SIDNEY AND ISLANDS REVIEW AND SAANICH GAZETTE, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1928.

BVAVERVUAARITUAA0

PUWYVERD

CONTINUED STORY

The Romance of
a Lunatic Asylum
By HEADON HILL

again. The rags she wore had not
been removed.

“The clothes have to dry on the
patient—-that’s part of the system,”
whispered Elmslie in Kate’s eas,
guessing what was in her prospec-
tive victim’s mind. The head-nurse
had been watching her charge malic-
‘ iously during the process, and now
. directed her attention to some thongs
aud staples on the wall tu which the
half-drowned “yatient’ was being!
carried.

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CHAPTER XIJ.—Continued
“ Simon grinned an evil grin. The
girl’s spirit pleased him, because in
provoking it he had gained his end.
He had by foul means goaded her to

ing, giving the effect of a huge cage.
The floor was covered with thick,
but unutterably filthy felt; and the “They are hanging her up to dry,
three other sides of the apartment lyou see,” she said, as the keepers
beyond the rails were padded.

Just’ strapped the dripping girl to the
an act of insubordination which|inside the rails marched up and wall under the proprietor’s superin-|
> would furnish him with an excuse}down two brutal-looking male: engenee. |

keepers, armed with whips to drive
back the occupants if they approach-

for further threats. So far his in-

Siinon came out of the ward now.
structions did not go beyond the use

: ed the iron bars—th 1 , q| Ticking the imperturbable teas
of threats; it depended upon Kate ' mae ony ard’ ing-jack” with his whip as he pas-;
herself, he had been given to under- substance - available for inflicting}. sed.
and, whe hreats were car-j Self dealt injuries. . / .
stand waether thet $ were ca . . “There, Miss Milborne,”’ he said,
ried out. And the occupants themselves! 1 - . . \
“ * bh id, “if the lady| There were seven in all, women of Dineen eens Puediaet abe \4
Elmsiie,” he said, “if the lady ue” “T have given you a glimpse of the:

various ages, from an old crone ot! ”
. ; promised land.
eighiy engaged in butting her snow-
white head against the padded wall, But the apied threat aia elidel
to a young girl of sixteen who | en ner, ton Kate atnking
crouched perpetually like a cat ready; quietly to the floor in a dead faint.
for a spring upon the keepers. In
the centre of the room stood a very |
Stout Woman oi middle age. She had |
her heels close together, using them
as a pivot on which she revolved
slowly three times in one direction, as thankful to find that she had
then three times in the other; mak-! been carried to her bedroom instead
ing a loud click with her lips atjof being taken back to the general
eacn change of direction. She seal deol The sound of carriage wheels |
agined herself to be a_ roasting-} was ringing in her ears, probably the};
jack. All the unfortunates were| cause of her awakening, and Nurse
shevelled, and in a state cfj
semi-nudity.

chooses to sturve herself just for
once in a way she can do so. But if
it occurs again you will have to put
her along of the other crackpots who
don’t conform to the rules. There’s
nothing to beat an ‘olesome warning
for stoopids with ockard tempers, so
V’ll take leave to show you, Miss
Impudence, what's 'anging over your
‘ead. Bring her up-stairs, Elmslie.”

Vas

CHAPTER XU.
A ‘Barred’ Proposal
When Kate came to herself she

Kate had not been six weeks at
the Grey House without becoming
aware of the existence of the refrac-
tory wards. ‘The sounds of frenzied
rage and agonized distress. that
sometimes rang throu. the entire
building made ignorance impossible.
Occasionally, too, some unhappy
wretch who had been, in the lan-
guage of the proprietor, ‘‘misbe’av-
ing ’erself,’’ would disappear from
the general ward to some myster-
ious upper region spoken of by the
older inmates with bated breath as
“Purgatory.’’ But hitherto Kate had
been spared a sight of the place.

