Show LADY LA f 6 ON X mob S ON d TWO RUNAWAYS ai synopsis richard uc c american playwright confides to his friend bob singleton the fact that umpired inspired by the genius of EL a young actress whom no he had seen in london he ha has hai written a play lady larkspur Lar kapui solely with the thought that she should interpret the leading character this girt girl violet dewing has dl n appeared singleton an aviator has just juet returned inva aided from prance france ills his uncle raymond Bash bashford tord had contracted a marri marriage a go a short time before his his death while wh ile on a visit to japan he H e left le f t singleton a comparatively small amoun t of money and tile the rest privilege of a residence idenie in the garage garu earu age 0 of h his 1 g a summer miner home darton barton ago as on th tha sound 0 u rid connecticut mrs mra bashford Bagh tord la Is believed believed to be traveling in the orion orient t the at bar barton ton to Is ma made de up of broken a down employees of a new york lork hotel where bashford Bash tord made ills his homo home singleton goes to barton taking with him the manuscript of lady larkspur there he finds the th e household strangely upset some of its members being suspected by their comrades of pro antoine head of the establishment informs him that he has been perplexed by this the somewhat mysterious visits of et a stranger apparently a foreigner seeking mrs bashford Bash tord antoine has formed the male members of the household into a guard for protection singleton reads lady Larks larkspur with approval aunt alice arrives unexpectedly meets wa with t h a lively reception and turns out to be young and charm ing mrs farnsworth Farna worth Is her traveling companion torrence bash tord fords lawyer suspects the two women and warns singleton aunt alice may be an impostor the mysterious stranger count montan in makes ekes a call and to Is seen to be very in much uc h inter interested este 1 I I 1 in n aunt All alices ces ostrich plume fan which had been repaired by a jeweler in japan singleton Is fascinated by aunt alice antoine reports that a spy idyll has been tempting a woman servant to t steal the faril an I 1 the spy it calp captured aured at night by the guard CHAPTER ill III continued 10 get some dry clothes for or tills this man and lock him up in the ile be sure lie he has blankets and buu better give him some gome hot coffee the captive manifested relief tit nt lu my decision and broke his silence to thank me which he did in very sery good english ng liili his submissiveness only deepened my perplexity but I 1 help laughing as lie he walked away aw a surrounded hi by the troops with dutch leading the way dutch fully conscious that he hail had vindicated himself and disposed to be rather disdainful of ills his comrades coni rades I 1 hurried to the house houie where I 1 found alice and sirs mrs farnsworth ministering to elsie who had been taken there by b their order elsie sharing with dumdi the honors of the night lay on it 11 day elport viliore site she had bad received first aid alice ruse rose from her knies knees as I 1 entered gathering up strips of bandages and turned to tile me laughingly eldies injuries are not only disagreeable bruises in the fael there will be no scars im sure well keep beep her nt at the house for a few fen days das until ashes quite fit again sure suii ly y any one who has questioned alles loyalty ought to be satisfied now new you certainly managed it very ori cleverly elsie were all very vei grato rul ful elsie her face covered with band ages acknowledged my thanks b by wiggling her foot mrs farnsworth said she would put elsie to bed now I 1 thought alice would make some sign it if she knew anything that would explain and the prisoner la in the tool house but un th aa anait sl S 1 I is tl laughter and she seemed bess less a grown grow n woman than ever in her white robe my efforts to impress her with the seriousness of the attempt to secure the loin fan only added to her heir delight how droll I 1 how very droll I 1 you possibly have arranged anything that would please me more I 1 its delicious I 1 As you ou say in america its perfectly I 1 suggested that the holding of a prisoner without process of law might present embarrassments embarrass ments 1 I know she cried clapping her hands joyfully you mean we are likely to bump into dear old habeas corpuel corpus I 1 the sheriff will come and read a solemn paper to you and you will have to hie you to court and produce the body of the prisoner that will be splendid it wont be so funny if constance and I 1 so love the unusual and it Is so hard to findl find she continued and yet from the moment I 1 readied reached tile the gates of these