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[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]. For Love and Honour By HAROLD BINDLOSS, Author of "A Wide Dominion," His Adversary's Daughter," ",The Kingdom of Courage," "The Mistress of Bonaventure," &c. ,r -8"_ SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS: Harry Elliot returns to England after an ab- sence of eight years. He had gone abroad to a friend from the consequences of a poach- e T,ture. Tom Grayson had struck down u neighbour of his employer, and in order that Civavoon, who was about to be married, might not lose his situation Harry disappeared. On the eight of the affray Harry had been seen by Alison Elliot, the niece of Arnold Elliot, a ship- owner. While abroad, Harry sets himself to clear the name of his father. a snip's captain, who h;,d gone down v. ith his steamer on the It is believed that the skipper was not sober when he lost his ship, but Harry's in- vestigations lead him to conclude that his father was sacrificed by Arnold Elliot, and that the ship was lost for the insurance money. He meets Tom G.ayson. to whom he confides his dis- coveries, and states that if he finds Salter, the engineer of the steamer, he will be able to learn the trut h. Harry takes up his residence in a country inn lJear Arnold's honse. and makes his presence known to his old ac'iuaintunces in the country- side. He finds Alison Elliot prejudiced against him. and he can see that for ,.0:ne reason or other she has taken a dislike to him CHAPTER VI. I Some weeks had passed since his nclventurc in London when Harry bun^ about outside the Board of Trade ofifces ir. it northern port one morning. After searching for one with a grim thoroughness, he had at last, picked up a clue to Salter's movements, and expected to meet the man face to face curing the next half-hour. A fine drizzle swept the dingy street, but he waited, shelter- ing in a doorway, until three or four men who h. Ued iike steamboat officers approached the building, where the crews of arriving vessels were paid off. Some two do-zen others—evi- dently engineers, firemen, and deck-hands— followed, and Harry, being told on inquiry that they were the crew of the Coronet, walked ir.to the office among the last of them. He had already ascertained that the presence of unauthorised persons was not encouraged in- side the building; but, as he had aniicioated, ,.s i (I e t I-, t -? i'? (i i i I g b L t the officials seemed to take it for granted that lie belonged to the steamer. The big room he entered was bare and dingy, with very little in it besides a long counter, on which one of the steamboat officers laid a leather bag and a bundle of papers. Two officials examined the latter and asked the man a few questions, after which they brought out some documents and coin- pared them with those already produced, while the rest of the crew stood about waiting in little groups. Several of them looked at Harry with mild curiosity; but nobody asked him what he wanted, and by-and-bye one Of the officials held up his hand. "Are you all here, men of the Coronet?' he asked. I don't see the second engineer," said one. Where's Mr. Salter? He's somewhere about," another answered, and Harry became intent as he ran his eye over the men. He had already noticed that there was nobody in the room who seemed to answer the description of Salter which he had -been supplied with. "Is the second engineer not here? the -omcial inquired. He was with us a few minutes ago," said one of the mates. He'll certainly come for his money. Perhaps he's got into the wrong place. Thev "(t out a man to look for him, but lie came back uusuecesnful, and the official conferred with his companion. "As the man will no doubt turn np. we had better get on," he said. 1 want you to listen to this care- fully. men. It's a duly-attcs.ed statement re- specting the death of fireman Donelly, and corresponds with the declaration made before n consul at one of the r<. -ts you called at." Some pi the firemen looked uneasy, and one muttered to another: but the official raised his hand. "Latitude ..gitude —— he read out, adding a (late. Ship rolling heavily with confuted head sea; James Donelly. fire- man, fell down stokehold ladder. Was picked no unconscious, with several ribs broken and evidence of pulmonary haemorrhage. Fire- men on watch saw Irm strike heavy iron ash holder with his side." He paused and in- quired, Do you all agree with that account Yes. sir." answered a fireman, and the rest signified assent, though Harry fancied that one or two who glanced towards the door were waiting for somebody. "Then." added the official. "on the follow- ing dav, latitude longitude Donelly died of asphyxia—which, I had better explain, means suffocation i:i one shape or another- at eight o'clock in the evening. He was buried in the usual manner. Is that correct?" "Yes, sir," was the answer, but Harry saw .fome of the faces grow eager as the men waited for the next question. In "vour opinion, was the man properly treated and taken care of after the accidetit? Again the answer was in the affirmative, and somebody added, Captain Sharpe did all anybody could." No doubt of that." another broke m. Skipper kept looking iu and the steward vkas with Donelly most of the while." Then do you know of any cause that -could have contributed to the man s death? A little man in shabby clothes, with grimy liandfl and