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To-Day s Short Story.I fe…

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To-Day s Short Story. I fe rY- THE ANGEL OF HIS DELIVERANCE. > "I am not surpris-e-d a.t my cousin Henri's •Ifceared demeanour towards you. I have UPPrehelided it. He thinks you have come between me and hi-m. though I have never given him any encocragemmt or held out any hope. Be on yoagr guard, Pierre. He is Dot the man to take defeat or disappoint- ment kindly." "Never tear, Ade'e, dariLn?. I'll take care. B? leaves Paris shortly, I und.etand. 7,i keep out of his way till he grwis. I won t give him an opportunity of picking a Quarrel with me, for your &ake." Adele Bonsard was a typical daughter of Prance, tail but graceful, with a wealth cl dark hair pretily arranged. cllear com- plexion, and large, expressive eyes. Captain Pierre Jacquart had a well-built form and soldierly bearing, a high foreheal. large dark eyes, and nose of the Grecian type. The subject of the lovers' conwr.,sation- Henri Flavelle, a colonel in the French army-was one of those good-lookirrg, fasci- nating men who possess to perfection the art of ingratiating' themselves in "the good graces of others, and of winning- thie hearts and affections of their fellows without any Apparent effort. The warm-hearted. Pierre bad been captivated by the haadsoone and ( winning officer, and they soon became boon eompallions and even fast friends. Then Pierre became attached to Adelo, and the little "rift within the lute" made its 'Appearance. Henri i'laveiie had set his heart on marrying his charming: coasin Adele, and was greatly chagrined when he found that she preferred Pierre to himself. The jealousy and hatred with which this discovery filled his soul had up to the pre- sent only siiown itself by an unwonted cool- ness towards the young officer, but an open rapture seemed imminent, and had only been averted hitherto by the tact and -or- bearance of the latter. But Henri Flavelle was not the man to retire from the field quiatly and leave his rival in full and undisputed possession. The intruder must be ouis;ted and he himself re- instated by hook or by crook, and he at I Alice set his brain to work to devise means towards the accomplishment of this object. About a week after the above conversation between Pierre and Adele, Flavelie, having I, matured his plans, proceecSed to the War Office and asked to speak with General de Chevasse on a matter of the highest impor- tance" to the State. He was admitted at once, and, having silluted the General, said: "Monsieur le General: I have a most pain- 181 duty to perfonm. I have to denounce one of my fellow officers a" a. traitor to the :Republic, which he has betrayei by selling State secrets to a foreign Covernment." "Of course, Colonel Flavelle,, you are aware of the serious nature of the charge you make, and are prepared to support it with proof?" Assuredly, I have counted the cost. I would rather have died than have been under this obligation. I am desolated beyond expression, for the traitor is a friend and a comrade, but my duty to the Republic and loyalty to the army leave me no choice." "Colonel Flavelle, your words are worthy of a Frenchman and a soldier. Will you now cive me the name of the accued?" Piarre Ja"°Quart, a capta-in of artillery." The General raised his eyebrows in sur- prise and suppressed an exclamation. Then he asked: "Your proofs?" "Are here," replied Flavelle, readily, as he took some papers from his pocket and handed them to the General. A few hours later Pierre Jacquart was Placed under arrest. D. I blx months have passed, and Pierre Jac. Qiuart is a closely guarded prisoner in ISew Caledonia, Accused of betraying State secrets to a foreign Government, he was tried by court-martial, convicted. and sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. The shock had well nigh killed him, But he was young and healthy, and the death he prayed for did not come. Adele Bonsard iUÍfered in an equal degree. Though but six Months had elapsed since her lover's arrest, the looked many years older. But Pierre's condemnation seemed to have 'had quite the opposite effect on Colonel Flavelle. Though. "desolated and distressed beyond measure," this -aliaat, officer bore no outward t.ra-ce of his inexpressible grief and distress..Nfover, in fa4et, had he looked more handsome, never hud he seemed in better health or on tetter terms with IiimeeW and the world than on this particular morning as he stood opposite Aaele. "It is unkind of you, Henri, to persecute me like this. My heart is Pierre's, and as long as he is alive I ca.n never care for any one else." "But, my dear cousin,remonstrated the Colonel, in his sua