Simon led the way, lovingly fing-
sring the lash of the dog-whir; and,
seeing that there was no help for it,
Kate followed, closely watched. and
attended by Nurse Elmslie. The
girl’s policy at this period was to
save herself from outrage by doing
everything she was bidden, hoping,
itherefore, to stave off real indigni-
ties for the few weeks that: must

. @lapse. before Lindsay Cathcart’s. re-
:- turn ‘to England. ‘But:the fiery food
” offered cher that ‘morning was CaUus<

dirty, di Elinslie was peering from the win-
dow evidently watching an arrival.
Just as Simon entered, the young! Even as Kate looked, the nurse
girl imade a spriny at the nearest | smiled and kissed her hand to some
keoper, and, the man not being as/0De below, turning away the next.
handy with his whip as usual, owing Moment as the carriage came to a
to his employer’s sudden appearance, | alt out of sight under the portico.
sne hurled him on the bars. He For the room which Kate occupied
quickly shook himself free, and! by special arrangement, and cf which
lashed her savagely till she howled!she had the sole use at night, was
with pain and anger. over the front door of the mansion,
“She had you that the roof of the portico thus form-
said Simon, “and serve you right, ing a sort of terrace outside the win-
too, for taking your eyes off her. dow. Any hopes of escape founded
Let’s give her a bath; it’ll cool her al by the prisoner on such a combina-
bit, and I want this young lady to| tion bad been dashed on her
‘ave a lesson. She’s in a fair way to
come and stay up here herself.’’

So saying, he unlocked and passed thus shutting her off.from the por-

= j °
through an iten gate in thé rate, tico roof, from. which descent might
have been possible by the pillars.

the demeanor of the patients on see- .

ing. him‘in their inidst offering an Kate, lying. on: the narrow truckle-
eloquent « ‘tribute’ -to “his powers of bed, was surprised at. the quick
‘ ° . malignant, spite | to

time,  Bill,”’

ud- change from -

crowchit ‘“roasting-
; jack i Phe latter: took : ‘no “notice the window her brow hadbeén: con-
avhen “he: flicked ; cher ° “playfu aE tracted in- a: ‘frown ‘as she looked. to-
his whip,. but the girl snarled‘at -him| Wards the bed, but on’ perceiving
angrily under a heavier blow. that her charge was conscious she

. “Now look alive, Bill, and fill the se ot dttel kindly, Kate
bath; I’li mind her while you do it,’|. ‘

a the upper floor Simon. opened
a ‘door leading. into a long passage,
at. the end -of which.’ on ‘either hand
were: two heavy, iron-bound- doors
facing each other, and having the

words “Males” and ‘Females’ said Simon, “Ah! would you?” he we that us woman hated her, and
painted on them respectively.| added quickly, seizing the girl by the hoe vara, renevolence put her on
Through the thick panels. of the| throat and hurling her to the floor 5 _

former a continual, monotonous] as she leaped at him, “That's right! you are better

growling was audible, as of a wild
beast worrylng its prey.

“That's the gontlemen amusing
themselves in there,” said Simon
facetiously, and with a jerk of his
podgy thumb to the male side.
“Wo're atrictly ‘igh-class in this
asylum-—don't go in for mixed re-
fractories as they do in some places
where there isn’t a virtuous proprie-
tor at the ‘elm."

With a wink at the nurse, which
she affeeted not to see, he opened

now," said the nurse, stooping over
her, “It was too bad of the old
man to show you the refractory
ward, Of course there has to be
such a place in an asylum, but it’s
not. meant tor the Hikes of you.”

“It is cruel! too cruel!’ murmurad
Kate. “IT cannot imagine how you
could staid by caludly and see wo-
men treated so,"

Shuddering and impotent, yet
nerving herself to go through with
the ordeal, Kate had to stand pas-
sive while Simon Vantbiace gavo her
an object-lesson in what she might
expect if she rebelled. At the op-
posite end of the room was a large
india-rubber bath, fitted with ad-
justable straps.

As soon as it was filled the two
Keepers dragged the struggling girl
to it and strapped her down so that
the see-cold water lapped her Ups.

