Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-02-24

upon his mett!e by the allusion to tn,
 fact that his journey had been so far .
 failure And MT. Rayner whispered tl
 me in the hall, with his eyes twinkling
 when the detective was already seated
 In the dog-cart at the door, that he hac
 put that fellow up to discovering some
 thing-it did not matter what0wrone
 or right. He said that they should be back early, as the fog was rising al
 ready, and, in order to repay MT. May.
 nara for detaining him, there was to be
 dinner at half-past six, instead of the
 usual tea at half-past five. And, in the
 very highest spirits, Mr. Rayner patted
 my shoulder, told me to save myself
 TOT next day, and that he had present
 to give me on the journey, and jumped
 into the dog-cart.
 l went back into the dining-room.
 Mrs. Rayner was sitting by the fire,
 with Haidee on her lap.
 Are you unhappy at the thought of
 losing her so soon?'f said I, softly. leav- ing my seat and kneeling by her side,
 as soon as the cook had left the room.
 Mrs. Rayner looked at me earnestly. and then whispered:
 "No' am not unhappy about her, but about you.''
 About me, Mrs. Raynerr' lex claimed, in astonishment.
 "Hush!' she whispered, softly. She took her arms from her child's neck, and told her to go and play; and Haldee obediently walked to the win dow, where her doll was lying on the floor.
 "lt is as much as my wretched life is worth to warn you,' whispered she, taking the hand had laid upon her lap, and clasping and unclasping her own about it nervously. You are klnd-hearted, and innocent as a child see that now," she continued, her eyes wandering restlessly about the room.
 l began to be afraid of fit of hys. terics. or worse; and begged her not to talk if it fatigued her, and asked her II should fetch some eau-de-cologne. Shc shook her head.
 Fl am not hystcrical-don't be afraid of that, said she, turning her great eyes upon me. as if in reproach. II only want to tell you this-when you arrtve in London tomorrow, if your mother Is not waiting at the station, insist upon going to hey house before you go further. Do not oa any account enter another train without her. Call the guard-make disturbance at the station-do any thing rather"
 ''But how can I?' said I, gently. II can not insist against Mir. Rayner He would not listen. You know that, when he tells one to do thing, there is such a strong authority about him, one must do it..
 '.Try, try!'' said she, earnestly T believe you have the power, if you have the courage. You have thwartcd his wishes as nobody else has ever dared to do-in sending for Dr. Lowe, in talk ing Haidec upstairs. Try once mnrr. It Is not Sarah s safety that is concerrcd this time, nor Haidee's, but your own. For Heavens sake, try!''
 She lay back in the chair, her face, neck aad hands all wet with the vio- fence of her feeling and her liuaCcus- toned vehemence. Yet her voice had never risen above whisper that could not have been heard at the other end of the room. She raised her faco again, and read with unexpected pene- tration the look on my face.
 ''1 am not mad, Miss Christie" she said, quite quietly. "Think me mad if you like-if your mother meets you at Liverpool Street Station. But, if not, remember my warning; it may have cost me my life.''
 Mrs. Rayner's words had made so strong an impression upon me that ! resolved in case my mOther failed to meet Us at the station, or to arrive soon after We did, and would ask Mr. Ray. ner to take n cnb to my unclu's house and fetch her myself. But 1 could not why his wife should strive to make me suspect him who had shown himself to be one of my best and strongest friends.
 The f9g grew so thick that afternoon that it was quite dark at half past four 0 clock when there was r.ng at the | door bell, and boy from the village caHe iR and said Mrs. Manners was at the school and wished me ta como there at once. l went in and told Mrs. Rayner of the request and she ad- vised me not to go, fearing there was some trick about it. But upon my saying that I did not see how l could refuse she listlessly gave her consent.
 ran up-stalrs and was down again ready for my walk in a few minutes. The boy was evidently prepared to ac- company mo. He kept ut ging me to make haste and followed him as fast IS could, while he turned ever other minute to see that was still behind him,
 The school was about half mile rom the Alders, among the first houses 'f the village. When l stumbled against a milestone which was, I knew, lot far from our destination. the boy 'aid:
 Here, miss, take care! This way.'
 And, taking a corner of my cloak, le led me round into a path which ,ranched off to the left
 "But you are going wrong," I said. It is straight on. know-not up here, Fhls is the way to Dunning's Farm, lalf mile off,
 'It's all right, miss," said he, "rm iraid of our being run over along the llgh road now. we're so near the vil- age. Come on, miss: it's all right"
 He was very impatient; and I fol- owed him, not without some misciy- ngs. We had groped our way up this ane for what seemed to me avery long me, when the boy stopped and 1hiStlcd