The Gold-Stealers Part 39

'How long have they been gone?' asked Harry, as he hastened towards the towns.h.i.+p. He felt that this was a crisis, that action was called for, but the news had confused him. He was fighting with the fear that she was taking this course to avoid him for the reason that his connection with her misfortunes had made him hateful to her. He burned to read her letter, but he had no mind for heroic schemes or projects.

'On'y about a quarter of an hour,' said d.i.c.k in answer to his question.

'They can't've gone far.'

'You're sure she was going to. Melbourne--going for good?'

'Certain sure--heard her tell mum.'

Mrs. Haddon was standing at the door when they reached the house, and Harry followed her into the kitchen.

'Give it to me, Alice,' he said. 'Quick! Can't you see I'm half mad?'

Mrs. Haddon handed him the letter, and he tore the envelope with awkward impatient fingers. The note was brief:

'DEAR HARRY,--I write this to bid you good-bye again, and thank you again for all your kindness and goodness. I am going away because I can no longer bear to live amongst people who know me as the daughter of one who was a thief and almost a murderer. Don't think bitterly of me. All that I have done I did for the best, according to my poor light. We may never meet again, but it would make me happier some day to know that you had forgiven me, and that you remembered me without anger in your own happiness.

--Your very true friend,

'CHRISTINA s.h.i.+NE.'

Harry sank into a chair and sat for a minute staring blankly at the letter, and Mrs. Haddon stood by his side staring curiously at him.

Suddenly she slapped firmly on the table with her plump hand and asked sharply:

'Well, Harry, well?'

He turned his blank eyes upon her.

'Do you care a b.u.t.ton for that girl?'

'Care?' he said. 'I care my whole life an' soul for her!'

'Well, then, what're you goin' to do? ''Re you goin' to lose her?'

'In the name o' G.o.d, Alice, what can I do? She doesn't want me; she is going away to be rid of me.'

'Not want you? You great, blind, blunderin' man you; she loves you well enough to break her heart for you. Can't you see why she's going away? Of course you can't. She's goin' because she thinks she's an object of shame an' disgrace; because she feels on her own dear head an' weighin' on her own great, soft, simple heart all the weight of the shame that belonged to that bad devil of a father of hers; because all that the papers, an'

the lawyers, an' the judge said about the sins o' Ephraim s.h.i.+ne she feels burnin' in red letters on her own sweet face. That's why she's goin'; an'

if she is leavin' you it's because she feels this whole villainous business makes her unfit to be your wife. Now what're you goin' to do, Harry Hardy?'

Harry had risen to his feet; his face was flushed, he trembled in every limb.

'Do?' he gasped. 'Do?'

'Do!' Repeated the widow in a voice that had grown almost shrill.

'There's a horse an' saddle an' bridle in McMahon's stable.'

Harry turned and ran from the house; and the little widow, standing at the door flushed and tearful, looking after him, murmured to herself:

'An' if you lose her, Harry Hardy, you're not the man I took you for, an'

I'll never forgive you--never.'

She looked down and encountered d.i.c.k's eyes--seeming very much larger and graver than usual--regarding her with solemn admiration. The boy had conceived a new respect for his mother within the last two minutes, and had discovered in her a kindred spirit hitherto unsuspected.

'My colonial! that was rippin', mum!' he said.

CHAPTER XXV.

HARRY took French leave in McMahon's stable. He saddled Click, Mac's favourite hack, mounted him, and started down the dusty Yarraman road at a gallop. To Harry that ride was ever afterwards a complete blank. He started out with his mind full of one thought, an overpowering resolution. He would seek Chris, he would take her in his arms and defy every fear or scheme or power that might be directed against their love and happiness to part them again. That was his determination, and, having made it, he rode on blindly, pus.h.i.+ng the horse to his best pace.

After pa.s.sing the Bo Peep the road ran out into treeless open country, slightly undulating. There were a few trickling rock-strewn creeks to cross, and Harry rushed Click through them like a man riding for his life. Half an hour's gallop brought the vehicle in sight, and ten minutes later he came abreast of the buggy and brought his foaming horse to a trot. 'Stop!' he cried; and Summers, much amazed, pulled up his pair.

Harry threw himself from the saddle, leaving the horse his freedom, and, going to the buggy, seized Chris by the hand and drew her down towards him.

'Chris, I want to speak to you. You must, you must!'

He helped her from the vehicle. His att.i.tude was stern and masterful, and Chris yielded with a sense of awe. Summers regarded the pair for a moment with pursed lips and bent brows; then a grim smile dawned about his mouth, and he touched his horses with the whip and drove slowly away down the road.

Harry and Chris stood upon the plain facing each other, the girl's hands clasped firmly in those of the man. Harry was dressed just as he had come from the mine; her neat black frock was marked with the grey dust from his clothes. He was flushed; his eyes had more of power than of love in them. She still strove, but felt his strength greater than hers, and her heart beat painfully. She whispered a pitiful protest when he drew her to his breast and clasped her closely in his irresistible arms.

'I won't let you go, my dear love--I swear I won't!' he whispered vehemently.

'You must. Oh, why do you make my task so hard?'

'I won't let you go from me, Chris.'

She looked into his glowing eyes, and struggled a little, murmuring incoherently.

'Never, Chris, never!' he continued. 'You love me! Look into my face an'

deny it if you can. You can't!' he cried, with a flush of triumph.

'I have never denied it, Harry; but I must go. 'Tis because I love you--'

He laughed suddenly with the elation of a conqueror, and stopped her mouth with kisses.

'You love me, an' you'd leave me. Why? Tell me why, my darling, my dear love!'

She threw back her head and gazed into his eyes. 'I will tell you,' she said. 'I would leave you because I am the daughter of Ephraim s.h.i.+ne, the man whose memory is hated everywhere; the man whose crimes you and yours can never forget; the man who sent your innocent brother to prison, who whitened your mother's hair with grief, who left you to die in the waters of the mine--who was a triple thief and a hypocrite. He was my father and I loved him. I cannot do anything else but love him now, but you must hate and loathe him. Think of me as your wife--me, the thief's daughter, whispered about, pointed at. Think, as I have done, of that possible time when you might love me less because of him and the wrong he did you, when you might be ashamed to be seen with me. People don't forget crimes like his, Harry; they talk of them to their children. Think of your mother and your brother. Think, think--oh, Harry, think, for my strength is gone.'

He only clasped her closely and kissed her cheek.

'Think of your mother,' she continued. 'Harry, I would die to serve her.

I would rather die than bring shame or grief into her life.'

'I love you! I love you!' he said.

'Think, think of the people pointing at us, whispering about my disgrace.'