's voice was raised
angrily against some other, cursing arrogantly, and
a single word dropped into the listener's ears. It
was but one word, and yet it had a significance for
him. Nay, it set his brain to think and his heart to
beat; for suddenly there was spread before him the
plan and policy of these man-hunters. Cordon was
the phrase spoken in the French jargon of the smug-
glers. This, then, was what they proposed. They
would run a line of sentinels across Lynsea and beat
up the island, slowly and patiently driving him to his
doom, till he either died or surrendered to die, or
was thrust for refuge into the roaring pools of the

109

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

Sidttles. He stared after the vanished party an
then jumped to his feet.

"•Tis well," said he, grimly; "they have left th
way open. Whence they have come I go " an
began to move fast towards the spot which he ha^
marked m his memory.

He was not long in hitting upon the juniper-bush

and, bending low, crept into its recesses Thi

brought h .1, as he saw, into a thicket of junipers

huddled close together ; and here, by groping, he cam.

presently upon a huge rock. Below this yawned -

cavity very much like a great rabbit-hole, but worn

smooth with the constant passage of bodies Thi<

was the entrance to the smugglers' cavern. Warbur-

ton let himself carefully down, and found the wav

slope gradually, and the burrow rise to the height of

a man standing. He pressed forward, therefore! with

ease, and even with celerity, for all the darkness that

hung round him. Fifty paces brought him rounH n

turn in this earthen gallery, and before him opened

the vast spaces of the internal vault, filled with the

murmur of water and glowing with twilight. It was

as he had supposed: the gallery gave access to the

cave, yet was used only by passengers going to and

tro, and not for the transport of goods

The light which dimly illuminated the cavern
st.-eamed from two flaring torches upon the shore
and beyond these rose the graceful figure of the
schooner, silent, dispeopled, and riding like a phan-
tom in that light. There was no mark or witness of
the presence of man. Yet the schooner had but newly
arrived, for the floor of the cave was the theatre of
abandoned activity-strewn with barrels and bales
in great confusion. Warburton could conjecture
how highly his silence was rated, seeing that Nicho-

IIO

WARBURTON MAKES A DISCOVERY

las Carmichacl had deserted this bu.;y scene with all
hands to accomplish his capture. The irony of his
presence there pleased him and moved him to a grin.
Then he began to move towards the schooner, still
watchful and alert. He encountered no one,' and
presently, relaxing his vigilance, he gave his atten-
tion to the merchandise that was scattered over the
cave. Most of the bales and barrels had been freshly
landed, and stood upon the margin of the sea • but
behind these was a great pile of casks reaching al-
most to the roof of the vault. His hunger and his
thirst oppressed him, and urged him to an explora-
tion. It was probable that some one or more of
these barrels had been tapped for the convenience of
the smugglers who spent so many difficult and ear-
nest hours of work here ; and consequently he bent
his steps towards the pyramid of casks. They were
of many sizes, but.offered no evidence as to their
contents. Wine he desired, but brandy would con-
tent him. He searched vainly for a tap or cock in
those mnumerable kegs. Just as he was giving up
in despair, and was proposing an examiiTStica^f the
schooner, he noticed that one of the casks lay hap-
hazard upon a ledge of rock, upon which it had evi-
dently fallen from a tier in the pyramid. The hoops
that encased it were bent and broken, and to his eyes
It seemed that the wood-work bulged and a hole
pped. He went towards it, thinking that he had at
last found what he wanted— a vent for the good
trench liquor-but came to a pause in disappoint-
ment. A hole had been riven in the barrel below
where the point of rock had taken it; it must be
empty. He put a hand upon it to roll it over, but
was astonished by an unexpected resistance 'The
cask was not empty. It flashed into his thoughts

III

1,11

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CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

that it must contain tobacco ; and as he looked, th«
keg, shaken under his rough hand, moved slightly,
and a thin black stream of granulated dust poured
forth from the rent upon the rock. It was gun-
powder.

Warburton stood still for a time after this discov-
ery. It set him thinking deeper than before. Why
was this powder stacked in the cavern? The prob-
lem cried for an answer, but received none. He
abandoned his search and walked towards the beach
where the torches were streaming. He climbed the
side of the schooner, and began to ransack the cabin.
Presently he cama upon some meat, some biscuits,
and a long bottle of brandy. This last was admi-
rable to the palate, very light and fine, and it filled
the head with thin and spirited fumes. He sat and
ate and drank not sparingly. In the midst of this task
he was disturbed by a fresh soun^ that broke on his
ears and set him frowning. It issued from a cabin
near by, and he promptly made search there. The
light was strong enough for him to determine the
body of a man lying on the floor among some empty
boxes. Warburton stooped over him, and the heavy
breathing told the tale of his condition. Moreover,
he recognized the fellow as the man whom Carmi-
chael had addressed in that cave previously as Ditran.
It was the French captain. He had a quick inspi-
ration.

" Monsieur Ditran," said he, politely, " I will make
free of your pockets, if you have no objection. Sure,
I am pushed too hard to be particular."

He went over the man's effects carefully, and
was not opposed by that drunken creature. Pres-
ently he stopped, examined the signature upon a
paper, started, and eagerly examined it again. Fi-

113

WARBURTON MAKES A DISCOVERY

nally he turned it over and scrutinized the super-
scription.

It was in French, inscribed to Sir Stephen Carmi-
chael, the address was " The Camp, Boulogne," and
the signature was " Napoleon."

qjp

i-'

\iin,

CHAPTER X
SIR STEPHEN CARMICHAEL SWOONS

WARBURTON stood with the letter in hi
hand, surveying it, in that uncertain light
with a heart that throbbed beyond its habit
The vista of a history spread out before hiir
and narrowed into the distance. There was that in hi;
knowledge now that would string up these Carmichaeli
higher than Haman. He interpreted the letter boldly
and with wit ; there was no chance to go behind it ; it
scored a deeper crime upon that family. Sir Stephen
Carmichael, he remembered, had purchased the island
some thirteen years since. Whence had he come?
No doubt his record mi^jht be traced, if it were of
any value to trace a record in the past, with these
infamous witnesses to his treason. The man him-
self had spoken of his Irish blood, and there was the
fount of this treachery. Away upon the coast of the
Pas-de-Calais lay the vast army of the Emperor which
had been gathered for the destruction of England.
He waited there upon his fleet, but he was known to
have agents in Great Britain, spies and go-betweens,
that would carry him information and stir up the dis-
affected elements of the kingdom. It had been always
the hope of these Irish rebels to obtain the assistance
of the French ; they had conspired for that end a doz-
en times, and many had perished in the conspiracy.

114

WARlilRTON STOOD WITH THE LF.TIKR I.N IHs

HAM)

■ I

t ;

SIR STEPHEN SWOONS

There was ever a cry across the water to the partisans
of the Revolution. Houses had been dishonored for
it, men had died for it, and women had wept. Well,
there was one more house for dishonor, one more
man for death, and one more woman for tears. He
understood now the meaning of those kegs of pow-
der, so carefully stored in the vault. Nay, he had a
clearer appreciation of the hostility of the Carmi-
chaels towards himself. They were not only smug-
glers ; that trade was but a feint— they were some-
thing greatly worse. They had a deeper secret to
guard than even he had fancied.

He put the letter in his pocket and we it back to
his food. He had no U - of that comatose hog that
grunted on the floor. . . lively emotion of triumph
filled and inspired him and moved him to exhilara-
tion, so that he drank deeply and was borne upon
brandy into a yet greater intoxication. When he re-
flected upon what he had in store against the Carmi-
chaels he could have laughed aloud. He grew rest-
less to be about this business, and, finishing his glass,
clambered hastily over the side of the ship, and made
his way to the gallery by which he had entered.

He issued into the night among the junipers with the
soft cool breath of the wind in his face, and that face
he set steadily towards the house of the Carmichaels.
His brain, usually slow and calm, was so quick and hot
now that he scarcely considered into what he might
be advancing. Somewhere upon the eastern corners
of Lynsea was the cordon moving upon him slowly,
quietly, as irresistibly as fate. Yet towards this he
marched. A cunning thought held him: that they
would not look for a second attempt upon the jetty
and the cutter, but would trust to finding him hidden
in the coverts of that island.

U 1

(

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

So he picked his road to the valley of the home-
stead.

The spirit he had drunk mounted in his head and
drove him forward recklessly. He thirsted for an
encounter, all his customary prudence dispersed by
the ascending fumes ; and in the grove of tamarisks
which he had now reached he turned uncertainly,
with his gaze towards the invisible house. At length
he altered his direction, and, instead of moving down-
ward to the beach, began to climb by the devious
pathways towards the gardens. The silent, indiffer-
ent stars held the sky, free of cloud or wind ; outside
the gentle sounds of the ocean there was nothing
broke the stillness and peace of the homestead. The
house stood before him, a dim mass of whiteness, and
out of one shining eye poured the rays of a candle in
an upper storey. He drew nearer, and as he did so
noises streamed from the declivities towards the
east, betraying to him the approach of the hunters.
Laughing softly, he crossed the terrace, and put
his face against the window nearest, peering in.
Then he turned the handle, which gave, and he en-
tered for the first time that house of traitors. He
closed the window gently and looked out upon the
lawn, and he thought that he could make out a fig-
ure passing by. " 'Twas just in time," said he to
himself. "None will look for me here, and I shall
be free of the boat when they go by." He left the
window and felt his way along the wall, until he hap-
pened upon a door, which opening, he passed through
and found himself in an ill-lighted chamber. It was
long, and lined to the ceiling with books; a library,
the place of a student rather than of smugglers and
assassins. Assiduously his glance went about the
walls, prying into dark corners, and then, passing the

ii6

SIR STEPHEN SWOONS

single faintly burning lamp, lighted upon a gray
shadow at the far end of the room.

Sir Stephen Carmichael sat in a huge chair, a book
resting on his knee, and his quick, fine eyes fastened
upon the intruder. He was so still and equable in
his bearing that Warburton doubted if he were not
asleep, or dead, maybe ; and that long and shrunken
body looked somewhat pitiful and frail, as if inviting
compassion, not the deadly penalty of sin. Yet no
such thought made any appeal to Warburton, who
saw before him one that harbored criminals, and was
himself the most criminal of all— a traitor to his king
and country. He was glad to be thrust thus upon
his enemy in the heat and ardor of his vengeance ;
his mind contemplated no mercy, doubted not, nor
wavered. Full and serenely master of itself, yet
shaken with a warm intestine passion, his will con-
fronted Sir Stephen ; and before something in that
iron regard the old man winced and quailed. He
had, in truth, spent uncomfortable days for some
time past. Alert as was his fancy, and vigorous his
intellect, he paid the debt of his race in a certain odd
superstition of mind. He was held by spells, and
swayed by signs and tokens which duller blood would
not recognize. Luck and fate were not mere words
to him, nor even ethereal and intangible abstractions
used to mark and cover our ignorance ; they were
fiercely real and had fought till now for him with in-
credible constancy. Yet the advent of this cool-eyed
stranger had struck him with doubt, then with im-
patience, and at last with dismay. He had not real-
ized how greatly separate were these two spirits
that differently animated his own race and that of
Warburton. The stubbornness of the younger man
alarmed him, and, above all, his trick of secrecy ; it

3 i

:' t

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAxND

loomed formidable before him. Here was no loos

blabbing tongue, with the Ci)mmon English phle<rn

but that mtolerable and maddening quiet with slo

temper, resistance silence, and a strong will whic

was apparent in every word or act. Sir Stephen Cai

nuchael was growing old, and suffered physically

and maybe it was in part owing to this failing powe

that he Iiad lost confidence; yet he had still authorit

over his features, and nothing appeared on his faci

ot all this as he looked on Warburton-as little in

deed, as was written upon the young man's cold anc

smiling countenance.

" I have trespassed a third time, sir," said the latter
bowing ceremoniously.

"No doubt this time with a better excuse, Mr
Warburton," replied the old man, quietly " Yet I
beg you vill get on with your business and be done
tor 1 can ill support a long interview."

" Ah, sir," said Warburton, gravely, "indeed I grieve
nhVh. ^'!^."^, y*^"^ honorable family in such an evil
plight. Tis the gout you suffer from, I believe "

I pray you, sir, make haste and be done," said Sir
Stephen, impatiently.

" My dear sir," said Warburton, with a great
effusion of manner, " I will do my best to oblige vo.
I will come to the point, and that is one which will
prick you pretty nearly, if I am a judge." Sir
Stephen waved his hand with some nervous irrita-
!T » ^? r '•''*''' '^""-^^^"ed fellow," resumed ti)e

b L'h; rrT t ''°"'^ "°' P'^ "^^^^'^ ^Sainst such
bright creatures as your sons, but I can put two and
two together to make four."

"It would sometimes be best that they should
T\oX ' ^'- ^^'"^"'•ton," said Sir Stephen,

ii8

SIR STEPHEN SWOONS

"Aye; I take your meaning, sir," returned War-
burton. " You are good enough to warn me, as I have
been warned before by your forethought. But this
I assure you, that my mind is mathematical, and in
sums of addition I can make no mistake. No, sir, I
must make it four, and four I make it."

" Well, sir ?" said Sir Stephen, sardonically, for he
was now sharp anc resolute, quite master of himself.

"Well, I have no long business with you, sir," went
on Warburton. " It is soon told, and the telling is
that, in return for your good consideration of me I
am to offer you back a warning on your own part.
I warn you that I hold your secret."

Sir Stephen laughed gently. " My faith, sir, but
this is ancient history," he said. " I think we are
all agreed upon what you know, Mr. Warburton , and
agreed upon this, too, that what you know is dan-
gerous, and that you should be suffered to exchange
it for something else."

"You are graciousness itself," said he, "but I think
you do not catch my meaning, sir. I have said that I
hold your secret, and I leave you to guess how much
that means. There may be anything between a trifle
and a matter of supreme gravity in such a phrase."

"I am no hand at guessing," said Sir Stephen ; but
his face had undergone a slight change; its expres-
sion was set, and his voice was quieter.

"Yet I may not leave without acquainting you,"
said Warburton. " Let me jog your wit, sir, which
should be sharp, being Irish." The old man cast him
a searching glance, and slowly lifted his book from his
knee.

^^ " I am afraid that your efforts are vain, sir," he said.

I know you to be a dangerous man, and you have

the credit of that compliment. But I am in no humor

119

OB^sM *

fi^^ljR^

^■i

Hli

^Bal

■ r

'^^ffSi

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

to talk with you, and it is not customary to pi
guess-work of business. Say what you must s
and go."

He spoke with asperity, and also with dignity ; b
Warburton even now could not deny himself the sati
faction of using his fears as a cat does those of a cap
ured mouse. He knew well enough that Sir StepJK
Carmichael was wondering exactly how much i
knew, was fearing that he knew all, yet was wari
resolved not to go too far in his speech until he ha
discovered.

" It may be, sir," said Warburton, " that I wron
you in supposing you privy to these things. Yo
yourself shall be the judge of that. But there is n
doubt that this property of yours is used for the Fre
Trade, and that one of your sons, at least, is a pari
ner in it."

" Why, that is so, as I believe, Mr. Warburton," sai
Sir Stephen, politely ; and there came into his voic
a faint note of relief.

" 'Tis a serious matter, sir," said Warburton.

" No doubt 'tis that," said the other, nodding. "
make you a present of it. I dare say that you car
manage it with Nicholas. I leave it in his hands."

The thrust made Warburton smile. " Once more ]
can only bow to your generosity, sir," he said.

"And new, if I may conclude our business is over,'
went on Sir Stephen, pointing at the door. "You
will pernaps do me the favor to retire, and maybe
you shall find my son ready to your hand."

" Nay, my dear sir, but that is half only of my busi-
ness," interposed Warburton, lightly. " There is more
behind." The baronet sank back heavily into his
chair, with his arms along the wood-work and his
moving eyes upon his tormentor. " I had the privi-

I20

SIR STEPHEN SWOONS

lege to make a new discovery this day. 'Twas an ac-
cident, but I bless my long legs that took me thither.
Do you know some caves upon the island, sir? Well,
there is a very drunken sailor at this moment in hid-
ing there, who parted with some news to me not an
hour since."

Sir Stephen stirred. " What news?" he asked, short-
ly, but his gaze never left Warburton's face, shifting
over it tensely and vigilantly.
" Why, the cave is full of gunpowder," said he.
"Indeed ; I know not what their merchandise may
be," said Sir Stephen. "You tell me news. Gun-
powder, is it?"

"Good wine, sir— good wine and good brandy, it I
may judge from what I have drunk in Marlock. ' But
on occasion powder, there's no doubt."
'"Tis very interesting," remarked the baronet.
"Yes, sir, and there is more behind that. This
drunken Frenchman is possessed of strange papers."
Sir Stephen started visibly, and then controlled him-
self. "And one of them I borrowed lest he should
lose it. Indeed, as 'twas addressed to yourself, I made
free to make myself a post for you. Maybe you will
recognize the hand of your correspondent," and with
that he drew the letter from his pocket and displayed
it before the old man's eyes.

But he was silent for a time, showing now no emo-
tion on his face, and then he said, slowly : " What use
sir, is it, that you will make of all this? I imagine
that it is not for a jest that you come to tell me
this."

"You are right," said Warburton, soberly. "I am
not used to waste my time, even though the sport
should tempt me. I tell you this because I desire to
give you a warning, as I have said."

121

lms

}'J

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

"You mean," said Sir Stephen, "that you wou!
make some terms with us."

"No I will have no damnable compromise." sai
he, with an oath. " It is not for that I have spcn
my time and run my risks here. I swore to hiin
down those that accomplished the foul murder of m
friend, and those that abetted it. But in a little si.
I found the task widen under my hand, and you kno\
how that came about. I seek a cruel assassin, am
what do I find? Why, a nest of traitors, a pack c.
bravos — a hou.se that holds not one single membei
but IS contaminated with its disease and vice Thi'
island harbors and feeds a brood of vipers, and thev
must perish. That is my warning."

Sir Stephen Carmichael's eyes wandered restlessly
over the young man's face, as he spoke with this heat
and not a little dignity; but his tone was unchanged
in his replj'. ^

"You forget, Mr. Warburton, that it is you who
have had your warning, and now stand in some dan-
ger.

" From your son !" said he, with an exclamation of
angry impatience. " From your son ! Do you think I
do not know that? I am quite aware how I stand,
and that the island is being beat for me this very mo-
ment. And if I am taken, do you suppose I do not
understand what that signifies? Bah! but I shall not
oe taken; and I am here, because I am of that confi-
dence, to warn you."

His words flowed quickly and with more feeling
than he was accustomejl to exhibit, yet his senses
were not greatly dulled by that emotion. Out of the
tail of his eye he saw Sir Stephen's hand go slowly, as
It stricken - ith palsy, across the arm of the chair
and pass m that decrepitude to a little round table

122

SIR STEPHEN SWOONS

that stood by. The act was noticed, yet hardly ap-

preciated until of a sudden he made a discovery in
another glance. One swift step took him to the
table, and the ne.\t instant he had snatched up the
pistol that lay upon it, with which belween his fin-
gers he turned fiercely upon the other.

"What the devil!' said he, blazinjj with his pas-
sion. " You would butcher me so coolly as that ? By
Heaven ! but I think these Carmichaels be the very
spawn of Satan, with their handsome looks and foul
treachery. There is no vice this blood of yours does
not hold, and you shall all swing together for it— bv
God ! you shall." ^

Sir Stephen's hand still rested upon the table.
"Sir," said he, "I was about to have said ere this
gross and unmannerly outbreak that it was not from
my son that you stood in danger, but rather from my-
self first. Nay, not that pistol," he said, nodding
coolly towards it. " I am no friend to such methods.
But I was considering that, after such discoveries as
you have made to me, and what has passed, there is no
choice left you but to give me the honor of a meeting."

"A meeting !" said Warburton, in amazement. " You
are bed-rid. man."

"You cannot escape on that plea," said Sir Stephen,
Avitha sneer, and for the first time there leaped in his
face a look of Nicholas— a look of black and angry
passion. " If you will be good enough to take down
that pair of swords behind you—"

" Sir Stephen," said Warburton, more coolly, " you
know not what you are about. I may not fight with
a crippled man."

]| You fear," he said, sharply. " Give me the sword."

' I will give you no such thing," said Warburton,
obstinately.

123

I i

r r

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

Sir Stephen's eyes flashed in a fresh blaze. " I «

take a course to make you, coward!" he cried, harsh

and as if with a wrench rose in his chair and flung

iron inkstand sharply at Warburton's head. It stm

him in the neck, opening a red and ragged wound 1

low the ear. and the victim of this unexpected outbre

fell back before the blow, and then leaped forward.

"Now, some one shall judge between us, wheth

tis you or I play the coward," he said, between h

teeth, and he threw one of the swords towards h

assailant. Sir Stephen Carmichael leaned back upc

the table, supporting himself in position with or

hand upon the oak. He thrust out his weapon, an

the two blades encountered, and fell away. Leanin

forward with his weight partly on his wrist, his lee

motionless, his body gently moving, but his arir

swift, certain, and deadly, Sir Stephen Carmicha.

phed his point with every artifice of the experience

swordsman, and with much of the suppleness an^

dexterity which had once been his. He was chainei

to his table, but he could make the points • and hi

defence was greatly superior to his enemy's attack

Warburton flung himself upon it in vain, now wholl^

oblivious of the disability to which he had previousii

objected. The old man fought lik6 an accomi)!ishec

duellist, and kept him at bay, with a little deviiish

smile in his lips and the ferocity of Nicholas glanc

ing in his eyes.

The light was low, so low as to impede that conflict
but It was the older man's sight that suffered the
more. He contented himself with steady, dispassion-
ate resistance, and Warburton's temper rose with hi^
ineffectual attempts. He came hafder, and was pierced
in the shoulder ; the grin stiffened on Sir Stephen's
face. Warburton broke away, and with an impatient

124

fi =.

STD

'. "I will
i, harshly,
i flung an

It striid-
ivound he

outbreak
>rward.
, whether
ween hi^
vards hi>
ack upon
with one
ipon, and

Leaninj;

his leg>
liis arms
rmichael
•erienced
tiess and

chained

and his
5 attack.
w wholly
eviousiy
n|)!ished

deviiish
s gianc-

conflict,
:red the
passion-
wit h his
; pierced
tephen's
ipatient

It
c

i i

1: M

SIR STEPHEN SWOONS

' 'J'.!.). .

iMvi:"il.

oath Jiung upon the attack. His muscles were lean,
tough, and flawless ; he was fitted for continuous en-
durance ; and the play heightened his spirits and his
enjoyment. The prick in his shoulder goaded him,
and he settled down to a grim beleaguerment. ^ t
this course in time wore down the older : ui,-.
strength. His sword went to and fro with tl s . ,»•
Herce mechanical skill, but falteringly, mon 1. ^ ,
and with less precision. The power in his h 's .-l ;>e(l
fast, went out like a tide that races sean-.
a league of sands, and Warburton read :I .
his yellowing face and ensanguined eyes. .
breathed hardly, and doubted not what 1 ■
other's face. It was death that must L
there — the death which he had himself
What concerned him most was this painful
gling, this dull and formal resistance, that drew ..,.
blood like drops of sweat and turned his arms and
shoulders to lead. His looks seemed almost to plead
for the end, and his point wagged feebly in the air.
Warburton stood oflf and dropped his weapon to the
floor with a clatter. He laughed.

" You want death, old man," said he. " By God !
you shall not have it that way. You cannot choose
your end, as you will learn. It was a fine thought
to make me the instrument, but you know that it is
not possible. I was a fool to be tempted. I am no
hangman." The words were brutal enough, but Sir
Stephen did not wince ; he only stared, unable indeed
to make answer for his heavy breathing. Observing
him, Warburton turned away angrily. " By Heaven !"
he cried, " it was a damnable trick to drag me into
It You would have me a butcher, and an old man
my sheep. Not I— not I. I will leave you to the
proper hands, and what revenge you have baulked I

125

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

will seek elsewhere. There are others of your blood
I will have my stroke at all."

He turned on his way to the door with a sneer and
an ugly laugh ; and Sir Stephen followed him with
his look.

" Where do you go ?" he gasped, in alarm.

" Why ?" said Roger Warburton, aflame with the
heat of this recent contest, as well as with the heady
spirit. "Why, this house, I think, stands desolate.
There is none here but one."

" That is I," cried the old man. " True, that is I."

" Nay, not you, but another," said Warburton, reck-
lessly, " and her I shall find above. There is a light
that twinkles in an upper window. It beams kindly
upon me ; faith, it called me from the night ; it hailed
me across the hills. I shall be welcome."

"You lie!" cried Sir Stephen, hoarsely, and was
shaken like a reed.

" Nay, I speak verity," said Warburton, laughing.
"Ask to-morrow, and you shall be answered."

" It is— it is her—" The attempted words failed in
the old man's mouth as the door shut with a clang
behind Warburton. He rose to his feet, struggled to
follow, and, tottering, fell with a groan into his chair,
unconscious.

{Ml

CHAPTER XI

THE UPPER ROOM

ABROAD low stairway rose from the hall into
which Warburton was come, and ascended in
short stages to the upper floor. Windows with
mullions looked out upon the valley by day
from these high landings, and gleamed by night with
jewelled eyes. The wood was ancient oak; it was
black and naked and shining under the light, and War-
burton's footfalls rang low and deep and loud as he
mounted on his way to what his wild whirling brain
and giddy purpose designed. A window stood open
upon the head of the stair, giving upon a black, mild
night, still as a graveyard, and fragrant with the
breath of flower and sea. A little low moaning entered
out of the darkness, seeming to reach from an infinite
liistance away somewhere upon the horizon— babbling,
continuous, and very weak and pitiful.

These sounds upon that silence struck Warburton's
ear pleasantly. He heard in his fancy the sea lapping
about the crags of the Skittles, as when he had been'
forced upon his perilous voyage ; so he heard it now
but lamentable, crying like a child or some poor
crone ; not angry nor menacing nor sullen, but whim-
penng, taken up in a plaintive melancholy, like one
driven to despair and knowing no refug« or recovery
There was no doubt but he had triumphed over the

127

\i i

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

Carmichaels ; he had turned their fortunes and wouk
humble them in the dust. They should cry for mercj
to him, if any of that proud, rebellious house mighi
cry. And now he was assured of his just vengeana
upon all. The thought stung him strangely into ar
excitement which sent his blood newly bounding ir
his heart. The hunters were upon the hills, out upor
the chase, and the quarry lay here, .safe as a fox in
his earth, and with his teeth in an unexpected vic-
tim. What vengeance he might not wreak upon the
father that would he exact of the child— nay, of all
the children of that abominable blood. Animal they
were, and as animals they should atone, whether they
died or lived, and in what kind soever they paid the
debt.

Warburton's mood was by no means so simple as it
seemed, even to himself. It was a plexus of sentiments
that moved him — indit^nation, the resolution of an
obstinate character, the memory of wrongs, the lust
and pride of conflict, a certain fierce brutality, and
along with them interweaving and mutable emotions,
an incentive sharper than them all, a strong persona!
fire that swarmed and burned in his vitals. He had
never refused to recognize his admiration of Chloris
Carmichael ; she kindled in him an intestine war that
had rent and ravaged his stout spirit. But though he
could not in his honesty shut his eyes to a great fact,
he could stare and pass by. Her beauty would have
melted him like wax had he not been of so desperate a
purpose; the memory of it followed him now in his
upward passage, taking him in the nostrils like a
strong fragrance that sets the heart throbbing and
the throat to gasp. He felt himself free at this mo-
ment to give rein to his admiration; he would no
longer stare and go by, and there was delirium in the

128

THE UPPER ROOM

tiiuught of this unaccustomed license, with which his
head whirled, and every sense, awake and wide and
delicate, cried out, drumming and thrilling under
that magical influence. His body was become of a
sudden a most populous and changing scene of sensa-
tions; variable flaws flew over his consciousness, now
hot, now cold, but dancing, intangible, indistinguisha-
ble, and charged with an immeasurable power; and
under all was one high tide drawing him onwards,
set for one shore, and throbbing heavily as it drew.

His passionate pulse ceased as he knocked on the
door and awaited an answer. The sound of his feet
had gone up before him, and came softly, like muffled
echoes, to Chloris Carmichael's ears. She rose from
her chair and threw back her copper-red hair.

"Who is that?" said she, under her breath. " Tis
not Nick, and it cannot be Philip. He has too great
a tread; he comes deliberate."

She listened to the footsteps, which came to cease
outside her room, and there fell the still small knock,
as it were of some one 'lumble begging for admission^
or of one, maybe, that knew he was welcome.

" Who is that?" said she again, wondering. " There
is none of the servants walks like that. He comes too
confident."

She stood, her hand trembling upon the deep, worn,
oaken sill of the window that was an eye upon the
park, the dress over her bosom rising and falling
more quickly now, her wild gray eyes alight and
frightened. There came a sound of knocking once
more, still very low and quiet.

"Who is there?" she called, and made a step for-
ward, but drew back.

'"Tis I," said Roger Warburton, in his cool, clear
voice. "Tis I; let me in."
* 129

I .

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

"You may not come here," she cried, putting one
hand to her heart. "Mr. Warburton, you must go."

" 'Tis I," he said, in the same clear tones. " 'Tis I-
open to me, Chloris." '

"What do you want in this house?" she cried, with
increasing agitation audible in her note. "There is
no safety here."

" I am not in search of safety," he answered. "Open."

"What do you seek?" she asked, wildly.

"What I seek I shall find," he answered from the
back of the door. "Open— open."

Chloris was at the door, and she wavered; then set
back the latch with a swift, convulsive action of her
shaking fingers ; the handle turned, and Warburton
stood before her in the room. She made no move-
ment from him, but stood regarding him with a
warmth of color in her face, and changing, flickering
eyes.

"What do you want here, Mr. Warburton?" she
asked, in a voice which had been steadied by an effort.
"This is no place for you. Why are you not gone?"

"I am come for you," he replied.

" You should have left the island/' she went on,
swiftly, paying this no heed. " It was rash and fool-
ish—it was a crime in you to delay. And what do
you here, in the heart of this very house that hates
you?"

"There is one that does not hate me," said he.

She struck her hand passionately against the wain-
scot. " I— I abhor you!" she cried. " Get you gone
out of my sight! I will never see you more! I call
God to witness, I will never see you more!"

He answered nothing to that outbreak, but fastened
his gaze upon her wonderful face. " I am come for
you, Chloris," he repeated.

I JO

THE UPPER ROOM

"You are in danger," she sobbed. "I warn you
that you are in danger. Who is below ? Where are
they hidden? How did you enter? Have you slain
them all — father and brothers?" she sobbed.

" Nay," he said, " but they are out hunting me upon
the hills ; the house is deserted ; there is no one here
within sound or sight."

" They will come back," she said, weeping. " They
will not leave the house unguarded. They may be
here at any moment. Please go, before they return
and find you."

"They will not find me," he answered, quietly.

She sprang towards him furiously. " You — you —
What is it you mean ? You shall go into the night
and die where you will. They shall catch you on the
hills. I will hand you over to them, and they will
kill you. You are a coward, and a spy, and a traitor.
The gallows is your due. I thank my God that I
have still two brothers to rid the world of such as
you."

" Cease, Chloris," said he, with authority. "I tell
you 1 am here for you. Understand me. Faith,
child, it is no use to struggle again.st your fate. It
is your destiny that what I will that you shall do."

"I will do nothing of what you will, but only what
is my will," she said, pitifully.

"Child, your will is mine," he answered. "Come,
give me your hand," and he took the hot, quivering
fingers in his grasp, and set it to her beating bosom.
" I know what is that pulse and how it throbs."

" It comes of hate!" she broke out.