a resolute face, stood forward. •" I do, for one," he declared. Donelly wasn't fit to work. He dropped in the stokehold a watch or two before he fell, and it was a good while before he came round again. After that The could hardly lift the shovel." "Why did he try to continue firing, if lie was unable? The man laughed harshly. He'd sooner work when he was pretty bad than face the second engineer. So would the rest of us." Do you know anything about this. Captain Sharpe? No," said the skipper, who looked troubled. I was called into the forecastle some weeks earlier and saw Donelly, who -didn't seem a robust man and was suffering from malarial fever. It's recurrent in hot climates, though he said he had got it on board another ship. I treated him for it, and told the chief engineer to let him lie off a few days. When I went to eee him next morning I was informed he was back at work. Malaria's often spasmodic, and he didn't com- plain again." He had to go, exclaimed one of the ifre- men, pointedly. Then he turned to the offi- cials: Better ask how he came to fall down the ladder. She wasn't rolling so bad." The officials spoke together, and one of them inquired, Have you anything to add to your statement, Captain Sharpe? Not much," said the skipper, who looked, 80 Harry thought, an honest man. I was «ent for on the night of the accident, and found Donelly groaning and unable to apeak. I waa told he had fallen down the ladder." "How did you know what was wrong with "him 1 I've studied the medical book in the drug- chest you gentlemen insist upon our carrying, and one or two other works of the kind. Be- sides, I've some experience of accidents." An older man, who had evidently been sent for in the meanwhile and seemed to be a. person of some importance, now appeared be- hind the counter, and the other two spoke to him apart. In a few minutes he turned round and looked at the crew gravely through gold- rimmed glasses. It's your duty to tell everything you know, he said. I must warn you that this may prove to be a serious matter." Two of them pushed a comrade forward. co I saw Donelly fall down the ladder," he declared.. Somehow he didn't fall naturally, a9 if he'd slipped; looked as if he'd been pitched across the fiddley gratings—they're at the top where you get out on deck—and he hadn't got hold of the rail." *'Ah i said the spectacled man, "that's interesting. Anything else?" Another stood out. I was on deck," lie -stated. It was dark, and Donelly came up to get a drink of some patent medicine be kept in his chest. The man w&s often ailing." "Wouldn't this be against orders?" Yes, air, said the fireman. I don't ihink he had leave. I'd been up some time adearina the &qh-b,-ijtt blLÍn. ILr. Salter was leaning oui me engine-room ctoor, out when he put his head in I slipped forward to get some tobacco. I met Doiielly-lik- was going back—and soon after I heard voices; Hounded like Mr. Salter abusing him for leav- ing the stokehold. Then I heard a scuffle about the gratings. Struck me afterwards Mr. Salter must have hit Donelly so that he fell, or pitched him towards the ladder." Didn't you consider it your duty to men- tion this to Captain Sharpe?" It was a natural question, though the man "who asked it knew the seafarer's almost superstitious shrinking from any kind of formality, even when it is one prescribed by legislature for his particular benefit. No," said the fireman, pointedly-" you wouldn't either, if you'd been firing on the Coronet under Mr. Salter. It's the second engineer runs everything below, and I knew I could speak up—here—when I was out of the ship. If you ask my opinion, Donelly answered Mr. Salter back, and he pitched him down the hole in the gratings. The man wouldn't be above it. He's hit me with a steel spanner when the steam got down." Then there was an unexpected interruption, for a wild-eyed, white-faced woman in old and shabby clothes broke into the room. Turning towards the crew, she flung up a hand with a dramatic gesture. Have you told them about the brute who killed my man? .she cried. There was a murmur of sympathetic pity, and somehodv said, It's Donelly's wife. The woman moved towards the counter and clutched the spectacled gentleman's arm. I'm Maria DrHlelly; it's justice I want," she went on. You listen to me and put it down. My m-ii was afraid of Malter-afraid he'd do him a mischief some day when he was sick and couldn't do his share of the firing. He wouldn't have gone back in the Coronet, only he couldn't get another job. Salter'd beat, him cruel when they'd let the steam down on another trip, a.nd always had his knife in him." She turned round toward s the men, pointing out two of them. "felt him about the row in the stokehold. You two were there. The official, beckoning for silence, addressed the captain. Had you any iva-son to believe the second engineer was in the habit of ill- treating his firemen and Donelly in par- ticular? I knew he was a strict disciplinarian," w as the answer. Nothing more. He was directly responsible to the chief engineer, not to me." Mr. Edwards, chief engineer, have you anything to say?" Nothing that can throw much light on the matter," answered a grave-faced man. I'm a little surprised and troubled by what I've heard. As you have been told. I'm re- sponsible but the engineer on watch a-etually handles the men and runs the machinery. It's not customary to interfere with him unless one