Moving Picture News (Jul-Dec 1912)

14 THE MOVING PICTURE NEWS ROMANCE OF THE COAST By VIRGINIA WEST. (Adapted from Lubin Release) ON a high blufif above the sea stands a hovise built many j^ears ago after the fashion of old English castles. It has passed through many hands, through many generations, but has always been owned by some branch of the same family. Becket Castle is the name, and will probably always be the name, though the names of the families who have owned it have been many. For the last forty years Becket Castle has been owned by a branch of the family named Myers, and it is about Harry IMyers that this story is written. This young man had two qualities not particularly apparent in his branch of the family before — literary ability and very strong individuality. So when the desire came to him to seek local color for some stories he was writing, he did not resitate to go to a little fishing village a few miles away and live among the fisher folks as a boarder at Pete Wright's. The young man dressed so simply and was so friendly and genial with the people of the little village that while they knew he had refinement and education, that they lacked, thej^ never dreamed that he came from the class he did. He was soon on very familiar terms with the village people; fishing with the men and listening to the yarns of the older ones; chatting with the women in the cottages, and attending the entertainments given by the young folks from time to time. One morning when a heavy mist was lifting from the sea, Harry went down with Pete Wright and his son to prepare for a fishing trip. As they walked along the shore a sound of singing came to them through the fog. It was the voice of a young girl, uncultivated, but strong and unafraid. "You must have sirens along this coast," said young j\Iyera as he stopped to listen. Pete and his son stopped, too, and looked at Plarry. "I don't know whether they're fish er fowl," said the old man, ''but I never heerd of 'em." "Thej' are beautiful women who sit on rocks and sing to lure men to their destructions," Harry said with a twinkle of fun in his eyes. "Oh, if you mean that singin', it's Dick Drayton's daughter. She ain't singin' fer no man's destruction." The old fisherman spoke in tones of reassurance, as though to calm Harry's fears. The young fellow laughed. "Well," he said. "I should rather like to be lured to destruction by a siren with a voice like that." Pete shook his head as he said; "They ain't no woman goin'ta make a fool outa me." By this time they had begun to walk forward and in a moment came upon the girl whose song they had heard. She stood at the edge of the water, her feet and legs bare beneath her gathered-up skirts and her sleeves rolled almost to her shoulders. As the mist lifted it seemed to hang in soft clouds above and behind her, and on her hair it left shining drops like diamonds. The young man and the girl stood perfectly still looking straight into each other's eyes. They stood so long that Peter's son giggled and Pete said "It's all right, Harrj-, she ain't no siren. She's Dick Drayton's daughter Ethel Ethel this is Harry Mj'ers who's aboardin' at my house." Harrj put out his hand and the girl put hers shyly into it. Not word was spoken, and the. three men went on their way. When they had walked a few dozen yards in silence Pete said; "Hard time she has, poor girl — and her sistei", too." "Why?" asked Harry. "Are they poor?" "Yes, but they don't need to be. Pap's a drinkin' man, God help him, and he won't half work." Harry said nothing, but his thoughts were very busy and his heart beat in a way he had never known before. The next dav he deliberately sought the girl for the purpose of seeing if she produced the same effect upon him as she had at their first meeting. It might be, he thought, that the surroundings and the beautiful picture she made there at the edge of the waves, had had an effect upon him that would not last. At any rate he must see her. Harry found out from old Pete where Ethel lived, and it was there he went. She was in front of the cottage mending a net. The man stopped for a moment to watch her before she noticed him. He felt the same feeling of awe at the picture she made, and when she raised her eyes to his, his heart gave a bound of joy so intense that it was pain. In that moment he knew that he had not made a mistake. The fact that they were born into such entirely different stations in life meant nothing to him. All he knew or cared was that he loved her. "May I stay and talk with you a while?" he asked, as the girl lowered her eyes again to the work she was doing. She answered shyly that he might, and he threw himself on the sand at her feet. The moments passed and only the lap of the waves on the sand was heard, and now and then the cry of some sea bird as it flew to its nest on the cliffs behind them. Then Harry spoke very softly: "I have seen you but twice and you may think I. am too hasty, but I must tell you the one thing that is in my heart. I love you." The girl ceased working but she did not look at him. "I have never loved a woman before," he continued, "but when I saw you standing in the mist by the waves, and j'our eyes looked so frankly into mine, I knew that love had come to me at last. Did you — do you return it?" A shadow fell across the sand near them. Myers looked up and straight into the eyes of Chafles Cogan. The intruder's face w-as black with hatred. "Is that man your lover?" asked Harry when the other had gone. "No. He — he — makes love to me," answered the girl. "Do you love him? Pardon me for asking but I must know." "No, no, I don't love him — I can never love him." The vehemence with which the girl spoke sent joy to Harry's heart. "I must go now,'.' said Ethel rising. "Beatrice is coming and we must see to the lobster pots." "Can't I help you?" asked the man eagerly. "No, no, please don't. Father wouldn't like it and it would only make trouble for you." "But you haven't answered my question. I shall come again and again until you do." Ethel smiled at him as she turned to run over the sand. The next day was rainy and Harry went to the cabin where Ethel lived. The door was opened by a rough, half-drunken fisherman. "What do ye want?" he asked gruffly. "I want to see your daughter Ethel for a moment," answered Harry, scarcely knowing what was the best thing to do. "Well, ye can't see her. I'm her father an' I say ye can't. An' more'n that ye better keep away from this here house. It's mine an' I tell ye to keep away." "Very well," said Harry and turned away. For a week the young man saw very little of Ethel. He would not go to the cabin for fear he would make things harder for the girl by doing so. Sometimes he saw her on the beach or in the village, but only for a moment and with very little satisfaction. One day Harry sat by the window of his room at Pete Wright's, looking out over the sea and wondering what was the best thing for him to do regarding Ethel. He believed that she loved him, and therefore he was not willing to go away. Suddenly Myers caught sight of a figure on a rock about half a mile out. He knev/ that the tide was coming in and he knew that that very rock was completely covered when the tide was at its height.