" Nay, but love," he said, clutching the struggling
fingers tighter. " Do not fight me like a bird that
fights the hawk. That is folly, Chloris. You love
me; look in my eyes. Yours, my dear, are round and

i; |i

:! I M

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

sweet and wild— a great gray sea that breaks tumult-
uously. You think that love is drowned there — over-
whelmed by this storm of fury. It is nothing of the
sort. Wait a little, and I shall see it rise again,
warm, soft, and beautiful. Chloris, look in my eyes.
You shall not drop your lashes." He seized her face
between his hands and held her to the light, flushing
bright and hot, and shaken with alarm. "There it
rises," he said. " It is a resurrection from that great
sea. She gives up her dead. Dead ! Faith, not so
— 'tis alive and quick. Chloris, my sweet, you are a
handsome liar. You love me. By Heaven! you
love me."

Her eyes, naked and transparent, glowed upon
him, and he drew the face nearer till his lips pressed
full upon hers. Then she drew back, snatching her-
self, as it were, with a great wrench, out of the peri!
that she feared.

"I will bring Nick upon you," she said, convul-

vely. "You are cruel to be here."

" I can make no discrimination between words so

ielicately," he returned, caressing her. " Let Niclt

ome. Cruel ! Indeed, I know not ; I give no time

to words. 'Tis what I feel and do that interests me."

" Bu' you are our enemy," she cried, still resisting.

The} ^ay you are sworn to destroy us. I may not
. ive yu .."

"A^e ' said Warburton "'tis true, I am foe to
tRss family. I believe I am worse. I think there is
non* of whom this house of Carmichaels stands in
such dread. It is impossible that there should be
anything but hostility between us."

" Yet you come here !" she cried. " You say you love
me. What would you do? Ah! why are you here?"

"I am here to exact vengeance," he answeretl,

132

en I.I >k IS, vm- i.ov

I- MK

THE UPPER ROOM

grimly. "Your father and your brothers He in my
power. I have the noose about them. I vomt-' ^
would wipe out the blood that ran such a color '

"I may not love you," she said, and moved to .
thewmdow, her face now lowered. "*Tis wronir m
you to ask this of me. 'Tis unnatural "

Warburton smiled, for in his eyes was the light of
triumph. "Unnatural!" he echoed her "No mv
dear, but very much in tune with my feelings'and
yours. I read you like an open page. I am come to
take vengeance on your house."

She shook again with a swift succession of emo-
tions. Would you take vengeance on a woman?"
she cried, pitifully. ^

"Aye," said he, "on a woman, were she you "
herfaJe^" °" '"^' °" '"^ ^" ^^e wailed, covering up

" I read you like an open page," he said, again " I
can compel you, Chloris. I give not a cuL wha
motives press me ; I know that I love you, and where
my hand is laid, there it stays. I am frank to you!
for I love to see your face and its fears. But I shal
claim you, child-you are mine."

" I am not yours," she answered, passionately " I
am myse f ; I am my own. Do you think a Carmi-
chae ,s slave to any? You can take no vengeance
on me, unless you slay me. Here !" she cried, in a
sharper and more resolute voice, and pointing at her

ving bosom-" Strike here! Yes; fou shaU strikl
iiere and slay me. Execute your revenge in this
house If you will. I have nothing to oppose to i
There is a dagger to your hand. I bid you strike '"

wfrCr/" '^' ^"" ^"''^^ '■"^'^' ''^ his hot feelings,
Wa burton was arrested by some thought which rose
"P like a warnmg post before him. His course, so

«33

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

swift and giddy as it had become, yet was stayed for
a moment by a suspicion— a vague and distant r< ali-
zation— that here was something different from what
he had looked for. This voice and cry called fn sn
another spirit than he had imagined— a fainter spirir,
a more innocent spirit; the soul of achild rather than
of a woman. But the fancy flashed and was gont;;
his speed was so headlong that he might not tarry to
analyze the situation.

" I will not slay you," he said. " Men do not kill
what they love. You are mine."

He took her in his arms, and once more her mo'u]
yielded and she wept.

" Cruel ! You hate me and my race," she sobbed.

"Nay, not you," said he; "but your race is evil.
You come of a black blood, Chloris. Come, why do
you weep? It is foolish. Is this the hard heart that
is sorry for herself, and laughed a month ago at a
poor man's death?"

" I knew not he was dead," she sobbed. " I thought
'twas but a quarrel."

And again something was stirred uncomfortably in
Warburton's hot brain, but it passed ; he drew her
closer still.

" Weep not," he said, softly.

" I weep not for myself," she said. " I know not
why I weep. It may be that I weep for the brothers
and the father you would destroy."

" Sweetheart," said he, " fear not ! 'Tis enoujjh
that you love me."

The breath of her nostrils stirred upon his neck.
" I love you ; I love you !" she whispered, brokenlv.

"Why, dear, I knew it from the first," said he. "I
am sworn against your house, yet you love me, and
shall do as I desire."

'34

CHAPTER XII

THE EYES OF CHLORIS

SUDDENLY there was a knocking upon the door.
The girl stood for a moment aghast, and then
ran with swift speed and shot the bolt softly
and inaudibly, turning a blanched face to War-
burton.

"Chloris, Chloris," called Nicholas Carmichael's
voice. She was deathly while and deathly silent, and
her features were in the grasp of a rigid terror.

"C. loris, it is I, open," cried Nicholas Carmichael,
as Warburton had cried some time before.

"What is it you want?" answered Chloris, at last.
"You are too late to enter."

" Pooh !" .said her brother. " Let me in, and be not
foolish. I desire some talk with you," and he rattled
the handle of the door in his impatience.

" You cannot enter, Nicholas!" she cried, breathing
deeply, and with some vehemence in her voice. " I
am— 'Tis too late. I am not prepared for you."

"Damme!" said Nicholas. "Why all this cere-
mony?"

"I am disrobed!" she cried, with a gasp in her
throat ; and on that followed a little silence. " What
is it you want with me ? I will dress and come to you."

"Open the door," he said, roughly, and shook it
again. She cast a terrified look on Warburton, who

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

had stood still, his face inanimate, watching her dis-
passionately now, and even with a look of wonder
He made a sign, and, stepping back, put the lamp
cw shnnking into the shadows. Chloris unbS
the door and faced her brother.
"Are you gone to bed?" he asked
She held herself within the darkness lest he should
perceive. "Tis late," she said. " What want you ?"
Chloris, there is some damnable business afoot "
he said, angrily. " Have you seen my father?"

reading." ^"'''''''^' "^ ^'^' ^'"^ '"^ '^^ library

"True-there he lay when I came in. But why>

Know you why we are on the hills to-night?" '

" WonM';\\T^° '"u ^'" '^" «"gg«sted, faintly.
Would that leave the house deserted ?" he asked

ton WeT. "7" ''''' ^^'""^d meddler, Warbut'
ton We had a line across the island to catch him
but he has escaped us. He entered the house "
bhe uttered a cry.

tlJTthetiS"^ «^^"^-^^^^^^--^•^^-
" Went up the stairs?" she echoed, blankly.
Aye, said he. "Do you know anything? Have

you heard anything? You have been^awakl"
., ^—1— dozed, she murmured

sounds." """'^"^^•" «^'d he. " You would hear such
"It may be he went lightly," she said.

tienUv" ^clJ'rr^ ^'"'■^. ^''"'" h^ "'•S-d- i-^Pa-
know He holds I\^'''''"''"?°'"'""^*hat I should

heaTuo noise r '" ""' '""^' '^'"" ^^^ "' ^'^ you

'36

THE EYES OF CHLORIS

"There was only the sound of the sea," she replied,
after a pause, " and a bird that sang in the thickets ''

" Pish !" said he. " What do you tremble at ?"

"What would you do with him, Nicholas?" she
asked, tremulously.

" Hang him to the cedar; throw him on the French-
men's knives— I care not what, but he shall never
leave Lynsea alive. Why do you tremble? Your
voice shakes. What is it you fear ?"

"I— I fear for you, Nicholas," she answered, bro-
kenly.

He laughed. " Better fear for him," he said, scorn-
fully.

" I fear for my father," she said.

"True; he is desperately ill," he answered. "You
may fear for him. It lies against that man, Warbur-
ton. There was a sound of weeping in the room, sis-
ter. How came you weeping ?"

" I was weeping for myself, brother," she answered.

"Bah! what have you to weep for? We Carmi-
chaels are of stiffer stuff. You are no pap-child with
day-dreams."

" I have no mother, Nicholas ; she is long dead,"
said she, very low to hear.

He was silent; and then, "You heard no sound?"
he asked again.

"I heard nothing save the sea and the late birds
calling," she said. He turned away with a brusque
good-night, and Chloris, at the door, listened to his
descending feet. Then she closed the door and turn-
ed to Warburton, where he lay hidden in the obscure
shadows. He put up the lamp, and the illumination
showed her countenance is white as her gown.

" I have saved you," she burst forth, eagerly, mov-
ing her slender hands towards him instinctively.

I :'

^'f.;

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

"No; you have saved your brother," said Warbur-
ton. She watched him with a heaving of the bosom
and a long shuddering in-drawing of the breath
^^ Is my father dead ?" she asked, in a whisper.'
If he IS dead," said he, coldly, "'tis by no act of
mine^ He would force a duel upon me, but I could
not fight an old man. I could have pierced him
through, but I threw down the sword."
" How can you escape ?" she asked, wildly
His brain was beset with doubts; he seemed to him-
self in a haze by which things were distorted out of
their just proportions. In that room he could not
think rightly nor determine his plan among these be-
wildering emotions The huge body of that strong
will and nature, shaken in its foundations, rolled and
wavered and might not come to rest
" I will go," said he.

She clung to him. " How can you go with those
awaiting you?" she asked, pleadingly.

"Tut, child, I will go. I do not fear them," he said

putting her with decision from him. He was so

greatly harassed with his thoughts that even her

touch was nothing to him.

"Let me come with you!" she cried, beseeching him

wkh ou "^'"'^'^ ^^^'' "^^ ^*'" """'^ ^'^' ^ ^'"^ ^'^

JnH°" '^n^} ''"'^'^' ^^'''"■^' ^'^'" «^"d he, more
gently. Get you to your bed and slumber. I am
arbiter of my fate, and no woman."

She let him go. "I cannot move you," she said,
shortly. "It 1.S true what you say. There is no one
who can persuade you. Go, then, to what awaits you
I cannot help you." '

He laughed. " I will help myself."

She sprang upon him in a tide of passion and put

138

THE EYES OF CHLORIS

her arms about his neck, crying out that she loved
him, and that he should not die, while Warburton lis-
tened with quiet patience, soothing her. Already he
had set his face to the hills and the sea, and was
already in his mind rapt into some conflict in the
night. He put her aside and went to the door.

" Sleep soundly, child," said he, and vanished into
the darkness very quiet and sudden. Chloris Car-
michael ran to the door and stood listening to his
footfalls till they died away, and then she heard the
creak of a door that was opened in the distance, at
which she flew like a frightened bird to the window
that looked on the park. She threw herself upon the
sill, and there, half leaning and half sitting, stared out
of the jewelled panes into a starless night, as if she
could rend and dissever the blackness and discover
what she desired. Warburton passed through the
empty hall unhindered, and, opening the great door,
stepped out upon the upper terrace. As he went down
the slope of lawns he turned and looked at the upper
windows. From Chloris's room the yellow eyes of
the mullions peered down at him, and, as he watched,
the window slid open and Chloris's face appeared in
the gap, gold with the yellow lamp and the golden
hangings. He saw it again, when he looked some
time later, from the margin of the park, but blurred
and faint and dwindled. It was infinitely little in
the vast blackness of night. It shone to him like a
friendly star or beacon guiding him upon his course;
yet so little might that tiny speck of light avail against
the immensity of darkness that, when he cast back a
glance ..gain, it was wholly gone, swallowed and con-
founded in the melancholy night.

And yet this night, which had grown so thick, was
hardly among Warburton's foes. Its shadows were

J 39

i I

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

friendly to him, serving him for a refuge as he thread-
ed his way across Lynsea. He travelled in that dark-
ness as safe as m a ship over stormy waters and among
treacherous rocks. He had a plan before him. marked
out quickly, and slowly and tenaciously developed-
for he was resolved to leave the island ere the moriing
rose and exposed him to his unscrupulous enemies
There was one way to do this, and, so far as he could
see, one way only. No boat was available, and he
must swim to the mainland. The point for decision
m hib mind was at what place to jump oflf upon this
hazardous enterprise. The Gut was but half a mile
across at the narrowest, yet he had already had a
taste of these roaring seas, and he shrank from ad-
ventunng there again. On the other hand, to reach
the village from which he had embarked that morning

Thought nf?»,'T."'-''! '*'"" ^ '"•'"• S°"^etimes he
thought of the Gut with a growing resolution

Aye; the Gut it shall be," he said.

But at once returned the memory of the cutter

afloat bottoni upwards, and of a man tossing wildly

tc the dwindling stars. And through the current of

these grave reflections passed a most bewildered

dread, that assailed him and came back freshly to the

attack, biting and stinging in his conscience Now

that he was fairly in the open he could not throw off

the amazing doubt that had beset him in Chloris's

Hnn ^"fT" "^"^ ,^^ ^°"^ ^^' ^ '^'■^"S »" his interpreta-
tion of her conduct and her character? Was it pos-

mVht noTh'"' 'k^I '^\^"' "'^^^ '^^ had seemed ?his
n ght nothing but a white and passionate soul, capa-
ble of a great sacrifice, generous to the pitch of folly
and blazing with sincerity? His mind moved very
reluctantly upon its hinges and very gradually yet
It appeared to be turning obstinately in that di-

140

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THE EYES OP CHLORIS

rection. A man of sharper wit or a keener imagina-
tion would have come to a conclusion at once, and
taken one direction or another. But Warburton was
not of such stuff. He was slow, conscientious, dogged,
and he labored upon his problem with patience, good
temper, and couragj, yet with increasing dismay and
rismg agitation. By the time he had reached the
beach he was a tangle of troubled doubts. His heart
beat strangely, and his body went hot and cool in the
alternation of his emotions. Had he brought ruin
upon one poor, pitiful girl, destitute of her friends,
and under the bloody hands of that ruthless house ?
The supposition brought him up with a gasp and a
shudder, and he muttered to himself, standing upon
the brink of the water and eying an invisible and
moaning sea.

"By God! but I should deserve what I am prom-
ised," he exclaimed, with an oath. "Yet," he added,
"I will never believe it; I cannot credit it. She is too
like a witch. 'Tis in that blood."

Heaven was stark blackness, in which not even one
small white star opened. The wind came off the
land, sweet and sighing, and out of the abysm before
him rose the hollow voices of the channel, some near
and loud, and others very faint and distant. The
flaws and the tides were moving in the Gut, and the
waters rocked and fought together. Warburton, from
his post on the margin of the sands, could see the
water gray-black at his feet, but it joined the general
darkness at a little distance and became, not a stretch
of ocean, with tumbling waves and rollers, but a mon-
strous musical and terrifying song, drummed out the
night and droning in the ears.

He heard it with but half his mind, for he was sore-
ly beleaguered by his remorseful doubts. A wave of

141

: I

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

shame struck out from his heart and overwhehned
h.m. so that he cursed savagely and made a vehement

II? T.i'^- ^' '^'•PP^^' his face struck the coo
sea and the next moment he was in deep water ^u
the tide was drawing him outward

By Heaven! 'tis the best thing," said he as he
flung h.s arms out in a great stroke"^ '"Tis a L In
I can fight, and, at least, 'tis no woman "

This was now the third time he had been obliged
to give battle to that outlandish sea, and it pa fed
th ough h.s head that his fortune must indeed be in
volved m the waters of that broken coast. The thi d
time, accordmg to the voice of superstition was ac
counted ominous, and he could not guess wh;th: f'or"
him the omens were good or bad. For one thing be-

awa" t'whar'''^"\^"^^''^ ""' 'h^ ^''>^' '^^ -- -t
aware in what course he was travelling. It mieht be

Z171' ""' 'I "l!^^.' ^' '"''^'^^ 'he mainland, or. in-

formidrhT'^'l' ^' '',"">''"«^ ^^^^ ^°^ 'hat ruthi;ss knd
formidable channel. All that he could do was to
keep himself afloat and husband his strength wih
gentle strokes, which were sufficient to main ain h
fZl"" 'li^' '"'■'■'"'• Ly"^«^ had dropped awav
war^ in?n Ih"^ "'^"''''"^ Ph^"'°'^' ^"^ he rolled for-
ward into the unknown spaces among crested waves

Soi .7^""^'."^ hollows. Presently he began to
hope that he had escaped the tides that make for the

Vl'ir' 'M """V '^^ ""' ^^"^^ -' hut Appose tha
the water otherwise would be greatly rougher. Yet

^heTeanT.r'" he pawling out upon The face o
he f^rr' J"^- '"u ^^'■'her from land. And next
afloa H^'i^TS^' ^"^" ^°"S: he could keep himself
aHoat. He plied his strokes with economy, yet even

that ! t'?'"^ °^ m' ^™' ^"^ shoulders warned him
that a term would come to his physical endurance

THE EYES OP CHLORIS

sooner or later. He tried to guess how soon it would
be, or how late. Alas ! he was clear now that it must
come soon, and not late.

The salt was in his mouth, and heavy weights
dragged at his feet, as though he were being pulled in
silence downward into those immeasurable deeps by
clutching hands. The cold waves buffeted his face,
surging under and around him, and he tossed like a
chip, submerged and rearising; there was in his ears
a dull and vacant roaring as of a sound from un-
fathomable wells far away. He knew that this strug-
gle could not last. Yet, strangely enough, his wits
were sharper and his mind more tenacious than ever;
while his senses flowed slowly from him, and their
impressions grew dull, feeble, and unreal, the life
burned brightly in his brain, turning him to the con-
templation of things bygone and distant. In this
flutter of dying fires within him his emotions were
more delicate and keen than they were used to be in
broad life ; he recalled events, to pass judgment and
be sad. There seemed few corners in his life which
did not yield up their secrets in that moment ; the
li^ht flooded them, revealing theirmost private ghosts.
The heir of a most distinguished name, and him-
self already a man of some fortune, Warburton had
lived his early manhood like his fellows of that epoch.
Yet now what sins he had committed came back
upon him with some compassion for himself, and
some shame and sorrow for others. The drab and
parti-colored pageant of his life passed in disarray be-
fore him, and faded, leaving one face that watched
him out of deep gray and kindling eyes. It moved
not, but stayed within the brain, steadfast, still, and sad
If he stared up into the black sky, it was there ; and
if upon the cold water, there too it rested, gazing on

143

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

him. The revulsion in his mind was swift and sud-
den and overpowering; he felt that he cried out in
an agony; every nerve was heightened by this physi-
cal exhaustion. He would have hid his face, but he
could not hide hers; she abode haunting his memory
He was now only dimly conscious of her, and that
she had risen out of the sea and bent over him, suc-
coring him with those kind, wild eyes. A fierce
light issued from them, but it was the light of— what
hght was it? He had thought this was savagery
the character of that strange blood which was ex-
hibited in her father and her brothers; but what
inspired that bright hot light that sprang in every
feature of her countenance? Nay, he recognized it
now ; It was what he had never seen in these cold and
continent faces of his countrywomen; yet surely it had
a name, and that name he knew. ... He laid his head
upon the wet bronze hair that streamed over her
bosoni, and her cool white fingers went to and fro
upon his brow. All sounds fell into a low and very dis-
tant murmur ; the wind and the waves rocked him •
and then there was of a sudden i jar, a convulsion
Shook him, and his feet were upon sand in shallow
water, while his body rose and fell with the move-
ments of a great patch of sea-weed on which he lay

,.\ I

CHAPTER XIII
THE CHAPEL ON THE DUNES

IT was some time ere he regained his numb con-
sciousness and made out his position The tide
had earned him hither and thither at its will, and
when weary of h.m, had cist him up finally on
some barren shore. He lay in a quiet pool, ebbinganS
flowmg w.th thesea-weed; for the flood had turied and
was runnrng seaward again. Yet. as his senses and h^s
sensations returned, and as he awoke to new life and
some of h.s customary strength, he was aw^re of tit
dawn beyond the moorland, breaking gray and mistv
Behmd h.m the waves thundered upon the b^ach-

tlT ^\V'^ '^' ^'^'"^ ^"^ bracken of the r^oor-'
land; and by these signs he guessed that he muTbe
somewhere beyond the village from which Th.H
borrowed the boat, and more%han a mile north o^
Lynsea. He dragged himself out of the poo and

t^^i^VT f " 'r' 'V""' ''''-' ^f^- whi?h he be

.' ToMflck."'^ ''°"' ^'^ P^'*^ ^^^' ^^-'^ ^-d '^-

When he awoke in the " Three Feat h*.rc •• ^u^ c *

■v fn\\i r ^' ""'v'-' -^' ^^ '--- ^^^

c visaed H^K^' rl^' '^^' appearance once more
?fZ tu"" ^^ "^""^^^ ^"^ questions of the night

with Tr f^'^r •?-.''^'"^'""°""'^"^ the sun bu fed
with ferocity, striking angrily upon the white houses

'45

I I

m .

CMLORIS of TttE ISLAND

of the village, down the street of which Warburton
sauntered. If his step was slow his thoughts ran
quickly and impatiently, but in another current now
from that in which they had flowed before. He was
subject to a gross reaction, which dissuaded him from
all his previous fancies and reasonings. He clung
with all that was generous in him to his nocturnal
thoughts, yet this hard and infidel spirit was carry-
ing him rudely away. He experienced a great revul-
sion, and his old hostility surged up in him, as grim,
ruthless, and desperate as ever. He looked back on
his pursuit, his escape, and tue long struggle with
death with new animosity in his feelings towards the
Carmichaels. They were but common bravoes and
cutpurses, and deserved the rope of the law and what-
soever personal vengeance h-^ himself might take.
The events of the previous night seemed a long way
off, and had a different look now that he was come to
himself and under the rule of no emotion. He felt in
his pocket with complacency for the paper that would
send these gentry to the gallows and blot out their
ignoble name.

The sloop lay under the cliffs below Marlock, rock-
ing on a summer sea, as Warburton came down to
the beach ; a gig had put out and drew towards the
shore. He watched the landing idly, and was sud-
denly surprised to hear his name.

" What ! 'tis Mr. Warburton, is it not ? I had expected
to meet none of my acquaintance in this wild place."

He gazed closer at the speaker, who was quite
young, very elegant of dress and person, and had a
pretty, smiling face. He had just stepped ashore
from the boat.

" I recognize your face, sir," said he, bowing, " but
upon my life I have forgotten the name."

146

THE CHAPEL ON THE DUNES
air'of cirem'^v^'-rif '"' ^°""« °«~'' >"'" »

Osprey." "'^' J""" "«■■« <>" the

"lam in command," ^aid he "r,.^*™* ti
has^.ot his promotion; whife J rot i^SwSet

damnable «.>.W, and"' rare 'brandy 'su're^'^'h:
laughed, "that should interest you ^You shall lav
ycn.r^ hands on the contraban'd that waf^f 'Z

u Vn^. ^"'^ J^f '• I am now on the coast " said he

The"el"no"*.'"' P^^*? f ' ^"" ^^ reckless^ln't !
save Sir^tlrP?"^ ^\^°'' ^ grentleman. I am told.
112 ^•'^^^P''^" Carmichael, hereabouts. I had not

SXure.^.^"^^^'^- ^ -"' --P^ your invitat^
"You will go to call on Sir Stephen ?" asked War-
'":j"'J.'^"'"S^he young fop thoughtfuHy ^''
-iffjy J' ^^'^ he. elevating his eyebrows in a most
affected manner-" why. damme! 'tis the only ^en

APC':^ '''•' ^"' ^^ ^^^ ^ ^-^-- daTgh'tTr,
" That is true," said Warburton, slowly " If thev

"What!" cried Gellibrand, ogling "You have

TZ^tV ^r ^" ^ '•^^' ^'^^- Warb^urton^amme-
IorTc;fvr ^^^P^r^te dog, for all the world like my
lord Crayle. your uncle. But I shall see her- gad^

147 » 6 •

lii

! tK,

tfcH

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

you shall not have the better of me. I am even now
upon my way there, at Sir Stephen's invitation."

"You have an invitation?" inquired Warburton,
curiously.

" That I have, sir. It reached me by a lugger two
days since. Gad ! I take it friendly in Sir Stephen.
He had heard of me in these parts, and offered his
ifi'voirs—si damnable fine gentleman. I have heard
of him— kept from court by his infirmities."

Swiftly Warburton took a resolution. He would
not suffer this silly lieutenant to pay his visit, but
would thrust another duty upon him. It tickled him
to fancy with what a different face this fine fellow
would land upon the island, and he was pleased also
to think that Sir Stephen's cunning had been frus-
trated by an accident. He put his arm in the lieu-
tenant's.

" Gad ! sir, I will take no refusal," he said, laugh-
ingly. " Your visit will keep. I have you now, and
you shall be my guest. I'll warrant I give you bet-
ter liquor than any that paid his Majesty. Besides,
there is Sir George Everett, here, of whom you
have heard, and a monstrous pretty creature is his
ward."

"Miss Holt?" said Gellibrand, preening his hair.
" She that ran away? Lord! I have no taste for light
fiyaways. Let them that steal 'em keep 'em. I want
no stained goods."

"Fie!" said Warburton, rallying him. "She is an
innocent. She is not tarnished. You shall see her
and judge. I wager that she touches your fancy, as
she touched poor Shirley's."

"I shall touch hers, Mr. Warburton. I have a
pretty coat to my back, when I have the whim," said
Gellibrand, complacently. " By Heaven ! these girls

148

\i'

THE CHAPEL ON THE DUNES

like a brave coat in his Majesty's livery. I am in your
hands, sir."

Warburton led him amic?bly towards the "Three
Feathers," and presently glasses were laid upon a
table in the garden, and a bottle of wine was fetched
by the obsequious innkeeper. Warburton took off his
hat, bearing his head to the mild air, and pledged his
companion.

" Now we have you here, Mr. Gellibrand," said he,
with his blunt civility, "we shall make a difference in
this neighborhood. It has run too wild, I tell you."

The lieutenant cocked his hat and sipped his wine,
bridling. "Perish me, Mr. Warburton, you are right!
I will make a difference. Postgate was lazy and
loved his bottle— not but what I have a palate for
good liquor; but, stap me ! I know my duty to the
Lords of the Admiralty as well as his Majesty's Cus-
toms. I will burn 'em out of their holes."

" And I shall drink no more such wine," says War-
burton, whimsically.

"Gad! that's so; I had forgot that," said the little
lieutenant. " I wonder whence this comes — ripe
liquor— damned ripe liquor. Faith ! I should not be
drinking of it, now I think of it."

"What, Mr. Gellibrand!" said Warburton, in sur-
prise. " You refuse a little from your host ! I tell you
that is paid for. 'Tis mine. And whence comes it?
What the devil do you know? You can but have
. your guess, as I have mine. I shall take it ill of you
if you secede. By Heaven ! I will not be denied."

" You say rightly. Damme ! no offence," said Gel-
librand, hastily. "I will drink your bottle. Well,
here's to your good health, Mr. Warburton, and our
common prosperity, if I may join myself with you.
And, egad! I would add an honored name to that,

149

(ttmit'

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

and that's my lord Crayle, vour unri*. t i, u-
health holds, though, hang' nie^ 1?^ Sd ^yTs^^
ing your presence, Mr Warburton. The deviP ' tl
my lord's health be. eh > He he' Wh,f
toasting a girl? Gad : " if "hat ^Misf c"rmTch'a:i "
what you say. I will beg leave to propose h^r Here'
o her! Excuse me. Mr. Warburton; 'tis long s no
I have seen a gentleman, and one of your qualitv I
am your obedient servant. Well, here's to- ^a
the devil is her sweet name?"

rh'f"^- %^^'^l Carmichael," said Warburton evin?
the dwindline bottle ""-"u, eying

MvIouf'verVh"^ ,>h''' ''?'''"' ^'' Warburton :^
Aiy soul ves. That little catkin that bolted Well

As he drank deeper he talked more garrulouslvand
more foolishly, and out of his conversaffon stan ^',"he
Sm'"''"''v: ""^ b*^^^^f"J"e«s of his chlracter
But Warburton had little interest in him bevond
the resolve to keep him from Lvnsea for^hat dl
and watched him grow tipsy with contemptuous tn'
ditference, answering shortly or not at all to his
rambling questions. As they sat togethe bv th.
briar hedge o the little garden a shfdow emerge '
and fell swiftly upon the table Warburton^ f
up. and started to perceive Chlods Carm^ad t;;at;
mg between him and the sun. Her fac? wa'e w"h
a glance of horror and fear towards Gellibrand wh
chattenng incessantly, did not notice e her the an
pamion ot a stranger or Warburton's start ^

Carmichael." said he. piping loudlv. " Tis a ^ood
name, and one related. I believe, to mv lord the flT

s::m^^Ttiii.-f^'"^^^^--^^^^^--e.

IjO

THE CHAPEL ON THE DUNES

Chloris's gaze flew to Warbiirton, and the color
overwhelmed her fair skin in a flood ; her under-lip
trembled. He rose, and, making some indifferent
apology, strode towards her, where she had with-
drawn among the bushes.

"You are set down with that man?" she whispered,
in awe. "What are you telling him? Oh, sir, sir,'
withhold your tongue !"

"Tis my own property," said he, coolly, for he was
nettled by her tones and what in her he supposed to
be anxiety for the safety of her brothers.

" True ; 'tis your own," she said, sadly. " Yet I
must have speech with you. Does this man know
what you hold over us ?"

" I will tell him when I choose," said Warburton,
sullenly.

She laid hold of his arm with her fingers, " You
shall hear me first. Swear to me that you will hear
me first. I have something to communicate. I can-
not stay now, for Philip awaits me in the village, and
I must not be known to be here. Yet I must see
you. I dare not come here. You will be kind, sir, if
you will meet me as soon as you may on the dunes in
the ruined chapel. You will find the way easily ;"
and, as he made no answer, broke out fiercely, chang-
ing sharply as she was wont, " You shall obey me ;
you shall come. I have a right to demand it. Mr.
Warburton, by Heaven! yet shall come."

" I will promise, and I will come," said he, si '°nly
moved to the depth of his slow mind.

She turned and fled as the lieutenant's heao rose
over the bushes, and Warburton met him with a
frown.

"Perish me, Mr. Warburton," cried Gellibrand,
'■ petticoats, and, damme ! pretty ones. You have an

ifi.' '

• CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

to walk. Tis a. man's duty L hi friend nn^^T'"
any heel-taps." "°' '° ^^'i^*

generous drthrike7o„LK\"r '"l^-^^^^K^ "i'" »
glers." "''"'^'■='' "•»<ie, th,s catching of smug.

hjs boa, wJich" carr&raCdr .5Zf t "

wasall that Wa/burton desired '^''™'*«'»-">fch

ke« mI"'""' ^"" "' '''" 'ool'^' forth at once to
Keep his appointment with Chlori. u.

fident that he knew wha ,h, t,=? ; """' ~"-

annoyed of if vet odH^,, !'^1..'° "y^ ='"<' '"s

patience was a fcelfn j'^orT ■" ""^ ^"S^^"' ^"<' ™-
surrender. "«: toot^h^istaytcroTtrd '^'"'■"k'
nVp^-iex'i-li^Yi-^r^-- -

and his will risin^^n/f n- °^ P^'''°"' "^'^^ his mind

catch atr;fi™^erc,.si7to'"s:vrs' ""^"'^ '°

'52

AS illK UK.riKNAM l.KANK, UK 1 A(.KK1> M,,KK .;AKRri , ■■ ,LV

^^■■1

'^»

'HH

THE CHAPEL ON THE DUNES

The lieutenant had stayed long and departed
drunken, so that the time was drawing late when
Warburton started to walk across the sand-hills.
Moreover, he had no very clear knowledge as to the
site of the chapel in which he was to meet Miss Car-
michael. He had a greater care for her than she
had for herself, and he did not desire to set tongues
wagging by open inquiries ; for why (these gossips
would ask) should he be seeking the ruined chapel
so near the fall of evening ? Thus it was that he was
delayed long upon the way, going by tedious circuits
and spying gradually to the scene of that assigna-
tion. The month was already far gone, yet the moon
had grown so late as to bring down the shadows upon
the valleys of the dunes and showed the long boats
in a dismal color of darkness. The heat of the sun,
gathered all day into these pits of sand, now rose in
a close vapor, which there was no wind to scatter.
The air was harsh with the heat and clammy with
moisture, so that he walked in discomfort, plodding
across the broken gray spaces with a rising anger.
And suddenly, in a little hollow, under the shelter of
a mound of sand, stood up the bleak and roofless
walls of the abandoned church. Long since had it
fallen into disuse and decay. Its structure dated
from early British Christianity, and its site was wit-
ness to a curious distribution of inhabitants about
that ugly wilderness.

