The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-15
CHAPTER XIX. Fly the Tidal Pool .

When John Shil left the dingy little house in Widley Street. he walked fu- riously till he found cab and then he drove to his hotel.
 His thoughts were none of the sweet est as he leant over the doors of the hanson and scowled vacantly at the passers-by. Laura was lost to him for over. The birth of her son had placed an insurmountable barrier between them. She might have-been willing to leave her husband but she would not leave her child and even if she consented to sacrifice her honor as a wife, she would not be able to bear the thought of the inevitable separation from her little boy. For Shil who knew nothing of the truth. supposed that the law would give the custody of the child to it's father.
 He came to the conclusion that he had done the right thing in leaving the house without the interview for which he had entered 1t. Such an in- terview could only augment his sor- row. and would be nothing short of cruelty to the woman he loved. Leo- nnre had undoubtedly acted for the best when she declined to allow him to see Laura Vane.
 But as to Leonore herself? An, there was another problem which thA6ht uhNC SO DC 1dSCQ hHt Hc1k Iu- ture. Without any actual attempt at deception he had deceived her, and the memory of his conduct was gall to him. He had imagined that they were both piaying' the same game Now he knew that the woman had been in . earnest. He owed her some repara- ton. He would have to decide how he could make amends to her. He knew the only thing that an honorable aI~~-. r Is~ l. II. stances. but he strank from the very thought of 1t.
 Strangely enough. no recollection of Henry Burton entered his mind as he drove back to the Carlton The fnci- dent of the little drunkard had passed eompieteiyss out of his brain At the moment it hardly impressed him as be- ing Of any importance, and the space of half an hour had relegated it to the mental dust-heap. Yet if John shil had only known the truth, he would have returned at once to Widley Street, and have made terms with the unimportant Henry Burton.
 John Shil left London that evening for his new home in Essex. He had bought 1t because 1t was close to Lord Crawcour's estate, and he knew all that there was to be known about the house and the land which belonged to lE. He naQ also takSu u great nklnE for the Earl and his son, Lord Port iington, and he wished to settle down in a district where he could be sure of friendly welcome.
 The eurrounding country did not ap- peal t& him, and he would have pre- ferred ssome estate in the vicinity of the Stdnewold Hills. But that part of the w4rld was barred from him for syer. Tt was the home of the Tan kerlanes, and the shadow of their name rested on every hill and field and tree.
 Black Hall. for 300 years the home of thel Black -Hintons. was a gloomy lookinS mansion on the very edge of the -eastern marshlands. It had been built by one Francis Black. who had married the heiress of the Hintons. and had at once proceeded to pull down the ancient residence of that great Saxon family He must have been man who carried the art of punning to ex- cess, for he built his new home entire iy of black granite. and the cost of the material must have been ruinous In those days of bad roads and imperfect transportation by sea.
 The color of the stone gave the house forbidding exterior, but 1t was a large mansion, and finely built, and the iat&erior would have done cred