The Lady of North Star

y the sombre pinewoods, was visible for some two miles, and where it turned round a high rampart of the cliff, a moving figure, clearly visible on the snow, caught h

shooting party, and Dick Bracknell made himself very agreeable to me. You are to understand that

a moment, and Corpo

ve felt, Miss Gargrave, and I know th

ll black figure which he had observed was moving again, and if he were not mistaken was c

me, and knowing that he was Sir James Bracknell's heir, I was flattered by his attentions, and a littl

le, Miss Gargrave,

ow I felt at the time.... At the end of the autumn, just before

ve look upon her face, and guessed that she was reviewing that occasion in her min

t accept

y n

that I loved him, and the second because I was not prepar

th very excel

ombe, under whose care I was whilst

r the care of

6

e in the young man's voice, wh

. "You are surprised that I shoul

r set. It is a fast and exclusive one. I am a little surprised

know the set to which she belonged, and it was perhaps natural that he should have looked to her to watch over me.... For myself, I was young, I had n

be approved of

e me the wife of a man who would some day be the Squire of Harrow Fell. But I did not yield-then. I knew there was plent

rds?" asked

on the girl's face, and to his su

ver was certainly drawing nearer. After a little time the girl recovered

t she and Dick were going to fetch me by car, as the rail journey was rather an awkward one.... When the day came, your cousin showed up alone, explaining that Lady Alcombe had an attack of influenz

hough the girl, looking straight ahead and

further, and there was no train service on the little local line five miles away, there was nothing for it but to stay the night at the little inn, half tavern, half farm, which was all the accommodation[62] that the village afforded.... There was a motherly woman there who did her best to make me comfortable, and I shared a room with her two daughters, whilst your cousin was accommodated with a settle in the kitchen. Next morning, Dick tinke

of surprise, and a girl whom I had never liked began to giggle. Lady Alcombe all

ust be tired. You had better go

ully.... Lady Alcombe came to me before I had changed, and ordered the maid out of the room, then she said, 'My dear Joy, you have behaved most indiscreetly.... I do

at was wrong, and I said so, adding

e. I really do not know what to say. I am surprised at Dick Bracknell, and at you

words the vile thing she was hinting at, an

cene between the fast woman of the world and the innocent girl in her care, he grou

ly too anxious to marry you. You will have to take him now-to save your good name, Joy. It is the only way, for no one will believe your story, however true it may be, and so I advise you to make up your mind to the in

6

r to my father, later. What else was there that I could do? I had no suspicion of anything at the time. Dick wanted me, and I liked h

arriving at Alcombe was anything but an a

ng a note to a friend at Newnham, when I heard two people enter. The library is a little draughty, and a footman had placed a screen for m

very long in paying, for the truth is, I am beastly hard up,

n the Klondyke makes his settlements I'll pay you, Mary. You deserve it. T

for the honeymoon; and I was afraid that they would somehow make me accept that arrangement, and bewildered though I was, I was determined that I would not do so, that I would never allow Dick Bracknell to be in fact what he was in name.... I went to my room, secured my travelling coat and some money, and fled from the house, without leaving so much as a note to indicate where I was going-I went to Cambridge to the friend to whom I had been wri

d I think it is only right that you should know.

nswered

foreign government. The theft was discovered and traced, but a friend dropped Dick a telegram which was forwarded to Alcombe Manor-and he ran for it, and got clear away. I imagine that explains why he did

he reply. "When his note came

imagine that it would be.... Did you

life. I found the letter here unopened, when I came here to comply with the terms of his will. I was glad t

eitful, surely?" expos

ing to England very shortly, and I shal

ever ret

me-I love it, and I have always felt

d felt that in this lodge in the wilderness she

6

d; namely, that if Dick Bracknell had not died on the previous

saskatoon bushes hid the river from them for a little time, and as they breasted it, and the r

rtled by the meeting, but a m

, "as far as the bend of the river, and I've

whose eyes were surveying the empty

y be going up stream tomorrow. The Elkhorn

he bluff there

ok at it, and see wh

d come down the bank to the river at a point just below the bluff, and by[68] recent footmarks. He remembered the figure he had seen whilst walking with Joy Gargrave, unquestionably that of Rayner, for there were his footmarks turning south from the bluff. A thought struck him, and examining the snow carefully, he found no tracks running northward. A little puzzled he

y across the river. But whose sled was it? And why had Rayner traced it so carefully, at the same time endeavouring to cover his own trail? The first question was one for which he had no answer, and the second was an equal puzzle. Clearly Rayner had been interested in the sled-trai

6

n he came in sight of the house he became aware of a considerable bustle. In the open space in front two sleds were drawn up, and a considerable number of dogs were lying about or nosing in the snow for

asked, "what brings

se, Co'pral. Yees two dog teams to deleever one petite l

the corporal. "W

ve vent to a whistle of surprise, and after a few more words pa

w. A message has just reached us from my father, and Miss Gar

that

hat mysterious affair of last night would be rather a dis

sed to his own room, where he sat for quite a long ti

ype="