Warburton entered by one of the gaps in the walls
and passed down the sandy aisles, looking for Chloris;
but ere he had gone a dozen steps he saw her ap-
proaching swiftly from the heap of fallen masonry
about the chancel.

"You have been long," she said, not with any re-
proach, yet with an impatience.

J S3

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND
briefl'^''^ entertaining a drunken fool," he answered.

"Ah!" she said quickly. "You told him nothing?
What said you to him?" **

She looked on him very vehement, very beautiful
and most deeply moved; and something in the wild
attractions of her face checked Warburton's bluff
reply.

.t'^.^^^^'^i r'**'? ""*" ^ '•'^"'^ '^^ y°"'" he said. in-
stead. I have kept my promise. '

In the midst of the satisfaction that shone on her
features she turned suddenly cool, and. her eyes
dropped, her smile died away, and she fingered her
hands together with nervous embarrassment His
coldness abashed her. "

"Mr. Warburton," said she, speaking with some of
"C! K ^^'"^f^^;"" ,^"d '^'th a studious calmness,
« ZlJ y/'^^'^^y I learned how you are pursuing

Thfv V, f ,r^ ^T'^'^y ^° ^h°^« °^ ™y family
They have fallen under your displeasure - 1 know
not with what justice, nor upon whose side is the
right. Nay, sir, I do not ask to know. But if there

wholly righteous. You are following a vengeance
which tis not yours but God's to exact, and which'
when He comes to His proper time. He will take for
sure, upon those that are guilty. Why do you arro
S. /°jr"^" "•' functions, you who are but a
man? Will you not, sir, give up this conflict, and
cease to plot revenges-leave Time to brine its des-

She faced him now with her lips parted and the
warm blood glowing in her cheeks as her excitement
rose; but he stared straight in her countenance an

IS4

THE CHAPEL ON THE DUNES

gered with henr pleading, and seeing in her once more
but the traitorous daughter of a traitorous race.

"Is it this that you came ail this way to ask of
me?" he inquired, coldly, "If 'tis so, your trouble
might have been spared. I can give you nothing
that you ask."

"You shall give it!" she cried, passionately, making
a step to him. " My father is ill ; he is at death's
door, and they say 'tis youi act. Is it so great a
favor that I ask of you, I that am what I am?"

He gazed at her coldly. " Cease ! I care not," he
said, brutally.

All the blood in her body seemed now to run of a
sudden to her face and hang there ; she was red like a
carnation flower, and her parted lipi quivered, while '
her eyes bedewed themselves with , She touched

him as she had touched him once ;fore, and upon
that magical touch he winced and stirred.

"For my sake," she urged, softly, blooming like a
tender child, half afraid, half ashamed, and wholly
innocent. " Nay, but for me you will do this."

Warburton withdrew a step, drawing a heavy
breath. He put out an arm as though he would
thrust aside this terrible temptation. She was a
witch — she was a devil.

"I will do it for none," he said, harshly.

Chloris was silent; then: "Yet," she whispered,
" 'twas 1 that saved you last night, I who beg this
from you now."

"I have said," he answered, "that 'twas your
brother you saved, not me."

"What is't you mean?" she asked, with quick
breathlessness. " Are you in earnest? I cannot un-
derstand you. You are strange. You spoke certain
things to me last night. Ah, my God! how you

155

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

spoke them! I have trusted you. Are you false-
are you false— are you false?"

"What I have said, I meant," he replied, stubborn-
ly. 1 have said nothing but what was true I
warned you, Chloris, that I was the foe of your race
and that it should not matter to you. You cannot
help yourself.

"-Ah," she said, low, "your love is that which kills,
love " ^"'^ nothing. 'Tis a pitiful sort of

"I care not what you call it," he said, rouffhlv " I
am master." * ^'

Swiftly she clung about him. " Dear, give me this
-give me this, dear. This hostility stands between
us and disaffects us. I will not have anything stand
between us."

reSenr^fficr ^ ""• "'" " ""'"• '°' "'' *"""'
" Tis you who are in peril!" she cried. " I would
have my father die in peace. Yea-but I fear for
you, too. Think how desperately I am to be pitied,
who stand in danger to lose father and brother and
—and you, at one cruel stroke."

He caressed her hair. "You shall not lose me,
tooWgh"^"*' ''^^"'^^'■^^'^"'"ly- " You are strung

" Promise me-promise me that you will leave Mar-
lock at once," she pleaded. "Promise me that you
will not run these awful risks. Ere Nicholas knows

!nH /°"v,T r^ ^1^ ^^'^' y°" "^^y ««^ape inland
and reach London— there to— there to—"

" Tis impossible," he said, even more grimly; " your
brother must already know of my presence. I have
been at the inn all day."

She wept and wrung her hands. "True" she

156

..'It. J it

"nii.oKis ci.rxc to him df.spkratki.y"

■

aj-^B^ WK9 ■ '^ u '1

■

iBpiMi!

yH^ it)'

f^^^BtBH

■

JIHlj'li

THE CHAPEL ON THE DUNES

sobbed, " 'tis too late," and quickly falling away from
him pointed a shaking hand towards the broken pil-
lars of the aisle which were slowly being enwrapped
in the falling darkness.

" There," she whispered, hoarsely, " you see yonder?
There is that which speaks to you of your fate. 'Tis
too late. You have brought your destiny on your-
self. Even already they have you watched again.
There is no escape for you."

Warburton turned sharply at her words and peered
into the gathering gloom.

"Who is there?" said he.

" 'Tis a spy," she whispered back.

" He has seen you ?" he cried, anxiously.

" I care not," she said, raising her head without
shame.

" You must not be seen. 'Twould be your ruin,"
he urged.

She laughed slightly. " I am not ashamed to be
here," she said, " nor to be seen here. I care nothing
what they know. I care only if they should take you
from me."

" They will never do that," said he, softly.

But with a passionate cry she was gone on his
words, snatched like a ghost into the shadows of
the night. He ran forward between the columns of
the aisle, calling to her, but nothing answered to him
out of that vacancy which had swallowed her up.
"Come back I come back!" he cried, and came out into
the darkness of the open spaces, calling among the
hillocks of sand. " Come back! come back !"

But no voice responded to tLe name he whispered
into the empty dunes.

IS7

CHAPTER XrV

THE SPY

State of indecision and wonder o

profoundly moved by the reve Li, n' """"^
sensations of th^t J revelations and

n^ake up his mind Tf he was soT^; '7' ^°"'^ "'^^
feared, in this condition ^f suspe^e .■'"'^^'- "^
course either one wav or InZu^ .'■ ^"' ^""'"^ ^is
unusual with him He rL T' ''^'"^ «^^^ "^"-"^t
herself, that h'vas fn TreS^rd " "'^'^ ^^ ^'^^-^^
indeed, it might be that hi l -^^' '^^" ^'■^'■'

for he doubtfd her Icquatta"''' ''u^""'^ b^^^--

and blacker secretrofh'atCe" If h''^ "^^P^--
her face which convicted her of h ^"'^ '^^^ '"
could not guess what was the m ''"^''^■' ^"^ he
tion towards him. He htd deemedZt hf ^' ''' ^'^
now he doubted— nav m,.. .u , ^^ he knew, and

cold again wifh' th^ Qht^ afi Tad"'" ^^ ^^"^
the night before upon the margin . 'T' '" ^'^
upon what had proved the ^ ^ u °^ ^^^ '*^^ ^"J
nity. It was here that h^" "' "'^"^'^ "'" "^^^-

the matter of hi pIrU n Tn'T''' '">• "*^^ '"
even now to make £ comm '^- ^" "^^>- ^'^^ him

shelter of the 'loop of va^ndTh'""' '"' ^^^^ '^'
good friend Lieut e'naL Genfbra„d ^^h""" T' *"^

course he did not see in wha;^::?;;,.,i^t^^t

150

THE SPY

harmed by the furious Carmichaels. Yet he was not
of the mind to take it. Now that Chloris was {rone,
he was still farther from it than ever, even although
he had rejected her appeal with brief ceremony and
suffered her to cry in vain. There was never a man
less given to introspection than Warburton, but there
was never one so honest to himself withal ; and, while
he doubted his judgment, his heart dwelled upon the
girl, and he passed between alternations, unaware of
the currents that drew him. When at last he came
to a resolution in respect of part of his deliberations,
he could not have analyzed the reasons. Yet he had
determined not to lay an information at present, and
not to ask the hospitality of the sloop. The disorder
of his doubts, a certain cool and contemptuous cour-
age, and behind all a vague not .. that by this delay
he was accumulating his pow and adding to the
Carmichaels' sufferings— all these combined to in-
fluence him to his resolve. And no sooner had he
settled his mind than his steps turned away from the
village and the low-lying dunes, towards the valley in
which Sir George Everett's house lay ; for there was
some dim thought in his head that drew him to see
Dorothy Holt, and yet he could not have said in what
point she was associated with his latest purpose. He
had resolved to bide his time, but would she?

The night had fallen deep when he reached the
house, and he received an amiable \velcome from Sir
George and his ward. The former was full of news
from town, and not a little engaged and embarrassed
by what related to himself. There was talk in London
of the great army which Bonaparte had gathered on
the shores of the Channel, and 'twas whispered that
its camp-fires could be seen from the coast of Kent,
gleaming o' nights like glow-worms on a hill-side.

159

« k

. H

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

who has thrc.:„.„:a'".Sem r tT s l'"'^ ^r?''
George, warmincr, "old as T .^ r ^" ,J ' '^"^ ^""
for London to-m .rro^ ff r ,1"" ."'""u'^ '^'^^ ^orse
not spirit in this coim trv .7'^^' '^' '^''^ ''^^
would offer myse f for his V ^^•"^ '^^' ^^""^^'- ^
ever field. I am "^i. n ^^'^^''l' ^e-'vice in what-
hope I have tharhe;^ "' '"' '"^' "''^ ^^ ^ ^"^^ I

hope'^'b'u'tT^arJh^dg^dT;;" '^^^ "^ ^"' >«^ -
no chance. Let us come /, ^^ ^^'^ ^^^ ' ^^ are given

doubt as to the issue •• ^"^'■'"'■'' ^"^ ^ ^^^'^ "o

"A^tl^i/pit^Tbie- ^^^V^ ^^'"^^'^ ^-George,
they say, to'bri g TSj^^^l " T^^ ^ ^^ '"^^>'' -
the First Consul'out ff Han'er Mr'V"^ '"^'^
qiiaints me of that and th^tT ' ^^^'^^^Y ac-

They look to Tiv sLnnort ^ ^!" '^^'''^'^ '" the seat.

Wariurton-theVsiSrh'a^^lt^' V''" '^^'^ '^' '^^^•
our private feel'ngs „ ',?\.^^^ '""^^ P"t aside
army-fires alight- times-with Boneys

ton.''" "°"^' ^^^^'^ ^^^-^-k, sir.v inquired Warbur-

and'brkloffrf';;:^^^^'--^^^^ Sir George.

mans face. " Whit s fha N^W "h" ^'^ >'°""^'^
not dirt? You haven't h ; 1 ] ^'■''"'■'°" ' ^'^ith:
bruise, surelv Who hi ^^ ^"^ ^'°"''^'^'*' "T's a
come through thltrst"" '^"'^^^ >'°"- ^'- ^-e

wh!rrthe":dge":;rredtd'"^ ''' '^"^ ^° ^'^ --^^
beneath his dfess '^ "^"^^' ^'"' P^^*^*^-^ from

'••Tis a wound," said Sir Georee

I>oroth>. HoU. face sho^e .fo'^ Hi. expectant,,.

THE SPY

her lips parted with eager curiosity; and he met her
gaze.

" 'Tis nothing," he answered, slowly—" a scratch,
sir; an accidental scratch."

"It has the look of purpose," said Sir George,
laughing; " but I know you to be no firebrand. But
come; we left you upon the island yesterday. When
did you leave? An excellent gentleman is Sir Ste-
phen—a handsome family, too, but black, too black."
" Miss Carmichael is not black, sir, if I am not mis-
taken," remarked Warburton, indifferently.

Dorothy's eyes dwelt upon him with their incessant
and importunate movement. He had the thought
that they begged of him for news, and waited their
time, impatient, but assured. This confidence and
this attitude irritated him. Sir George, as if sud-
denly remembering something, turned his eyes quiz-
zically on his visitor.

"Not she; I had forgot," he answered, cheerfully.
"A damned fine girl, so she is; and I was a good judge
once— as good as yourself, sir."

Warburton made no reply, and the baronet left the
room by an unexpected movement. At once the girl
took a step to Warburton.

" You have something to tell me?" she asked, eager-
ly, yet appealingly.

Warburton did not speak for a moment ; and then,
■' No, madam, I have not," he said, simply.

Her expression changed on the instant ; her faint
and delicate eyes were set upon him mournfully, as a
child whose mouth puckers at a refusal.

" You have been wounded," she said, softly. " I
knew it was that. How dreadful! Those terrible
people ! Tell me, what did they do with you ? What
nave you done with them?"

I- l6!

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

Waiburton showed nothing of his impatience upon
his features nor in his voice. " I assure you, madam "
he said, that 'twas an accident— a foolish accident
Nothnig has happened, and the Carmichaels, for all I
know, still inhabit their island."
^ iJ^rothy turned her face away and heaved a sigh
Ah . I am glad you are not harmed," she said, with
some emotion. " I was afraid, when I saw you there
that death was in your mind. You looked murder-
ou.s, Mr. Warburton-so violent ; ah ! so ferocious-
aiu justly so. I feared for you— with those cruel men
and that treacherous woman. I feared for you " She
shuddered.

Warburton heard without an expression on his face •
It bore no vestige of feeling; not even the hostile
reference to Chloris moved him from his aspect of
placidity. *^

u" Yr' ''.f.n? *°° spirited a fancy, madam," he said,
shortly. -Twould be well if you should curb it "
^ She raised her hands with a gesture of helplessness

Maybe, sir, but in truth I cannot. I have too murh
upon my heart. And it is not you, Mr. Warburton
that should reproach me with my sentiments— you
who were a friend of one I loved."

"Troth, ma'am, I reproach you not," answered
^Varburton, steadily. " But you are set out to over-
jump yourself. I was upon the island, and now I am
here. You are all dreads and flutters like a town-bred
miss, not of the country fields and moors."

" I vow I detest the country moors!" she said with
petulant asperity.

Warburton opened his eyes at this small outbreak,
but she recovered herself and went on with the plead-
ing gentleness to which she was accustomed " I am
not mistress of myself when I think of some things,

162

THE SPY

Mr. Warburton, and you must give me credit for
that. I burn when I consider that horrid house Will
you not take me in your confidence and tell me how
you will punish them ? You have promised to take
vengeance, and you are not of the kind that breaks
a vow. These Carmichaels— "

Here he broke in roughly. "I am not come here
to speak to you of the Carmichaels," he said, impera-
tively; ,t will do no good to chatter about them

"wu ^^^" ^^^ ^^^"' ^"^ ^^^^' ^•'^^ ^^ «hall be ••
What !" she cried, in angry amaze. " Will you
not go forward? Have you surrendered? Is the
duty to fall upon me alone?"

•' Cease, cease, child!" he answered, sharply • " there
IS a time for all things, and I am here for something
further. *

"What is that ?" she asked, cowed by his manner.

He fixed his clear and merciless gaze upon her.

Ihis air does not agree with you, I think, madam,"
he observed coldly; "you take no good from these
sea-coasts. You were better away."

She raised her arms in angry petulance. " La ' would
you treat me like a child ? 'Tis the second time you
have done this. You attempted to keep me from
aiariock, and now you would send me away Per-
chance you would work through my guardian again ?-
She ended, sneering.

" 'Twas what was in my mind," observed Warbur-
ton, coolly.

She eyed him askance, and her fit of anger dropped
swiftly from him; he knew her to have no courajre
against him. **

^^^'^Why would you have me gone ?" she asked, sul-

■Why, you said just now you detest the country,

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

and you were best with Sir George, pirouettine in
town." *

" 'Twould not be town," she answered, with a shrug
of her shoulders ; "he would go to an abominably dull
house."

"Well, you do not call this gay?" said Warburton
whimsically. '

"Ah " she answered, laughingly, "I have my duty
here ; I have what occupies my life."

He looked at her again with wonder, for he was puz-
zled by her changes and her irreconcilable emotions
Of one thmg he was certain— that he did not like
her, handsome as she was; and below all an unpleas-
ant suspicion rose and grew that he was being de-
ceived and played upon. The idea bewildered him
and made him disagreeably angry, so that he spoke
rudely. '^

" Then you must do your own work," said he • "I
will be no party to it." '

She turned white. " Indeed." she said, her voice
tremulous with fury as she held herself against the
mantel—" indeed, you are soon and easily converted
and 'tis clear by what parson."

"You shall held your tongue, silly," he interrupted.
I will not— I will not!" she cried, hysterically. " I
have been played with and browbeaten enough You
are no less than a bully, sir. Oh ! 'tis plain what has
diverted you, and I would think shame of it 'Tis
those flying petticoats," she said, laughing in her
anger; " 'twas a fine picture— indeed !"

"Hold your tongue!" he thundered, and she saw
him for the first time hot with passion. He trembled
— and she whimpered.

•' .' ^^^^^'"•" ^^^^ he, after a pause, and very quietly.
I have no command over you, nor any authority to

164

'DOROTHY'S EYES FLASHED "

THE SPY

stay or direct your actions. Speak on, therefore, and
pray excuse me that I interposed so rou(;hly. But
you shall not speak it out to me, if you speak it to
any," and, turning with a bow, he made quickly for
the door. But ere he could reach it she was between
it and him, with a new beseeching; look.

" Forgive me," she begged, " I am beside myself.
You are most generous and kind. I would not bring
upon me your just anger."

" Nay, Miss Holt," he said, " I have nothing to for-
give; you have a rash tongue, that bolts like a mad-
cap mare, but I bear you no ill will. 'Tis the privi-
lege of your sex."

He bowed again and went forth; and the eyes of
Dorothy Holt followed him, sparkling and flashing.
She bit her lips and frowned in the impotence of her
rage and her humiliation.

But Warburton walked down the lane under the
influence of no less anger. This girl had affected
him most unpleasantly, and he had said what he had
no intention of saying when he entered the house,
and had done what he had never thought to have
done. Apparently, as he reviewed the scene in his
mind, he had vashed his hands of the vendetta, and
withdrawn from his loose partnership with Miss Holt.
He stood now at a wholesome distance from the plot
and might even be safe and — with Chloris. There
was the thought that set him aflame of a sudden, ris-
ing like an incendiary in his heart; and so agreeably
did this prospect seize him that he felt at once the
reaction of doubt. Was it right and well that he
should have done what he had done? And had he
not been moved to his action by the influence of that
magic beauty ? He who had never questioned him-
self now bemused himself with wonder, and saw

165

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

vaguely and with dismay that he hung in the balan
be ween des.rc and duty. As he crossed the sa,
h.lls towards Marlock he was aware of a mutter

still n.ght Immediately upon that he staggered, r
covered h.mselr 'rom th'e blow, and was grann i
hjs assailant w. his iron hands Rrappur

The man was tall and sinewy, but he swung like
[n hirthroIV """^^ ^"'••'"^*°"'« ^^"'^ and fabore

J/X'^^' '^"!'«!" he said, in his French tongu,
and thus acquainted with the news of another enem
Warburton lifted the foreigner with a huge s^eep
his arms and flung him with a crack upon thegroum
He ro led over sharply, ceased, and lay still, and ther
was silence upon the dunes, save for the diiu noise o
ect that ran into the distance. Warburton stoope.
for his assailant, who moved not. his head thrus
horribly aside, at dreadful ease, his 'neck snapped l!k.

from Its fob. examining ,t under the faint stars; fo,

reeU^r ' ^ eI' '''' '',' l"!'^ '^' '''^''^ ^"^ -"^'hin^
th.n ^ u " o?ock."said he; "it has s'oppcd

'T?s an hoT/ /k'TT';?'" •' "8^^'"^' *he Carmichaels.

sla 1 th. r/n^ ' '''•" '"'^" '""^'^ f°^ them, for so
sha^l the hands remain until I have done with 'em."

snm^H V ^^ ''^ ""^^'^ '' ^^y^ a"d leisurely re-
sumed his journey to the "Three Feathers." Here
he drank a nightcap and s^t in thought until, taken
by a new idea, he rose and tried the door of the inn
It was closed and barred

thl?win'nn?'5''' '"^ ^''"u"^^' "y^^' '^ ' J'"^^ them,
not si 1 ? ^'''' "P "^^ ^?'' ^""'"Pt- This house is
not safe for me. yet it shall be safe to-night." So

i66

THE SPY

saying, h« went up -stairs and found the room in
which he had heard that Tremayne, the innkeeper,
slept. Pushing the door open, he entered, holding his
candle above his head, and Tremayne, who was in
bed, started up in a terror.

"Sir — sir," he stammered; "is it anything you
want, sir ?"

"Yes," said Warburton, bluntly, throwing the flare
upon the wretched man. " You are to come with mc."

Too deeply shaken by his fears to dispute this im-
perious order, Tremayne put on his clothes, and pres-
ently was being conducted about the house.

"Bar all the doors and the windows," commanded
Warburton, "and see you bar them well. I will not
have you a piece with that murderous rabble that
seeks my death."

"You do not believe that, sir ?"stamm'red the inn-
keeper, pale as a corpse. " You surely don't think
that of me? I swear to God that I am ignorant—"

" Pish ! take not God's name on your coward's
lips," interrupted the other, contemptuously. " I de-
clare, I would sooner respect Nicholas Carmichael
than this craven!"

"Sir, if Mr. Carmichael has any design against you,
I know nothing of it," protested the poor creature.
" I keep to my business, and — "

" That is what I desire you to do, and will see that
you do," said Warburton, slowly. " I will not have
spies upon me. You carry news of me to Lynsea. I
know you for a go-between, and I tell you this, Mr.
Tremayne, that your neck is in peril. It needs only
that I give the word, and the noose is tightened."

"For God's sake, sir — "began the innkeeper, and
was silenced by a gesture.

"Give me the keys," demanded WarhLfton. He

167

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

took the jangling bunch, and, "Now you shall sleep
with what spirit you may," he added, and, marching
the man back into his room, closed and locked the
door behind him. Then he went to bed and slept un-
troubled.

CHAPTER XV
PHILIP TALKS

THE affair of the French assassin could not be
long kept secret, nor was Warburton the man
to favor secrecy. On the contrary, he was
resolved himself to give information, which
he laid the next day before a magistrate, and which
included a brief and ready account of his adventure.
There was naturally no suspicion cast upon his story,
nor did any one suppose for a moment that he held
some news in reserve— namely, the cause and origin
of this attempt upon him. It was a perplexity to
Warburton why he did not simultaneously make a
breast of it and reveal the whole sordid plot, thereby
at once avenging himself and his friend and placing
himself under the protection of the law. But he did
not; his lips were silent on this subject; and with
grim complacency he dwelt upon the fears which this
interview of his must arouse in the Carmichaels
How much longer would he endure them, and permit
them to suffer the tortures of an expected vengeance ?
He did not know, yet said he, "Their hour shall strike !
Tis eleven o'clock. I have sworn it shall be that, and
in the mean time let them keep vigil against it."

Whether the news of the Frenchman's death had
reached Lynsea he was not aware ; but certainly one
of the Carmichaels was not keeping vigil, nor even

169

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

displaying any uneasiness as to the future. On his
return to the inn, Warbur )n discovered Philip en-
gaged in the very agreeable office of drinking hard
with that hard drinker, Lieutenant Gellibrand. He
did not like the association, but showed nothing of
this feeling upon his face, coolly nodding to the
younger Carmichael and gravely saluting his friend.
Philip Carmichael was far gone in liquor, but kept
his head and his humor wonderfully, and as for the
lieutenant, the wine had made him boastful, accord-
ing to its custom.

" I see, sir, you have made the Carmichaels' ac-
quaintance already," he said, with an ironical inten-
tion.

" True, Mr. Warburton, you see us together like a
pair of cooing doves," said Gellibrand, gayly. " Mr.
Carmichael did me the honor to call this morning
on my boat — a narrow-chested, sweltering box, not
fit for a gentleman's reception. Hence you see us
here, where I came by y )ur kind introduction yes-
terday."

"Aye," said Philip, with an impudent wink at War-
burton, " and drinking of good stuff, too."

Wonder, and some admiration for the fellow's cool
rascality, dawned in Warburton's mind ; for there he
lolled, who was one of a family banded to kill him,
who was himself no doubt privy to the plot, and,
above all, who was aware that the man he mocked
and goaded so had in his hands the reins of life and
death for all that blood. Warburton stared on him
and sat down before the table.

"That is right," said Gellibrand, heartily. "Fill
your glass, Mr. Warburton. 'Tis good stuff, indeed,
though you hinted at strange sources yesterday. But
what care I ? We are drinking now, and I'll give you

170

PHILIP TALKS

a toast. Here's to the King, God bless him! and to
hell with Boney!"

Warburton watched Philij) Carmichael, who tossed
off his bumper /ecklessly, echoing the words, " The
King, God bless him! and to hell wich Boney!"*

He smiled to himself, recognizing what finished
hypocrites were these people, who would feign so
heartily, even with the knowledge that he held their
secret. Philip turned to hir. amiably.

"I have been promising the lieutenant a happy
holiday," said he, engagingly. "He is here to hunt
the free - traders, as you know, sir. Well, I have as-
sured him of a fight. He wants a fight," said Philip
wagging his head foolishly, "and, by God ! he shall
get it."

"Twill be enlivening in this dull place," said Gelli-
brand, complacently. "I ask your par'ion, gentlemen,
but there cannot be more like you. T all do myself
the pleasure to call upon Sir Stephen to-morrow— to-
morrow at the very latest," said he. " It may be that
between you you can set me on a scent for these fel-
lows — damn 'em!"

"We will do that, Mr. Warburton— eh ?" laughed
Philip. "Gad! lieutenant, you shall have your
stomach full of swords and pistols, which shall give
you the ache there. Perish me! this is a wild and
fearless coast, and none here fears a King's man."

" Unless it be our host," said Warburton. " But I
think you are too hot, Mr. Carmichael. You speak
too bravely of these smugglers. They are, I doubt
not, a savage people, but they may be bended and
broken very readily. It is to get at 'em that's the
trouble."

As he spoke he looked fixedly at the young man,
who scowled, and then laughed.

te-

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

"Aye, they say there's no traitors among the free-
traders," he went on. " To find 'em out's the diffi-
culty. And if any one had the knowledge of their
secrets, it is said that it would go hard with him.
Damme ! I believe they would not hesitate about
him."

" That is what I have heard," said Warburton, " and
I believe my gossip. But come, lieutenant, you are
mightily concerned in this coast now. I will show
you a sight that should interest you, and Mr. Carmi-
chael, too, though he is no stranger."

He rose, and Gellibrand also rose, protesting that it
was early to break up a pleasant company; yet both
followed him eventually, and, passing down the vil-
lage, came to a house that stood on the margin of the
sands.

" I have here a surprise for you, sirs, and a puzzle,"
said Warburton, with his hand on the door, and he
flung it open, disclosing a dead body stretched upon a
table. Gellibrand stared in bewilderment, but Philip
Carmichael started, fell back, and then approached
to gaze into the foreign features.

" How came this here ?" he asked, presently, with a
look of suspicion at Warburton.

"Why, he was picked up dead," said he. "But he
does not appear to be of these parts. He has an ugly
black look."

" 'Tis a Johnny Crap," put in Gellibrand. " I know
the breed well."

" What ! is't a Frenchman ?" asked Warburton, with
surprise in his voice.

"Aye, for sure," said Gellibrand, confidently. "I
have sent many of 'em to Satan, and I should
know."

" Well," said Warburton, looking at Carmichael.

172

ti.o^-

PHILIP TALKS

"'tis a puzzle, indeed, how comes this fellow here in
Marlock. What do you make of it ?"

"Make of it ? By Heaven ! 'tis plain as a pistol !"
broke out the lieutenant. "He is one of the gang
of which we spoke. We are close on the scent."

"Put your nose to it; put your nose to it," said
Philip, laughing tipsiiy.

"I need no reminder, sir," answered Gellibrand,
scornfully. " I am here to do my duty, and I will do
it, drunk or sober." He stopped in his scrutiny of
the corpse with an exclamation and an oath, " Why,
the man's neck is broken."

"An ugly death," commented Warburton, indiffer-
ently.

"A fall from a cliff," said Philip, eyeing him.

" Maybe, maybe. Yet such a man as this might
have been chosen for an instrument by those free-
traders ; he might have struck at that man you spoke
of, and have failed. Yet, of course, this was not so,
Mr. Gellibrand. You can see he is a foreign thief.
The body was found in the dunes, and 'twas I that
killed him."

" You ?" said Gellibrand.

"Why not?" said he, coolly.

" Gad ! why not, why not ? That is true," said the
lieutenant. " He is a gallows-bird. Well, I should
ha' hanged him anyway."

Philip Carmichael looked exceedingly troubled, for
all the wine he carried ; he had reached a point in
soberness at which he lost recklessness and began to
be alarmed— the more, indeed, that his brain did not
follow very alertly. Gellibrand turned away, oflfering
excuses— for he was now suddenly inflamed with the
duty of making inquiries— and Warburton and Philip
Carmichael were left together by the corpse.

173

CIILORIS OF THE ISLAND

" Were yoii attacked by this man ?" asked the lat-
ter, quickly.

Warburton nodded.

"Last night?"' pursued Philip.

Again the other nodded. "At the hour of eleven,''
he said, shortly.

Philip shrugged his shoulders and went out by the
door, but in the village street he was overtaken by
Warburton.

" Mr. Carmichael, as we are met this way, it would
be foolish in us to part without speaking plainer.
You guessed my meaning yonder?"

" You threatened us Carmichaels," said Philip,
sneering.

" There are too many threats in the air," said War-
burton, calmly. " I am threatening nobody. But
you have enemies, and this accident will make Gelli-
brand one of them. You cannot afford to provoke
more."

" I do not see what the devil it has to do with you,
sir," said Philip, angrily. "Why do you not speak
and be done with it? Use your knowledge, Mr. War-
burton. I'll be damned if I care I You have no proof
save your words."

" What !" said Warburton. " Have they not told
you?"

" I know you were caught in the caves and es-
caped," said Philip, sullenly. "What odds? Next
time you see the caves they will be empty, and there
is none in the country who will not go against
you."

"Pshaw!" said Warburton, "I am not speaking of
the free-tradt."

