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Show SOUTH CACHE COURIER, HYRUM, UTAH 8- The Blue Circle bf Tb Century Co.) the blue circle SYNOPSIS. Incapacitated bed-clothi- men- of tally by shock, as a result World experiences during the war, Renshaw makes a proposition to David Campbell, wealthy, elderly man of leisure, a year he assume responsibility for him (Renshaw) practically life"buy him. Doctor Stanley, Inlong friend of Campbell's, which dorses the proposition, with some natural Campbell, ar- The misgivings, accepts. rangement is that the young man become an inmate of the Campbell household, with the nominal Renshaw duty of secretary. meets Verity, Campbells granddaughter, and gets the Impression that she does not like him. Jenks, the butler, Renshaw also feels, is distinctly hostile. Renshaw has a feeling that the servants are spying on him. Jenks warns him that there are queer things going on In the house. Chapter III CHAPTER II " Continued Something did happen a very small thing and not at all disturbing. , It was merely the sudden appearance on the wall facing him of a small blue circle of light. It did not dance. It did not even move. It merely faced and regarded him, rather like a watchful eye. De glanced across the room, but without much Interest. Of course, he reasoned, there was some wholly natural explanation of the circle. He would forget It. He would give hLs nerves time to quiet down before ne tried to sleep. He would resolutely think of other tilings of scenes and episodes of his boyhood. But the effort, occasionally successful In the past, did not calm him now. He found himself waiting for something. Deep within him was a conviction, which grew with the moments, that something was about to happen. After an hour or two of this he went to bed. Simultaneously the blue circle vanished. But sleep was slow in coming, perhaps because of that hour of sleep before dinner. The household must be sleeping, he reflected, for it was now well past midnight. Yet he began to hear sounds in the corridor, odd sounds, not easily explained probably, yes undoubtedly, those sounds to which Jenks had referred. He stiffened and swore softly to himself. The expectation that something would happen, born of Jenks .warning, was filling him with a sick foreboding, was actually bringing out perspiration upon his face." Yes, bis face was damp, and through his big body ran a sudden tremor. He ground his teeth in but bis --brain, still his alert and willingi servant, hastened to bolster his dying self-disgus- t; self-respec- t. It was not because he was afraid that might happen to him that he sweated and trembled. That, at least, he could truthfully claim. The worst that could happen to him had occurred two years ago. It was the possible call to action which made him shake; the suggestion that what was going on, whatever It was, might demand initiative on his part He lay still nnd listened. - The noises in the corridor were Increasing, and If they were what Jenks had meant he had chosen the right word for them. They were odd no!ses. That quality in them was what had first attracted his attention. They "ere not footsteps. They were, quite plainly by this time,, such sounds as might have been made by the dragging of a heavy body along the floor, and they were accompanied by what sounded like the breathing of a huge, exhausted animal. Yet an exhausted animal would hardly be dragging itself along the corridors of Tawno Ker at twenty minutes past twelve oclock at of anything night. Theres some queer things going on m ,the old huse, sir. If you hear odd noises during the night. It Is best to Pay no attention to them. That was Indefinite in Itself, but definite enough as far as he, Renshaw, was concerned. In different words, nut quite as plainly, Campbell had said the same thing. It was not business to investigate odd noises at Tawno Ker. On the it seemed plain that he was ex-;- e d t ignore them. , Everything be explained to him in due nd ,n Hie Interval If Campbell sued his assistance he would ask Hensliaws present cue was discretion which did not man ti,at he was certainly expected to get out anJ 80 obnslng around In drafty wrrldors at midnight. His reflections having reached th Ren-sna- con-ar- and Leonl. When Renshaw awoke, the October day was sending its comforting light through his windows. He turned over and blinked drowsily. His first sensation was one of physical new and agreeable. His next was incredulity. He had slept had actually His third, the Ton slept for hours panion of memory, was a and sardonic amusement at his own expense. What an ass he had been the night In the light that was coyly before picking out the pattern of the oriental rug upon the polished floor, his doubts and forebodings about Tawno Ker scurried out of sight like frightened chickens. He almost doubted that he had had them. There was no question whatever, he told himself, that he had imagined most. If not all, of the occurrences that had disturbed him. That dragging thing on the floor, for example He sat up, blinked again, and yawned widely. His big room was wonderfully cheerful, and part of Its brightness, he now discovered, was due to the coloring that still lingered on some of the maple trees whose branches almost touched his windows. He got out of bed, turned on a cold bath, and made his morning toilet with an Increasing sense of acquiescence In the fact of living. As he shaved, his lips almost puckered into a smile at the new expression of the face that confronted him in his mirror. At last he had taken In the fact, so hard to grasp the day before, that he had . cast from his shoulders the Atlas-likweight they had been carrying. His future, for a year, was assured. He was a being without responsibility. In this environment, so isolated, yet so homelike and so peaceful, he could accept his cure. At the end of the year for the first time he told this to himself with entire conviction he would be a well man, and would know he was I And what the deuce was the good of being a well man if one didnt know he was well? He went down to breakfast with a vigor In his steps that was not wholly assumed.' At the foot of the staircase he paused, not quite certain whether to turn Into the living room or go on to the dining room. Breakfast might not be ready. He had not rememto ask at what the before, night bered, hour It was served. As he hesitated, the complacent personality of Jenks came toward him from the rear of the halL Renshaw nodded. Good morning, Jenks.