The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

| CHAPTER XVIIL "he rain clouds had vanished the | morning, and the sunshine, th it was but a faint likeness the golden light that used to well in the bygone summer time, ill .shone bright and pleasantly ver the grounds and lawn: Darnley was up early; he had "paid his visit to the sick-room, and : been re: ded for his pains by the evident ot and comfort his "uncle experic..céd in his presence. The young man was inexpressibly shocked at the change wrought in the vigorous, florid, happy-looking Sir Humphrey; and despite his manhood, 'a mist "of unshed tears rushed, to his eyes as lie gazed at he white, drawn face," with the shadow of retreating death linger: ing, as it were, reluctantly on it; he could not speak 'at first, but "stood grasping the thin, trembling hand his uncle extended to him. 'YThis--this * is = a bad lookout, Derry, my . lad," Bir Humphrey whispered, in his faint, weak voice. "I've had a narrow squeak, ay, a very narrow one. I thank Heaven you are here. My---my darling wants some one'$o look after her, po oly D_ 200K 8 His strength er. tains je The-young ' man began «to talk cheerily, in the nearest approach to his old frank manner he could mus- would go no far Liter up; it was a hard struggle, for it hit him very deep to see the ac- tive, healthy, genile-natured man, who had seemed the very quint- essence of vitality; lying there a eripple for life, a terrible wreck. He said everything he 'could to cheer Bir Humphrey--sacrificing his own inclination, which was bat- tling to be out in the open air, try- ing to solve the problem which Dorothy's words of last night had conjured up. The sick man lay back contented, a more peaceful look on his wan countenance than had come during his short respite from pain. +7 am glad,"' he murmured, over and over again; and once, when Darnley bent over him; he caught the whisper; "Dolly has fretted about Nancy--you must cheer----" When he had left the sick-room, + having first inquired for Dorothy, and learned that she was sleeping soundly---a condition = of things which pleased him beyond all de- /seription---the young man 'put on his. hat, and, whistling for the dogs, who were mournful and de- pressed at their beloved master's illness, he sallied out into the open air. It wos a wonderfully balny day--one of the few summer days that are sprinkled here and there in an English winter. The very ' firet person he saw was the old "bead gardener, Mr. Murdock, from whom he received a warm greeting --in fact, everybody was pleased tn soe him again, © #Eh; but it's Miss Dorothy will bo right glad, sir," he said. *'We were just at our wits' end two days gen' that puir bairm's white [ace made our hearts bleed. 'And sen led his lordship went she's wanted some one varry badly." f"Well, I anr here now, and here 1 shall remain," ssid Derrick Damn- "Joy, quickly. He shrank from hear- ing some unkind remark on Nancy's _ gonduct. With this new and per- lexing condition of his mind, he etermined he would judge her no more till he had fathomed some: thing of the truth. § As he moved away, followed by "the dogs, his thought went to Mere- field; and he wondered what could ! n the other man aay from his eousin ab such a crisis. It ¢ d then his mind 'poor child | 1 face as it was last night. IT feel} waving their empty branches to and fro in the soft, mild airs aa "Holly's blind is down.. Good. A long sleep is the best thing for her, can's bear to see her restless, A few miles mora will do did not gq roundings. True, there were doubi rtions of the Hall 'groune me good. ; 3 Ek He whistled to the dogs, who y and raced round him, delighted at the prospect of a walk, and seeing in this--poor animals !---a sign that better times were coming. Derrick walked on' rapidly. © gave no special heed to the path he chose, but let his feet lead him involun- tarily whither they would. =' He was soon out of the grounds into the muddy country lanes, but once there he awoke from his musings, and, with a quick niovement, turned away from the village. Solitude was bad, but gossip was worse, and he could not by any chance go through Ripstone village without stopping to greet, first one person and then an- other. Sy HG He strode along heedless of the prickéd up their ears glad! mud: Although he had been at the Hall a great deal the earlier part of the year, he was not very con- versafit- with the neighborhood; a8 his walks had been confined princi- pally to the Hall grounds, and Sir Humphrey had been 'abroad so much that he had no. chance of ex- ploring, the country during the hunting seasons, therefore, it was not at all surprising that, when Mr. Darnley found himself at a corner where two lanes ran diverse ways, he came to a sudden standstill and hesitated. S He stood and reconnoitred, hav- ing first ascertained that it was still early by a glance at his watch, and then determined to take the right-hand lane, oi "I must have made a regular de- tour," he said to himself. "That mass of trees evidently belongs to the east part of Ripstone. 