has some reason for doing so. I knew Salter kept a firm hand—there had been soiua little trouble below now and then—but if I'd been aware that he systematically ill-treated I anyone I should have spoken to him." the woman broke in again. Talk- ing she cried, wildly. "All talking! My man wad done to death. What are you going to do? The .man with the glasses whispered to one of the others, and Harry heard the tinkle of a telephone bell. Then the official turned to Mi- Doneiiv. I th rtlz." he said, quietly. you can leave the matter to me." He raised his hand, look- ing round at the crew. "We'll get on with the paying off; but nobody must leave the room without my permission." Names were called and money handed over until some iittle time later a. man appeared and stepped behind the counter, where he conferred with the officials. Bv-and-bye he ■ •v. out and waited until the business was finished, when he moved about among the firemen, apparently taking down their names after which he asked them collectively: Have you any idea of Mr. Salter's whereabouts? They only knew that Salter had been in their company until a few minutes before they reached the office, and the man spoke to a big police-rgeant. who had quietly en- tore u iii the meamvhi.e. Then he turned to the officials. It .strikes me that you had better not wait for Mr. Salter, he said, signiifcantly. I v. in Sí:d word as soon as we hear anything further of him." Mrs. Donelly aporoaehed him as lie turned away and walked towards the door with him. pouring out a torc nt of half intelligible words. The rest followed in a body, with the exception of the skipper and chief engineer, who remained beMind, and Harry, going out with the others, slipped away up a tlide street. It was clear that the Board of Trade officios had placed the matter in the hands of the police, with whom he did not wish to com- municate in the meanwhile. He supposed that Sailer, who must have foreseen that softie of the men would testify against him, had merely accompanied them some distance to avoid suspicion, and had then set off for the station, front which he had, no doubt, ascertained that a train would 'shortly be starting. Entering a newsagent's shop Harry bought a railway guide ncl discovered that a train had left fur the North a few minutes earlier. a. (liftereiit way wouklj start shortly, and lie hurried to the station, where he noticed two men in ordinary clothe.s stand- ing on the departure platform and apparently cruti!l¡"i'¡g t}w pa.sl"engers. As they did not go away with the train, it looked as if the police had already got to work, though Harry decided that Salter had made his cacape be. fore their arrival. CHAPTER VII. I A fre3h "breeze swept across the valley, when towards the middle of one afternoon Alison and Vane stopped to wait for her father and Harrv at the foot of Ranmoor Fell. Ragged clouds drove by overhead, dappling with speeding shadows the sunlit elopes that ran up from the fringe of oak- scrub some distance abovs; but in front of the party a rift apparently led into the heart of the hill. A sheep path wound along its side, and a noisy stream frothed down the bottom forty feet below. Christopher glanced at the almost precipi- tous ascent. "Once upon a time I'd have gone straight up," lie said, with a half-regret- fid -itnile. As it is, though I can still man- age a hit of rock work, a long grind of that kind takes it o of me, &nd perhaps we had better follow the ghyll." He led the vay, and Harry, walking behind Alison, noticed her fine poise and grace of movement. The path was less than a foot wide. and in places only an embedded stone or two offered a precarious foothold but the girl passed these spots fearlessly. The ghyll narrowed and grew shallower as they climbed, until they scrambled out of it up a bank of slippery stones, when Alison laugh- ingly refused the help of Harry's proferred hand. Then they stopped for breath, and Harrv, looking back, saw that all the opposite hill-slope was wrapped in shadow. After that, he gazed at a slightly-slanted buttress of ragged crag, and noticed that long wisps of leaden cloud streamed across its splintered hu mm it. There's a change at tiand, but I don't capoefc it. immediately," said Christopher. Vane and I will climb the buttress, while Alison takes Harry round by the shoVilder. We'll pick them up on the top, and come down by the Rake or Staneside Ghyll." I don't mind," said Harry, who smiled at Alison. So far, the climb doesn't seem to have troubled vou. 1 wonder" —and he indicated the wall of roc!:—if you could get up yonder?" Alison laughed. I really think I could, though it isn't permitted. As a matter of fact. we haven't climbed at all. It's only walking until you have to use your hands." She sat down, and Harry watched the two men move upwards from rock to rock. Some- times they traversed sideways; som-etimes Itijev went un straight: and now and then thev I àHo. 11 ttimoat vertical .siao dv means oi » cranny. Your father and Yano seem tolerably smart." he said. "Tolerably smart?' exclaimed Alison. Vane's a well-known member of an Alpine club, and my father was famous as a crags- man twenty years ago. There are a good many of the younger climbers who can't equal them." Perhaps Vane's taking it easy, but he worked round two or three places he ought to have tackled." Harrv replied. "Could you have gone up them?" Harry's eyes twinkled I'm inclined to think I could." Alison was vercd. H;, "r mounded like empty boastiii 'ec d -e .iful of his ability to d > v.'m he bad ~.a»d. i;; sdf- confidence had ady jarred I'pon and she relented the lact that !v> >liot:ld criticise the skill of such a man as Va-: You may have an opportunity of trying pomF-thing of the kind before we get down a;ral i. she retorted. f hev went on, climbi ig steadily, while the wall of crag ».