premises things have happe happened nothing Is omitted 1 strange visitors fierce attacks upon our guards and still the mystery depends in the wee bins hours with alth heroes nal arid heroines at every turn I 1 to think that that absurd little dutch ditth was asleep in the garden and really captured the spy or what ever he Is rut but you are a liero hero tool too you shall be decora decorated 1 she walked to a stand and pondered a moment before a vase of roses chose choge a long red one and struck ine in lightly across the shoulder with it arise sir knight I 1 you should lieve knelt but to kneel in ili skirts requires practice you could hardly have managed in that monks robe I 1 be sure whether she was wai mocking me or whether there was really liking under this nonsense I 1 was wag beyond tit lie point of being aniva impellent with hor her I 1 was wag helpless in ili tier her hands slip lip would do with me ine ns as she ile willed and it ans ns my business to laugh with her tu to inert her ns as best I 1 could in me lie reain of folly you must go I 1 1 sin she exclaimed suddenly constance lice 1111 will l ie be colling calling down the stairs tor for tile nie in a moment tomorrow Tomo Toni irow orrow I 1 bogan began tile the wistful look slie she had at times carne came into her eyes as she stood in the center of the room playing with the flower tomorrow slie site repented repeated arid and then toni tomorrow orrow there must be endless tomorrows tomorrow for you find and me I 1 said and took life lie flower from her hand the died in her eves ees and they were alvage with reproach and dismissal at the door I 1 looked baa back k slie she moved and slie she said i very ry quietly but smiling a little nothing must happen to make tile me sorry I 1 came please picnic ie member I 1 CHAPTER IV pursuing knights I 1 sleep until iwar iuar d a b rev U tind was avas armouc abou arou icil l at nine h by flynn rivan who appeared at the elnor in ills chauffeurs clinen fuis togs carrying curil ng a tray the wife conic come back gorr but I 1 made coffee awl anil toast sor sorry ry to waken you but im ill falan me new car into the city I 1 sat up and rubbed tay m eye chos going to the ectyl alt I 1 de the indies Is coln at onee nee orr they sent orders an all hour IKO ago to he be 1 I im late and have to excuse me ready aly with the file new machine aa hae im ia lute ile ind and lime to excline nv ni son I 1 sprang out of bed and filled illia libin w with ith questions most of lie was unable to answer I 1 did however hm eMr ax e tract from the that nothing had occurred after I 1 retired for the night that could alarmed tin file junira ii aln annu prompted this abrupt departure thore was no reason why alice allce run rua to town if it pleased her tu to 10 lo do so ond and yet it was odd that she mentioned the matter flynn 1111 girled abway y and from the window I 1 folio followed ired the cars courie to the house i and a moment later vaught caught a glimpse of it on its way to the gates I 1 called from the window to one of the gardeners who knew how t to 0 ni manage n a machine and told him t to 0 be ready to drive tile me to the village in half an hour there was an express at ten forty and by taking it I 1 would tit at least have tile the satisfaction of being somewhere in new york when tile the runaways arrived antoine packed my suitcase I 1 am not sure that he shed tears on my belongings th the e old fellow was awed into silence by the rapidity with which history had find been made in tile the past twenty four hours ani and clearly was not pleased by my desertion we drove past the tool house where I 1 found the prisoner seated vil oil a wheelbarrow smoking it a cigarette ile he was no more communicative than when I 1 had questioned him lifter ills his capture ile he smiled Q in ill a bored fast ansh ton ion when I 1 asked if lie he wanted anything ond and sold lie he would lie he obliged fur for cigarettes and reading matter ue he nothing as to his identity and the guards said that a thorough search of the captives clothing had disclosed nothing incriminating ut he had three hundred dollars in cu burrene cur rrene this was to cover aisles bribe money I 1 conjectured handkerchief a algar ette case and a box of matches I 1 dl erected that lint he be well fed and ghee civell nii all the rending reading mutter matter he wanted nod and hurried on to catch tay nis train I 1 took a room tit at the thackeray Thack eiBy club and pondered carefully whether in fin spite of in ili misgivings I 1 t better see nomine tind tell him all that had find hal opened since ills his call on mrs bashford it if there tin re was tiny chance of doing the wrong thing in any matter not prescribed in the laws iteming