1 can get back that way." So, suiting the action to the word, he made for the spot mentioned. When he reached the trees, how- ever, he came to a stop. A gate was before him, but it' was chained and padlocked, with ominous iron spikes ornamenting the top rail; The young man gave a short whis- tle of surprise, which deepened as his eyes rested on a board with a warning to trespassers printed on it in gigantic letters. "This is very odd! Uncle Hum- phrey can know nothing of it, I am sure. One of the keepexs has taken upon himself to be very cautious all at once. It's the first time I ever remember a board like that, or spikes like those ugly ones, to have a place in Ripstone property." ' Ho rattled the gate as he mutter- od this; but though the chain was loose, there was no' movement el- ther backward or forward, «= "This is, to say the least of ity annoying--deuced annoying!" mus- Darnley, his wrath rising visibly against the imaginary keeper, who had arranged all this apparently to thwart him. * "1 don't feel like retracing my steps at all. 1 am sure this is a pear way to the Hall." He stopped back and reviewed the gate, the dogs watching him with eager eyes and hanging tongues, satvelling as bo what he was going to do, a tig vith ssa dion ong "as Dad with much deep thought; "it's bad, certainly; but it might be 'worse. a worst 1 shall on , hate to be bes ol to trespassers was not needed, 'this spot was not inviting, tramps. AE "If I go this way T shall the lake,' Darnley communed wi himself, as he dame to one point, The sunshine hud suddenly gone, and the 'air felt like rain at any| |' moment, 3 ; A shiver, born of what sensatio: he did not know, passed through him. He stood still, and looked round, and at that moment one of the 'dogs gave a sharp cry and a moan of pain; and in one gland the young man saw. that the poor animal had its forepaw locked a trap which had been hidden in the long grass. ! "This is shameful!" 'he said, flushed with anger, as he knelt down and unfastened the eruel ma- chine. "I"shall certainly give Mur: dock apiece of my mind. Poor Dick -~poor Dick! It:isn't so bad old fellow! You were more fright- ened than hurt, thank goodness! But if this infernal thing had cloged as it should have done, you weuld have had a broken leg, old chap I!' With infinite tenderness Darnley patted and soothed the frighténed animal. i It was as he said, The dog w not really much hurt; for the trap had fortunately failed to act pro- perly ; but his brow darkened as he rose from his knees: 'Sir Humphrey would be simply beside himself if he knew these horrible things were scattered about. 1 wonder who has done it! It's not like Murdock, for with all] his grumpiness, the old fellow has as soft a heart as any one I know. Perhaps Lady Merefield has been} exercising ' her. authority. This is just the sort of thing agine her doing." Well, at any 1ate, when Dolly knows, everything vill be altered in the twinkling of =n eye.. Now I.must get on. Surely the lake must be over there." With another tender caress for the dog, who was going very lame, | the young man strode over ths ranks weeds and grass, keeping a sharp} lookout for more traps, and making could im-{ 2 4 reeting, i ue tion 'by the way i > terested in: us. Ho stands 'side on the platform; and la ly points out -that the top head--he is of more. than a: R Isize for a Jap--barely Teaches 'my shoulders: ~~ 'Me big," he Engiish, "but, you much big. fie is, like: all the Japanes met, amazingly polite. When he comes round to | ine tickets, he begins by at the end of the car, takes o cap to the. honorable' bi bows to the. ground; rubs his knees with. his hands, draws.in his breath audibly, and delivers himself of an announcement . in Ja g whieh I imaginatively translate follows : ; ; § "Your "most honorable excellen- cies and most au stiy-deigning. to-be-pleased ones, I hope you pardon this creature of mud for, having been born into this world to ask you, most gracious and sup: | erior ones, to show your gasiy r which' beg i blessed tickets; b you will 'honorably deign to gr and orush me, who am but as a snail of the soil, beneath your kind- ly sandals.' fal The passengers, ceasing for a mbtmen 6 from ues Jie a hops 8, bow profoundly in ro, | rub their Eaecs with' their hands, | suck in their 'breaths with the| peculiar whistling sound which is} the special expression of a Japanese | 8 fumble among their loose ayers of clothes, and ultimately. produce their honorable tickef thig® there is. more thie dogs follow sharp at heel, af Procesding to which the sagacion casts were notlung loath, since their companion had 'experienced such difficulty and pain. Darnley walked on for about fifty : yards, and yet the lake did mot {come in sight. t ny Bn MR "7% is very odd," he muttered, *'I} seem to be all wrong. Hallo! what's that 7-Jooks like 'a woman's dress; it must be one of the maids--so much the better, she will put me on the right track. Come on, dogs!' His steps were Recessaily soften ed with the thickness of the he age upon which he walked, and as he pushed through a short clump' of low-growing shrubs, Mr. Darnley saw immediately that 'the servant maid not only was unaware of his presence, or, indeed, the presence any one near her, but that ghe evident] or 1 : Useful Hints for the Tiller of ths