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Tour laa autroa axamplairaa orlginaux aont fiimia an commandant par la pramiira paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illuatration at an tarminant par la darniAra paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Un doa aymboloa auivanta apparaitra sur la darniira imaga da chaqua microficha. salon la caa: la symbolo -^ aignifia "A SUIVRE". la aymbolo V aignifia "FIN". Laa cartaa, planchaa. tablaaux. ate. pauvant 4tra filmia A daa taux da reduction diffirants. Loraqua la document aat trop grand pour itra raproiduit an un aaul cliche, il aat film* A partir da I'angla aupAriaur gaucha. do gaucha k droite. at da haut an baa. •» pranant la nombra d'imagaa nteaaaaira. llaa diagrammas suivants illuatrant la mAthoda. 2 3 5 6 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 L TZ3. VV3 3B C ^ Copyright. 1900, by H. B. Marriott Watson -*// rights rtstrveit. \ CONTENTS CHAFTBR I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. 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 14 18 32 36 53 58 63 70 72 76 86 90 94 114 124 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 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. w 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 3 ^- 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." 5 li 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 6 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 7 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." 8 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 ?" 9 / 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 lO 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. II 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. 12 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- 13 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 ; ii 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! iJ i s I f {1 II 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." !8 hlllKLtV S KultV l.AV .SIKKICIIKL) IN lllK I- IKKI.Uill 1' II' 4 ■ >. : '1 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 19 it 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." 20 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 21 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- 22 If 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- 23 ! ^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 24 ROGER WARBURTON REJIAINS '4 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 25 if ill M 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 26 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. 27 ■^^..^-.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." 28 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- 29' \ I ■;i|i ? 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 30 I ! 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« I 11 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." 32 I ' f i 1 i ; If |i B t I '■ I [ ! . il 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 rl i ' 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- 34 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- 35 It I i ■'I It ' i'; 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 36 liOW ( ! ! li I ! :r 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 37 I I ■ i i 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 3S 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 39 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 40 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 flowinf 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. 45 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 46 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- 47 I li V I- I \' ii:| \ r ■I M'i- 5. 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- 48 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 1 1 • » i . r • ' I ' I'- ■ll' ' 1 i id^ '*' 1 •■ ii • ' .1:, '• i ^ 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 50 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» i I J' * 11 I n f) ^ ft ::r fik. ■ i ' 1 i 5. ' M i 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 52 F .1 > 1 ■A 1 \ii \i I CHLOKIS .SKI/.I..I, HKK 1.K..1.1KK'S WKl.Sl Willi l:,-,.l IIAM,. 1 1 i' 1 i '; i f 1 % i i I !| ' I T ! : 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. 53 1 i ,; l: .> ^■1 : L I ■ f!' i 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." 54 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 S6 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 57 ) tn 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 58 n > f n o o •i O •t H S n JO > n )4i if-; 1 r ; r^^ r% i '( ^ r 3 1| if ' ' ' * i ; 1 1 kii 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 59 ■ . \ 1 i i i. i . r Il 11 h m ; ¥ 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 60 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 6i »«CtOCOPY RISOIUTION TfST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) ■ 2.2 135 13.6 1.8 ^ APPLIED IM^GE 1653 Eosl Moin Street Rochester, New York U609 USA (716) 482 -0300- P(,one (716) 288 - 5989 - Fa« i '*'* 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." 62 Ill i! \ if ft ! 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." 63 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. 64 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 ii 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." 66 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 51 CHLORIS OF THE ISLAND