“ht would be as much as my plaice
is worth to object,”
ible reply.

Alone From Uscilue tn Milwankee Via Canada ~

iaragag

, Elmslie.

i ried,
islie, ignoring the rebuff.

first!
sight of it by the fact that the win-|
dow was heavily and closely barred, | friendly.

Nina Elmslie | “turned : inwards from’

Her instinct told]

was tho plaus-
“IT do not think, though,

Ca ne

It is easy for one of my experience | and after all it mattered little, she

in mental cases to see that you are't
as sane as I am.”

“Then I wish you would treat me
as if you thought so,” said Kate
grimly, wonderingsy more than ever
what was the meaning of all this
friendliness, and inclined to suspect
that it was part and parcel of the
foul play.

“IT shall do so in future—when we
are alone together,’ replied Nurse
“Who knows but that 1
may be able to be of service to you?

t
i

T

and you may safely confide in me.
There is man in the case,
there?”

a“

she knew it, and would have beg-
ged her self-installed confidante to
cummunicate with Doctor Cathearte.
As it was, she was sorely tempted to
do so, but a glint in Nurse Elmislie’s
eye bade her pause,

“Tam quite in the dark as to why
lL was brought here,’ she said cooly.

“But you are engaged to be inar-
are you not?” persisted Elm-
“Tt would
be so much easier to help you if you
would tell me all about yourself.”

Kate laughed inwardly. Was it
likely that she was going to give
away the secret of her engagement
to Lindsay Cathcart to this woman
——give away the secret of the main-j
stay on which she based her hopes
of escape? Yet she was keen to
probe the true inwardness of this!
change of front, and so thought it no
harm to say—

“Oh, yes, I am engaged.”

“Not to a gentleman of the name
of Vantbrace, is it?’ said Nurse
a4imslie, striving to read Kate’s in-
ward soul, and succeeding. There
was no mistaking the shudder of dis-
gust that made the girl stir uneasily,
though she managed to restrain her
words.

“No indeed! That is not the name
oi my fiance.”’

But Nina Elmslie had got all she
wanted, and turned to the door,
scarcely troubling now to look

|

{

“Very well, I-see- you do not wish
to trust me,”’ she said, reverting to
her professional manner. “You will
remain hére for the rest. of the day.”
And:she left the room, locking the
door behind. her. ; _

fter- the’ uneventful days ‘of: her cap-
‘tivity the, episodes" seemed to have
crowded ; “one ‘another with startling
rapidity; but“ the most startling of
all was the mention by the nurse of
the name of Vantbrace. It did not
occur to her that her loathed and
rejected suitor could have had a
hand in her dotention, since she did
not see how he was to profit by it,
nor did the form of Elmslie’s ques-
tions about him appear to imply
that. On the contrary the curiosity
of the questioner seemed to be hased
on the assuniption. that Vantbrace
was engaged to har, and men do not
put tholr sweethearts away in luna-
tic asylums. She could make neither
head nor tail of it all,

In her exeitement and pre-oceu-
pation she forgot that she had caten
no brenkfast, till one of the under-
nurses came in with a tray on which
was her portion of the house-dinner.

The woman went away without a
the other door—the one Ilnabelled| Byory time she opened her mouth to} that you noed have any fear that tho} | . :
e - ; . word, and Kate, though she had
Femates"- Kate shrank back Ino scream, a keeper turned the fap and? poteraer wilh carry out hh. threat
Dissed Lhe usual exercise in the
horror at the sight that moet her|ran in more water till she  was|agninst you. Hvor sinee you have].
grounds, turned toa the sreasy mut-
gazo. Six foot from the door a long | chocked = into ns when the} heen hore, do you know Miss Mile] 7. ,
ton and potatoes with the hunger of
raany wae patted att wlth cloacly aot! eserpe spe south te open doar Phe tee Tob terol aap sere pint
fron bara roaching from floor to cell-| water lowered to the level of her Hps| away by foul play tor some purpose. healthy youth, A Blass ol water
> l ‘ on y Bins Dury flanked the plate, but it was not
Sorecerneretes mene ft nain nance etna net Ee Er ene ———o? ™~ until she had nearly finfshad — tho
conrso vinands that she drank, and

then sho fell to trembling all ovar.
In putting down (he ginga sho stw
for tho first me that dt had covored
noah panded onvelopa,