- - Whats the breakfast hour here?" We-W- 5 v. doubly 1 y, well-bein- g, 1 slow-growin- g, deop-roote- 1 e "Breakfasts on now, sir. Jenks followed Renshaw Into the room, where a young footman the latter had not seen before was arranging chafing dishes on the sideboard. This youth suspended his labors, and from Jenks in response to an eye-flas- h hastened to draw out a chair for the newcomer. We follow the English plan, sir, Jenks observed, with a steadfast eye on the movements of his subordinate. The membejs of the family come In when they like and help themselves from the hot dishes on the sideboard. But If you dont find Just what you want, sir, James, here, will fetch It from the kitchen. Renshaw nodded again. Thanks,' he said, and strolled over to the row of silver dishes whose contents simHe lifted mered above the lid of each in turn, finding a cereal in one,' scrambled eggs and bacon in another, and kidneys In a third. He helped himself to eggs and bacou and returned to the table, where James poured his coffee!, lifted the cover of the muffin dish, and set a plate of spirit-lamp- s. Delightful these rooms that are truly clean By ELIZABETH JORDAN gratifying conclusion to which he had direeteu them, he threw back the and set his feet on the floor. All these things being so, the fact remained that he must see what was In that corridor. He sprang to the door and threw It open. But, quick as he was, the thing outside, which had seemed to move so cumbrously and with such effort, was quicker. His glance swept the length of the corridor, but this time there was not even the flutter of a disappearing garment to reward It. The house was utterly still. ne shrugged his shoulders, closed the door, and got back Into bed. Before he did so he turned the key In the lock of the door. The whole thing might be a trick of his Infernal nerves though he knew better. But, at least, he would have a stout lock between himself and that corridor. - orange marmalade within convenient reach. Anything else, sir? Nothing, thanks. Ill help myself." James faded away as unobtrusively as a mist before the sun. His manner and service had been perfect But notwithstanding Renshaws seeming absorption In his breakfast the secretary had been conscious of one thing; not once, while James remained In the room, had the footman removed his eyes from him. They were young eyes round and clear and rather boyish. They were discreet eyes, which dropped humbly before a superior and which could not meet directly the gaze of Jenks. But they were observant eyes, nevertheless, nnd undoubtedly they had taken In every detail of the new mans dress, manner, and general appearance. Even as the reflection came to Renshaw, the explanation came with iL Some one, probably Annie, judging by the flutter of that telltale garment, had returned after the first alarm and listened at the side door of the living room when he. Renshaw, had made his unusual proposition. That person had overheard his entire conversation with Campbell, and had grasped the terms under which Renshaw had been taken on. Those terms were sufficiently novel to intrigue any mind, and the gossip they afforded must be nothing short of a heaven-sen- t blessing to a group of servants In a country house that was miles from anywhere. He drank the last of his coffee. His appetite had Improved with his spirits, and he had eaten a surprising amount of eggs and bacon. Evidently the Campbells breakfasted late. It was half after eight when he left the dining room, and none of the family had yet appeared. He went out for a stroll In the grounds. There were suggestions of a big estate here wide, unexplored spaces at the right and left and In the rear. He followed some , of them to whose sweet alyssum and dying chrysanthemums were their sole remaining blooms, to vegetable-garden- s near the rear of the house, and, finally, to the discovery of a secret walled garden far off at the left, whose en trance was down a flight of stone steps. He descended the steps with a sensation of expectancy. He liked secret gardens. They had been a fad of his in that remote period when he had been a living man. He was In the depths of it, bending over an old sundial and trying to make out Its almost obliterated Inscription, when a small hand crept confidingly into his. He started, then flushed and stared at the owner of the hand. It was a very tiny owner, almost a baby. It could not have been much more than thirty months old. It wore a blue bunny suit of coat, trousers, cap and leggings, and the cap was drawn so far over its face and ears that only a pair of wide gray eyes, a dot of a nose, and a button of a mouth were visible. As Renshaw stared, the mouth widened into a smile that revealed two deep dimples. exclaimed Hello I Renshaw, In natural surprise. Do morIng 1" The conversation languished, and the lady, unembarrassed by the fact, filled the pause by lifting her feet and swinging on the gentlemans hand. Renshaw stiffened to meet the strain, and then, after some hesitation, entering the spirit of the game, exerted his strength and lifted her high above the She yelped In ecstasy, and ground. he put her down. With arms and violently waving, she danced on the path before him, The walls of a room may look good to the eye hut you can't enjoy them to the utmost unless you know they're really clean and sanitary beneath the surface. 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She pointed and entered upon a to the sun-dibrisk pantomime, which he regarded with an interest deep but unintelligent She waved both arms Increasingly, almost with violence. She bounded Into the air like a rubber balL She whirled In dizzy circles. She appeared to tie herself into knots. And as she did these things she repeated over and over in passionate accents her original refrain : "We-we-e dump I al Nothing alarming, of course, about the Blue Circle, but what on earth does It mean? (TO BE CONTINUED.). Contentment Is wisdom MOTHER- :- Fletcher's Castoria is especially prepared to relieve Infants in arms and Children all ages of Constipation, Flatulency, Wind Colic and Diarrhea; allaying Feverishness arising therefrom, and, by regulating the Stomach and Bowels, aids the assimilation of Food ; giving healthy and natural sleep. To avoid imitations, always look for the signature of Absolutcy Harmless - No Opiates, Physicians everywhere recommend it |