governing tile alu administration of estates he would bure to do it but I 1 was fir far from satis satisfied fled with the results of illy m own of affairs at Bl irton I 1 called up the trust company and learned that torrence Tor renco ivas in albany attending the trial of a will cast case arid might not be in town for a couple ot of dass ills ilia secretary said hp he had instructions to wire my dilly daily report to albany I 1 to etolil him there lind find been no developments tit nt hirton barton filid went out and walked inquiries at hotels luge large nn annl small occupied tile roe until seven seen no one had heard of a mrs bashford or a mrs farnsworth my inspect inspection loil of the occupants of several thousand automobiles proved equally fruitless I 1 ate a lonely lonel dinner at tile the field my search bilang ing about theater doors staring at the crowd Is not a occupation and by nine having seen tile the most belated theatergoers vant vanish si I 1 I 1 vas thred and footsore the flaming sign of searles who killed cock roladn over 01 er the lie door of the As you like it caught my eye 03 e I 1 sought a sea sint t the lust last in ili the rack and squeezed into lay ni place in the middle of the last row As I 1 hail had seen tile the piece at least east a dozen times its nov elty city was gone for me tut but the laughter of the delighted audience was cheer ing the first act was reaching its culmination and I 1 watched it with a glow of pride in searles and ilia his skillful craftsmanship As the curtain fell and the lights went up nold of pleasure and expectancy I 1 glanced gin need across the rows of heads the halt half turned face of a man three rows in front of roe me suddenly chught my mi attention abere wits something curiously familiar r in ills his outlines and the gesture with which at the moment moni ent he was drawing ills his liin furois fi rois his foie fore hend liend it was beyond any quest question lon and I 1 shrank in my illy seat and lifted my program as aa he turned tumid round anti and swiftly surveyed lie lows behind itha I 1 Nat watched ched his black hend head intently until I 1 remembered the superstition that 1 nt by b staring nt at a persan in a pub ile he place ilace you iou can male make him look at ami nu montant knew a great many things filings I 1 wanted to know but I 1 must have time to adjust nizelt to the shock of his the house now took tok note of a stirring in ili the boxes there was an ex cited buzz as the tall form and unmistakable features of cecil arrowsmith now the english actor were lecog hazed hl d I 1 had rend read that dry da of ills his ari hal in ili new ew york wa etli t h ill him 11 i ere e two w i aimi my M breath arp etli came baird and I 1 clutched the lion iron frame of the sent in front of tae me so violently that its occupant turned tin nod fin and glared the rhe trio arlt settled into their quickly aul kl 1 I lit t not before I 1 had litis fied ali that t companions compan inions inns MOP allee alice anil and mrs airs farnsworth As 9 they alie fill fel in into t 0 animated talk I 1 siw saw tint that ulce alice was in lid her gayest humor tin the tragedian gr bratly atly amused by b whit what she ans saying salil sl lIl to him must be of arrow sinith a company conci 1 l one of my ni remarked they open in n two i in chake pearean had lulf halt risen the dietter it tier to fecu f cus an all opera glass on tie the box tile gons gong solemnly soloi inh the lie si ond ona act find and alice moved lier her diirr to face tile hie stage once mou more mon maii taid t uil scat skinned ined the pirty party with ills hig glas ITS As s the lie lights faded alice ii with ith the lie pretty languorous gaure I 1 so well re opened her fun fan the ran fun of ostrich plumes pinnies that became a mar 1 lur of white that held my eye through thi ill dusk after the curtain rose rise alice montant and tile fail I 1 to this combination I 1 bit hud now to add ill the now new element introduced into the situation b bl the apparent fain familiar filar acquaintance oi of alice and mrs fernsworth with beell arrowsmith and yet let as the play proceeded on its swift s aft moving course I 1 ren reasoned that there was nothing in their knowing the die elu anent actor he had long beet been a person personage age in ln england gland and had late ly been knighted their appe appearance aranco with him blin nt at the theater really disposed of the idea that they might be im impostors posters the presence of arrow had put zest yest into the coill company pany and I 1 seen a better perform since of searles play the trio in the box joined in the prolonged rp ap tit at the end of the act singleton finds aunt alice in new york and the mystery deepens TO BL BE |