Evening star., 1909-04-24
LADY ATHLYNE
By BRAN STOKER.
copyrtsht 1905 By
Entered At Hail. All nshts rsssevsG
Bv BRAN STOKER.

All rights reserved

man; an Am thinkin' that he'll no fash
yer lordship. He can take RESPONSE
beelity that even a sargeant o polls
daurn't. SO it's like ye'll get ava be-
| fore the nicht"
Athlyne sat himself down to walt
Once again natures pendulum began to
swing in his thoughts: on one side hap
piness. on the other anxiety. The de-
| light of the day wherein he had realiz-
ed to the full that Joy indeed loved
| him. even as he loved her: the memory
of those sweet kisses which still tin
| gled on his lips and momentarily ex-
allied him to sort of rapture; and
then the fear which was manifold.
selfish and unselfish. She might get
| into any one of many forms Of trouble,
| If only from her anxiety to reach home
before the arrival of her parents. She
was. after all. not a practiced driver:
| and was in control of the very latest
cial mechanism she could know
nothing If she should break down
| far from any town she would be
| in the most difficult position possible
know And all this apart from the pos
sibility of accident, of mischance Of
driving: of the acts of other travellers;
of cattle on the road; of any of the
countless mishaps which can be with
so swift and heavy a machine as a
rive in time, what pain or unpleasant
ness might there not be with her ia
ther. He would be upset and anxious
at first, naturally. He might be angry
| cursion with a man alone; he would
most certainly be angry with him for
taking her. for allowing her to go. And
at such a time, too! Just when every
thing was working-had worked to-
ward the end he aimed at. He knew
that Col. Ogilvie was and had been
| incensed with him for a neglect which
under the circumstances was absolute
discourtesy. And here he bitterly took
himself to task for his selfishness-he
realized now that it was such-in
wanting to make sure of joys love be-
fore consulting her father, or even ex-
planning to him the cause of his pass
ing under false name. Might it not
be too late to set that right now:
And there he was. away In Scotland
kicking his heels in petty little po-
lice station, while she. poor girl, would
have to bear all the brunt of the pain
and unpleasantness. And that after
long. wearying, wearing drive Of a
eternally humping away. lest she
might lose in her race against time.
And. what was worse still, that 1t
would all follow day which de did not
attempt to doubt had been. UP to the
time of the arrest, one Of unqualified
happiness.
:" nessun maggotr dolOre
Che ricordasi del tempo felice
Nella miseria."
ga sorrows crown of sorrow is re-
membering happier things.D
The contrast would be terrible. He
him; what would 1t be to her! Her
sweet. gentle. loving heart would be
hurst, crushed to the very dust.
He sprans to his feet and walked
about the room. till noticing the sergeant
was watching him in surprise and sus-
picion. he controlled himself.
He talked with the sergeant for
while genially. 1t was positively neceS-
sary that there should not be any doubt
in the mind Of the latter when the sheriff
should arrive. This episode took the
strain from his mind-for time. He
expressed to the officer how anxious he
was to get on, and interested the worthy
man so much that he sent over to the
hotel to borrow time table. There Ath-
lyme learned that it would be practically
impossible for him to get on to Amble-
side that night. Not even IL he could get
a special train at Carlisle-there was no
place. When he asked the sergeant his
opinion. that worthy individual con-
descended to smile.
"Losh. man, they don't run specials on
these bit lines. 'Tis as much as they
can do to run few trains day. Am
thinkin' that IL ye asked the station
master anywheer along the Dumfries and
Kirkcudbright line for a special he'd hae
ye in the daft hoose. or he'd be there
himsel!'
Athlyne went back to his seat. Once
again the pendulum of his thoughts
swung to and fro.
He was now face to face with one
certainty amongst many possibilities.
hot l,> xtrv
immediate help to Joy. She. poor dear,
must fend for herself and. II need be,
fight her battle alone He could only try
to make 1t up to her afterward. And
yet what could he do for her. what more
give to her who had already all that was
his! And here again he lost himself In
memories Of the immediate spast, which
presently merged into dreams of the
future which has no end.
But again swung the pendulum with
the thought of what he was next day to
do which might help Joy. He began to
realize out of the intensity of his thought,
which was now all unselhsh. in what
danger OF misconception the girl stood
piled by any accident OF her arrival. In
the eyes Of her friends her very char
acter might be at stake. And now he
made up his mind definitely as to how
he would protect her In that way. He
could prove his time Of leaving Amble
side by his chauffeur. the time of that
swift journey would be It's own proof:
the time of his arrest was already proved.
Likewise Of Joys departure for home.
Henceforward till he should meet her
father he would take care that his move
ments were beyond any mystery or sus-
picion whatever. In any case-even II
she did not arrive at home until late
Joy would be actually In another country
from that which held him. and the rapid
ity of her journey would in itself pro-
tect He would stay in some hotel in
place where he could get a suitable train
in the morning. and would arrange that
his arrival and departure were noted.
Naturally the place he would rest for
the night. II he should succeed in get
ting away, would be Castle Douglas. for
here lines from Kirkcudbright. from
Stranraer and from Glasgow made juno
ton. so that he had a double chance Of
departure. II he were detained at Dairy
the police themselves would be proof Of
his presence there.
He felt easier in his mind after this de-
cision and was able to await with greater
patience the coming of the sheriff.
(To be continued tomorrow.)