"Then what the deuce are you speaking of ?" de-
manded Philip.

«74

PHILIP TALKS

"Come, Mr. Carmichacl ; you must know it is a
graver matter. But perhaps they have not told you
that I know."

"Perhaps you will be good enough to inform me
wha'i the devil you do know," said Philip, with rising
anger.

"T.he game is up." said Warburton. "You stand
about a foot under the gallows !"

" God damn you! Mr. Warburton, will you not come
v> the point?" said Philip, with something of his broth-
er's savagery.

" You are a nest of traitors, you Carmichaels," .said
Warburton, with a sneer. "I have documents to
prove it."

Philip Carmichael .stared in sincere amazement,
and swiftly Warburton realized his innocence. "I
thnight you knew," he went on. " This Lynsea of
yours harbors'Bonaparte's powder and masks his prep-
arations."

" It is a lie," said Philip.

Warburton shrugged his shoulders. "Faith! man,
I have a letter from Bonaparte to your father in mv
p.jcket." •'

Philip sprang at him suddenly, laying his hands
about Warburton's neck. The other threw him off.

••Would you throttic me, lubber?" he said. "No
you shall not have it. Must I break you as I dii] the
Frenchman?"

Philip Carmichael fell away, breathing hardly, and
the scarlet of his face faded into a terrible pallor,
;.vni!e the glare in his eyes went out. He was struck
in a moment an abject and pitiable creature.

•Before God! I know nothing about it," he said,
miserably; "and I was to have taken a commission in
uie army. My God !"

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

Warburton experienced c sensat on of pity for him
but only asked, curiously : " Does this news affcc
you? How are you involved, if you are ignorant
You are a smuggler, but no more."

Philip flamed forth at him. "Damn you! kcej
your tongue quiet. They who ply words for theii
weapons are in danger to have steel from others."

"True," said Warburton, nodding towards tht
house in which the Frenchman lay.

"You will use this against us?" inquired Philip, ir
a surly tone and after a minute's silence.

" I have given you one piece of information," saii
he; "why should I give you another? Rest, and bi
thankful, where you stand."

Philip Carmichacl suddenly broke into a laugh
"You have chosen a queer office," he said. "I wisl
you joy of it. It suits your insensate blood, egad
You may go to the devil your own way. I go mine.'

He swaggered oflf with an arrogant carriage, hi:
handsome face flushed, reckless, and defiant, and pres
ently entered the tap-room of the " Three Feathers,'
where he was respectfully welcomed by the company
The Carmichaels were feared and admired on tha:
coast ; they were understood privily to be the centrt
of the illicit trade, and none thought worse of then
for that, not even the neighboring gentry, while th<
common villagers held them in respect for their sin
gular prowess in this business. Philip Carmichae
stood drinking in this society for a considerable time
He had received an ugly blow, even for one so air\
and indifferent as himself, and he returned to the in
terrupted bout with ruffled feelings. But soon th(
wine took its effect upon him, so that he reached agaii
the point in tipsiness from which his encounter will
Warburton had shaken him, and it was with a merr}

176

PHILIP TALKS

heart, and whistling a light catch, that he strolled
forth of the inn and went down the road towards the
sea.

A pretty apparition rose unexpectedly in his path
and he came to a pause in the middle of his lilt '

"Miss Holt I declare!" he said, gallantly saluting,
while his face lighted up. " I protest, Miss Holt, that
the sun has broken out of a sudden."

" La ! I hope not," she said, laughing. " Tis close
as It IS and uncommon sultry. There will be
thunder."

Philip Carmichael waved his arm vaguely at the
ocean and the cliffs beyond, as though he would em-
brace land and sea in his authority. " No " said he
decisively, "there shall not, I promise you. I will
not have your handsome clothes wetted. You are
hke some fine lady of state; not like any of us rus-
tics. Stap me. Miss Holt, but the sight of you makes
me drop mto town manners and mincing voices I
have a difficulty with my words, 'pon honor "

This was true enough, as Dorothy Holt saw at a
glance, yet she was by no means offended; 'twas the
habit to drink deeply, and, moreover, there was a bet-
t r chance to set this reckless fellow talking when he
earned so much. Even the trace of mockery in his
handsome face did not anger her, and she smiled
prettily on him.

"Tis you that belong to towns and courts, Mr.
Carmichael," she said, bridling. "You have a way
La what keeps you to this empty spot>"

'^I am kept here in chains, madam," said Philip
endeavoring to bring his legs together for a cere-
monious bow " I'll not speak of the divinity, but, gad '
Heel her; she draws me like the moon the sea tides"
uamme! tis a proper image— that so she does "
'' 177

■M !

iT'^r

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" Thcii you had better persuade her to go to town,
so that you may be drawn thither also," said Doro-
thy, laughing affectedly.

" J'adam," said he, gravely, " will you go to town ;
I assure you that 'tis the only place where you would
receive your fit homage and respect."

" No, indeed," she answered, tossing her head.
"But I am dependent on my guardian, who ab >m-
inates London. He is enamoured of your lovely isl-
and."

" You shall come again; you shall come again," ex-
claimed Philip, grandly.

" Indeed, may I ? La ! you are kind. It is hand-
sonieof you to put up with a helpless girl. But I will
ask Sir George, and he will make a party with Mr.
Warburton, and we will take you by surprise."

" Perish me! it must not be Warburton, "said Philip,
frowning.

" Not Mr. Warburton!" she echoed, as if in amaze-
ment. "Why, I supposed him a friend to you! He
was on the island that day, and we left him there.
We left him talking with Miss Carmichael."

Philip's frown grew to a scowl. "Damme! he is a
lubber. He interferes when he has no right. He is
no friend of mine — not he. He is too deuced right-
eous. I have a quarrel with him."

" La! not a quarrel !" she said, opening her eyes.
" I pray you, don't quarrel. 'Tis for cats and dogs,
and not mortal men. There was a duel fought be-
tween my lord Goodwin and Captain Hale when I
was in town There was blood spilled horribly, and
my lord Goodwin died of it. *Twas shocking. Fiel
no; never quarrel, Mr. Carmichael. There is none
worth it, not even a woman."

" This is no woman," said Philip, fixing his admir-

17S

PIIILII' TALKS

ing gaze on her. "Yet I car. think of a woman to
hgh over. But, Lord ! I don't kn.,w why we should
hght. He IS too stiff. I think he is a for.I "

"Heavens! you relieve me," said she, with a sen-
sationa sigh "I feared 'twas on my" affairs you
quarrelled. I saw you in the road some time since
and your voices were high. I thank Providence it
was not my poor self that provoked it "

" I would it had been," said Philip, inflamed by this
coquettish approach. "He should ha' died to-mor-
row—that I swear!"

r.lT^'i' !f ?t7'''1°' °" "*^' °" ^'^^"^ ^'d you quar-
rel? asked the girl, tossing her face saucily. " What
beauty is it you honor so far ?"

wi'f.?h?»'»^u^ "°' say 'twas no woman." said Philip,
with his bold eyes on her. " If 'twas not you, 'twas
none, madam. I swear it!"
••Indeed, but I doubt you," she murmured.

Win »U?^^ nothing, save that he threatened.
Will not that convince you ?"

"Threatened !" she said. " "Indeed, that is strange,
for any one to threaten a Carmichael. I had heard
different of you, sir," and she languished at him.
TK u ™^''^'"' s° yo" have, and you are right.
rhey who threaten the Carmichaels carry their lives
insecurely. But this Mr. Warburton must have a
care. He supposes he has the whip-hand because he
has run his nose into a secret. He would take upon
himself the office of Government and spy at once.
^V el, we shall see. We shall lop his nose off, and
what value will his letter have then ?"

"Letter?" said the girl, swiftly, and Philip Car-
michael s stupefied wits were dimly alarmed by her
change of voice.

" What letter?" he asked, vacantly. " I said noth-

179

CHI.ORI8 OF THE ISLAND

ing of a letter, madam. We shall lop his nose, I prom,
isc him. I dislike the man's meddling. He has no
concern with what does not concern him."

" Indeed, Mr. Carmichael, I assure you that you do
him wrong," said I)«)rothy, pleadingly. '* I cannot
believe that Mr. Warburton would presume upon an-
other. He is a gentleman, sir, of much esteem and
good family, and I do believe his heart is sound and
honest."

Philip stood grinning at her. " I would you stood
my advocate, egad !" he said, admiringly.

" Indeed," she said, flushing, witn her lids downcast,
" I do not wish any one misinterpreted in this poor
world. But I am late, and Sir George will be stamp-
ing, idieu, Mr. Carmichael," and with a sweet and
pitiful smile she bowed to the young man and passed
on through the village.

Philip Carmichael continued his leisurely walk to
the beach, there to pick up a boat for Lynsea ; but
Dorothy Holt went inland with quicker steps and a
heightened pulse. The hysteria latent in her threat-
ened to leap out in cackling laughter; her excitement
was too sharp for continuance. She was alone, but
she smiled joyously into the quiet copses and down
the empty lanes. Every fibre of her sensitive flesh
pricked w^ith a vicious desire for vengeance, ven-
geance — though she understood it otherwise — not so
much now on account of a man struck down in the
prime of youth by a cowardly stroke, as because of
that dreadful humiliation which a woman had suffered,
the ruin of her hopes, and the exactions of unsatisfied
vanity and ambition. She believed she had a sacred
duty laid upon her, and her worldly, sentimental, cun-
ning head had conceived a plan to accomplish this.
She had got sufficient information from Philip Car-

i8o

PHILII' TALKS

michael to put the plan in operation, and she was re-
sr.Ivcd to do so. It was something to know that War-
burton held a secret of her enemies, for this was how
her quick mmd interpreted Philip's admissions There

tin ntlt'T ,.^°•'^'^^f^ ^here lingered in her mind
two other foohsh words m that drunken braggadocio
- government," he had said, and "spy." Though
she knew not. nor could guess, what that letter con-
tamed nor on what it bore, Dorothy Holt was confi-
dent that she could make use of it ; and so while Philip
all unaware of h.s mdiscretions. was whistling indif-'
ferent on his way to the island with the tdler in his
hand, she was sm.lmg and glowing with her thoughts
under the brow of the moor. "ougnis

fj!

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CHAPTER XVI

THE CAUMICHAELS TAKE COUNSEL

PHILIP CARMICHAEL piloted his craft to
Lynsea, and, leaping upon the jetty, ran up the
tamarisk grove towards the house. Here his
sister met him, and, with a quick outbreak of
light and color in her face, sprang to him and asked
him if he had been in Marlock.

" Why, yes, I have, sis," said he, good-naturedly.
" I cracked bottles with Mr. Lieutenant Gellibrand by
orders. And a damned pleasant buck he is, though
he swaggers in his cups."

Chloris paid this opinion no heed, but searched his
countenance eagerly, as though she hesitated to ask
more and would have read there the answer to her
unuttered question.

" Was it Marlock ?" she at last said, speaking rather
low. "And is there news from Marlock ?"

"Not a jot," said he, idly; and then making a call
upon his memory, " Stap me! yes, there's one dead
there that we know."

" My God !" cried Chloris, white at a blow and
trembling.

"Tut! there's no harm," said Philip, who was still
warm enough with the wine to miss her agitation.
"'Twas Jules, the long-legged fellow, though you
may not have seen him. And that brings some-

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thing
Nick.'

to my mind, and I will have it out with

"Jules!" she breathed deeply, placing her fingers
upon the bosom of her dress. "No, I know him not,"
and the color ran back into her face till it glowed
once more " There is no other— dead?" she asked.

Philip cast a glance at her. " Faith! you are all for
skeletons to-day, miss; you are turned into a ghoul
in your taste for corpses. But I cannot oblige you ;
you must do your own killing; or maybe Warburton
will do it for you."

He laughed at his weak jest, and Chloris struck in
hastily : " Mr. Warburton," she said ; " what of him ?
Is he—"

"Why, 'twas he killed this fellow," said Philip, more
soberly. "His damned stiff body and tough arms
were too much for the Frenchman. Gad ! he had me
about the neck myself to-day."

" He was attacked ?" cried Chloris, sharply.

Philip shrugged his shoulders. " Better ask Nick,"
said he. " I know nothing of it. He broke t'other's
neck."

" I am glad he broke his neck ! My God ! I am glad
he broke his neck !" cried Chloris, fiercely. Philip
turned on her eyes of surprise, and she broke out at
him. "'Tis true!" she exclaimed ;" and I would to
God he would break the necks of any other guilty of
such a dastardly attempt!"

Philip grinned. " 'Twas not I, sis," he said, with
mock terror. " 'Twas not I, indeed. You must have
it out with Nick, and in truth I will help you. He
has no right to take the command so greatly in his
own hands. Because my father is ill he thinks he has
full liberty and authority over all. Hang me ! he
shall hear otherwise, shall Nick." He advanced more

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

nu'ckly to the house, and suddenly stopped, while his
jaw dropped on a most discomforting recollection.
" By God ! it cannot be true," he said, almost to him-
self. " Yet I will have that out also," and he hurried
into the house with an angry step. The room which
he entered was the library, and was tenanted by
Nicholas Carmichael, who stood by the window with
,an impatient look upon his face, while Sir Stephen
'lay upon a couch in a corner,

Philip's loud footsteps broke the stillness.
^^ " I tell you what it is, Nick," he began, angrily,
" you take too much upon yourself; you ignore the
rest of us, and will end in fetching us into trouble.
This house does not exist on behalf of Nicholas Car-
michael alone ; there are others of your blood, includ-
ing my father."

" What is this bad temper ?" asked Nicholas, dart-
ing a glance at his brother.

" You know well enough. I go to Marlock to effect
some business with Gellibrand, according to your
recommendation, and I find you have been practising
your tricks on Warburton. He had me by the heels
nicely. Damme ! I hadn't a word for myself."

" What the devil is it )'ou mean ?" asked Nicholas,
impatiently.

"Why, nothing, but that your ugly little plot
failed, that's all," sneered Philip. " Jules lies with a
broken neck, and Warburton moves about as stern as
a magistrate and as cool as a hangman. Faith! and
it will come to his hanging of us some of these days.
'Tis an ugly plot— a damnable ugly plot!"

Nicholas Carmichael had started and frowned at
the news, but now he himself asked, contemptuously
"What plot?" ■"

" Rubbish !" said his brother. " You know what I

184

^^^^^^^^K

^^^^H

^^^^^^^H^H

■ :

I^^^^BBl

■,

^^^^^^^^^

^^^^^^^^^B

^^^^m

CARMICHAELS TAKE COUNSEL

mean and all about it If I am to risk anything I will
have a voice in ,t, and that's flat. I won't ha?e you
passing behind me and handing over my head I
know the man has to die, but he shall die squarely •
and, however he dies, I will not have you drag us all
in without consultation."

Chloris Carmichael, who had followed her brother
and stood unperceived in the doorway, uttered a low
cry which no one heard. Philip turned to his father
on the couch^ "Sir, were you privy to this plan of
iNicholass? I will not believe it. He thinks he is
master here.

Sir Stephen's hand was lifted weaklv, but out of his

palsied face looked still strong eyes. " Your brother "

said he speaking low and slow and most indistinct,

must take precautions. He acts. There is great

peril on our house from this man."

"I would kill him myself in proper fight," said
Phihp, impetuously. "Let us do it as it Ihould be

" You are at liberty to do it," said Nicholas, harshly.
You will save me trouble. It must be done and
now," he added, decidedly. '

Again Chloris breathed a low and troubled cry from
her post by the door butt, p broke out again.

W./h";. . ^'"^%^"°^^^' "'^''^'"- Wh^tis this about
War bur on and a letter? I demand to know the
rights of that, and if what he says has any truth."
\Vhat does he say?" asked Nicholas, shortly
Why, that you are traitors to the King" said

to'Xt.!^' "^"' '^ '^^ ^ ^^"^^ ^^°- ^"-P"e
Nicholas looked at his father, and some communica-
tion sprang between them. " What he says is tru?'
he replied. " We are for Ireland, and not the^red^coats'"

18$

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" What !" said Philip, in amazement. " You are in
treaty with the French !"

" Fool ! do you suppose there is any love between
Carmichaels and the English?" asked his brother.
" You should know our history better. The Carmi-
chaels stand for a united Ireland and the breaking of
the chains."

Philip, sobered and astonished, was silent; then he
made a gesture of dismay. "I should have known
this before; it was my right to have known it," he
said, sullenly. " I care not a curse for Ireland. I was
brought up English, and I would have joined the army.
Damme!" — he turned angrily on Nicholas — " I tell you
I would do it now, and help to fight this Bonaparte
with whom you are intriguing."

Nicholas turned from him with silent contempt,
but at that instant there was another voice within
the room, and Chloris was at the window, he: race
hot with passion.

"We are traitors then, are we?" she cried. "Trai-
tors to the country in which we live? I have lived to
learn much to-day, and that is to be ashamed of the
blood which runs in my body, and of which I had al-
ways been so proud. I thought it stained by noth-
ing; but he was right — Mr. Warburton was right.
Our blood is dishonorable; we come of an infected
race. I would not have believed the tale if I had not
heard it from your lips."

" Stay, Chloris!" said Nicholas, angrily. " You will
say what you had better not. You have said too
much. You are a child, and know nothing of such
affairs."

" I know this," she exclaimed, passionately, " that
I would die rather than stab a man in the dark— and
that's our blood ! Said too much ! I have not said

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CARMICHAELS TAKE COUNSEL

a tithe of what is owing. See, Nicholas Carmichael
I have put up with you as blood-brother of mine'
deeming you hard and cruel, and partaking of that
heat which I share myself. But I had never thought
you treacherous nor cowardly, and that is what you
are."

"Silence !" said Nicholas, furiously. " Father, bid
her be silent."

The old man on the couch lifted his hand feebly,
but no words came from his lips, which labored under
paralytic excitement.

"I will not be silent!" she called. "Have I not
heard what you would have done in Marlock last
night, and how you set bravoes on Mr. Warburton, a
brave man, if your enemy ? He, at least, is an open
foe, and professes nothing; he does not strike by dag-
gers in the night. But I warn you that he will pull
you to destruction, as you richly deserve. My father
knows nothing of this. He is fooled by you. I— I
know nothing of politics and state, but— good God!—
I am a traitor, we are an infected race," and she flung
up her long arms helplessly with the short sob of a
returning reaction.

Philip uttered an uncomfortable laugh. " Gad •
sis, do you cast your eyes that way ? I believe you
have a fancy for the man."

Sir Stephen turned upon his daughter deep eyes
of an inscrutable sharpness, as if he could tear forth
her secrets ; but it was Nicholas who spoke, in calm
white heat.

"You shall go to your room, madam," he said.

Do you suppose I am going to listen to these hys-
terical indictments? Bring your charges against
others, but not your family. What is this man War-
burton to you that you should be so anxious for his

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CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

safety? And as for the other matters, you confes
you do not understand. You are a mere child a
nurse, and would be at your mother's strings ha
she lived, poor lady ! You are better in your roor
than meddling in what concerns you not."

" Had my mother lived you would not have bee:
what you are, Nick," broke out Chloris, bitterly.

" Bah !" he cried. " What shame is it to be an en
emy to the country you hate ?"

"'Tis the country that has harbored us and be
friended us," she returned, sadly. " But I will no
intermeddle with your designs ; they are nothing t
me, save that I must bear my share of the shame. I
you would ally yourself with Bonaparte, in God'
name do so ; but you shall not commit murder. Thai
at least, is not part of your political plan."

Nicholas made no answer, but a sour smile passe(
across his face. Chloris turned swiftly to her father

"Speak, father," she urged. "Tell him this mus
not be — that he exceeds himself. His black passioi
carries him too far, and he shall not so disgrace th
name as to associate with bravoes and assassins."

Sir Stephen shook his head, having not yet thi
power of speech, but his expression was unhappy an(
marked with alarm, as he followed his daughter wit)
anxious, wondering eyes. Nicholas spoke roughly.

" What do you know of my actions, or what I an
privy to? You know too much. Because your Mr
Warburton is assailed, am I his keeper ?"

" God shall judge whether you be or not," she an
swered, solemnly. "You may hide much from me
but not from Him."

Nicholas shrugged his shoulders. "'Tis time yoi
were in your room. Go to your room, simpleton, anc
pray or what you will. We have business."

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CARMICHAELS TAKE COUNSEL

Her eyes flashed back at him, but she went, with-
drawing slowly and with dignity, and, going, cast one
glance at Philip, who stood uneasily gnawing his
thumb and frowning. Sir Stephen still gazed after
his daughter with that fearful, questioning look.

Chloris locked the door of her room and confronted
her terrors. She had recognized the hard, black
mask which Nicholas Carmichael's face was wont to
become on the eve of some desperate resolution. He
was then in a still whiteness of anger which would
subsequently break and leap in a tempest of flame
She feared him and his designs, and sat above in her
chamber waiting until their deliberations should be
brought to a conclusion. Her heart fled to Warbur-
ton mstantly, fluttering like a bird that would defend
her young; she dreamed of danger to him, now that
sb : knew how unscrupulously he had been attacked.
The shame, too, of that new revelation overbore her
who had all her life been familiar with the free-trade
conspiracy and thought no harm of it. The country,
side was in league to thwart his Majesty's customs
and the stern laws, and there was none who lived
upon those coasts who would think badly of the
smugglers. But this traffic with one whom the com-
mon air about her had taught her to consider as the
enemy came upon her with a stroke of horror She
moved among the news bewildered, able to fix her
mind upon one fact only, and that was the increased
peril in which Warburton stood. If this were the
secret he held, what would not be plotted against
him ? He was not safe a day, nay, an hour nor a min-
ute, longer. He must be warned, and yet, with the
warning fresh in his ears, she knew that he would
heed it not. What course could she pursue to save
him while yet there was time? She deliberated until

189

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CIILORIS OV THE ISLAND

in her excitement her brain swam, and yet no \va\
opened out of the blind and terrible road.

Chloris was aroused some time in the early dark
ness of the evening by Philip's voice calling on her
She opened the do»)r, and he entered.

"Well," said he, with a grimace, " still sulking, sis?*

" What have you been doinj; ?" she asked, quickly.

" Oh, the schooner," he answered, lightly. " Slu
must leave to-morrow night at latest."

" Is that all ?" she asked, sharply.

He examined her face. "Faith! you're a spitfire,'
he said. " No, there's naught that you need trouble
your head with."

" You have some new plot against Mr. Warburton !'
she cried, fiercely.

Philip did not deny it. " Come, sis, do not be
foolish; the man must go somehow. I hate this busi-
ness of Boney's, but you see 'tis impossible now that
we should let him go."

"What, you will throw in your lot, then, with that
traitor Nicholas ?" she asked, with heavy breathing.

" No; he may be damned!" said Philip; "I will not
meddle with it. I am for King George and not King
Boney. I'll be damned if I move a finger! But War-
burton must go. Come, Chloris, you must see that
much."

She put him aside without a word, as though she by
that act spurned with contempt a voice that had no
weight, and passed softly and rapidly down the stair-
way into the hall. At the back of the hall a door
stood ajar from which a light streamed, and this she
pushed open, stepped across the threshold, clicked the
latch behind her, and was face to face with her brother
Nicholas. Out of her own features had been sudder:-
ly struck all the emotion and anger which she had

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CARMICHAELS TAKK COUNSEL

previously exhibited ; her brow was serene, pale, and
splendid, and only the quick fluctuations of her dress
witnessed to that internal passion. She had con-
trolled herself such as never Carmichael had be-
fore ; under so great a burden of love and fear she
walked.

Nicholas Carmichael was (jf a hard, hot spirit, (•ai)a-
ble of fanaticism, ardent to the point of insanity.
The Irish blood on which the race was founded had
been joined in these Carmichaels by a sterner north-
ern current, as their very name witnessed, and these
two forces— antagonistic, yet confluent, and mingling
in amazing incongruity — were pre.sent and visible
especially in the elder son of the house. Sir Stephen
was a lithe and durable man, whose native ardor had
been subdued by the deposits of age ; he offered now
a cold, contained face to the world, yet underneath
the fires burned still— which was why he cherished to
the end the ideals of his patriotism. In his son these
characters were enlarged and informed with extrava-
gant enthusiasms ; his spirit was open and large, and
his mind as narrow as the way to heaven. Apart
from their color, beauty, and their strong emotions,
there was little in common between Nicholas and hi.s
brother, or Nicholas and his sister. Yet. if he had an
affection for any of his family, it was Chloris whom
ne loved, and he eyed her now thoughtfully, and even
kindly, and with a calm as great as her own.
"What is it you want, Chloris?" he asked.
■■ Nick, Philip tells me "—she spoke slowly—" that
yo\i are making a plan to contrive the death of Mr.
vvarburton, whom you have already twice assaulted
i3 this so?"

Nicholas uttered an exclamation of annovance.
vv hat ! Must we go through this again ?" he asked.

191

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

'! '

! -.

" I have told you that I could lend no attention t
your advice. It is foolish in you."

" It is true, then ?" she said, quickly. *' You are gr
ing to slay him by any trick or cowardly device yoi
may ?"

'* My plans are not for hysterical girls," he said, short
ly, turning to the wall, on which hung many weapon?

"Listen to me, Nick," she said, commandinjjiy
"You are entering on a warfare in behalf of soni
ideal of yours. I say nothing against it, for it ma;
be that you are right when you accuse me of iyno
ranee. But one thing I may ask, and do ask : tha
this war be fair, and — and that it does not invoivi
you in the arts and practices of the assassin. Tak(
down your sword and musket by all means, if yoi
vvill, but take them down honestly, and take your owr
risks and in the face of your enemy."

" Do you accuse me of cowardice ?" he asked, wit!
a sneer.

" No; but of treachery and dark deeds which an
worse than cowardice," she said. " For the cowarc
at least has the excuse of his vice, but the brave mar
has none. I will not believe that you meditate i
crime, Nick. It is impossible."

" That is right," answered Nicholas, coldly, " be
lieve nothing, but go back to your broidery,"

" Do you think I will go content with that ?" shf
cried, giving way to the fire in her blood. " Do y^i
think I do not know what you purpose,? You arc :
devil, Nicholas Carmichael, but you shall not havt
your way."

"Why," said he, with a cool, contemptuous smile
" I think you are wrong, Chloris. 'Tis the gentlcmar
himself that has armed us with our opportunities
He holds too long."

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CARMICHAELS TAKu jUNSEL

"Wist !" she cried; "and because he has not iriven
you up to justice you would destroy him? VVhat
generosity! What gratitude •"

t cntly. He is holding out for purposes of his own
Do you not suppose he knows the dread and doubt
that hang over this island of Lynsea ? He has us in
his grip, but he shall wait too long "

"Nick! Nick!" she pleaded, putting her arms on
him. Do you not see by his silence for so long that
he cannot mean to betray you ? He would have done
It else. What reason could he have for silence? I
believe Nick, that he has repented of his determina-
tion to be revenged ; nay, Nick ! Nick ! it may be that
he has had his revenge," she cried, sobbing on his
shoulder. "Who can say? Who can say? But give
him-the chance. Let me dissuade him. I will take
the office on myself, my brother. I feel sure that I
could persuade him to silence. Let me try. Let me

Nicholas scowled on her darkly. " I do not under-
stand this," said he, "nor what this scene means.
What business have you in these matters? What
have you to do with this man, Warburton, that you
plead so for his life ?" '

" I would plead for any brave man's life," she an-

rhi . ^^^"''^ P'""^ '° ^^^^ y°" f^^'" the stain
of bjood-guiltiness."

"Bah!" he returned, sharply. "There is more
warmth in your voice and body than comes of any
fin- theory. What is't has happened to you > I
iave a thought that you look too kindly on ihis
elk)w. Better shake off such silly sentiments, for he
lovou""' '^" ^^ *^^""°t let him live. What [sit

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CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

Chloris dropped his arm and stood up, white, anc
shaking like a reed in the wind, all her passion, long
unnaturally pent, broken out of hand and keeping-
the living daughter of that untoward race.

" What is it to me ?" she repeated, and in so blind a
madness did she speak that his face was blurred be-
fore her eyes. " I will tell you, Nicholas Carmichael,
He is more to me than you and all my blood, more
than my life; a thousand times more than you," she
repeated, stamping her foot, while her pallor was in-
stantly charged with a heavy shock of blood. " You
are welcome to the news, I am proud of it, I glory in
it. There is that between us that none can destroy
or render null."

Nicholas uttered a cry of rage and made a step
towards her, but she drew back. "Hear me!" she
cried. " I tell you that I would not change what has
been. I belong to him; my soul and my life are
swallowed up in him; he commands me. Yes; it is I,
the girl, your sister, that prayed and played with
you, who speak; I the maiden, the sanctuary of igno-
rance, who was kept to childhood and knew nothing,
dreamed nothing, learned nothing, and desired noth-
ing. Behold! I am now newly come to my proper
estate. I am a woman, Nicholas Carmichael, and I
rejoice in that crown of womanhood. You cannot
hinder me ; and as for the man I love, he shall not
die. I tell you he shall not die !"

As she spoke her brother's face grew livid with the
intensity of his fury; his eyes shot blood, and his
mouth was set horribly; his frantic fingers moved
swiftly to the wall, and with an inarticulate cry he
pulled a dagger from the rack.

"He shall not die!" cried Chloris, savagely tri-
umphant.

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CARMICHAELS TAKE COUNSEL

Nicholas raised his arm, the light gleaming on the
blue steel and n his violent pv«! nnH f "» on tne
he hesitafffi Tk«^ u ^ 5^ ' ^^^ ^^^ ^ moment

" Fonl.'^^. / u^ ^"."^ '^^^^ ^^^ weapon.

death •• and .not • ^.°'""'^- "^^^ ^^ ^« ^^^^red of
death, and took a step towards the door

She uttered a cry and moved towards him as
though to hold him back, but with a movement of
great force he thrust at her brutally wTth hSarms
and she fell, striking her head upon the table aTd
rolhng thence to the floor. Nicholas Carmkhael
strode from the room in his high passion, not bokinj
the lor "'"''"'^" ^" ^^^ ^^"'^--^ the key in

"Ere she rise again, her lover will have perished "
he said, savagely, to himself. Pensned,

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CHAPTER XVII
WARBURTON MAKES A SURRENDER

CHLORIS opened her eyes in faint wonder and
gazed about her prison. Originally part ot
the ancient hall, this chamber reached to the
height of two storeys, and was lighted from
windows set aloft in the oaken walls. It now served
Nicholas for a private room, and bore the appearance
of an armory, so set and bristling was it with weapons
and trophies. Half-way up the walls ran a narrow
balcony from which once musicians had played to
the guests within the hall. Chloris lifted her head
from the floor, and it ached dully, throbbing from
her temples to the nape of her neck. She passed her
hand across it to stay the melancholy pain, and,
behold! it came back to her streaked with blood.
Slowly she disentangled out of her confused memo-
ries the picture of that quarrel and that struggle,
and with this inflowing recollection came the prick
of fear and the desire for action. There was danger
abroad for Warburton, and she must bring him help,
standing between him and death. No longer would
she plead with her unnatural brother, for the hour
was gone by for words, and nothing short of deeds
would save her lover. It would have been best had
he consented to her wishes— left the Carmichaels to
the hand of Cod, and withdrawn from that inhospita-

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ble and deadly coast. But he had refused, and she
had now no thought to move him; her passion had

^TVl . ^^^ 7^^^ °^ ^^""^^ bewildering emotions
which had reached her lately, and had comrforth
solitary pure whole and unscathed. It must not be
^ hat which should give way, for there was no power
to stand agamst that, no force upon this world-nav
and no hopes of any other; and since Warburton had
denied her request, and still stood for vengeance
she must yield him his vengeance. For his love and
to preserve him, she would break all the sacred ties
of blood, and make a holocaust of what she had till
now guarded equal with her own life and honor

Chloris saw this one way clear before her, for of a
sudden the clouds rose from her bewildered knd ach-
ing brain and all her course was .ncredibly distinct
with light. An ancient ink-horn stood upon a table
and here she sat down to write, under an^nspVation
come she knew not whence. F"«ti.iun

"?^^" t^" ^^^ pen ran quickly],— " Mv brother
Nicholas Carmichael, has plotted /wicked deed He
designs the death of Mr. Warburton, now in Marlo^k
and is on his way even now to accomplish it. Hasten'
sir, to put Mr. Warburton under your protection, and
to seize my brother, xXicholas Carmichael. Sir if thi^

,n?°Tr't'"'', '"^"^'^' ^ "^^'•^^ him with fre'e-trad-
mg. The boat lies now in Lynsea rocks. I beg vou
sir, to take him and hold him. ^ ^ '

"Your faithful and obedient servant,

"Chloris Carmichael."