<rew lower, until, scrambling up a gully, they cane out breathless upon the summit of the fell. It was a narrow ridge, a-:d the they bad sheltered from met ;he-n in t'!e tck!(!i. whirling Alison's skirt about her, while Harry. bracing himself against the blast, looked down upon a chaos of jumbled crngi. up the hollows among which trails of mist were streaming. I hey clrove across the dipping shoulder of the ridge not far away, ancl lie fancied they were growing thicker. I don't know why they call this place a moor; but I expect you find it draughty, and I don't see the others anywhere," lie said. Alison glanced at the vapour, which swal- lowed the rocky heights one by one. "Thev'll be sheltering behind some ledge," she re- plied. We'll push on along the ridge. It's too cold to stand." They struggled on for some little time, and then the stretch of sharp stones in front of them was suddenly blotted out and a fine rain filled the driving haze. Harry called tVvice and got no answer before he turned to his companion. I think they've gone, and we couldn't find them, in any camse she eaid. We had better get down." o Which is the best way? The—quickest—is by the Rake. It isn't th. ea.siest." As I've never been up here before, I'll leave the choice to von," said Harry. Alison hesitated. She did not want to get wet and look bedraggled; but while the descent of the Rake offered no difficulty to practised climbers, it was trying to anyone unaccustomed to the crags, and even danger- ous when the liehened stones were wet. The girl, however, had been down it when they were dry. and she thought she could manage it now. Besides. it would test her com- panion's nerve, and that decided her. She would not be altogether iorry if this self- confident young man found himself in a difficulty. then w'n go by the Rake," she answered. ferhap»s you had better follow me." They went down, dropping from grassy ledge to ledge between shelves of rock, on some of which Alison laid her hand now then, though she was astoirshed-to notice that Harry did nothing of the kind. Bv-and- by she stopped on the brink cf :t steep trough, which almost looked as jf it had been hewn out by human labour. A wall of crag shut it in on either hand, and it led down almost precipitously into a- s-^a of roil- ing vapour. One could have fancied that a touch would start the stones it was filled with rolling furiously downhill. I.s this the way?" Harry, who glanced at it unconcernedly, inquired. "I'll have to take your word for it that there's something solid at the bottom; but on this occasion I think I'll go first." He moved downwards, stepping lightly from stone to stone, and at first Alison dis- regarded the hand he held out to her; then she began to slip and sliding downwards by- and-bve she struck against him. "That won't do." he said, gravely; "you mnst let me help you." She was glad of assistance during the next few minutes. The rain was in her eyes, the wind buffeted her, and the stones were hor- ribly slippery; but at last thay came out of trie chasm, and she stopped breathless when tall, wet rock rose out of the vapour in front of them. Standing on a, narrow ledge, they looked -down into a rift. which was filled with the roar of water, between the crag and them. If I'd known what this Rake was like, we'd have come some other way," Harry remarked. It isn't your fault," said Alison. The others left you in my charge." "The weather has reversed the situation," .Harry answered. Now, be honest-why did you bring me down this place?" I told you it was the quickest way." You did," said Harry, with dry amuse ment. Still, it doesn't strike me as the one a lady would choose. Are you quite sure you were not actuated by the idea that you'd like to see me held up among these rocks?" Alison coloured slightly, and then broke into a laugh. I'm afraid I must confess to something of the kind; it was only natural after what you said about a climber like Vane. Now I don't mind owning that I'm sorry I came." Harry sm I-ecl. YouIre taking it the right wav when you laugh. I shouldn't have been astonished if you. had got vexed and blamed me. The girl disregarded this. How was it you didn't find the Rake more difficult?" Once upon a. time I had to carry bags of flour up a place much like this, only there was a good deal of snow on it." "But you couldn't possibly carry a bag of flour up the Rake?" I think I could, if I had to starve without it when I got to the top, which was how we were fixed. On another occasion we engaged to blow a waggon-road out of the side of a range, and during part of the operations a slip would have sent one down into what looked like a bottomless gulch." It struck Alison that this was a man of varied and romantic experience; and though it now and then vexed her, she was at other times pleased with his curt, whimsical iiianner. You seem to have had some curious occu- pations," she replied. "But we had better '.1" t. it)! (To be continued).

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