Ambrotox and Limping Dick | Page 2

he's clear of the Army, he finds he's got money to
burn," chuckled Caldegard. "No wonder it's six months before he pays
a visit to his respectable big brother."
Amaryllis gathered up her half-read letters, and walked
absent-mindedly to the open french-window.
"Oh well," continued her father, "I'm afraid there aren't many
sensations left for your rolling stone."
Amaryllis went slowly down the steps into the garden, Bellamy
watching her until she was out of sight.
"Look here, Caldegard," he said, turning quickly. "Your daughter
knows it's a secret, but she does not know it's a deadly one."
"Well?" said Caldegard.
"My brother," continued Bellamy, "doesn't know there is a secret, and
is coming to live in the middle of it. I think that your daughter should
know the whole story; and, when you've met him, I hope you'll think it
good business to trust my young 'un as completely as I trust yours."
CHAPTER II.
THE HEN WITH ONE CHICK.
Under the cedar tree on the south lawn of Bellamy's garden sat
Amaryllis Caldegard. On the wicker table at her side lay a piece of
needlework half-covering three fresh novels. But when the stable-clock

on the other side of the house struck noon, it reminded her that she had
sat in that pleasant shadow for more than an hour without threading her
needle or reading a line.
Her reflections were coloured with a tinge of disappointment. Although
her life, passed in almost daily contact with an affectionate father, who
was a man of both character and intellect, had been anything but
unhappy, it had lacked, at one time or another, variety and beauty. But
the time spent in the exquisite Hertfordshire country surrounding the
old Manor House had been, she thought, the pleasantest five weeks in
her memory.
The worldly distinction of Sir Randal Bellamy gave point to the
pleasure she felt in his courtesy to her father and his something more
than courtesy to herself. She did not tell herself in definite thought that
she counted with Randal Bellamy for something more than the mere
daughter of the man whom he considered the first and most advanced
synthetic chemist of the day; but there are matters perceived so
instinctively by a woman that she makes no record of their discovery. If
not without curiosity as to the future, she was in no haste for
developments; and Bellamy's announcement of an addition to their
party cast an ominous shadow across the pleasant field of the indefinite
future.
On the twelfth stroke of the clock Amaryllis laughed in her effort to
brush aside the clouds of her depression. Expecting her father to join
her about this time, she was determined to show him the smiling face to
which he was accustomed.
When he came,
"What d'you think of the news?" he said.
"What news, dad?" she asked.
"Somebody coming for you to flirt with, while the old men are busy,"
he replied.

"Flirt!"
"Well, I don't think it's likely that this Jack-of-all-trades has left that
accomplishment out of his list," said the father.
"Rolling stones get on my nerves," objected his daughter, having
known none.
"From what his brother says, this one's more like an avalanche."
Amaryllis laughed scornfully.
"Positively overwhelming!" she said. "But I'm sure I shall never----"
"Hush!" said Caldegard, looking towards the house. "Here's his
brother."
Sir Randal was turning the corner of the house, with an envelope in his
hand.
"Telegram," said Amaryllis softly. "P'r'aps it's the avalanche deferred."
"D'you mind having lunch half an hour earlier, Miss Caldegard?" asked
Sir Randal, as he came up. "Dick--my brother--is coming by an earlier
train. Just like him, always changing his mind." And he smiled, as if
this were merit.
Caldegard laughed good-humouredly. "You're like a hen with one
chick, Bellamy," he said.
"No doubt," said the brother. "Do you see, Miss Caldegard," he went on,
sitting beside her, "how the pursuit of science can harden a generous
heart? Both Dick and I were born, I believe, with the adventurous spirit.
I was pushed into the most matter-of-fact profession in the world,
which has kept me tied by the leg ever since. But Dick was no sooner
out of school than he showed the force of character to discover the
world and pursue its adventures for himself."
"But, Sir Randal, hasn't your brother ever followed any regular

occupation or business?"
"As far as I know," chuckled the man, "he's followed most of 'em, and
there are precious few he hasn't caught up with. Two years before the
war certain matters took me to South Africa. One evening, in the
smoking-room of the Grand Hotel at Capetown, a queer-looking man
asked if my name was Bellamy, and, when I told him it was, inquired if
Limping Dick was my brother."
"Limping Dick?"