When she had finished, she sealed the letter ad-
dressed it to a justice in the neighborhood of Mar-
lock, and put It in her bosom. Then she cast her eyes

^97

Ill

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CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

busily about the room; it was her jail. She tried the
door, which would not budge, and no windows opened
near the floor. High above the balcony was set the
one communication with the world beyond, now fast
dwindling into darkness, but still faintly visible under
the lingering western glow. If she were to escape, it
must be by this, and, her fears goading her forward,
she cast about for some means to reach the window.
The balcony was gained from a closet beyond by a
short winding stair, but she found the door of this
closet locked, and no efforts of hers could loosen the
heavy oak. Abandoning this route, she examined the
walls with swift flying eyes. They were, as has been
described, covered with weapons of all times and
countries; trophies of arms were converted into curi-
ous and orderly figures, strung from nails and cords.
Would they bear her weight ?

Chloris drew up chairs to the wall below the gal-
lery, and standing tiptoe upon these stretched forth
her slender arms towards the trophy next above her,
which was fixed some feet lower than the gallery.
She caught the butt of two muskets, one in each
hand, and with a jerk flew upward, swaying against
the wall. Yet the structure held even under that
rude shock, and, shifting her hold, she pulled herself
by stages higher and higher, until she hung in the
very centre of the arms, and rested her feet also on
that staunch stack. Gaining her breath, she meas-
ured the distance with a glance, and, pausing not,
leaped with out-cast hands across the intervening
space between her and the gallery. Her body struck
the rails heavily, and with the blow she was almost
hurled down into the room below ; yet her eager fin-
gers stayed her in time, clutching fiercely, greedily,
and there she hung for a little, half in, half out of

198

f f

WARBURTON MAKES SURRENDER

the balcony, until, her strength and life returning
she was able to crawl over the rails and drop in a
heap upon the gallery floor.

She was on her feet in a few minutes and had the
ong window open-a slit of visible twilight twenty
feet above the gravel path which bordered a little
orchard lawn Below was no foothold, merely va-
cancy until the ground, and there was but one wav
down-to leap Chloris did not shrink, though at
another time the thought of that great fall would
have sent in anticipation a horrible jar throughout
her body. Instead she put her hands to the sill
shpped ightly through, and dropping to the full
length of her arms, was thus momentarily suspended
above freedom. Then she let go and fell Her feet
struck the walk dully, and every bone and sinew and
fibre m her delicate body seemed to rip, break in
pieces, and crumple into a hot mass of pain. When she
gathered herself together and staggered to her feet,
she found to her surprise that she could walk, for it
had seemed to her that life itself must have cracked
m that horrible shock. She moved away, therefore
a swiftly as she might, dragging one leg behind the

sti^r'^.c^ ^T "'."'^^'' ^"^'"^ ^^"^^^y- but her mind
still fast set and pointing one way only, and her

courage still indomitable and ardent

She crept down silently into the little haven where
the pier jutted into the water. The cutter which
was used by the Carmichaels was gone, but she
hose the larger of two small boats in the house!
and, shoving it on the pebbles, launched it upon the
broad face of that gray inviolable sea. Outside the

theTl'nH '^^ "P '^' '^^ °^ ^^" ^"^ ^t^'^d away from
he island, purposing not to cross to Marlock, where
she might be noted by Nicholas or one of hi^ creat

199

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

i
: I

! J ■

I '. '

i 5
I

ures, but to make for the village higher on the coasi
which had been the scene of Warburton's grave ad
venture. Chloris was an admirable hand with sail
and oar, but by the stillness of the night she made
slow progress, though she pulled with her aching
arms to aid the flapping sail. Inch by inch, it seemed
to her, she in her craft crept over the water across
that lonely mile, watched by idle and benignant stars
and accompanied with the lazy wash of the reluc-
tant ocean. Yet foot by foot she drew near to her
destination, and at last ran the skiff ashore near by
Vincehallow and entered the village. Hatless as she
was, and breathing her distress with every deep in-
spiration, she startled the good people of Vincehallow,
who recognized her at once. The miracle of her
beauty, glowing brighter and fresher under her
physical efforts, struck admiration to the heart of
the village youth whom she addressed. She had a
letter (she said) which must reach its goal at once; it
was for Mr. Powis, of Laycross. It was a tribute to
her face as well as to her agitation that this large-
bodied and frank-eyed young man became the mes-
senger, and, once he had started, under particular
orders to push on with all speed and at all hazards,
Chloris went back to her boat. Yet now that her
mission was over, she began to doubt its success. If
this man should fail to reach Laycross in time, if Mr.
Powis should refuse to act upon such rude evidence,
even -f he were to act, but to act tardily— in all these
cases it would spell Death to Warburton. Now that
her messenger was gone, she was frantic in her
mind that she had suffered him to go, and had
not herself undertaken the journey, broken, sore,
and wounded as she was. And upon that suc-
ceeded the determination at least to see Warburton,

20Q

WARBURTON MAKES SURRENDER

to offer him a last warning, to plead yet again with
h.n, to see .f perchance he even now (GoT fo re
fend!) might not be sacrificed to her bro her's furv
-nay even at the lowest to set eyes once more upon
h.m to hear again his voice, and to min^^le aga°n
with his the accents and caresses of love ^

She turned from the sea. when the little runnin.r
wavelets came up about her feet out o the vasj'in''
visible, and went briskly landward, her face to the

ner lover. For a time she walked with strength and
animation, sustained by her excitement and the warm
desire to reach him; plunging over rough wavsb^
qmet lanes and across broken fields. untU aTleneth
she descended into the valley under the dunes But
here the difficulties of her journey grew, for the oath
was heavy and cumbered with vegeta ion so C
after some experience of it she regretted that she
stJrer" A T '° '""f '"^^'-^^^ '^^^ '"-"te bu' h^

the rou^h fi'^r^ ''T H"' '""^^' -"^^^ ^ '"^'•ass of
the rough fields, and she picked her way wearilv
through boggy, shining patches. stumblinV n h^
darkness over the inequalities, descending i^toullv
pits, and falling athwart hillocks. Down be"ow her
away by the sea, as she and all the people oF that
coast well knew, stretched the quicksands on.n
mouthed and ravening. Chloris at^ iS reached^h;
pTn?' The'f ' ^'^^^^-.^b-^^. dizzTaiSlrea^

obscurity added to her difficulties. Thert'was one

«oi

' f,

flH

I ;

«. i

llj
lilt

i ^'

CHLORIS OF THE ISL'^ND

large star which hung silver on the horizon, and tow-
ards this she unconsciously pushed her way; it shone
steadily, not with the inconstant twinkling of the
field about it, but lucently, mildly benignant, a hos-
pitable glory in the heavens. Vet this vanished from
her sight as she went down into the pools of sand,
rising again with encouragement as she climbed the
interminable mounds. Chloris's feet mechanically
beat upon the shifting earth, carrying her, as she
hoped, to her goal; but by this time she flagged, her
spirit had worn itself placid, even indifferent, and no
longer was any human feeling vital in her mind.
Although she strove to that one star, it was not with
any expectation of reaching it; for she had ceased to
revolve in her thoughts the end and motive of her
journey. It was just a dismal wilderness she tramped
under lonely stars and by unfriendly seas. The roar-
ing of the gulfs beyond the cliffs filled her ears with
distant clamor, acquainting her that she was still
working towards Marlock; yet, not that she consid-
ered, had not the voices of the sea grown louder, and
was she not therefore approaching the margin of the
land ? This reflection drew her to a pause, and she
stood with her weary limbs shaking under her. A
vague fear assailed, seeming to threaten formidable
issues, that perhaps she had gone wholly astray and
was come to another coast. Surely she could not
have wandered for so long among the dunes without
reaching some end, unless, indeed, she had gone round
in a circle like some lost traveller in hell. The drum-
ming of the sea saluted her ears and called her
nearer; and so once more she resumed her journey
moving now in the direction of the sound. And pres-
ently, although she saw nothing, when she had topped
a rise, the flying winds from off the bay took her in

302

WARBURTON MAKES SURRENDER

the face roughly, and would have rent her garments
from her. They strove to throw her down, and she
clung instinctively to the grass for succor, for out of the
depths ros« up a hollow murmur as of some creature
moaning hundreds of feet below. She stood as she
conceived it, upon the verge of a precipice, battling
with a foe that would cast her over; and thus with
slow steps and dread at her heart she crept back
whence she had come, not knowing whither she went
or V. what new perils she was exposing herself Once
at a safe distance from the cliflfs, she began to hasten
with all the speed of which she was capable, and as if
pursued by a phantom terror, away from the sea, in-
land once more, and towards the interior fastnesses
and silences of the dunes.

Roger Warburton returned from a visit to the rev-
enue sloop late in the evening. Gellibrand was in
earnest as to his crusade, vowing to his friend that he
would not leave one smuggler on the coast that was not
clapped into jail-not he. Indeed, he intended what
he said, and he was, besides a fop and an admirer of
beauty and rank, as smart a sailor as any in the revenue
service. All that he wanted, he declared, was a hint

Fut me on a smell, Mr. Warburton," he boasted " and
I ask no more. I will fetch the vermin home. I'm main
glad I saw that Frenchman ; it gives me a thought, and
1 would like your advice, since you know these parts "
I know -em v«ry scantily," said Warburton, "but
you are welcome to my information."

"Have you heard talk of the free -trade, as they
call it?-damn 'em !"-asked the lieutenant. " I shall
be obliged to you for the news, sir. Thank you for
the offer. It is right for all to join hands that his
Majesty may not be defrauded, and he who holds

203

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

his tongue, if he knows anything, is a rogue, sir, and
that's flat. He deserves hanging with the others."

"Ah," said Warburton, "but these gentry hold to
gethcr."

" Hold, sir!" cried Gellibrand; "damme! they shall
swing together. I will not be denied— I will not be
denied. I will be off to-morrow, the first thing, to
take counsel with Sir Stephen Carmichael. He should
know a good deal."

"Aye, he should know a good deal," agreed Warbur-
ton, ** but I hear he is sick abed."

"Sick, is he? Gad! I am sorry to hear it. Then I
will pay my devoirs and be polite. I must stand on
ceremony. I should have visited him before."

He saw his visitor oflf with deferential and alert
politeness, and Warburton's boat dropped away for
Marlock. As it left the sloop a cutter, wonderfully
handled, sprang out of the gloom across his wake,
and fluttered suddenly up into the wind. He looked
back with curiosity at her, but saw no one on board
partly ^y reason of the growing darkness and partlv
because of the plunging canvas. He headed his own
boat for the shore, but after a moment's indecision
the cutter put about and bore down on the sloop. It
was Nicholas Carmichael who stepped aboard the lat-
ter, wildness in his eyes, but outwardly possessed and
civil. He had recognized Warburton, and the strug-
gle in his mind had been sharp and brief; but, after
all, it was of most immediate importance to discover
what he had been doing on the sloop, and how much
Gellibrand knew. As for Warburton, nothing now
could save him, and ten minutes more or less would
take nothing from the fulness of his punishment.

But Warburton was at last serious in his resolve to
guard himself, for he saw that the time was come

204

WARBURTON MAKES SURRENDER

I'lfti;'^ H ^l' T\ ''''"' "" '"'^ "f^"' he must act pru-
dently He had almost composed his mind to end
thi. business next day and send the Carmichaels to
what the law w.n.ld exact of them. Yet he had t
some consideration. ponder, and he wanted peace
and soil ude. V . ., had landed, therefore he
went, not towarr' t h •• Thf • m i.r« •• h,.» »k u

i*-ri .iOd {■: isant to the flesh.

' " nl.l • be long before

■ ' i in' -,.',■ more, and that

wi-r ,!iore purpose, and by

"■^lo-nigh^ Presently turn-

' c i! i.ilaj u, making for Mar-

ft H . a 'ready dark, but the

I hiir, aid he stretched his

Hon

blowing off th

He was awpr

his enemies ,'

they would .:

surer agent

ing from the

lock by a shorter route

way was now fami!:;

ike

r»-

t He,

let 1)1

long legs briskly to ...c ^vaik. He had eaten" and
drunken well on board the Os/,rcj>, and desired noth
jng now save a glass of good confraband spirits and a
bed to sleep .n, for he had much to do, and mus? rise
betimes with the sun on the morrow "" "'"^^ ^^'^e
The gentle radiance of the field of stars spread
about the black dunes, discriminating between hlus
ami hollows, and turning the night to a gray mi '
He came soon upon the chapel ruins in the hoHow
and passed into the aisle, which held a deeper quaUr;
darkness within its walls; but between the massive
broken pillars became abruptly to a stop, for something
lay at his feet, whiter than the darknes- and softer
and warmer than the cold, hard earth. , 'e struck' a
light that flickered, a pale thread of flame in that de-
serted temple, and he was looking down upon the
quiet face of Chloris. ^

With an exclamation of dismay, and a great fear
at his breast, he stooped and lifted her, feeling at her

205

i'-

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

l«

' I' ■

bosom for the remnants of life; and next, lifting
her in his arms, as if she had been a child, he
stepped out of the ruins. Below the chapel, in the
heart of the sand-hills, stood, as he remembered, a lit-
tle cottage inhabited by no one. and now fallen to
become the merest skeleton of boards, plaster, and
rafters, through the gaps in which the winds flut-
tered at will. Towards this refuge he picked his
way, and, arrived there, lighted a candle, and set her
upon a rude couch of boxes. He poured some
brandy into a glass and put it to her lips; she opened
her eyes upon him and smiled faintly, trustingly,
happily; after which she closed them again. Mean-
while Warburton was making a busy examination of
her, and from the marks and signs upon her gar-
ments he guessed that she had come far and had
probably been seeking him with news. He felt a
spring of affection break newly from the heart that
he had hardened, and Chloris Carmichael no longer
seemed to be the sister of Nicholas or the daughter
of her father, but a beautiful and devoted woman
whom he loved. He touched her hands sooth-
ingly, and she looked up again at him with a
start.

"You shall tell me later, dear," said he; "drink
again of this." She shook her head, anxiety once
more regaining its seat in her expression.

" You are still safe, then?" she exclaimed, and drew
a breath of relief. " But you will not be safe long,,"
she added, quickly. " Nicholas has sworn to kill you.
You are to die to-night."

"And yet," said he, smiling, " I am alive."

" No, no, you do not understand, sir. I do not think
you appreciate your danger. The deed was in other
hands before, but now Nicholas, has taken upon him-

206

WARBURTON MAKES SURRENDER

u''?u*'^?!"''P*'^^' ^""^ ^°^«'^^ him, and that he is my
brother! ^

Her voice broke, and she explored his faceVith
trembhng as if she feared that he would impute this
to her and begged him not to cast her off for the sins
ot her house.

"I shall have him laid by the heels to-morrow "
said Warburton, curtly. "I have waited long
enough. ^

"Ah, you have waited too long," she said, and rose
to her feet uncertamly. "You must not go back to

Urwlu^'l "'^^u ^ ^« y°"' P^"'"'^^ «"« that.
Mr. Warburton. I have, by the providence of God

caught you m time in this strange and unexpected

fashion, out upon this wilderness. 'Tis written, sure

that I was to warn you not to return to-night "

Warburton smiled. "I am afraid of no assassin,
even if he be your brother," he said, bluntly

The irony which he had not intended, or himself
seen, was unheeded by her, who pleaded anew for his

"God is my witness "she declared, "that I have
never asked anything of you, Roger Warburton,
that was granted to me. Give me this one thing
now. It IS a little matter I ask of you, yet it is a
great matter to me-'tis all in all, for 'tis your life
Uve me your life, I pray you, sir, and you shall do
otherwise what you will."

"Tush, sweetheart," said he, " I will do what I will
in any case. But you must not be alarmed. Indeed,
1 may not consent to you; for I must carry my dear-
est lady to a shelter and safety."

;• This shall be my shelter and my safety," she
cried, vehemently. " Look you, I have travelled all
the way trom Lynsea, as these stains do witness, to

307

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

accomplish this. And as I came I said in my heart
' I will warn him, and he will obey me.' But then
my heart questioned me, ' Nay, you will warn him
and he will laugh at you'; and which is right my
heart or I? Nay, I declare that I shall have my wav
and that you shall tarry here this night, and here' I
will keep watch over you."

The emotion was tremulous in her voice, and War-
burton, looking at her. answered nothing. He was
sensibly moved by this declaration, and by the
thought that she had suflFere. these fatigues and
pains to help him.

" Did you lose your way, Chloris ?" he asked, gen-
tly. " How was it you came into such a plight, poor
child?" '^

She shook her head, for she would not speak of
what had happened.

"You must not concern yourself about me" he
added. '

She gave a start and caught him by the arm.
What IS that ?" she cried, in alarm. " Did you hear
that?"

Warburton listened, but only the sound of the ris-
ing wind upon the dunes reached him.

"Nay," he said, "'tis but the night growing wild
that warns me you must be off."

"No, no!" she cried, gripping him by the arm.
"What IS that? Hush!"

Warburton held his ears to the exterior vacancy'
of the wilds again, and again comforted her.

" Be not afraid," he said; " 'tis but the wind search-
ing under the eaves. Hark! it whistles through the
holes and crevices."

"You will be safe to-night if you stay here, then '
she said, pleading with him in a voice that was full

208

WARBURTON MAKES SURRENDER
of cajolery and agitation. " I do not think thev can
harm you here. Come, sit down, and iwi I watch
you while you sleep." . « m i wui watch

save youi" life. • -"«->. otay and

''And to-morrow?" he asked, lightly.
To-morrow also you shall be safe." she replied-

'•How do^ ''''• ^ ^'''' --con^plished that at l^st •'
nv^rL ^°" T^^"-" '^^ ^^J^^d, in astonishment

What have you done to protect me ' Hr, J
igirl?" P'^icct me. How can you,

plots Shan be laid agL,s. yo„"' V^^^ha ':^r,aWy

j«s,i«;°shr„hispired"^= "'''" "" "■' """>" '"
•• What!" he cried. ■• You have done this for me >■•

J£;;|-f;\i:etin^^

Warburton answered her with no word, for of a truth

^ new woman. He had not understood her. He

209

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1 !

\ fl

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

had refused to budge one foot for all her tears an(
entreaties, while she had voluntarily immolated hei
house and herself to preserve him in his obstinacy
Slowly a thought grew out of the chaos in his mind
and he caressed her hair softly, affectionately, bui
with abstraction.

"How did you send word and to whom?" he asked
slowly.

She told him in her whisper, breathing faster, but
now lower, in the pleasure of his touch— her face at
his breast. As his hand moved on the lustrous glory
of her hair it rested sharply, and he took it away.

"What is this?" he asked. "You are cut — vou
bleed." ^

" 'Tis nothing," she whispered—" nothing, my love.
I feel nothing."

"What is this, too, that you took for my sake?" he
asked, with his former slowness.

" 'Tis nothing." she repeated, hiding her face on
his breast. " I would suffer ten thousand times so lit-
tle for your sake. I desire only to have you with me
— and you will stay ?"

He set her gently aside. "No," he said, "I may
not stay, but, indeed, I shall not go to Marlock. I will
not have you more generous than I. I will not be
outbidden by any woman."

"What?" she asked, in alarm and dismay, not un-
derstanding.

He drew her close and kissed her lips. For all her
whiteness and her fallen hair she looked more beauti-
ful than ever before.

" Let that guard you, sweetheart," he said. " I will
return."

" Whither do you go ?" she asked, anxiously.

" That letter must not reach the magistrate," he

2IO

■

)
1

{•-\

fc^

I. a
IS?

tS^

- P'

WARBURTON MAKES SURRENDER

said, with determination "Vm, u„ •

jnuch for me. God .now^sl ^Zl\7dZT,^LX

he rlpea?e'd ' ^' H "^ '1° '""'^'^ '°^ ">«' ^°^ knows!"
ne repeated. I never knew you. Nav I will n«f

suffer .t. You shall not have'your bro'^^'hers death
upon your conscience. You ask too much ^f 'w^

^ *' Nay. nay. let it be. let it be." she pleaded, in dis-

n.w'.r''l'l*° ^^^ ^°°''' ^"''' ^« quickly halting on a

tiol h ff h'' .'"'' ^^"^ ^ S'^"^^ «f strange riolu-
t on; he had the aspect, so alive to his common habit
of one under the fire and influence of sZe exSted
and unusual emotion. He returned to th^girf and

Sra^pteX^er^'" ' ''''''' '' ''' ^^^^

it " DesTov it" TJf '""t'?^ '^'^' ^"'^'•y- " Burn

Tis BrnapJr e-s ittter'"' h' " ^""' ^^'^" ' ^«^"^-

" r hiA ^^^^^ ^ l^"^'^- He went again to the door

I bid you stay. Chloris," he said. "I will presentTv

ii'i

i> !

;i!

! I

CHAPTER XVIII
A ROBBERY AND AN ARREST

THERE was wind in the grass when he set foot
upon the dunes and turned his face towards
Marlock. The justice, Mr. Powis, with whom
he had a passing acquaintance, lived, as he was
aware, in a joint of two valleys far up under the bnjw
of the moorlcind ; and from what Chloris had let fall he
calculated that he could reach the house on horseback
from the village ere the foot-messenger could arrive.
To carry out this plan it was necessary that he
should take a horse in Marlock, and his own was
stabled at the " Three Feathers," to which inn he
bent his steps. The night was well advanced tow-
ards midnight when he entered the village, and, hav-
ing roused the ostler with difficulty, had the nag
saddled for the journey. The man regarded him
suspiciously, and, the noise of these preparations go-
ing abroad, he thought he saw the frightened coun-
tenance of Tremayne flattened against the glass of
an upper window in the tavern. But he paid no
heed, as, in truth, it would have been well to do; for
no sooner was he upon the road, clattering inland out
of Marlock, than the door of the inn opened and
Tremayne stole forth with the air of conspiracy, and
made his way down to a house by the edge of the
sea. Out of this presently emerged Nicholas Carmi-

212

A ROBBERY • U) AN ARREST
chad, and now the went thmn^u *u

business in the stables .uh aTotL horse so thl^T
eleven of the clock two horsemerwere cantcrt ' ^

u;;rt e"i.?k^' ^i V'^ ^-^'"^ ^-^Tsvii

exhV!;^alh;tdi,rg' '^^^ ^-"''""^•^^^ b>' — and

.eJhJ""^"'"':"' '''' '^^''•"^ "^^'''■^ '"""cent messen-
f u 'J?.^ ^""'" " "h ^'"^ ex-ritoment of Hie hunt •

he pushed his horse ahead along ,he s erM/..M i '

;vay, fearful lest he sh.udd Lai' deres : tecTt^^
time and should be too late The ^nfml
standing and staunch and fresh.I t T ::: ^
even Nicholas Carmichael, riding fuouly could
make no way upon him. Somewhere far ^ff the
winds of the night brought down to him the sou nSs
o h.s quarry, but he never drew near elugh ?o "e
eyes on him under those pale stars Rv r^,, u !

spurs ot the hills rode Roeer Warhnrt^r. j l i_. ,
hta, .care, halt a ^ile diS.S rh^pu^S
fate. The vicinity of Lavcross as Mr PrfJ:^. P"""'"^:
was styled, was heavily SUhfrerrso thl^^^H^
madethicknightabout'thehamletSurhthYsbl^^^^^^^
Warburton rode up to the house and ranTloudlv
ui-n the bell for he could see a light burni^ig Through
thower windows which told him that somfone was
nil w l«^««P>'-'°"kinff fellow answered the door
and to Warburton's direct question returned a neT

eue'r had^re't ^^ '^' '"'''' '^^^ "igh^'a^d f i

-f h^t Th^ s^atistctr rs hf ?otrt\?^:

fh?; 'f k""*^ ? ^ P^^^ •" ^he direc waT towarSs
the coast, beneath the evening shadows of the snr^

chaels had left h.m, and he was engrossed whoTl •

213

CHLORIS «)F THE ISLAND

with his errand, resolved to carry it out to the
end.

He had not been in his place very long when there
was the noise of u horse's huofs upon the road, and he
saw approaching a rider out of the ascent from Mar-
lock. But this could not be the messenger who went
by foot, and he stirred not from his shelter. The
horseman pulled in, and stood silent in the middle of
the road before Laycross, his long black figure visible
in the faint light. T'en he set his horse walking
slowly forward, and as ne faled away out of sight into
the neutral night, Warburion was aware of footsteps
that drew nigh. A man hopped over a stile and drop-
ped into the road, then walked straight towards him.

" 'Tis my man," said Warburton, under his breath,
and, moving his horse, hailed him.

The new-comer, who looked in the gloom to be a
fine, tall fellow, waited on the edge of the entrance to
the park. Away in the night the second horseman
reined m again, and turned his ear towards the voice.

"Look you, my good fellow," said Warburton.
"You bear a letter to Mr. Powi.s, do you not?" The
man made no reply. " Come, I know you do," pur-
sued Warburton. "Twas a lady sent you. You
see I know all about it, and I am here to tell you that
she has changed her mind, and does not desire it
shall be delivered."

" What letter do you talk of ?" asked the man.

" 'Tis useless to pretend with me," said Warburton,
impatiently. " You are Mr. Vincehallow, and I am
here to obtain the letter from you. 'Tis not to go to
Mr. Powis."

The man backed away and answered nothing.
" Come, fool," said Warburton, " I speak the truth. I
am the lady's friend."

214

A ROBBERY AND AN ARREST

For reply the man darted swiftly forward, and was
through the gate ere Warburton was aware of the
trick. With an oath he followed, his horse lumber-
ing over the beds and lawns, which the fugitive had
selected as his best way of escape. To pursue a fly-
ing runner on horseback among all those shrubs and
spaces of darkness was obviously impossible, and he
flung himself out of the saddle. Rut by this time the
man had gained the doorway, and the bell pealed out
in the court - yard, jangling inharmoniously on the
quiet night. Ere Warburton could get to the house
the sleepy servant had opened the door, the letter
was delivered, and the officious and faithful messenger
had slipped into the invisible from which he had come

Warburton hesitated not, for his obstinate temper
was now fully roused. Drawing to the door, he also
rang, and, when the servant appeared, stared quickly
at his hands, as if he expected to find the letter there

"Is your master abed?" he asked, suppressing his
disappointment. The man thought not, but would
sec, and Warburton followed on his heels, entering
a small and comfortable room -a sort of study brill-
iantly lighted- in which a small, middle-aged man
of equable face sat before a table, reading.

He looked up in astonishment at the intrusion, and
Warburton bowed. "I must ask your pardon, Mr
Powis. for this untimely interruption," said he. " But,
indeed, I have some pressing business with you, as
you shall see presently."

Mr. Powis turned up the lamp by him and exam-
ined his visitor anew, but without expression. " I
doubt not that what is important to you, Mr War-
burton, will not fail to be important to me," he said
slowly. '

Warburton's glance quickly took in the circum-

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i -t

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

stances of the room, with all its appointments, and
came to rest upon a letter which lay by his host's
hand, unopened, the superscription uppermost. The
man-servant had already withdrawn.

The justice of the peace put down his book. "Will
you take a seat, Mr. Warburton ?" said he, with a civil
gesture.

Warburton did not accept the invitation. " I am
come here, sir," he began, slowly and ponderously,
"upon business which concerns a correspondent of
yours."

" Indeed, sir," said the justice. " Who may that be?"

" 'Tis a woman, sir, who has writ what she should
not have writ, and that which her friends desire her
to withdraw."

The justice's eyes fell, almost as if by accident, upon
the letter by his hand. "Does she desire to with-
draw ?" he asked.

" She knows not what she did," replied Warburton.
" She was distraught, being overtaken by a wild spirit,
to which no heed should be paid. What she has writ-
ten should not be for any eyes save her own."

" You refer to this letter which I have before me, I
assume," answered Mr. Powis, nodding at the table.
He took it in his fingers thoughtfully, and looked
towards the young man. " You ask me to give this
up to you unread?" he asked.

" Unopened, sir, unbroken," said Warburton,bluntly.

" Do you bear any authority from the writer to that
effect?" inquired Mr. Powis, after a pause. "And
again, how shall I know if the writer be she whose
authority you bear?"

" I carry no authority," said Warburton, curtly; " I
ask you to take my word that this should not have
been sent you."

216

- J'"
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I I

A ROBBERY AND AN ARREST

" Mr. JVarburton, you ask too much," said the
other. "Am I to infer that this is addressed to me
in my office as a justice of the peace, or as a private
man ?"

" You may infer what you will," answered War-
burton, impatiently. " I give you my word of honor
that tha letter should not have been written."
•^ "Come," said the justice, with a smile, "this is a
; queer request. I am no gallant, yet it might be
that I had found favor in a woman's eyes, even at my
time."

"And such news her friends might desire should
not reach you, sir, returned Warburton, promptly.

" I understand that, sir," admitted Mr. Powis, after
a pause. " Yet you see I have no proof that this is
so. Will you give me your word that it is as vou
say?"

"Sir, I have said before, you may infer anything
you will. 'Tis only of importance that I have the
letter," answered the younger man.

Mr. Powis sat back in his chair, still holding the
letter. " Mr. Warburton," he said, slowly, " you come
of an excellent, a noble family, which has rendered
great service to the state. I believe you to be an
honorable man, as all that blood is honorable. Yet
you puzzle me. I have had to take a course to-day
which has been repugnant to me, but was thrust upon
me by an urgent information— an affidavit, in fact.
Is it on this business you are here ?"

" I know nothing of what you speak," said War-
burton, staring. " I am only here to get that letter,
as I have informed you."

A frown of perplexity disturbed the still features
'jf the justice. He appeared to hesitate. " Perhaps,
now that you are here," he went on, " my precautions

217

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f i:

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

may prove to have been unnecessary. If you have
no objection, I should like to have some talk with
you."

" Sir, my business is with the letter first; after that
I am at your service," said Warburton, bluntly, for it
struck him that he was being played with and the
matter in hand indefinitely postponed.

" I think you are not one, sir, who, holding some
information of interest to the law, would conceal it?"
asked Mr. Powis, paying no heed to this piece of im-
patience.

An access of color charged Warburton's face as
the magistrate scrutinized him in the bright light.
" I am not fetch-and-carry for the law," he replied.

Mr. Powis straightened himself. " I regret, Mr.
Warburton, that your request is impossible to grant,"
he said, formally. " It is absurd that you should
think I could entertain it."

Warburton took a breath deeply, which was one of
strenuous resolution; he would not budge, but he did
not desire to be forced to arbitrary action.

" Let me put a fact Lefore you, sir," he pleaded.
" What I am asking you to do is to save a woman
from herself, to preserve hsr self-respect for her and
her peace of mind. If you refuse me, you commit
this woman perhaps to a life-long remorse, and to
the punishment of her own bitter regret. I do not
ask of you anything that in any way affects myself,
only a woman who is weak and has suffered through
the weakness of her sex."