vest tones, "you aæe sacrificing your future life and ha-ppineoss I to a delusion. You believe Pierre is innocent, and 90 refuse to recognise that your love and trust have been misplaced, and this against all evidence. Alas! that I should have to say it-for I would gladly believe him innocent-hut his guilt has been proved up to the hilt." "Oh. Henri, how can you speak thus? You could not believe in Pierre's guilt if you were the true, loyal friend you profess to be." "Ät first I did believe in Pierre's innocence, as you know, Adele; but as I am not quite blind, or impervious to reas?or:. I cannot I but see that the evidence against him is overwhelming. And it is because your hopes that Pierre will be proved innocent • some day have no foundation, and never can be realised, that I bespech you to try and accept the situation, and submit to the inevitable. Why make your whole future life miserable by-" "Let us drop the subject, please. You .cann-ot convince me that Pierre is guilty, neither can you alter my purpose." "Excuse me. dear Adeie, if I reply that I cannot consent to leave the matter thus. My love to you will not allow me to be silent. Now that your most esteemed father is doad, poverty starea you in the face. Refuse my proposal and yon will be homeless and will have to go out into the cold, hard world to earn a livelihood. What, that means, only ex- i perifn<"e can make one realise. Accept ni-) offer, and you will be free from all carking cares ats to ways and means: you will have a position in society—in fact, all that makes life worth the living." 'Henri, it is useless to press your suit. TUTta-t you propose is utterly impossible." "Dear Adele, I cannot accept your answer act final. I cannot refuse to hope that you twill some day see matters in the right light -—jrv the light that everybody except your- ,self sees them in. You must see some day that you are clmg-ing to a. hopeless attach- imaent. that you are throwing yourself away on one who is utterly unworthy to < "Colonel Flavelle, You are going too far. The interview is at an end. I will not hoar .'Another word "I go, Adele, but I have one more word to in-y first. I would have spared you the Vain it will cause you, but you force me to Jell you. Your loyal Pierre was no more true to you than he was to hie country. 1Ie- "Stop!" cried Adele. as she confronted Flarelle with flushed cheeks and flashing > eye*. "Stop' I will bear no more. I have already allowed you to say too much. In fact, I did wrong to grant you an inter- view. Yon have had my answer. Leave me. Henceforth we are strangers, for you have maligned the man whom I love, and whom I shall never cease to love. I believe there has been foul play-forgery-and when the mysterv has been brought to light-a.s I am convinced it will be one day-I believe it will be shown that Henri Flavelle had something to do with it, that h-a! you fart—you change colour you-" Adele sank down on the floor in a swoon, and Flavelle, muttering oaths and curses, slunk away like a whipped our. III A small boat-a mere speck on the vast surface of the Pacific—was gliding slowly before a gentle breeze some fifty or sixty miles off the coast of New Caledonia. In the stern-eheete sat two perns-a man and a young woman. The girl looked careworn and anxious, but something of the come- iinoss and fresthness of youth still remained. But so gaunt and haggard was the man, that it wa-s evident he had passed through unusual hardship and suffering. Indeed, so great was the change wrought by the fiery ordeal through which he had passed since his arrest, that Pierre Jacquart was but the ghost of his former self. "We can do no more, Pierre," said Adele. in reply to his querulous remarks. "We cannot go faster than the wind will take us. We must posses our souls in patience until we are sighted by a passing vessel." "Yes! dear Adele, YOtl. are quite right. It is wrong of me to be impatient. but it is very trying to be unable to do anything to increa-se the distance between us and that cursed place. Tell me. dear Adele," he continued, alter a paiuse, "how you managed to get to New Caledonia, and above all, how you got access to the oonvict- station: I cannot imagine how you have done it." "I can only explain it, Pierre, by ascrib- ing it to Providence. As you know, all was done that human effort and ingenuity could do to prove your innocence, but without success. Then my father died suddenly, and I was a penniless orphan. I believe I should have brcken down utterly buit for the necessity of working for my hviag. I was fortunate enoogh to obtain a situation as governess. Flavelle now began to press his attentions on me I had suspected him from the first, as you know, but he had Played his