Tourlig it apen she found a sheet
of thin paper on which waa writtan—--
At night, and, ft being Impossible to sea] for escape,
‘Loale tonight opon your win-; Whathor her rercuer had arrived on

“Choer up.
aloven on

Talp ta at hand,

escaped, provided she got away from
the horrible place.

probably the under-nurse had been
bribed, but though Kate watched thy
woman narrowly when she came to

sign that she had been the instru-| had ruined her brother,
ment.
pear to seek the glass which had
covered the note that was now safe
Only if 1 am to help you, I ought tojin Kate’s bosom.
know more of your circumstances,| might have been to invite discovery.

isn’t; the hours
o’elock, when the same under-nurse

If Kate had been a fool she would! brought the last meal of the day—
have poured out her story so far as|slabs of bread thinly smeared with
alleged butter,

at nine, Kate undressed and got into

PAGE FIVE

ing mounted, and a dark shape was
just discernible against the sky as it
climbed on to the portico.

“T am here!’’? Kate
faintly.

“And so am I,” came from outside
in a low voice that made her draw
back from the window in sudden
dread. Surely that was the voice of
remove the tray, she could detect no|her hated suitor—of the man who
body and

old herself, at whose instance she

Speculation as
o how the note had been smuggled
n to her was equally futile. Most

whispered

The nurse's eyes did not ap-| soul!

“Mr. Vantbrace?’’
could falter.

“Yes, Victor Vantbrace, very much
at your service, if you wiil allow
him,’ was the reply. ‘I have de-
voted every hour of my time since
your disappearance to discovering
what had happened to you. Only
yesterday was I successful, and I am
here at great risk to myself as the
result. Shall I start upon the bars?”

Kate hardly knew what to say.
She loathed this man more than any
one in the world, but heavier than
her loathing there weighed upon her
the terror of continued imprison-
ment in that evil house—with worse
terror looming in the fulure, Might
she not use this instrument—any in-
strument—to escape the fate of those
poor women in the refractory ward?

The temptation was too stron’ for
her, and in a shaking whisper she
bade him begin.

till there came no sound of a “ile.
Instead, the insinuating tones began
again—

“Of course if I render you this
service, Miss Milborne, you wi!'l can-
sider that 1 am entitled to wy re-
ward. If I aid you to escape you will
give me your solemn undertaking to

was all she

To question her

When Kate was left alone again

passed slowly till six

and a cup of tea.

At seven o’clock it was dusk, and,
knowing that she would have the
regulation visit from the head-nurse

bed, after placing her clethes where
she would readily find them in the
dark. Then the minutes crawled
slowly till footsteps sounded outside,
and Elmslie entered for her last in-
spection of the ‘patient,’’ accom-
panied—and this was most unusual
—by Simon himself. Kate pretended
to be asleep.

“She’s all right,’’ said Elmslie,
flashing her candle across the face
of the supposed sleeper; ‘‘tired, I ex-
pect, by her experience this morn-

“She’ll get a worse one if she
don’t mind,’’ growled Simon in the
doorway. ‘One takes likes and dis-
likes in this trade, Elmslie, and I’ve

made up my mind to have the little| M2™™Y me within a month from
. y DIP

baggage in the ‘refractory’ at the now:

first chance. By G l’ll make the Kate drew her breath in hard.