" The poverty of that sex, sir," responded the mag-
istrate, " is no plea for the alms of justice. I can en-
tertain no such proposal from you. I open this let-
ter, and I shall read here what is written. If there
is anything that I should know, you may trust me to

218

A ROBBERY AND AN ARREST

act ; but if there is some mistake, and I am listening
to the improper confidences of a headstrong or hys-
teric girl, you may rest assured that 'twill go no fur-
ther — the news shall perish with me in this room."

" That is not enough, sir," said Warburton. " I have
asked more, and I will be content with no less. I
am not here to be beaten down. You force me, sir,
upon a course I would rather not take."

Mr. Powis considered him. " You mean that you
would use violence to gain your end ?" he said.
"Well, Mr. Warburton, I am no rustic; I have been
a lawyer in London, and I think I can give you a
clear notion how the law stands. Let me tell you
that you would stand to it in a very dangerous pre-
dicament."

" It is unnecessary to waste words, sir," interrupted
Warburton. " I have given you warning. Yonder, I
see, is a clock, and I will give you two minutes to
make up your mind."

The magistrate looked at the clock, and it seemed
of a sudden to have jumped into consciousness; the
long pendulum swung with a slow and dignified click,
and the weights creaked near the floor. Under his
hand a stiff sheet of parchment crackled, and he cast
his eyes down upon it.

"I would you were come, sir," he said, in his cool
voice, as if the last words had not been uttered. " I
would you had come on some other business. If it
had been for this affidavit you had come, I would
have been content. Upon my soul! I believe you
should have had it on your bare word."

"I know nothing of any affidavit," said War-
burton. " Sir, I would draw your attention to the
clock."

Mr. Powis followed his glance, and then, impec-

219

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youi

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

cably calm, revisited Warburton's face. On neithei
countenance was any trace of emotion.

" You are between me and the bell, sir," said th<
magistrate. "Again, you are a stronger man and
younger. I think you must be twice my weight."

" I am taking this advantage of you to-night," was
Warburton's answer. " I am, as you will admit, sir
carrying it through as gently and mildly as I may
To-morrow will be another matter. I am at
disposal when and where you will."

" You mistake ; not at my disposal, but at the dis-
posal of that force I represent — the law," said Mr,
Powis, quietly.

Warburton shrugged his shoulders. "The time is
up," he said, and, advancing, put out a hand for the
letter which now lay upon the table. The magistrate
watched him out of his deep-set eyes, but moved not,
and the letter was between Warburton's fingers. He
put it in the breast of his coat, and made for the door.

" I shall be at your disposition, sir, after to-night,"
he repeated.

Mr. Powis answered nothing, merely bowed his
head, and continued to regard him softly as he dis-
appeared through the doorway.

Outside the house Warburton mounted his horse
and rode from the gates with no elation but with a
certain solid satisfaction as of a duty discharged. It
was characteristic of him that he cast no backward
glance at his own decision and achievement ; that he
had saved Nicholas Carmichael at his own expense
did not trouble him. He never considered it; his
nature was too plain and simple, above all, too arro-
gant and firm. He turned his horses' head towards
Marlock, pointing down the valley.

As he passed through the gates the horseman who

220

Ijl?

A ROBBERY AND AN ARREST

was in waiting beneath the huge elms that bordered
the road, struck spurs into his animal and followea
after him.

"Tis as I thought," said Nicholas Carmichael to
himself, his temper lashed into a frenzy; "he has
spoken at last, and there remains but one thing. By
God in heaven ! I have two matters against him that
spell Death."

Warburton sprang away at a gallop, and his pur-
suer struck viciously at his horse to sharpen his
pace; for there were but a hundred yards between
the unconscious rider and his enemy. The road
lapsed out of the blind chasm of trees and was visible,
a gray thread winding downward into a hollow of
darkness. At this point the two were not fifty paces
separate, and Warburton, with the noise of another
rider in his ears, turned in his saddle. As he did so
there came a voice from the pit before him •

"Halt!"

The challenge rang out brisk, sudden, startling on
the night, and involuntarily Warburton reined in, the
horse staggering and slipping on the descent, until it
came to a stop in the centre of a group of men.

"What is this ?" demanded Warburton; and then
making out the uniform of a military officer, " Are
you gentlemen footpads, that you stop one on the
King's highway?" he added.

" Is it Mr. Warburton ?" inquired the officer " Par-
don me; the light is damnable. If 'tis you sir we'
are doing nothing but our duty. Tis my mis'fortune
to have to arrest you. I am from Edgecombe."

The devil!" cried Warburton, starting, and was
silent awhile.

''What foolish business is this?" he asked next.
There is some mistake committed."

221

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

.. * ^ ^®*'" ."°^' ^'■- Warburton," answered the officei

" I am acting upon the authority of a warrant issue

by Mr. Powis of Laycross."
Warburton laughed harshly. "Damme! I must b

pinched to see if I am awake. What charge? I de

mand your warrant."
"You shall see it, sir," said the officer, civilly, "foi

by your leave, I will conduct you to Mr. Powis's, wh.

lives by here, I am told. Sergeant, form and forward

Mr. Warburton, I hope you will accompany me as :

friend might, and not a prisoner."

Warburton was about to give an angry answer anc
pull at his beast, but a glance at the party round hiir
changed his intention. He was bewildered at this re
markable turn in aflfairs, and suffered himself to b(
led back upon the way to Laycross without remon
strance— even without a word. The horseman, whc
had followed him, had seen the meeting from the
patch of darkness in which he sheltered, and, upon the
movement of the soldiery, twisted his bridle and gal-
loped hard in the direction of Marlock. Arrived in
the village he rattled under the window of the " Three
Feathers," where the sign-board swung creaking in the
night winds.

"Awake, fool!" he called, and struck on an upper
casement with his whip. " Awake, fool ! The game is
up. The red -coats are out. Get you to the island
and warn my father."

The innkeeper's head appeared, crowned with a tas-
selled nightcap. " Mr. Carmichael, is't you, sir ? You
scared me. Oh, my God! the soldiers. I cannot do it
by myself. Whither go you, sir ?"

Nicholas Carmichael held up two fingers under the
light, and both were stained with blood. "I have two
counts, and both are death," he said. " Get you gone,

222

I I"

NICHOLAS AROrSEU THE INNKEEI'ER

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■mKBtmm

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i^^^^l

■ijyi

A ROBBERY AND AN ARREST

as ' bid," with which he vanished again into the
night.

Meanwhile the cavalcade conducting Warburton
reached Laycross, and, after the usual ceremonies, the
captain of the troop with two of his men and Warbur-
ton were admitted into the justice's room. Mr. Powis
sat where Warburton had left him, reading from the
same book, and his face and voice were as quiet as ever.

"Whom have we here. Captain Rash?" he asked.
"A prisoner? Not a prisoner, surely, Mr. Warbur-
ton? You are of a house that should not suflfer this
disgrace."

" I have yet to learn, sir, by what right I am arrest-
ed, an 1 on what charge," said Warburton, stormily.

Mr. Powis turned to the officer, "Your warrant,
sir?" and taking the paper, which was handed to him'
in silence, perused it carefully. " You are charged
herein to take the person of one Roger Warburton,
lodging in the " Three Feathers," on the suspicion of
participation in a conspiracy against his Gracious
Majesty." He folded the paper and returned it to
the soldier. " 'Tis correct, as it should be, seeing I
drew it myself," he said, coolly, and looked his pris-
oner squarely in the face.

''Conspiracy!" broke out Warburton, in amazement.

" A case of accessory after the fact, at the least, I am
told. That is the information sworn to," said Mr. Powis.

Warburton's head went round. Was this a cunning
move on the part of the Carmichaels to hold him in
bondage until they were ready for him? No; this ,
idea was quite impossible, seeing that only his in-
stant and secret death could help them.

" May I ask, who swore the information ?" he in-
quired, at length.

" That I may not say," said the magistrate. " This

333

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■ ' u

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

warrant ai'thorizes your arrest, and—" he paused,
" that you be searched."

Warburton turned red-hot and his brow grew black.

" What mean you ?" he said, fiercely.

" 'Tis necessary," said Mr. Powis. " I am helpless."
He made a sign to the captain, who in his turn issued
a command to his men with obvious reluctance. War-
burton's face for a moment took on a ferocious as-
pect, but, slowly changing, he addressed the magis-
trate. " Will you take my word, sir, that all I pro-
duce is all that I have on me?" he said, slowly. Mr.
Powis met his gaze. " Yes," he answered, after a
momentary pause. " We desire to humiliate no one
in the exercise of our duty, least of all, one of your
position, sir."

Warburton turned out the contents of his pockets,
which the magistrate formally examined; then, after
a quarter of an hour's silence, he looked up at the
prisoner. " Is there nothing else ?" he asked. " Have
I your word that there is nothing else?"

Warburton uttered a sharp laugh, and withdraw-
ing a letter from his breast, threw it down on the
table. " There is only this letter addressed to your-
self, sir," he said.

Mr. Powis took it up. "Ah! indeed," he said; "I
have to thank you for playing messenger to me."
He turned to the officer, " Captain Rash, you are re-
quired to hold this gentleman in the village until
the examination is complete; there are yet his effects
at the inn, and, as you may need my presence, I will
ride with you."

Warburton walked to the window and looked out
on the garden, where the moon was rising late. He
was a prisoner, and Chloris waited by the broken
chapel on the desolate dunes.

224

CHAPTER XIX

WARBURTON SAILS FOR THE ISLAND

WARBURTON waited impatiently in the
custody of the soldiers at Marlock until
he should be released. As he strode up
and down the bare room that was his
prison he recognized at last what his arrest had
meant, for the examination of his effects could only
have been ordered in the hope of finding some com-
promising evidence. Undoubtedly that was Bona-
parte's letter, and whoso had struck at him thus was
aware of the existence of the letter. Only by an ac-
cident it was not upon his person, for he had given
it to Chloris with instructions to destroy it, and no
doubt by this time, a little fluttering dust of ashes,
it was scattered to the sands. But who had knowl-
edge of his secret? Again he dismissed the idea that
the Carmichaels were responsible for his arrest, for
they would be mad, indeed, so to endanger their own
safety. And now what irritated him more than all
was the return of Chloris's letter to the Magistrate.
He had completely failed, for the irony of fortune*
had delivered him into the very hands from which
he would have escaped. The reason of Mr. Powis's
calmness, as well as of his kindliness under the out-
rage, was apparent now, seeing that his own escape
had been impracticable, and that the justice had

f 225

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CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

known he was but marching upon his fate. His mis-
sion had ended in disaster, and by a strange turn of
the wheel he was himself the medium by which the
law was to be acquainted with the crimes of the Car
michaels. Yesterday he would have contemplated
the fact with equanimity, even with satisfaction if
not with actual triumph; but to-day, fresh from his
enterprise, and under the spur of his new and altered
emotions, he chafed against the accident which had
given Nicholas Carmichael to justice.

In the midst of these meditations the door of his
chamber opened and Mr. Powis entered.

"I have great satisfaction in informing you, sir "
he said, m an official manner, " that nothing has been
tound which IS in any way prejudicial to you, noth-
ing, m short, such as we were led to believe would be
found."

Warburton bowed stiffly. "And now, sir. perhaps
you will allow me my liberty," he said, coldly.

, „ -FZ^ ™^' ^''■' •'"^ >'°" forget something, sure-
ly, said Mr. Powis. " There was something else be-
tween you and me. One score is settled in your
favor, I am pleased to say; but what of the other ?"

I understood that that was a private matter be-
tween us," replied Warburton, haughtily. " I am no
common pickpocket."

Mr. Powis took a pinch of snuff. " If you were to
ask me in my capacity as a private gentleman, I
should say no, Mr. Warburton, but I am more than
that, he said. " What happened touches me in an-
other quality. I am also a justice of the peace "

Of which I have heard a great deal," retorted
Warburton, with a sneer. " You have spoken of your
London experiences, sir, but it seems to me you smack
rather of a pettifogging country attorney."

226

1 m

MR. I'OWIS I'KKrsEI) TIIK WEUTINfi AGAIN

i i

WARBURTON SAILS

"Is that how it strikes you?" asked Powis, imper-
turbably. " I had not thought of myself in that hght,
but rather as one who endeavored to do you a good
^V" and warn a headstrong young gentleman from
his folly."

"You are very good, sir," said Warburton, with icy
politeness. " I pray God I may meet men such as
you, to take refuge with such ceremony behind the
forms of law!"

Mr. Powis considered him without animosity "Will
you tell me this." said he : " why it is you came to
rob me of that letter ?"

Warburton was silent, feeling too angry to suffer
those cross-questions. " I may tell you, Mr. Warbur-
ton," went on the magistrate, " that I took the lib-
erty of opening the letter which was addressed to
me and have read the contents. What I should like
to know IS, why you desired me to give you up that
communication unread ?"

"If you have read it, sir, you have the answer,"
said Warburton. bluntly.

Powis shook his head. "I fear not," he said, and he
took from his pocket the paper, unfolded it. and
perused the writing again. "Unless I am very
stupid, • he observed, " there is nothing here to call
for your interference."

"Good God! man," cried Warburton, impatiently.
Are you mad? You have read it. Can you not see
what the girl has done? What! is't nothing to de-
liver up your own blood, right or wrong? I would
have spared her that memory. She was distraught:
tis a poor, mad child. I would do it again, but it is
too late." He glanced at the guards, and the open
letter m the magistrate's hands, and then shrugged
his shoulders. **

227

' i !

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" But, faith ! Mr. Warburton, you perplex me," said
the other, with a little pleasant laugh. " Know you
what is written here? I believe you cannot. This
Nicholas Carmichael is no friend to you ?"
" He is a bitter foe," said Warburton, gloomily.
"Why, then, you know what is here contained? I
beg you read it," and he placed the letter in Warbur-
ton's hand. The latter obeyed, and when he was
done looked up.
"Well!" said Powis.

" Well !" echoed Warburton. " Nicholas Carmichael
is no friend to me, but I know of nothing else. I tell
you that she, poor girl, is sick of her senses, being ill.
She is crazy upon this. I know no more."

"And yet, sir, you perilled your liberty to get this
letter?" suggested Powis, softly.

" I am my own master," said Warburton, with dig-
nity, and turned away.

The magistrate was silent, musing, with his gaze di-
rected upon the averted head of his companion. Pres-
ently he spoke.

" Mr. Warburton," said he, " it lies in my authority
to have you held here for trial on a serious charge—
of robbery. I do not see — I, who know the law —
what other face this rash adventure of yours wears.
It lies in me, I say, and yet— I speak as a private citi-
zen of this great kingdom — I cannot find it in my
heart to 'o so. I will not prosecute."
" Sir !" said Warburton, in astonishment.
" You are free, sir," said the magistrate.
Warburton was silent, eying him. " If I have said
anything that moved you to this—" he began.

Powis waved his hands. " You do not count," he
interrupted; "'tis my whim. I cannot be forever a
justice."

3tf

WARBURTON SAILS

" I have taken what is necessary from it " answer^,!
I shou-tn^"; ^'"' '" '^« °^^'"^'>^ -"«•-. Suppose

cept your offer," and he tore the paper into rals and
scattered them on the floor. Then he looked at the
other as if with a new thought. "You will act on
this mad information ?" he asked

Powis looked him full in the face. "You are :,
stranger on these coasts, sir," said he "and ? thfnt

«^ni&J--^^^^

^^Z;Z^r -y P-e as vain an^ S

nof ^ J^i'^!f '^ '^'"'" '^'^ Warburton. " Yet I know
not what adversary laid this snare for me."

'^mfjl': '^'^ '^^ niagistrate, snuffing again-
maybe twas, as you say is this other matter-;.

question of the hysteric " matter — a

Warburton started. " 'Twas a woman.?" asked he

Mi s'^HoS Ift' "° T^ " ^' ^°^- • ^« «aid, "'twas
Miss Holt, as Im a hving man!" The justice still
made no reply, and Warburton laughed. "The she
devil! she's possessed, I believe. 4at was her pur-'

229

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" Mr. Warburton, what was Miss Carmichael's pur-
pose f "' asked Powis, suavely.

Warburton frowned. "I am greatly in your debt,
sir," he said, " but as 'tis mighty early now, I will not
keep you from your bed."

" On the contrary," said Powis, quietly, " I am but
beginning my day."

He indicated the window, which had grown a blue-
black patch upon the vanishing night. Warburton
followed his gesture and saw some tiny lights break-
ing out in the bay and threading busily about the
dark outline of a hull. He saluted and went down
into the loosening darkness.

Not twenty paces from the cottage which had been
his jail he caught sight of a woman's form, and his
name was called softly.

"Chloris!" he cried, in amazement.

" 'Tis I — 'tis I," she whispered, springing upon him.
" I could not wait for you so long. I followed here,
and heard you were taken. Oh! why did they take
you ? 'Tis we that should be lodged in prison."

" You must not be seen here," he said, hastily; " you
will be seized otherwise and examined by the justices.
I was not able to stop your letter."

"Then indeed I rejoice," she answered, warmly,
" and I will stay and answer what questions they will.
Now that you are here, and under the protection of
the soldiers, you are safe, and I will abide with
you."

"Poor child!" he exclaimed, "I am not under pro-
tection. I am newly let out of prison, where I was on
suspicion."

" Suspicion of what ?" she asked.

Warburton grinned. " Suspicion that I was partici-
pator in some treason — suspicion of accessory."

230

fill

WARBURTON SAILS

" 'Tis that business of Bonaparte's ?" she asked, and
broke out, " Did you speak the truth ?"

" Nay," said Warburton, grimly. " They searched
my inn, but there was the letter in your hands, and
burned; and, faith! they took nothing."

"Tis not burned!" she cried, sharply. "And you
told nothing ?" He shook his head. " You have sac-
rificed yourself for those that hate you and would
destroy you ?" she burst forth.

" Damme ! no," said Warburton, bluntly, " but for
one I love, and I have not sacrificed myself, neither."

She hung on his words greedily, hungrily, and
swept her arms about him. " I will not have you
peril yourself one hair's-breadth more !" she ex-
claimed. " Let Nick look to himself. You are worth
much more than he."

"I care not a curse for him," said Warburton.
"But the soldiers have been put on his track."

" What care I ?" cried Chloris, recklessly. " He has
sought your life. 'Twas I informed of him."

"Aye," said Warburton, glancing at her, " and that
is why I care, somewhat. They must not take
him."

" I will not budge one step to save him!" she cried,
angrily.

" But not your father?" he asked.

Her face faltered. " He is my father," she mur-
mured. "I remember how he has carried me in his
arms."

Warburton pointed towards the sheet of darkness
which was still all that marked the ocean, and the
little lights he had formerly observed were moving
briskly on the blacker lump.

" 'Tis the revenue sloop," he said. " No doubt she
has orders, and is for the island. They are at work

231

, -It

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

hauling the anchors, and in an hour's time they will
lie under Lynsea."

" They know not the caves," she murmured, in dis-
may and agitation.

"They will seek them out," he replied. "They
will make a thorough search, for your father and
your brother lie there."

" Nicholas is abroad," she whispered. " He is seek-
ing you."

"He will have his work against those that seek
him," sneered Warburton. " Let him go his gait
but Sir Stephen and Philip—" *

" I would spare them," she whispered. " Oh. mv
God! spare them."

*' Come," commanded he, " we must get a boat."

"Whither are you bound?" she demanded, in excite-
ment.

" We are for Lynsea," he said.

Chloris Carmichael seized him by the arm. " You
would go to warn my father ?" she asked, wistfully.
' You who are the enemy of our race?"

" 'Fore God, dear, I am no enemy to you, as you
should know!" cried Warburton, with passion in his
voice. " If every drop of blood that ran in you was
foul and black, by Heaven! I would have you still,
and that possession is a shield to any of your name."'

Her face, suffused with a dim glory in the dissolv-
ing night, shone white, mystical, and lovely upon
him— a pearl of such a quality as was visible of its
own light; her full, fine eyes, like sparks, glittered and
glowed.

" Though you gave nothing and took all, yet would
I remember you," she murmured, brokenly. "For
you are my life, my house, and my honor. I have
given freely, and I repent nothing. I must give

232

WARBURTON SAILS
again a thousandfold, though you denied me as a
^W^- o°" ''*'"' '*°'*'" °"'y that which I have

behold! I will not move one step to cross this channel
and give warmng in Lynsea. I have hollowed out
my fortune, and there lie I, uncomplaining, at peace-
nay, happy beyond the lot of women'"

.u^A ^''''^.,^^' ^^^V"- "^°" "'^*" <=0™e ''ith me.
child; we will go to Lynsea."

'•What do you go for?" she asked, softly

, ..I'u ^P*""*" ^°"'" ^°"'^ ^"^ ^'°°d." said he, quiet-
ly. They are in my hands, and I spare them for
your sake."

"I do not desire you to sacrifice this for me," she
said, pleading. "Do as you will; 'twill be right and
meet and just."

" Foolish !" he murmured, tenderly. " Do you not
see that what I might with justice bring upon them
it is not meet that you should ?"

She uttered a little cry. "My father!" she ex-
claimed, m low tones. "Have I betrayed him? 'Twas
only Nick."

II You shall save him," he said, confidently.
How ? He is ill, he is stricken, and he cannot es-
cape, she said, in a melancholy voice.

" T ' ^-n '1^ ""^J^^' ^^^"^ "P • Y°"^er is a boat," he said
1 will slip her moorings if you take the tiller "
She did as he commanded almost mechanically, and
stared through the gloom in wonder and distress at
the man. Warburton steered the boat off and set her
sail, which drew with the faint wind slowly " 'Tis
hot," said he; "there will be thunder. Child, keep
your eyes upon the water; she falls away "

Chloris started as if from her sleep. "What do you
go to do?" she asked, in a whisper.

233

!
!

! !

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

He gave a little Uugh. " I have been cheated once,
but I shall not be so again," he answered.

" *Tis Nicholas's boat, " she said, irrelevantly, glanc-
ing wide-eyed at the thwarts.

"He is on the mainland, then?" said Warburton.

" He is hunting you," she said, and for a time there
was silence. Warburton looked back, and the lights
were still moving on the iistant sloop. Out of the
sea the wind was dropping, and very soon the calm
would be here. The dawn was breaking gray, hot, and
sultry.

*' What will you do ?" she asked for the third time.

" We must run for the caves," he answered her. " I
will blow them all to powder."

"Blow them to powder!" she echoed, wondering,
and then her figure quickly took animation. "Let
me set a jib!" she cried. " We must make haste. Oh,
sir, you are generous! Tis noble in you."

"Pish! child," said Warburton, and looked back
again.

Away behind, under the shadowy cliflfs of Marlock
the lights ran to and fro like flies; they twinkled and
moved forward. "She has set her sail— she is oflf!" he
exclaimed. " If she lose not the wind she will beat us."

Chloris uttered a cry, and, standing to her tall, full
stature in the stern of the skiff, peered into the misty ,
dawn.

CHAPTER XX
WHAT CAME WITH THE STORM

THE wind, indeed, was falling inch by inch, and
the boat made very little progress in the bay.
The heavier press of canvas carried on the
revenue sloop would tell in the short course
they were both pursuing ; ^ ► Warburton remem-
bered that Gellibrand knew n the situation of the
caves, nor, it may be, of their existence, and was
therefore likely to make his landing in the tiny har-
bor and search the homestead. That he carried a
warrant for his search, and probably Powis in person
Warburton did not doubt. But he was in some dis-
may at the thought that he would be overtaken, for
he was anxious not to be discovered making for' the
island at that suspicious hour, and so furtively, and,
above all, he wished none to know in what company
he was voyaging; he would have saved his companion
from all risks and perils to her name. If Powis was
aboard the Osprej^,his own hasty expedition would take
on more than the color of suspicion, and possibly he
would arrest both of them— the one on the charge of
conspiracy, the other for the purpose of cross - exam-
ination on her hapless letter. With all his uncertainty
and anxiety Warburton felt a glow of gratitude in his
bosom for the magistrate's generous present of the
letter; that, at least, was dead and gone, scattered to
the wind like ashes.

235

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

The dawn crept up the east, spreading behind the
hills of the moorland. Marlock lay in a deep well of
blackness unvisited as yet by any growing radiance,
but beyond the village unfathomable springs of pale
light broadened on the horizon. The breeze dropped
ever, the nose of the boat, pointing to the distant
cliffs of Lynsea, rose and sank in the gentle waters
dipping with a soft guttling sound as her rate grew
ess. And away on the level track of grayness
loomed the pretty figure of the Osprey, seeming still
and steady, as if she slept upon the water. Warbur-
ton contemplated the chances with a frown. Already
the light was growing clearer, and those aboard the
revenue boat would soon be able to make out the lit-
tle skiff, if not its occupants. In their minds there
must surely rise a wonder as to who those fly-bv-
nights might be, and what their mission; and
that they were bent for Lynsea would throw grave
suspicion on them. In truth, Warburton's fears were
already gross and swollen with the emotions of that
adventure, and presently he put out the oars and
began to puU. The wind had sunk into little puffing
airs that sent the boat forward in gusts, but these
strong arms sufficed to keep the course continuous-
and in a little the cliffs of the island were visible be-
yond the cape. But already the Osprey stood nearer
and the wan light of the approaching sun lay on her
sails so that her spars glistened like silver ; but over-
head and westward the cast of the sky was livid,
leaden, and morose. Over the huge shaking mass of
the sea the light began to run, and, even like a tide
that races down the low sands, the sparkle leaped from
wave to wave; and with an incredible swiftness the
darkness turned, flying across the face of the water.
The sloop was struck at once into full sight, as by

236

WHAT CAME WITH THE S" 3RM

a magic-lantern ; and from the sloop the boat four
hundred yards away was as visible as in broad day.
A hail sounded across the intervening space, but
Warburton, without pause or answer, plied his arms
faster. Chloris kept the tiller straight and the prow
for the Skittles, among which the sea tossed and
sucked audibly scarcely a quarter of a mile beyond
them. But presently Warburton stopped in his work.

"The breeze has failed," he said ; "she cannot come
another yard; but I'll swear she will have her boats
out. Mr. Gellibrand is a vigorous young buck."

" We can beat them," said Chloris. " They know
not how to steer among the Skittles; they dare not
venture."

"True," said he, coolly; " but, indeed, neither must
we venture thither."

" I know every rock and channel," she burst forth
" I will steer blindfold; the waters of this island can-
not hurt me."

" 'Tis not that, child," answered Warburton. " 'Tis
from the sloop our danger falls. At present they are
not in pursuit of us ; 'tis only wonder made them call
us. What have they to suspect in us ? Yet they will
keep an eye open, and I tell you that if we vanish into
the Skittles we shall draw them as safely as if we had
revealed our plans. They will wonder and explore.
We must land elsewhere, as ordinary passengers."

" I did not think of that," she replied, quickly.
" You are right— dear, you are always right." And
she altered the course, setting the boat's head tow-
ards a piece of sand.

Warburton nodded in approval and pulled silently.
And now what he had prophesied came true, for a boat
shot out from the flank of the sloop and flew off
towards them. Warbur ton's breath came deeper and

237

•

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

with labor as he increased his efforts, for he knew that
their only chance was to reach the land before those
who would inevitably suspect them, and, possibly
detain them. The whole stretch of the bay was now
alight and shining with silver; and in their wake
the course of the boat made a black mark, which
opened in a gulf of swirling water and bubbled up
into placid light again. Warburton's arms felt as
though they were being wrenched from their sockets
but he whipped her along, and when the pursuing
boat was barely one hundred paces from them, sighed
his relief as the nc .a ground and snarled over the
pebbles of the beach. " Out, Chloris!" he cried, and
himself setting the example, left the boat high and
dry, and disappeared into the bushes that fringed the
shore.

"We must make haste," he whispered; "let 'em
pass us somewhere. You must know the island
Where shall we hide?"

She thought for a moment, and then, "I will show
you!" cried she, and, stepping lightly to the fore, made
off up the slopes of that wooded sea-front.

Chloris led the way into a fastness of the grove,
where, among those shadows of early dawn, immitiga-
ble darkness reigned behind the bracken and the tail
junipers. Every moment now brought an access of
fresh light and color to the earth, and the detail of
the grasses sprang out instant by instant. But here,
within these walls of soft green gloom, nothing was
visible, and only the breaking sounds of the surf were
audible in the stillness. Far away a ewe bleated shrill,
and the challenge, or the entreaty, was taken up and
echoed from the herd upon the hills. The east of the
sky was streaked and flushed, barred with crimson
and gold, with orange and scarlet, but in the zenith

238

ill

WHAT CAME WITH THE STORM

and elsewhere heaven hung like a great black net,
threatening over earth.

" Come," said Warburton, after a time, " they must
be gone now, and there is no time to lose. The thun-
der threatens, and the storm will be here in half an
hour."

They left their shelter, and began to climb again
across the hill.

"■Tis darker," observed Warburton; "the clock is
put back by that. They have no chance to catch us."

Yet as h-- spoke a voice called out of the void of the
wood, haili..g them. " Is't you, Cave ?" said some one.
"Faith! I believe I have mislaid myself. Damme!
this island's all woods and hills."

Warburton recognized the voice, and would have
struck into the darkness about him but for the imme-
diate appearance of the speaker, who was, moreover,
accompanied by several others.

" Who is this ?" said Gellibrand, and one thrust a
Ian thorn forward. " By God! Mr. Warburton, what
do you here at this hour ? 'Tis a lucky meeting. And
—but, by Heavens! I did not observe— Rip me' a
female!"

"Sir!" said Warburton, with dignity, "tis a lady I
am happy to serve. She was benighted in Marlock,
and I ventured to offer my services."

"As a gentleman, sir— as a gentleman," said the
lieutenant, promptly, " you could do no less. I envy
you the privilege, Mr. Warburton— stap me! I do."

"Sir!" said Warburton, angrily, "'tis Miss Car-
michael."

The lieutenant started. " Why," said he, " it is, is it ?
The deuce! Miss Carmichael, I crave your pardon.
My tongue wags on, but I have a soft heart. I am
here on my duty, God forgive me! Mr. Warburton,

239

y':

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

explain me— damme! I would I had Powis here who
IS mightily civil and mighty plausible." '

"There is no need to explain, sir," answered War-
burton, coldly; "no doubt you are here on good
reasons, but they have nothing to do with us."

" That is so," assented Gellibrand, with relief " I
ask you to remember that. Miss Carmichael. i am
here on a good reason. I must do my duty Lord'
'tis ridiculous, but I must execute orders. Mr Powis
IS gone to visit Sir Stephen, madam; he will entertain
him, no doubt, with a cock-and-bull tale, and th^y
will laugh together. 'Tis a queer, unfavorable time
for a visit, but duty-duty! I hope Sir Stephen will
laugh, though he is woke so untimely. Gad! I should
laugh myself at such suspicions. But I am mum Mr
Warburton. Hark ye!" he whispered, aside, "take this
precious girl away, and I will tell you something "

Warburton murmured in Chloris's ear, and she
withdrew; for he was anxious to know exactly how
matters stood between the lieutenant and himself

"Damme! a monstrous fine girl," commented Gel-
hbrand, under his breath. " She has took my fancy
but I interfere with no one's play— not L You are to
be congratulated, sir. Yet, perish me ! this is an ugly
ridiculous tale. Do you know why I am here> There
IS some story of smuggling on the island— whence it
comes I know not, but this Nicholas Carmichael is in-
x^lved-a wild fellow. The military are after him.
lis all nonsense, I have no doubt, but you see my
devihsh position. Ugly, is'i not ? I would not have
that handsome girl know of it, but I feel sure I leave
her in safe hands."
II Whither do you go?" asked Warburton.
"I am on the road for my post," returned the lieu-
tenant. ' There is a flag-staff, so they tell me. I am

240

WHAT CAME WITH THE STORM

set there, while Powis makes search below. It is sup-
posed there is some hiding-place for the contraband;
but 'tis damnable nonsense to urge so black an of-
fence against a gentleman and a baronet."