cards so well that nothing could be proved against him. Now the villain snowed his hand, for he actually dared to propose to me. Then I saw that my intui- tion had not mis-led me. You had been his rival, and to get rid of you was but a pre- liminary step to the supplanting of you in my affections. "But he reckoned without his host. I expressed my belief that the documents which were alleged to be- written by you were forged, and I taxed him with com- plicity. You should have seen his face. If ever guilt was written on a man's fa/ee, it wa.s inscribed on his at that moment. "Owing to the untimely death of my pupil, I was compelled to seek another situation. An advertisement for a, foreign governess for the ohiklren of the Governor of New Caledonia attracted my attention "My heart gave a grea-t bound. I decided to apply. If I could only get the P06t, I should be near you. I might possibly look on your face once more, though I might not be able to have speech with you. So I applied, my brother-in-la.w at the Colonial Oflke used hie influence, and I obtained the poet. "On the voyage I conceived the daring scheme of trying to effect your release. Arrived at my destination, I began at once to prepare for the grand stroke. I took to boating, so that I might know how to manag-s a boat. By bribing a warder I managed to let you know that I was at hand and what I was doing, and to prepare you for the part you were to take in your escape. "The floods caused by the .vy raine, and. above all, the bursting 01 the dam. furnished me with the long-waited-for opportunity. Terror and confusion reigned througbcut the Settlement.' Many of the convicts were drowned. The bodies of some will never be recovered. You will be struck off as one of those who have perished, .OJO that we need fear no pursuit. You are as safe now as you are innocent." "Oh! Adele, I am not worthy of such devotion, s'uch-" cried Pierre, but his emotion checked hia iiitterance, and pre- vented him from finishing the sentence. Presently he recovered, and the two sat hand in hand straining" their eyes for any speck that might appear on the horizon, until darkness settled down upon the deep. Then., with a sigh, they prepared to spend another night in their little bark. Eight days and nights had passed without their being seen by a.ny vessel. The sea was like hurait-hed glass and t.he boat Jay becalmed. The sail was fastened at one corner to the middle of the mast, and was spread out to serve as an awning, under which Pierre and Adele crouched, glad of any shelter from the fierce rays of the burning sun. Their jirna-V were cra.mped for want of exercise, their eyes ached with constant watching for a pa«*dng ship, their cheeks were sunken, and the hollows of their eyes dark. They had only a few biscuits and a little water left. "Try to keep trp a little longer, darting," said Pierre, as he handed his companion a drink of wa.ter. "While there's life there's hope. We must be packed up soon." "God grant it! If we're not picked up soon I shall go mad. whilst you—I thought to save you, but you will die of starvation and expoeuee, and I shall be Your murderer." "Yon have no cause to reproach yourself, dear Adele, replied Pierre, in alarm, for I he noticed that the girl was getting 1 delirious. "You haYe acted nobly, heroically. If I die, I shall die ha-ppy, for we shall die together and if we cannot live together I dk-oire nothing better than to die together." Presently they sank into a state of torpor, which numbed their twenties and rendered them half unconscious. Suddenly Pierre started. "Hark! Adele!" he exclaimed. The girl iis-tened attentively, and thought she heard a no^se like the thumping of an engine. Then ae they looked eagerly in thell direction whence the sound seemed to proceed they perceived the black hull of a steamer a.nd a dark line of smoke trailing behind. Fcn-tunately they were perceived a.nd taken on board. Six years later. Work wae over for the day at the "Cassowary, right up in the heart of the Australian Continent. The post had just come, and Pierre had settled down to read the weekly paper, upon which LIe was dependent for his news of the outside world. A familiar name caught his eye. He read with eager haste. Then, starting up, he shouted to hi6 wife: "Listen to this, Adele," he cried, excitedly. Then he proceeded to read- STARTLING RBVELATIONS. I This morning, Colonel Henri Flavelle, on being put on his honour, confessed that he had forged the documents which the unfortunate ex-C-aptain Jacquart, who died in New Caledonia, Was alleged to have written. Later.—OaloneH Flavelle wals found dead in prison this morning, having cut his own throat.

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