chance, too, if it don’t come nat’ral.”| Fad she a weapon in her hand she
With this the door was slammed would have struck at the hateful,
and locked. Kate lay very quiet, crouching figure dimly seen between
listening to the retreating footsteps. the bars.
Yes, they had really gone—Elmslie| “1£ You do not go away I will cairo
to the night-ward of the female|®". 2!arm,” she cried, forgetting in
patients, and Simon down the bare- mor wreath to dower her vos. “I
ly-carpeted stairs to the ground floor.| USht to have known that disinter-
IXate could hear his shuffling steps ested kindness was not to be expect-
crass the hall and the creak -of the ed from you.”
baize door that led to -his private In his capacity of night-hawk and
den. Then all was still. man-on-the-town Victor Vanthrace
“T believe the wretch knew was had qualified as.a good actoy, but he
shamming,” Kate said to herself. “tt had much ado to supress the’ chuckle.

seemed as if he was speaking at me from the affected fear ia ms
with his horrid threats. Can it ‘be erry

that he verone do nothing rash! Te migh
sire to: escape, but ‘at: the same time E “ug Yn “wheres

the fact -of ‘his «making it at: that|; er repeated Kate...

iime of night inspired. her with She | heard him grope nis way;

along. the portico roof to where the
‘ladder was, and the funibling of his
foot for the rung told ‘her ,that he:
was really going. . Sick with disap-.

greater. caution. For a long time she
lay perfectly still, waiting to see if
he would return to verify any sus-
picion he might have formed. But
one by one the distant noises in: the pointment, and with the infamous
house ceased; the ray of light that bargain that had been offerad her,
came under the door disappeared, she was beginning to close the win-
showing that the lamp ‘in the hall dow, when there came up from pbe-
had been put out; and there was no- low the sound of a fall, a scuffle, and
thing to prove that the whole house-| ™€n’s voices raised in angry disaate.
hold had not retired to rest. An oath from Victor ‘Vantbrace
It must have been at about halt-| "cached her, and gruff retorts,: which
past ten, as near as sho could judge,|88e recognized as coming fron
that Kato stole from her bed and Daniel Highton, her original captor,
begun hurriedly dressing hersejf in More she could not hear, far ahe
the cheap, ready-made clothing that] was startled by a sudden gleam oat
had been substituted for the evening| Heht, and turing to the door, she
dreas In which she had been captur-| was confronted by Nurse limatio,
ed. The coarse serge gown had been} who stood, candJe in hand, smiling
tho greatest comfort to her, as con-| at her wickedly.
vincing ovidencs that her guardian
had not conslzned her to the asylum.
Had he dune vv, her own things
would doubtless have been sont for
hor use. And now, as she struggled Nina imallo's eyes travelled siow-
Lhe hil-biichg Gellvest do Wao ly fiuia the hideous bal oa Vat ‘y
dark, it loosenod the tension of hor| dainty head to the boots on har fuel,
nerves by making her amile, , What] thence to the open window through
noulgure sie would cut when she] which the sounds of tho scuffle ware
reached home in Ladbroke Gardens!| now dying away, and back again to
Sho findshad hor praparations hy|the flushod and angry faco of tho
putting on tho straw hat and clonk pationt, For the momont the Biv) was
in which rho took exorelya in the} more stirred by the Infamous har-
Hrounds, and then sha felt her way] gain. offered har by Victor Vantbraca
to tho window. It wasan inky black| than hy her diseovery roady drodsad-