Warburton agreed, and, having learned what he
wanted, turned to take his departure. But he on his
part must now be subjected to curiosity, and Gelli-
brand not unnaturally desired to know whither he
was bound.

"Oh," said Warburton, smoothly, "to the house —
to Sir Stephen's house. I must fully discharge my
mission, the poor child cannot be left."

" Left !" cried Gellibrand. " Faith! I should think
not. 'Twould ask a heart of iron to desert her,
whether she wanted it or not," he chuckled. " I would
desert no woman ever, that is, if she were fair, and I
had not tired of her," he added, pensively.

It seemed thus that their roads lay together, and,
however reluctant, Warburton dared not refuse the
offer of company. Yet he was greatly anxious to
shake off this fellow, for time was running on and
soon it would be too late for his enterprise. He bade
the lieutenant good-bye on the earliest opportunity,
indicating a path. " That is your way, I believe, sir]
and mine lies here. I go down, you go up. I wish
you luck."

With some few courtesies they parted, Gellibrand
pausing to stare after Chloris with unaffected admi-
ration. The growing light increased Warburton's
anxiety, for he had no intention of descending into
the valley, but waited only till the sailors were out
of sip-ht before turning back on his course. This,
after some time, he deemed it prudent to do, and
going quickly under the cover of the hollow and
bush, succeeded in gaining with his companion the
Q 241

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

^^H^^Bt'

%■■'

!
I

Here he

landward entrance to the smuggler's cave

came at last to rest.
" You had better wait here, Chloris," said he
^ No, no; I will help you," she protested, eagerly

he urged.^'^ ''°'""' ^°" ™"'' ^^ ^"^'"^ '° ^^^ bone>

I wil/r'esV'' "°''" '^' ^"'''"■'^- " ^"' ™" ^^'P' ^"d

He made no further opposition to her pleading

but entered the rocky gallery, and, traversing T

emerged mto the central cavern, with the girl on hil'

thl' [orchis?"' ' ''^^''" ^' """''^'''^ "^^" y°" fi"d

She whispered back in the affirmative. " But there

forth T °"' ^'''" '^' ^'^^'^- '"Tis unlikel
for the schooner was to sail last night. ' '

She groped her way out into the huge vault and

Presently two torches were flaming amo g the rocks
and Warburton had turned his atfentionVo the bar-'

af^h^^Tk'oTtt rat' '''^^°"' ^" ^^^" '^""^^-^

hST^ ^^""^ ^^'y" ^^ ^°'^ Chloris. " We are aided
by the very contraband itself. In a little there will

, V° ""w^ ""^ ^u^"f^ ""^ a"y gunpowder for Boney
lett He was hard at work, rolling the kees into
suitable position, broaching them Ind lay'ng hs

abso7bed''"R'".V'^'-^'"''" P^^* °f ^" ^°"' ^-«-
absorbed. By that time the black snake was creep-

wo^rld"lbove ^^"""^ "'^'''^ communicated with the

.J ^'^ ^°r"' ''ui^^' ^""^ '■^'^'" «^»d Warburton. as they

orthfnn ^T^^"'' 'f ^^"'""^y' •'^'^ the cooler air
of the open heaven. Above the light had grown but

242

./miwc^^

WAKIUKION lUKKIln l'()K\VAKl)

I i

WHAT CAME WITH THE STORM

little in the last hour, for the sky was charged with
black and ominous ^ouds that lay low on the sea
and crept foot by foot upon them. In the distance
the thunder muttered sullenly and sparks of fire
darted on the horizon. The storm was near at hand.
The sweat streamed from Warburton's face, which
was black and grimy. Tall and stalwart, with bare
arms, he looked like Vulcan newly escaped from the
prisons of the underworld. Overhead shot a flame of
lightning, and down fell the thunder.

" 'Tis here," he said, " and 'tis time to finish what
was well begun and is well done."

Again the sky all about them glowed with fire, so
that the summits of Lynsea were illuminated lightly
and stood up bare and bold in the prospect. War-
burton uttered a cry which was drowned in the deaf-
ening peal that, followed; for what he saw in that mo-
ment was the flag-staff on the hill and a body of men
moving towards him,

" Up, Chloris, up!" he cried, " The time has come.
They are advancing this way, and maybe they have
some informatio \." At his word she sprang to her
feet, and, seizing upon her, he hurried her from
the grove of junipers, along a track that descended
the ridge towards the valley of the homestead. The
flag-staff lay to the north, but scarce a quarter of a
mile distant, and Warburton was aware that if he
was to fire the mine at all it must be now, and ere
the terrible responsibility of those lives were thrust
upon him.

"Whither do you take me? Let me sta> -let
me stay," moaned Chloris, in her weary bewilder-
ment.

Her eyes were open to the black firmament, un-
heeding, and she was carried along in his irresistible

=43

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

dawn as sharp and vivid a. if S ». ? 'n <"« wind
he within six fMt wfrbf.rL T? ■""P^* ""^y ""'I
tance to be Krearenolfh , ' "if* '-"^^^ "■» dis.
vance they wSmak"freth.nf» "•'"«' J°,' '"= ^l-

-hed. ^„e H.rhis-'pitrs-,,^-'^:

ing, cast up his arms as if to tard off .hi P'"

244

■^:m^.

WHAT CAME WITH THE STORM

from edge to edge, quivering like a jelly; then he
knew that he was upon his back, his dazed eyes star-
ing upward, where the dust was lit with livid fires,
and where spume and smoke, as if belched from hell,
rose and assailed the stars.

Mi !■■(

I v

CHAPTER XXI
WHAT MET CHLORIS ON THE THRESHOLD

CHLORIS sat still in her refuge, listening with
every sense of her body for news of the mine
The sky rattled about her in thunder, and she
bent forward, straining her ears, as if she
feared that m these inclement noises she would lose
the sound of that imminent explosion. She counted
the seconds with her brea'' with the indrawing and
outgoing of her bosom, aud with each /la/t/us she
seemed to herself to anticipate what she expected
and hear what she feared. But when next the light
nmg flamed she was aware simultaneously, a. r ap-
peared, of an appalling blow that struck the drums of
her ears and sent her reeling in her seat. The earth
shook with the concussion, and the whole face of the
sky was obscured and darkened. As she clung to the
bushes in terror there seemed to return from out the
open wilderness of sea echoes of that terrible explo-
sion; noises of falling earth rumbled back upon her
and the prospect was covered with dust and sand!
Then followed a grave stillness, in which, recoverin>r
her memory of what had happened, she rose with a
fresh terror-a growing dread for Warburton's safety.
The heavens suddenly opened and the rain streamed
down in a sheet, running in waterfalls down the hill-
side and gathering in pools within the hollows. Chloris

246

WHAT MET CHLORIS

ran out of her shelter on fast and trembling feet into
this tumultuous rain and the lamentable dawn. About
her, seen dimly through the thick curtain of the storm,
the strange and grotesque appearance of the hill
bewildered her; nature had put on an unfamiliar as-
pect; buildings of great size were strewn everywhere,
and masses of earth rose as it had been from new and
deep excavations. The contour of the world was
changed. Yet, guided by instinct, she succeeded in
reaching the spot by what had been the entrance to
the cavern. The light had insensibly quickened as
the sun rose higher behind the thunder-storm, and a
certain diffuse glow illuminated the rain. Suddenly
she saw him, prone on his back, his eyes to the thun-
der, and, to her confused senses, staring, dead, and
glazed. She stooped and pulled him to her, uttering
a cry as a woman that is bereft of her child, and War-
burton's eyes unclosed.

" 'Tis done," said he ; " but 'twas not I— 'twas the
hand of Providence."

Joyfully she assisted him to rise, and helped him to
go slowly inland. She was amazed to lind him alive
—amazed, and amazingly radiant. She cared not a
whit for c ives or thunder or rain, nor for the officers
of the law that were pursuing the vengeance of the
law. Yet Warburton recollected them. He was stiff
and soaked to the skin, his hands and shoulders were
scorched and singed with the gunpowder; but he
had escaped all else, and suffered only from the great
shock.

"They were approaching fast," he said, almost to
himself, and coming to a pause; "when I looked last
they were very near. Has the lightning spared
them ?"

" What care I? What does it matter?" she said, im-

247

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

I must get you

patiently. "Let us go forward,
away."

He put her aside, moving his face towards the flag-
staff ; but no sound reached him out of the rain save
only the ram " Maybe they are all dead there," said
he, and turned to go upwards in that direction

ingirm baS."^'^ ' "'" "°^ ^"^^'^ ''" ^"^^ ^^^^ P"""

Warburton roughly set her aside. "I will sillv

creature." he said; "leave me alone. You shall nol

mterfere. Lord, child! do you think that you could

or dyTng"'' ' "'" ^° '"' ''' '' ^^°^^ ^^ b^"-^

hJ^^^ ?u^^ "° resistance any longer, but followed
him. The ram beat like wind upon the hills, and
every hollow ran like a river for the angry se^ be
low; the light broadened on the face of the world
disclosing far off the steps of the moorland across the
dunes and white sails upon the water in the west
When they reached the summit of the hill the flag-
staff was still visible, wet and gaunt, and near by a
group of huddled men, cowering as it seemed under
the rock from the flail of the storm.
"They are safe," said Warburton
He stood against the full light of the morning, un-
der the intolerable delugt, and the eyes of the party
went up towards the two. Warburton laughed " 'Tis
Gelhbrand and his sailors. Let 'em take us if they
can, said he and turned to go downward, but was
arrested by the appearance of a man in his path

It was the justice of the peace, soaked to the skin,
his black hair streaming from its queue, and his hat
a mere piece of pulp on his head, but his manner was
the same as when he had parted with Warburton
several hours before.

248

fJilii

WHAT MET CHLORIS

" 'Tis you, then, Mr. W? ••burton," he said, without
emotion or surprise. *' Tnd.-^d. I thought I had recog-
nized you from the s! ujp. Yon aic early astir, and
in foul weather."

"My business would mt wa^r, sit, answered War-
burton, bluntly.

Mr. Powis looked down towards the sailors of the
Osprey, and then, " Come," said he, " which way do
you go? At least let us seek shelter somewhere.
You have a lady in your company," and through the
rain he bowed and scraped civilly towards Chloris.

" I go not down there," said Warburton, nodding
towards the group.

" Well," said Powis, speedily, " I am not impatient
to be there. But let us seek some cover for the
lady."

Warburton hesitated. He had the thought mo-
mentarily to thrust this small man aside and
strike when he could, ere Gellibrand and his men
might be summoned to the spot. Something sinister
in the persistence of the magistrate irritated him,
and he was, indeed, in no mood to be gentle. But a
secondary consideration bade him pause, for he re-
flected that if it should come to a struggle with the
justice, that ridiculous affair would be more easily
achieved out of sight and in some covert place. He
made his assent, therefore, and, turning with his com-
panion, took Chloris's hand, and went about for a
neighboring piece of wood. Within this retreat they
were protected against the assaults of the rain, and
enjoyed, moreover, a little quiet in which to talk.
This wood was a little patch cf stillness in the rain-
ing world, outside which the light rose slowly and the
thunder of the rain was on the leaves.
The two men faced each other, resolution in the

249

$ %

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

"I regret, Mr. Warburton, that this lady has been
so exposed to such a storm," began Powis " 'T^^
most unfortunate " ^owis. i is

^Warburton acknowledged the civility with a curt
neli ;?r /;."•:;;•; ? ■" '^- " ^•" '"e lady stands in

says but speaks in an abstraction. ''WeH wellshe
delr'sir ••' °' '^^ '^^"^' '^^ ^^^ «-t oS^ my

J/!l'/'^^ P^'"^"" "' *^ ""^ ™"st leave you now "
said the younger man, abruptly '

'You would leave me?" said Powis, thouehtfullv
You would go down to the house, I Suppose "t^^

heTdv " Thlt f ''^P'^" ^°" ^^^ ^-'-yo" aid

gbnced towards Chloris, who sat veiledTn'her cloak
and shrmking in the shadow

"I have heard," said Warburton, curtly for he
could not understand to what hk \>r^^^ ■
coming, and he grew unlasj ^^"^P^"'^'^ ^vas

M?pTZ" 'ln7\"t'''ft'. Carmichael," went on
not herl "' ^'''''- ^^ '"^™^ '^^^t he is

of ^t''^"'.'^" "^^^ ^^^""^ that this studious rehearsal
of the position could not be intended for his instruc

WHAT MET CHLORIS

trate's object? If Chloris had been recognized, why
was she not claimed for examination on her letter?

"It would seem ridiculous, sir, that a gentleman
of Mr. Carmichael's position should be guilty of
breaking the law," he observed, at length.

" It would seem as ridiculous, sir, as if Sir Stephen
himself were so charged," replied the justice.

Warburton gazed on him sharply, and there was a
movement under Chloris's cloak; but for a time there
was silence between them, a silence which remained
until Powis himself resumed, equably enough. " It
would seem ridiculous, if there were no evidence ; but
there is much witness to it, I fear."

"What witness is that?" asked Warburton, who
would have had him declare himself once and for all
time on his intentions.

" Mr. Warburton, you will pardon me," said the
justice, " but there are some matters which go be-
yond the topics of common talk. Yet this I may
tell you, that when many are confederates, not all
shall hold a discreet silence. Nay, there may even
be one who seeks opportunity to reveal his knowl-
edge."

" There is none, sir, who has done this," said War-
burton, sharply, and making what was almost a threat-
ening gesture. "You will remember that, sir; have
a care!"

Mr. Powis was not discomposed. " I will confess
I had my doubts," he said, quietly, "until the last
hour."

Warburton was silent, considering, for he now be-
gan to doubt if the magistrate's words had been
directed at Chloris. " You have had some informa-
tion?" he inquired, and suddenly remembered the
interrupted advance of the sailors towards the cav-

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND
aSed'q^iSf,;"' ^"° ""' '"'""■-"ion recently," he

very soon I shall know the result Tn^ir . ^"'^

I tjl"° '°°? ^^''^^d on Warburton's face "Then

-ked. Of a truth, hele iT very'wLUteL'to.h^
magistrate, who had taken tLcT • ? ^° ''^^

reah.ed, in' order .finZ'L'Zl h^co^i.Lo'X
out Chloris as a witness ""

on'o^u'^colrfofrr'" "^ "^ ".= ho„ortodweII
magis.rate!poltly '""""■" ■""""'••' «'-""=<> '"e

nlrln'''"'""?'' '^"^^ ""' »""""=■• "-an ever- he could
^ready^see S,r Stephen and Nicholas deHv'e^ed^:?

tooTaS"'" '"' "'• "''"""" « y°"^ -'^ion is no.

"Tu''t",u^i'^°", w"f " ^^^^ ">= o">". curiously.
Aut, tut! said Warburton " TiTt- n^u-u „ .

laggard. I would I could have wfrned t^^'^H " '

anticipated." Mr. Powis's e;:s"1nterrogated "^^^^^

There has been a storm, sir," he said. ^ "'

I observe it," said the magistrate drvlv " T ho„

been witness of it at this moment "' ^ ^^ ^ ^^""^

markS wl7ZZ' '^"^^^ '^^ '^^^ ^' -^-<' -
The magistrate considered deeply. "Mr Warh„r
on it IS possible that in those cHffs by tL Skittks
there are caves," he said. o^ittles

"Were, sir, were," remarked the younger man

252

fii

WHAT MET CHLORIS

Without changing color or turning of a hair, Powis
assented to the emendation. "As you remark, were ;
but the change of time, sir, is the achievement of na-
ture, I assume— the convulsion of her forces."

"Damme ! there was lightning enough," said War-
burton.

" True, true ; but you remind me of my duty I
must examine this phenomena. The cavern is gone
you say; well, but there remains the witness 'Tis a
pity that nature should so significantly conspire to
aid the unlawful, but there remains the witness."

What witness?" demanded Warburton, boldly and
defiantly.

The justice's gaze passed over his face. " That is
my affair, sir, and none of any one else's. But I fear
this lady is weary. She is sodden with the rain, and
should be taken forthwith to some house."

"This lady, sir, is under my care and guidance "
said Warburton. '

Mr. Powis bowed. "I am sure that you will pro-
tect and guide her well," he said, courteously, and
moved away. But Warburton caught him by the
arm. •'

II Whither do you go, and for what?" he asked.
To arrest Nicholas Carmichael for an offence
against his Majesty and country," returned the jus-
^ tice, in a voice of new sternness and authority.

"And Sir Stephen?" exclaimed Warburton,* while
the cloak that hid the woman once more stirred and
trembled.

For a moment there was a pause, and then came
the justice's answer. " There is no suspicion rests on
bir Stephen," he said, in a tone which was oddly soft

We shall not trouble him."

With these words he left, and went over the hill

253

Imm

^i^

hH^'

I^H

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

where the day was come stronger and the rain was
now abated Warburton and Chloris resumed their
journey to the homestead.
" They have found some traitor," said he " There

"Let him perish," she said, with animation; "he

seeks your hfe." And turning swiftly on him. "Oh'

my love! she murmured, in agitation, "what am

T,T ^"^ ^'^^^^ °^ assassins. Get you hence'"

Warburton laughed. " No shadow of shame shall

h.l ^''".v, 71^' .'^" '^^y P'""^^ ^^^»"«t Nicholas?
I beheve that this family will go scot-free. Did you

not hear? They will not trouble Sir Stephen "

bhe made no answer, for in her agile mind floated

suspicions, fears and a shame at his blunt speech Yet

he was unable to follow her thoughts. He had set

his will to secure the safety of her house and no h

ing but that task was in his thoughts. So they c^me

down^together from the heights upon the back'of the

chLlV^^ir''^' '''''^^ ^^^ P^^'^^ '"^ this descent had
Changed the appearances of the sky and the sea The

heavy wrack had labored away, and with it the sultry
air; a cool breeze started out of the west and blew
balm^.'nH7""^ moment, carrying in its breath the
balm and fragrance of the ocean. Below the nark
smiled under the soft sun. and the rain ' upon Se
green trees mirrored back the rays in a thousand
flashes and sparklings; the garden seemed to be lit

Beflr! ♦K^'^Jf "'"' ^""^ *° ^'^""^^^ ^'^^ the sunshine,
and w tT^ T^ *^" ^'^^^^ '" the tamarisks,
and again below the-n the sea foamed on the peb-
bles as wine foams in the glass. The doors of the
house, even at that early hour, stood open, and the

254

WHAT MET CHLORIS

windows were wide to the air; It had the look of some
hospitable and untenanted pleasure-house that in-
vited the wayfarer with its silent lures. Chloris
quickened her feet and ran down the slope, a creat-
ure of redundant v'tality even after that long, mel-
ancholy night. She stood in the gateway, her skirts

su^nlighl'" ' '"^ '^' P"P^'" ''PP""^ '" '^'

"You shall stay here." she said to Warburton. with
eager animation. "You have done such a generous
service to this house that you are owed a proper wel-
come, and I will prepare it for you "

She would have thrust him back with her hands,
donicall ^^" imperiously, but he grinned sar-

" Indeed, I am like enough to meet a warm recep-
tion, I will admit," he said.

J/Z^ u'^ wrong-you are wrong; you are bitter
and cruel! she said, passionately. " I will prepare
your way. I am a Carmichael, and they will not dis-
pute me; my father shall recognize the truth "

Warburton shrugged his shoulders, and contem-
p ated her indifferently. He had done his work-
Nicholas Carmichael was still at large, and he had
Powiss word that Sir Stephen would not be touched
Ihere the matter ended, and he was not a* all dis^
posed to enter the house of his enemy as a friend and

" Get you in to your home, child," he said. "I must*
leave you here."

f.,i'i ^^f^t-™f '" ^^^ ^''^°^'^' •" ^'^""^y ' ^"d then, piti-
tuuy, Whither go you ? You are not going away >"
I have myself to take care of," he answered
grimly. '

"You s/ia/l come; you are safe with me!" she ex-

2SS

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

l«

claimed, angrily, and seized his arm. Warburto
smiled and patted her head.

" 'Tis a devil!" he said, and indulgently obeyed hei
The weariness of the night's work bore him dowr
and he was wet and hungry; the body answered no
to the plucking of the spirit. The two stepped acros
the threshold of the hall.

" They are awake betimes," said Chloris, and raisec
the hollow music of the gong. There was no answer
but from the cool shadows of the interior ticked fortl
a slow, invisible clock.

" 'Tis strange," said she. " They have been disturbec
by the storm, and are all at sixes and sevens. Yoi
are hungry, dear heart, and must be fed." ^

Again she drummed on the gong, and when th(
dismal echoes had died away a sound was audible
breaking across the miserable and empty silence
It was the clicking of a latch, and a man's fact
looked out from a chamber at the bottom of tht
hall.

" Sloan!" called the girl, in a tone of authority
"Where is your wit, Sloan, that you answered not
before?"

" Is't yourself, mistress ?" asked the man, in an Irish
brogue, and stole half-way across the hall, eying Wrr-
burton anxiously. He was a thin, elderly, naked-faced
fellow, with small, darting eyes.

" I want some food, Sloan, for this gentleman," com-
manded Chloris.

Sloan fidgeted upon his legs. " 'Tis the master's
enemy," he whispered, hoarsely. " Sure, 'tis he that
Mr. Nicholas is for to kill!"

"Do as I bid!" said Chloris, fiercely. " 'Tis a gen-
tleman that has done us great service, and honors
this house by his presence."

256

miK

■Hii

ntmiwKKSnh ii 'h

■Bt i

Hilm;

IPhIIIH Iff ';

yui^i 'U

Mv ^i

iffi jfO tf

l:l||

WHAT MET CHLORIS

The man retreated, with suspicion gleaming out of
his rodent face. » '^ i

" 'Tis no easy part to be getting food this morn-
mg, he protested, "for the serving -maids is all
gone, and there is none about the house but me, Miss
Chloris.

"Gone!" said his mistress. "Whither gone, indeed?
Is t a small noise and the lights of heaven frightened
a houseful ?"

"Twas not that," he replied, and said no more,
keepmg his glance on Warburton.

" You had a visitor this dawn ?" said Chloris, quick-
ly, recalling their encounter with Powis.

" We did that," responded the man-servant " 'Twas
a magistrate. He was looking for Mr. Nicholas, but
he did not find him, so he went away."

The girl turned on him swiftly, with a sharp fire in
her eyes. 'Who was it told the magistrate of the
caves ? • she demanded.

The man made no noise, but turned a greenish
white color, stirring helplessly on his feet.

" "Twas you that's the traitor!" she exclaimed, furi-
ously. "'Twas you, Michael Sloan, that betrayed
your master's house! Give me a pistol!" and she
snatched one in a tempest of passion from Warbur-
ton's hands, aiming it at the head of the servant
with every feature in her face eloquent of madness'
Ihe man cowered and held up his arm as if to ward
the shot from his face.

" I am no traitor," he said, piteously. " 'Twas no
harm that I did."

Warburton stepped forward, and with a jerk of his

hand sent up the barrel of the pistol, and the report

rang out through the hall. Chloris stared, and then

put her open hands over her face with a sob. " God

R 257

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

forgive me! 'tis not I that should wreak justice on «
traitor — not I— not I."

She turned away, and went towards the door out ol
which Sloan had issued, but unexpectedly the mar
darted forward and stood before her,

'* Not there, not there ; ye shall not go in there
Mistress Chloris," he shivered. " For the love of God,
^o not there !"

"Stand aside!" said the girl, stamping her foot.

"For love of the Holy Mother!" pleaded Sloan.
" 'Tis not for you, honey."

Chloris brushed past him and pushed the door
open. The room was the library, in which Sir
Stephen Carmichael had been wont to sit; and here
he sat for the last time, his fac turned to the wall,
blind eyes upon vacaiicy, and every member of hia
body still and rigid.

CHAPTER XXII
THE VENGEANCE OF NICHOLAS CARMICHAEL

WARBURTONhad followed the girl into the
room, and now discovered her struck white
and trembling on the threshold.

,u u ^ r . ^''^' "* '^•■" he asked, and perceived
the body of the baronet. •' By the Lord! here is ven-
geance; -tis ju.stice unassisted." he murmured

in^s i7t'L r K ""'^'"^' ""' ^^•^•" ^he pitiful plead-

ef fatht wllo. 7"'"' ' ^''' '''' "^'•^ levelled upon
ner tather, whose face was turned aside as thoucrh in

shame to meet his daughter Then ^hhl i ^
of rfpsniitw.., ♦u . , ,^ . ^"en With a low moan
ot desolation, that had in it no reason, but only wild
and unmeasureH grief she snranrr fL "• ,'7^^''"
cmtnh ^r.A c \ : sprang forward to the

couch, and fiuK red the cold brow, weeping in an

d-^trs^diir^ -"^^ --'-'^^^y ^^^- <^"'-

unlasny"''''""'''^'^'°°^'''"*^^^^'"^'>-^"d - '"oved

and?evn;H''''' ^'" 7°" ^'' ^'^••"S ^'^y ""justly
and beyond measure. I will not have you do it "

He touched her arm. but she leaped forth on him

r d ■' T^f '''"'"'"I '"'■"^^'- " ^^«" ' y°" •'•• -^h^
Mv PoH . V ^'^"^ y«" that I am to take my orders !
My God ! tis you that are the cau.se of this-you and

our devihsh purpose. I will naught of you- you

S ^::^^'' ^"^ '' ^^•--^^ "P to them iz

259

CHLORIS op THE ISLAND

"Yes, madam, to Nick, is it not?" said Warburton.
with a sneer. " Tut, you are a fool to turn on me. I
am not used to these storms, and, by Heaven ! they
are wearisome."

" My father lies there !" she gasped.

Warburton followed her hand mechanically, but
nothing in the silent corpse appealed to him. " So
he does," said he. " He lies as his forefathers have
lain. Sure, 'tis well he does, as you must know."

" What do you mean ?" she asked, angrily.

" My poor child," he answered, " your wits have
gone astray. What could they have done but at-
tach him ?"

*■ The justice said not — he promised not," she mur-
mured.

" He had been here and knew," he replied. " I
wondered what was behind his honeyed voice. He
knew that none might trouble Sir Stephen on earth
any more. He would not trouble him. Oh, no— he
might promise that."

Chloris was silent. " I will not weep," she said,
after a time, in a weak and pitiful voice. " I will re-
joice. 'Tis true what you say. We are and shall be
ever accursed. There is a sin in this blood which
cannot be washed from it."

Warburton turned to the man Sloan, who had en-
tered after them, and, seeing he was observed, the
fellow began to wring his hands, muttering to him-
self. " How did this happen ?" he asked, sternly, point-
ing to the dead man.

Sloan's agitation visibly swelled. " Sure, 'twas over
very sudden," he declared, garrulously. " There was
a knock came on the big door, and it roused me by
three of the morning. I looked out, your honor, and
the sky was black with rain; but at the door was him

260

THE VENGEANCE OF NICHOLAS

knocking, and standing very still, with a lanthorn in
his hand like as one that is come for to claim his
own m the dead of the night. I was afraid of the
lanthorn, and he knocked again; and then I put
ray head right without the window. 'Who is there '
says I, 'that makes so bold a noise?' He looked up
and I saw his face, asthore, like a dead man's-still
and white under the lanthorn. 'Open to me,' says
he; I am come for your master.' ' Devil a bit,' says
I. and shut to the window; for, indeed, the master
had been long abed, and I thought 'twas true he
spoke. But after that he knocked harder than before
and bids me angrily to let him in in the name of the
law, and when I heard he was come for to do the law
I was more 'feared, but I dursn't disobey him Whet
he was in he turned sharply on me. 'I hear your
master is ill, and I regret that my errand will brook
no delay, he says. ' I must talk with him.' But ere
more was said there was a voice on the stair, and we
turned about, and the master was standing there
with a light in his hand, very pale, and shaking I
cried out your honor, for 'twas the first time that I
see him afoot for these many weeks. But the eentle
man that was like the Devil, says he, quietly, 'I am
all sorrow to disturb you. Sir Stephen,' bowing while
he spoke; but there is that in which the law re-
quires me to talk with ye.'

"Then, Mistress Chloris, 'twas all over, alas' for
the master; his honor took a step and opened of his
lips, but fell down where he stood and lay there and
never spoke. Sure, 'twas the Devil and I carried him

and%dn"°°"' ^"^ ^""^ '"' ^'"^ ^'^^ that-peaceful
"And you were informer against your master?"
said Warburton, regarding him with contempt

261 ^ '

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" Indeed, your honor," answered the man, in a
humble but surly tone, " 'twas not for me to gainsay
the law, with the master dead, and Mr. Nicholas gone
and Mr. Philip away."

" He is no more traitor than the rest of us in this
house," broke in Chloris, in a hard voice. " 'Tis our
trade. I am glad he gave the information, for 'twill
end us all." She stepped forward again to the couch
on which her father's body lay and bent over it. War-
burton respected her action and walked to the open
window, looking forth. Then he felt himself touched
on the arm, and, stirring, found two eager, shining
eyes that burned in a white face.

" You are all that is left me," she said, softly but
intensely. " I pray God you do not turn from one of
my blood."

" Troth! child, why should I ?" he answered, moved
in his slow heart. " But you must not tarry here.
This is a place which any of your name were best
away from — God forgive you ! I have set my hand
to the plough, and I will not look back. See you here,
sweetheart. You have said in your blindness that
this is my doing. 'Tis not, and you know it. But
what remains is so to achieve things that there shall
rest no suspicion on any one on this account, save on
this fellow only," he added, with a glance at Sloan.

" What is't you mean ?" she asked, forlornly.

" We must not leave our work half done," he re-
plied. " There is one duty accomplished, but another
rises. Where is the letter that I left with you?"

She stammered. " 'Tis in the cottage in the dunes,"
she said.

" It must be burned," he said. "As your letter is
destroyed, so this must be, and none then may cast
a stone at my wife."

262

THE VENGEANCE OF NICHOLAS

"Wife! wife!" she said, staring at him, and threw
herself into his arms. " I have misjudged. I knew
you not. I had fears of you. You are a strange and
foreign man to me. Why do you hold yourself so cold
and aloof ? Oh, my God ! what is it you say ? I care
not. Wife! What do I care? I hold you, I have you.
I will give up my brothers to any justice for you."

He raised her from where she had fallen, very ten-
derly. "There is a noise without," he said. "Some
one is returning, and maybe Gellibrand. We were
better away. I do not desire that you should en-
counter these people."
"But my father—" she said.

"He is safe ; he sleeps sound. No harm will tov h
him. Come away."

He drew her with him into the hall, and they
passed out together, going down to the little bay.
One of the boats rocked in the long ripples idly, and
the sun shone brightly on the silver strand. Pres-
ently they had pushed off, and were standing for the
coast, the sails swollen with a rising breeze. The
island fell away, and in front the moorland rose up
into significance. In the bow Chloris reclined, her
face towards him and the rolling blue space behind,
but slowly her lids drooped and she passed into the
sleep of the weary. Warburton sat and watched her
and the horizon alternately.

He woke her as the keel struck on the beach, and
with a start she opened her eyes.
^^ " I would I could leave you here, dear," said he,
but I must see you safe in Marlock. There are
those who will take you in and befriend you."

"I will stay with you," she said, eagerly, and, re-
freshed by her little rest, set out with animation to
climb the dunes.

263

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

The sun hung proudly over the moorland when
they reached the cottage, and already the heat of the
day was begun.

