Show F CAUGHT 4 by ARTHUR PEACH merriman Merrl man was seated at the front front window of hla his club the common spread out before himlin him in its dim promise of spring did not brighten his thoughts he was weary of the city find and all it suggested then camo came the thought that made him sit up far up in the northern part of maine he had a camp which was the pride of his heart forthe for the last three seasons it had been broken into by thieves in spite of the man ho he had hired to look after it much valuable stuff had been stolen and the preceding tall fall he had told his old guide acton that if ho he did not stop the thieving he would lose his job but merriman Merrl man was half suspicious so he decided to make a flying trip to the camp he made his preparations and cleaned up his business affairs in a day at the tha close of the next he reached the lake when he reached camp the first signs he saw were tracks of small shoes from the door of the camp to the dock merriman Merrl man groaned las as he thought of what would confront him when ho he opened the door everything in disorder and almost everything that tha t was valuable at all missing just what he expected expect edl things were even more upset than they were the last time angry and disgusted he throw threw off his coit coat and hat and began an attempt bobring to bring some kind of order out of the chaos suddenly a shadow filled the room he turned in the doorway stood a girl straight as a reed and graceful as a fawn faw n on the verge of flight fight his eyes went to bearface her ber face and he saw he was looking into the blue erd end of an automatic revolver put on your coat and come with me I 1 guess weve got you n now ow the girl evidently regarded him as a thief but who she was ho he had not the slightest idea suddenly it occurred to him that here was a chance tor for adventure an advel adventure liture with a fair young goddess ot of the north woods he would follow the lure no matter where ditled it led him her eyes were clear and bright and steady albeit her face was pale now put your hands over your head and come out she ordered merriman Merrl man did as she directed now go down to the dock get into that canoe take the bow with your back toward me she commanded he followed her direction implicitly the canoe left the shore and under the impulse of a pair of vigorous young arms began beean to dick up un 1 T I wonder where im headed for now thought merriman 1 I wonder if they have lady sheriffs up here this early he looked back at her once and saw a vision of a full throated rosy girl arms round yet muscular driving the paddle like an indian expert the auto matic within easy grasp in the pocket of abr jacket A mile or so down the river she turned the canoe and paddling it backward to the shore jumped out and ordered him to do likewise A path ran from the bank back and not far away merriman could see the faint outlines of a shack at her orders he proceeded toward the shack and as they drew nearer she whistled shrilly and called fa ther chave I 1 have him then ithen merriman received his second distinct shock of that eventful afternoon in the doorway of the shack ap feared the wasted bent figure of his old guide girl girl what have you done this Is mr merriman Merrima nl she moved slowly forward her face grown pale her eyes wide open then as merriman turned from greeting his hie stricken guide and held out his hand to taher her she drew back hastily and her er hands went to her face kohide her als Is tress pits its all right he assured her im slad glad to find my camp was so well ell guarded I 1 ought to tD apologize to you for deceiving you but I 1 was tre astonished when you ap feared later while he and his old guide were smoking before the cheerful fireplace anahis and his fair captor was cooking the supper merriman heard the solution of the mystery she was acrons daughter she had grown up in a village on the coast and recently had studied to become a nurse when her father fell ill she had fiad come back to the camp to take caro care of him she had found that his anxiety for the safety of the camp weighed heavily on his mind and she haff had volunteered to go up each day and see that everything was all right one ahing still puzzled merriman and he asked the girl why the place was vas so upset f she hesitated and blushed as she anaw answered e red well when I 1 first went there it was so so ao 1 I understand merriman laughed it needed a good spring cleaning I 1 agree with you now I 1 want bothof both of you to go with me to the camp calop job this has been your your home for a good many years but I 1 want you to leave it you need somebody molook to look bouc for au you and I 1 must say I 1 am in the same fix will you take charge of us ha H turned to the girl she laughed confusedly As long as you you are meek as you were today ill be willing to bo be responsible for your behavior sho she said cc copyright 1916 by tho the mcclurd 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