OHAPTER NTI,
At The Keyholo

Wate

"So thora was a man in the eae,

‘vege

i, a fer Att

How gontly, and if all goes well you; the root of the portico, sha decided, after all,” sald the nurse, with mai
whl find soe one ontalde on thelte wait no longer, but to open the) gnant omphaga. bam afrald that
root ofthe portico ready and willing| window. Trembling with antielpas| your lover has hoon haying a. bad
to filo the bara and effect your, tion, she nalselossly rainad tha wagh,| time of it belaw there. Te appears
oseape." but thore was no sign of Ufe. Only|to have fallen into tho olutehes of
There wad no stanature the damp night-breaza welcomed hori! one of tha leepers,” :
handwriting was unknown blowIng cool on hor thishad cheeks! “Pray don’t enll him my love”
you these nogative pointy dtd not] through the tron bara, roturned Wate turionaly, “I had dust
prevont Katy from faoling a wild boo warn besttating whother or ne} threatened to ralag an alarm If he
thrill of hope, I wna qufte por-jto shut the window, when thoro] didn’t go away, and nothing that
ate, rho argued, that the writer|soundad a very audible “serunch,| happens to him can be toa had.
was personally wnaequalnated with|serunch, scrunch” on tho loose gravel) There fs some conspiracy againat nv
hor, though acting at tho Inatigation {of the i-kopt carriago-drive away to] that I eannot fathom. f bellove you
of hor frionds-—probably of Doator} the lett, Some ono waa certainly ap-|aro in i," she added in shaking
Cntheart, for there hat not yot baun|proaching the portico, and from the; tones. "Tow else should you have
timo hy three or four weeks for: Wolghty tread Kato guassod that hey known tho wroteh's name and men
Lindsay's return to Enyghind, Then | was carrying something heavy. Yor,) toned i today?”
Khe began to doubt again, for in her; the footereps ceascd, and by the §o that was how the dand Jay,
lanorance of the Tunasy Laws she scrooping nolne againat tho parapet thought Mamalte wlth ao oihrl) af
thought that If her guardian knowlof the portieo. the burden stood cone) mingled. pain, and ‘jatisfoction ay Wave
where sho was and doayed hor ree|fessed as a dadder. Ing discovered tha traih, ‘Tha grt.

te may
Waanen of

and the
to her,

Cash Mong
a en cthaema athlete ida adams aahaatied nthe htathidheh bitbtiteechiih ed iatiaatient

aft ry
rele nt

Hovevesenreald Volink Roy a

Ww

TAVELLING door not cae or trouble tne tthe fale
fow, Though ba doce vot apenk any English other
than two or three worda whith he pieleed up oi route,
ne travelled atone from his hame at Vaeilue oan tho

Whore he wan eiven a tekot wimest as fone an diniself
whieh would carry him threugh (a bis deatinarion,
Croming (oO Boeland he antled on tha “Metygama,” bo»
ie, from the time ho left Warenw, under the care of

La totada a Va. Ty Vor ene tae ot Thon an , , : 1 \ 1, dad Moark de Wed dad Vou brought Weore de Toren Yor
Rael AuAinian boundary to Mibyaukes burdened oaly ; ; } foasa he would Rave wa seed lor, rab WHO, Mi ; , ene jy a ye
with a simall vallxe ond ‘ aliaat ar Hehe and ee by ee Ata ia ap By any Weetata tho tall mitanse such clandestina methods, She waalmouth, “How very rash!" sho murel into marriage With Vietor asthe prive
ny y v . i
yon mothers death th A yetty poy NO wan Kong ‘9 at loant twenty miles a day over the versal, and the © [NOL aware that the Act Rave tha| murod, “It ho-made wll that nolae] of hor release, and aha would have
HUB MOTE ' y an port offteiala find an ayvioua time when he made giups nenreat palative aonelay rletyt tw ise

while prastnie the private win it willl none of It. Winellie had Known alt’
posing of a certified lunatic. : bo a meroy If hoclan't hoard.” Mong: that Kato warin thacanylun, ¢

In any cake there was nothing for, A ‘moment Inter thera were we] not boenike aha was mad, Wut for this oe
Th Wat co watt 1 the appointed howe, | wilktalablo sounds of the laddor bé- (Continued on ‘page six)

'
a

isan tabla she “ whe ' at AT a OG

tor hie Iraneportation

_ When Meeth arrived at Waranw he win condietod
ry 0 vem of the Caundlat Macifte Raltway to Antworp

Maan che ne ,

rophitionsd peregrinationn In search of sampeone who
spoke his own tongue. Tle was elnd, of courae, ta mort
a mane but what an adventure ft is to iravel far and
wore