" Where is the paper ?" asked Warburton, and she
handed it to him, silently watching. He gathered
some dried grasses from a corner of the room and
put them in the fireplace; upon this he set sticks, and
striking a light kindled the flame. The sheet of fire
flared up the broken chimney, and Warburton delib-
erately cast the letter into the heart of it ; the paper
crackled, was eaten greedily, and fell at last into a
thin black and brittle foil. Warburton glanced up
at Chloris and smiled faintly.

" 'Tis done," said he ; and there suddenly, in the
open doorway, his dark features working with savage
exultation, stood Nicholas Carmichael.

" 'Tis not done yet," said he, with a sneer, " but
'twill be all over very quickly, Mr. Warburton," and
turned on his sister blazing eyes.

Warburton had drawn himself up and now stood at
his great stature, coolly contemplating the intruder.
He was bitterly angry, yet held himself quiet, await-
ing events. But it now seemed that Nicholas kept a
rigid command of himself, for he made no effort to
translate into action that ferocious threat of his ex-
pression. The two men surveyed each other with-
out words until Carmichael broke the silence.

" I have sought you long, Mr. Warburton ; but every-
thing comes to patience, and I find you at last."

"Sir, you are welcome to any satisfaction you
may obtain from the fact," responded the other,
coldly.

" We have some business to settle together," pur-
sued Nicholas.

" On the contrary, I am not aware of any particu-

264

ill

f< ' '

■i'^

T 1 !''

■1

THE VENGEANCE OF NICHOLAS

lar in which we have a common interest," rejoined
Warburton, mdiflferently.

"You wonder why I talk so quietly." went on Nich-

olas, paying this no heed. " It is because I am sure

of you this time. Other times I have trusted to fools

and been deceived; this time I trust myself "

"A very natural confidence," returned Warburton.

if confined to yourself." '

Nicholas Carmichael shook with anger and he drew

a pistol. I have the power and the right to shoot

you like a dog," he said.

Chloris uttered a cry and moved a step forward
but Warburton held up his hand in warning "What
IS your quarrel, sir ?" he asked, restraining himself for
her sake. You have savage ways upon this coast,
and I confess I do not wholly understand you "

"There is no need to capitulate your offences,"
said CarmK xael. "There is need only to be rid of
you. ^ "1

"Come, come, sir," said Warburton, with a sigh of
vexation; you are at cross-purposes with me I
know your ground of offence, which is that I have
given you up to your just punishment of the law
But It IS not so; your secret is still in my hands I
have done nothing."

" You lie!" said Nicholas, hastily; " and if it were so,
there would be the greater reason for your death "

I am a man of honor," said Warburton, still
patient to outward seeming; " which may not be said
of all that lay claim to the name of gentleman, no
doubt. Yet I am one, and I assure you of the truth
or what I say.

" ^^Vf ^ f ^^' '^^''^ '^ ^ warrant against me ?" in-
qmred Nicholas, furiously. "The soldiers are after

26s

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

Warburton threw up his arm quickly with a stern
question of authority as the girl stepped forward,
with lips parted, eager to speak ; and at that sign she
fell back crestfallen.

"There is another who is no friend to you and
your house," he said, slowly. " There may be many."

" Who is that ?" asked Nicholas.

" I am just come from the island," explained War-
burton, " an there is a party of sailors upon it with
orders for your arrest."

"Well," said Nicholas, with a sneer, "they shall not
take me, and are welcome to what they can find."

" They know of the cavern," said Warburton.

" It does not surprise me," said the other, glaring
on him.

" Nay, believe me, sir," said Warburton, with ex-
emplary restraint, " you do me wrong. The informer
was of your own household — an Irishman."

" Sloan !" said Nicholas, fiercely, and swore a horrid
oath. " What has this to do with the case !" he de-
manov-d — " save that it ensures your death the more."

" You speak very confident about my death," an-
swered Warburton. calmly. " You were wiser to con-
sider your own neck and how it is imperilled. Come,
Mr. Carmichael, I am in no mood for argument, being
very tired. I am much wearied by your family. Let
mo explain. I have no quarrel with you. I once
thought I had, but philosophy proved me foolish.
Let the dead bury their dead. I have no wish to
mingle in your affairs. Indeed, I have just gone out
of the way to help you — or, rather. Sir Stephen, for
you are nothing to me. Lieutenant Gellibrand will
find nothing in the cave."

" What do you mean ?" asked Nicholas, staring.

" Why, there is no cave any longer. It disappeared

266

THE VENGEANCE OF NICHOLAS

at dawn, thanks to a raging thunder-storm and Bona-
parte's gunpowder."

Nicholas Carmichael scowled at him, but was silent,
considering.

" You have done very well. I commend your zeal,
sir," he said, at length, ironically. " You have done
good service to the Carmichaels, and they do not for-
get. But touching the matter of that letter ?"

Warburton pointed to the fire, in which a thread of
smoke still rose from the black film of the letter.
" 'Tis there," said he. " It burned ere your entrance.
There is no evidence against any Carmichael in my
possession. They are free."

He spoke with some dignity of utterance, as one
conferring a favor upon ungrateful ears, or as one
that pardons magnanimously a grave offender out of
indifference.

" Sure, sir," said Nicholas Carmichael, in a soft and
treacherous voice—" sure, sir, we of our house should
owe you a deep debt. There is no evidence against
us, you say. I am glad to hear it, and that you have
done so much in affection for us."

" I would not raise a hand to help you," broke out
Warburton, angrily. " Tis not you that I have done
this for— not you, not you, by God!"

Nicholas Carmichael's voice sank hoarse and hoi-
low. "For whom was it done?" he asked. "For
whom— for whom ?"

" I could not have Sir Stephen, at his age, fall upon
such a misfortune," said Warburton, coldly, " and I
made bold to join with Miss Carmichael here in an
attempt to aid him. For the destruction of this let-
ter, for this heap of ashes, and the sterner payments
of the cave, you shall thank her."
Warburton spoke in ignorance of what had hap-

267

I ^

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

Itl

pened between Nicholas and his sister, and he spok
to shield her and to set right what might carry a dar
interpretation to one of that hot blood. The grin c
malevolent passion that overspread the man's fac
astounded him.

" Indeed," said Nicholas, " you have redeemed you
hostility to us by this humble submission. That i
wiped out. I owe you no grudge for your spying oi
us, nor for your theft of that letter. There is an en(
of it. But did you think, fool, that I was here merel;
to take vengeance on you for that? No; you ar
condemned on many counts, and each one is death
Do you think I know not what has moved you to thi
act? I was but playing with you, Mr. Warburton
The cause is there ; 'tis there, standing with a look o
terror on her face," he thundered, pointing a finger a
his sister. " That is what I am come for, to exact upoi
your body the penalty of our shame. You have dare<
to love her, and by you is she taught to betray he
blood. You shall die for that, and God shall judg(
if she also shall not die."

Warburton moved from his place by the fire
" Hold your peace," he said, with authority in hii
bearing. " You are beside yourself. You name on(
that should not be mentioned, who stands too higl
to be thrust into the quarrel."

" I name one who has shamed my blood, and on<
that shall die for that shame," said Nicholas, drawing
his sword, with his black face alight.

But Chloris sprang forward from the background
where she had stayed in response to her lover's com
mands, and swallowed in a mighty passion like hei
brother.

"Who are you, Nicholas Carmichael," she cried
" to interfere between me and what I will ? 'Tis foi

268

THE VENGEANCE OP NICHOLAS

me to avenge myself, if I will, and not for others
Go forth out of that door, and never let me see your
face agam. I care not if you be taken and rot on the
gallows. You are no brother of mine, but a devil
Let me alone. I will not be bounden to you, and you
shall do no harm here."

Nicholas struck at her furiously with his hand, but
Warburton, with an exclamation of anger, at last, stood
between, pushing her aside, and the blow fell on his
arm.

"She shall wait ; 'tis with you first," said Nicholas,
and thru.st out his sword.

Warburton was unarmed, for his pistol had been
dropped m the hall of Lynsea, and he gave way tow-
ards the hall so as to avoid the point. Hastily he
cast his eyes about the room, and, perceiving a rude
billet of wood in one corner, secured it at a bound
and caught the next thrust of the madman's weapon
upon this rough buckle. Ere a third stroke could
fall, Chloris, with all her majestic litheness leaped
upon her brother like a panther, arresting his sword-
arm.

II Curse you!" he said, and uttered a foul name.
Run, run!" she panted to Warburton, and even in
that moment back upon his memory flashed the scene
in the cave, and the picture of the girl swaying with
her brother once again. Warburton took a step forward
and, seizing Nicholas Carmichael's arm, wrenched away
the sword. He was still cool and master of himself
though breathing quickly. '

" Let him go, Chloris," he said. * Let him go. He
plays but a foolish part ; he is mad."

At his words the girl loosened her arms, and her
brother threw her oflf with an oath, so that she stag-
gered against the wall. In a moment he stood glar-

269

CHLORIS OP THE ISLAND

ing at his antagonist, who now held the long blade ii
his hand.

" For the sake of your sister, I bid you go," sai(
Warburton, sternly. "I wojild slay you with you
own weapon were it not for her, who shall be m;
wife. She shall thus be saved from your accursei
blood."

"She shall never be your wife," said Nicholas, anc
flinging forward a pistol which he had taken fron
his coat, levelled and cocked it.

Chloris uttered a sci cam, and Warburton raised hi;
sword swiftly, but ere the hammer could fall then
came a sound from without of voices, which deranget
even the design of that mad assassin. He halted
turned his ear to the door, and, behold ! gleaming i:
the morning light shone the red coats of the soldiery
An ejaculation issued from his lips, and he darted
past his sister, flew like a cat at the broken window,
and, carrying with him a clod of mortar in his leap!
wasout of the cottage and running like a hare through
the precincts of the ancient ruined chapel.

CHAPTER XXIII
ON THE SANDS BY LVNSEA

THE miraculous speed of this flight took War-
burton aback, and amazed the posse of sol-
diers also that stood in the door. The officer
m charge, whom Warburton recognized as his
own captam, issued instructions on the instant and
his men spread in a fan, in pursuit of the fugitive.
He himself offered a greeting to Warburton very civil-
^'. tHu' ^'^"*^^ lighting on Chloris, started.

What! a 'ady?" said he. "I ask your pardon.
But I believe we came just in time. A desperate
fellow, that, though 'tis a pity for his family "

Warburton motioned him from the room — which
silent command he obeyed with a stare — and then
took Chloris's hand.

" I will follow," he said, " and see what may be done
He is mad. Rest here."

She shook her head wearily. « I care not what
happens, ' she answered, with a quick flash of spirit

He joined the soldier outside, and they went to-
gether in the direction of the pursuit. Far away a
solitary figure was visible mounting a rise.

"•Tis he," said the captain. "They might bring
him down but that I am loath to do so. I have no
orders."

" He is mad," said Warburton. " Let him escape "

271

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND
The officer looked at him. "I dare not," he said,
'" bXTi meant no appeal to you," -id Warburton.
.., know, my dear .ir that you mu t do your_^dut^

discredit an ancient l^'^lj- ^ ^^^^ soldier. " But
" True, sir— very true, agreea luc

' 7he7q"uken":i" their pace to a ™n, and emerged

Jn into the wilderness of P-^/^g expanse,
one was visible anywhere UP.°" J^e rol hng P
and no sound reached them^ « w- ^ ■ ^ey^^^^^^

"He has every chance m his. favor, amoi s

"^f^^ls'likely," a^ented ^^^^^^'i::^
ty^"irpTwit:^e Ih^9n^-Hhis.^^^^^^^

rr"?Hr.m«r?fuen»^

Mav I ask if the family was present?
"There was a very handsome girl, ^^"^^J^^^/^P

tain displaying some ----^'-''^ IZ^^^^' Y^t^

1 ,^u, " T know what you would asK rac. * ""
^rgtrbulfkadl Jdo not' wag my tongue, I can

bridle my gossip."

273

ON THE SANDS BY LYNSEA

"Oh, sir," broke out Warburton, red of face, "I do
not ask you that; you mistake me. That lady is to
be my wife."

" I congratulate you, sir," said the captain, heartily.

"She has suffered for her family, sir," went on
Warburton.

" No doubt, no doubt," assented the other.

" Well, she shall no longer," declared Warburton.
" I am honored by her affection."

" So would any man be," agreed the captain, cord-
ially. " She has been mightily admired. She would
cut a figure at court."

"She shall, by God!" said Warburton, with em-
phasis.

"She will be my lady Crayle, Mr. Warburton? re-
marked the sole' •«•, with an accent of delicate inter-
rogation.

" In due course, sir ; and she will adorn it— she will
adorn the position, sir," said Warburton.

The captain nodded his head. "Gad! she would
adorn any position. She is a queen," he said, with

enthusiasm. j r u ..

" I will defy any man to speak a word of her,
pursued Warburton, stubbornly, and with meaning.
" When she is my wife, that will protect her from any
scandal of her name and home."

" It will cover much," agreed the friendly captain.

" It shall cover all," answered Warburton, signifi-
cantly.

" You are right, sir ; gad! it will cover all. No one
will remember anything; even if Sir Nicholas be

caught."

Warburton, having reached his end m the argu-
ment, followed it no further, but turned his mind to
the fugitive. The desolate undulations of the wil-

s 273

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

derness offered no guidance, nor any promise of suc-
cess for the pursuit.

"Gad! sir," observed the captain, presently. "It
seems to me that we are lost. I know not my way."

Warburton pointed to the left, where a man was to
be seen breasting a hill of sand, and to him they di-
rected their steps. When they were near enough
he was recognized for one of the soldiers, and ex-
plained that he and his companions had separated in
order to cover as much ground as possible, but, so far
as he was aware, no traces of Nicholas Carmichael
had been found.

" He cannot have run so fast as to be clean away,"
protested the captain. "He must be in these ac-
cursed hills."

"Aye," said Warburton, smiling scornfully. " There
is a 'needle in a hay -stack,' sir, if you will hunt it
through."

Presently, as a pheasant starts out of the ground,
there rose upon their left the figure of a man, and
fled. The private darted from Warburton's side and
raced over the hillocks in pursuit. Then upon the
farther side of the fugitive rose cries, and a third
figure came into sight, running towards Carmichael.
Warburton watched eagerly, the wish strong in his
heart that this man should escape. Nicholas Carmi-
chael hesitated in his course, and then, swerving,
turned away and ran parallel to the hills of the pur-
suit. Without a sound of any kind the two men fol-
lowed, but their captain raised echoes across the
dunes, calling upon his scattered band.

" Let be ! Let be !" said Warburton, impatiently.

" Sir," said the other, drawing himself up, " I can
take no commands from you."

"Oh, be damned !" said Warburton, and began him-

=74

ON THE SANDS BY LYNSEA

self to run in the direction in which the others had
vanished. He caught sight of them presently, the
quarry and the hounds, and the distance between
them remained. Whither was Nicholas Carmichael
bent ? And was it possible that he could escape if he
should outlast the soldiery ? Then it dawned swiftly
upon him whither the chase was leading; for over
the elbow of the dunes he saw the sea gleaming and
tumbling in the morning sun. Nicholas Carmichael
saw It also, and the prospect appeared to encourage
him, for he increased his pace and forged ahead.
Warburton saw the three men fading from his sight •
the edge of the land swallowed them, and they seem-
ed to roll over a precipice and down upon the rocks
below.

A little later, however, he saw what had happened ;
for the cliffs suddenly sprang out before his feet, and
he beheld the shelving land sink towards the bay ;
beyond that the smuggler leaping down the rocks; and
farther still the dancing waters of the Gut and the
sunlit peaks of Lynsea.

Warburton slipped down the hill as fast as he
might, and by this act was brought nearer to the fugi-
tive, who had taken a sharp angle in his course and
was making for the sands. Suddenly Warburton saw
his object, for floating upon the tide, upon the distant
edge of this tiny bay, was a little boat. It was true that
It stood upon the margin of the ravening Gut, yet
Nicholas was an expert sailor, knew every foot of
water thereabouts, and at all events the chances were
better than upon the land, and to be taken upon that
capital charge. Once at sea he would be out of his
pursuers' reach, and it would be odds if he could be
taken on that rugged and unfriendly coast.
Warburton now found himself running towards the

275

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

sea, down a descent of green grass, while the two
soldiers raced near each other in the wake of their
prey. They had gained upon him, but he threw a
glance over his shoulder and redoubled his exertions,
so that the space ^ tween them drew out. Then
once more it drew in and was fast swallowed up.
Warburton heard some one behind him, whom he
guessed to be the captain, and he heard next the
man's voice screaming breathlessly.

" Shoot ! shoot ! He will gain the boat! He must
be taken!"

At these words one of the soldiers made a furious
spurt and came within a dozen yards of Carmichael ;
he had already rais.:d a hand involuntarily, as if to
grasp his prisoner, when the fugitive threw up his
arms, staggered, rose again, and staggered once
more ; and, rolling over, seemed to fight and struggle
for an instant; and then, with a horrible cry of terror,
was sucked in and vanished in the oozing sand.

The soldier checked himself on the verge of that
terrible slough, and stood shaking like a reed. The
man behind flung himself upon his face, drawing
deep, discomf or table breaths. Warburton drew up.

" 'Tis the quicksand," he said.

" My God !" said the captain of the posse, and
shuddered.

" The quicksand has him," said Warburton, slowly,
and with difficulty, by reason of his breathless state ;
and to that he added, " I was wrong. 'Twas not his
escape that would be for the best. 'Tis this," and he
pointed towards the water's edge.

The captain shuddered again, and stared on him
with open amazement. " 'Tis a devilish fate," he said.
" Yet I am glad 'twas not I that arrested him."

Warburton turned his back on the scene without

276

ON THE SANDS BY LYNSEA

further talk and slowly retraced his way towards the
cottage He found Chloris lying upon the rude couch of
grass asleep, and for some moments he stood watching
her the expression upon his face changing. She was
sunk in the slumber of exhaustion, and to wake her
were to bring her back to the hard portion of life and
realization. Yet it was advisable that she should be
removed elsewhere, and he thought of her brother

- ?: wh'. was, as he conjectured, somewhere in the
neighborhood of Marlock. He stooped and kissed
her forehead lightly, and at the touch she stirred and
sat up with agasp. Her eyes fell on him, and she sailed
affectionately ; then she remembered, and some ques-
tions rose on her speaking features.

" He is gone," said he ; " 'tis all over. They have
not taken him ; his secret dies with him "

Chloris uttered a little trembling sign, and said
nothing. He lifted her to her feft. " If you aJe
rested, sweetheart, it is well that we were eoine " he
said. 6 6.^

" Going ! Whither ?" she asked, vaguely.
" I will give you in charge to your brother Philip "
he replied. "He shall look after you until I claim

She answered nothing, and presently they were
upon their way. In Marlock the whole village was
by this time astir, and news of importance was pass-
ing from hp to lip. Warburton walked up the street
and many inquisitive glances followed him and his
companion. No doubt they had heard something of
what had happened, and wondered. At the head of
the street a person of some position in the village
passed, and seemed as if he would address the girl
casting a look askance at Warburton ; but he put up
his hand with an impatient and stern gesture and

277

("^IflHFf

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

the communication was never made. These gossips
were full of the stuff they loved. Before the " Three
Feathers" they unexpectedly encountered another
group, which breaking swiftly, out of the thick stepped
Sir George and eagerly accosted him.

" Mr. Warburton, there are strange tales about, of
Sir Stephen Carmichael and — " he paused as his gaze
struck upon Chloris. "How comes this lady here?"
he inquired, in astonishment. " Does she not know ?
Her father is dead."

Warburton regarded him steadfastly. " You can
give us no news, Sir George," he answered ; and be-
hind her guardian he met the curious eyes of Doro-
thy Holt, which were fastened on him with what he
interpreted as a look of triumph.

" Sir Stephen is dead," said he, " of an ancient
•enemy. His loss was expected, poor man. I trust
his family will bear up against the dreadful fact. But
there is a successor ; the name still remains."

" Indeed, sir, I understand something very differ-
ent," began Sir George. "I have heard a curious
story. The elder son was — "

" I have said you can give us no news," broke in
Warburton, sharply, ere the word was uttered, and
again was conscious of Miss Holt's face, now bearing
a malevolent simper. " Sir Philip remains," he said,
" and," he took Chloris's hand, " I wish to make you
an introduction to this lady who has promised to be
my wiffc.'

Sir George stared, and over Miss Holt's face passed
an angry flare of red. "'Pon my soul! Mr. Warbur-
ton, you amaze me," said the former. " Well, well ;
'tis well done, I vow. But not so — strange — strange!"
and he came awkwardly to a stop. " I must offer
you my congratulations, sir," he added.

278

ON THE SANDS BY LYNSEA

Warburton bowed, and turned to Miss Holt. " I
think, madam," he said, slowly, " that I have to thank
you for a night in jail."

"What's that?" said Sir George, pricking up his
ears.

" Miss Holt, sir, was obliging enough to have me
laid by the heels," explained Warburton, while the
girl grew scarlet and then white. " For some reason
she can best explain, she swore an information against
me."

"He is in league with these Carmichaels," burst
forth the girl, with hysterical anger, trembling in her
fear.

Chloris's eyes shot fire; but Sir George, who was
greatly taken aback and thrown into a state of fuss,
checked his ward sharply.

"You will be returning soon to town, Mr. Warbur-
ton ?" he said, in an effort to regain his composure —
"you will be seeing your uncle?"

" Maybe," said Warburton, curtly.

" Commend me to my lord," persisted Sir George.
" I heard he was far from well— his old complaint."

He glanced at Chloris, as one who would suggest
that here stood the future Countess of Crayle.

Warburton bowed again, and, with the soft pressure
of Chloris's fingers on his arm, turned towards the
inn. The frightened countenance of the landlord
met him in the passage and flitted away as if in ter-
ror of a phantom, but Warburton passed on. Inside
the long room a voice sounded, calling on Tremayne,
and, pushing the door open, he entered. There sat
Philip Carmichael, his face flushed, his hair awry, and
a bottle at his elbow. He laughed noisily at War-
burton, and, suddenly checking himself, stared in be-
wilderment at his sister.

279

CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND

" What does this mean ?" he asked, vacantly.

" It means, sir, that this is no proper time to be
drinking," said Warburton, roughly, and knocked over
the bottle, spilling the red wine on the floor.

" Damme! sir, what is this piece of insolence ?" stut-
tered Philip, struggling to his feet. " And what does
Sis here ?"

"Go outside and you will learn what it means,"
said Warburton, contemptuously. " Have they not
brought the news of your father's death ?"

" 'Tis true, he is dead, rest him," said Philip, surlily.
" But you have broken my bottle," and he rapped
loudly for the innkeeper.

Warburton stood regarding him with a glance of
disgust, and was conscious that Chloris's hand was
stolen gently into his. He turned and found a
pitiful face directed on her brother, in which a great
horror mingled with tears. He held tight the
hand.

" Know you this also," he said, sternly — " that your
brother Nicholas is dead?"

The fingers closed convulsively on his, and Philip
started.

"What! Nick dead?" he exclaimed, in bewilder-
ment. "How comes he dead? You are lying." War-
burton did not answer to this, and he let his eyes
drop. " The devil!" he exclaimed, in a lower voice, in
which was a thrill. " Then I am Sir Philip."

" My God! you are welcome to it!" cried Warburton,
in disgust.

"Sir Philip!" said he, not heeding. "Poor Nick!
'Tis worth another bottle. Poor Nick!"

Warburton turned away abruptly and got out of
the room with Chloris, white and failing.

"Cheer u^, sweetheart," he whispered. He had

280

THK\ I AM SIK Plill.Il'

itmipi

; ij " ;

fil

hT|r-

ON THE SANDS BY LYNSEA

given up forthwith the thought of Philip as his sister's
protector.

" We are well gone," she murmured; " the world is
well rid of such as we. We have some evil taint."

He put an arm about her without answering and
called for the landlord. Tremayne shuffled into the
passage from his bar-room.

" Innkeeper," commanded Warburton, his tall form
at Its highest, " this lady will rest here for a little.
See that some food is prepared at once. Within an
hour's time have a coach ai the doors."

Tremayne stammered, and, dismissed by a look
went forth. '

"A coach!" cried Chloris, dreamily. "Whither go
you, sir? Is't to London? Are you tired of this
place? I wonder not. 'Tis no fit home for such as
you. We are barbarians here, and have an evil taint."

"Aye, 'tis for London," he said, with his arm about
her.

"Do you go to-day?" she murmured. "I would
that you stayed with me a little ere you go; but 'tis
no matter. You were well to be gone. There is nothing
here meet for you. I will bid you farewell, sir."

Warburton looked down on her with a smile. "'Tis
you and I that go, sweetheart," he said. "I go not
without you, and when I go you shall go. This is no
place for you, but your place is with me and where
mine is."

She opened her half-closed eyes, a long-drawn sigh
escaped her, and then her lids fell softly, and she hung
a dead weight upon him. She had swooned away.

THE END

By GEORGE DU MAURIER

■0* an'' Appi . ;■
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HARPER A BROTHERS, PcBLigHMis
NIW TORS Ain> umooN

iwr* e/O* OmM SUUm Cm.d. - ^12! 'T^'TT^' •"*

By ROBERT W. CHAMBERS

THE CONSPIRATORS. Dlustrated. Post
8vo, Cloth, $1 50.

There is an unmistakable brilliancy aboat " The
Conspirators"; the rollicking spirits of the hero,
the man who tells the story, are infectious, and his
ardor in love is delightfully romantic. — Chicago
Tribune.

LORRAINE. Illustrated. Cloth, $1 25.

Of this novel The Interior says: **A more
absorbing story could scarcely be imagined ; there
is no better tale among recent publications than
' Lorraine.' "

HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishbbs

NBW TOBK AND LONDON

^Either of the above work* will be lent by maA, poUage prepaid,
to any part of the United Statee, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt oj
the price.

By S. R. CROCKETT

KIT KENNEDY— COUNTRY BOY.
A. I. Kellbb.

Illustrated by

A Novel. Illustrated by Fkank

THE RED AXE.

Richards.

Mr. Crockett can always be depended upon for a good story
and bis many admirers will not be disappointed by " The Red
Axe which is an uncommonly strong novel of adventure —
Brooldyn, Standard -Union. "uvcuiure.

A Novel. Illustrated by T. db Thul-

LOCHINVAR.

STBUP.

Admirers of S. R. Crockett will find occasion for neither sur-
prise nor disappointment in his new story. " Lochinvar " It is
just what we might expect of him after the assurance his other
writings have given of the stability of his capacity for fine roman-
tic Action. He gives every indication that he is in the plenitude
or his powers and graces as a constructionist and narrator -
Waihtngton Times. "-"awr.

A Novel. Illustrated by Sky-

THE GRAY MAN.
MODB Lucas, R.A.

hi,L'nT^*^ ^\- : • T^"^^ '° **' portrayals of character and
historic evenU.— ilMton Congregationalitt.

Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, 11 60 per volume.

HARFER & BROTHERS, Publishers

NEW YORK AKD LONDON

'Ant, of the above works reiU he mU by maU, postage prepaid,
to any part of the United State,, Canada, or MexiiTcm fS of
w* price. '

Bx RICHARD HARDING DAVIS

A YEAR FROM A REPORTER'S NOTE-BOOK.
Illustrated by R. Catow Woodvillk, T. db Thpl-
8TBUP, and Fbbdbsio Remingtox, and from Photo-
graphs token by the Author. $1 50.

THREE GRINGOS IN VENEZUELA AND CEN-
TRAL AMERICA. Illustrated. (1 60.

ABOUT PARIS. Illustrated by C. D. Gibson. |l 25.

THE PRINCESS ALINK Dluatrated by C. D.
Gibson. $1 26.

THE EXILES, AND OTHER STORIES. lUustrated.
$1 50.

VAN BIBBER, AND OTHERS. Dlustrated by C. D.
Gibson. $1 00 ; Paper, 60 cents.

THE WEST FROM A CAR-WINDOW. Illustrated
by FxBOBBic Remington. $1 25.

OUR ENGLISH COUSINS. Illustrated. $1 28.

THE RULERS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
Dlustrated. |1 25.

I^t 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental

Mr. DbtIb has eyes to aw, is not a bit afraid to tell what he
aea, and is essentially good natured. . . . Mr. Davis's faculty of
appreciatimi and enjoyment is fresh and strone : he makes vivid
pictures.— OuMsmfc, N. Y.

Richard Harding Davis never writes a short story that he does
not prove himself a master of the an.— Chicago TVniM.

HABPER & BROTHERS. Pubushxbs

NBW TOBK AND LONDOIT

or ^nv of the abate uorkt teill be tentby tnail, pottage prepaid to
any part of the United SUUee, Canada, or Mettieo, on rmipt of the

By JAMES M. LUDLOW

It 18 altogetliei; a fresh and enjoyable tale, strone in ts gituati,„w »n.l
stimngin US actions -«„«„ J,; Commercial. G^Jue ""^

The picture of the life ami manners of timi far-away period U carefullv
.n. .rti.t.cally drawn, the plot \s full of interest, and lirwlmle tr^tmJnt
of tl^e subject « nrikiagly original, and there U a d ami ic fnS^

THE CAPTAIN OF THE JANIZARIES. A Ta!e of

6morr.,fo'"'''''"'^/"'i^''''-"^''''«f Constantinople

16tno, Cloth, Orn.-xment.-il,$l 50; 8 vo, Paper, 50 cents.

Strong ,n its central hi.storie.,' character, abounding in incident ranid

i„, rf '" '"^"""' ""'"^'^'^ "'"^ °f'- brilliant i'u 8t;re!is^i^''

Something ne«v ,nd striking interests .is in almost every chantor Th«
l«ii;?h::2SJli:l:;^'jJ^V'^"«"'^"' -">«>•-- »' the msy reader.

HARPEIJ & BROTirERS, Pubushbrs

NEW YORK A.VD I.ONDOW

martini' n ?*:;"''«"•*»,"•'" *' ""'f 'on nu,if,po,H^ prepaid, l»
0^1 part of the Utnted States, Canada, or Mexico, on recet^oftTpri^

By H. a. WELLS

WHEN THE SLEEPER WAKES. Illustrated.
8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, 11 50.

" This romance of the twenty-Kcood century," u the ]
Daily Telegraph says, " will |>rove abaolutely enthralling
hero sees into a trance in 1900, and when he awakes two ct
later lie finds that his property has incremd so greatly
owns more than half the world."

THIRTY .STRANGE STORIES. New EdUion.

8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, tl 50.

Creepy, ini^cnious, original, and more than clever f
fire. They fascinate you like the ejre of a snake. ... It
be impossible to find a group of stories that will gire the
more sensations, or hold Lis attention more firmly. — Boiton .

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. With lUuatn

Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, tl 60.

One of the conspicuous books of the year, from its i
originality of title and plot. — WaihingUm TimM.

THE INVISIBLE MAN. A Orotesqae Romance

8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, |1 00.

In his audacio'is imaginative insight into the romantii
bilities underlying the discoveries or the suggestion of i
science Mr. Wells stands unrivalled. ... It is just like a t'a
from real life, recalling the best work of Foe in its acccnl
cerity and surpassing it in its felicity of style. — The Sj^
Loudon.

i-i

HARPER & BROTHERS, Fcblubsbs

NEW TORE AMD LONDON

or Any of the above tMrk* will be tent by mail, poelage f
to any part of the United Staten, Canada, or Mexico, on reeeij
friee.

sJBMfc

itrated. Post

," aa the Loi don

thralling. Tli<-
68 two centuries
greatly that lie

mtion. Post

clever they all
. ... It would
give the 'eader
-Botton turatd.

\ lUiutrations.

rom ita striking
>manoe Post

romantic posai-
tiun of m(idern
like a tmnscript
ts accent of sin
—The %pteiaXo

Eoras

poilage prepaid,
on receipt of the