Show f crit u j bY bYe x e Y 17 4 f f f If o I t L aid p l 7 u l l J Jc c OY S A I pan man 7 in il London Loudon on is knocked down by an automobile Ro Re Rt Returning turning to consciousness he cannot t place himself though a letter leller ill in in his pocket p leads him to conclude that his name is George Georged d Annesley But he finds himself taken for George Hilton an atz African explorer and per perforce perforce perforce force plays the part Afterward he Is pro profoundly profoundly attracted by Pegg Marston the beautiful young ward of Lady and secures her promise that she will not trot wed Lord Bardley a wealthy but far from desirable de suitor sui lor He learns learIs however that he Is IS sup supposed supposed supposed posed to be In love with Lady Sara Gervaise a handsome woman who has married m another an another anOther other for money mOlle and that her husband has just died under mysterious circumstances c s Lady Sara sends for George and tells hz him that thai they are responsible for her husbands death CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY CHAPTER IX N Continued EORGE strolled on little affected by Lord Bard Bardley BardleY Bardley ley e J threats It matter much even eien though he hz lid lad d made a powerful enemy Nothing mattered now While he sat there thereIn t In the mourning carriage t driving to the church churchyard churchard yard ard while he stood hat hatin hatIn hatIn in hand by the side of ot the grave he had made mad up his mind what he hee had to do I doThe The position had beZ be become become Z come as untenable for him as It had been b en for the thereal thereal thereal real George Hilton HUton He had vowed to himself that he be was wag ready to face any difficulties to win wini i Peggy Marston but that was before the ghastly accusation ac of murder had been hurled at him As matters stood he was divided from Peggy by a great chasm which no efforts of his could bridge And without Peggy what did he care for this new life Ufe which he had had the impertinence to assume Not ot a snap of his fingers He die did di not want to misappropriate the name and fortune of another man he would prefer to struggle along on his own account working with his hands In some distant colony George Hiltons fortune yes therein lay the rub rubI I 1 was all very well if he had been able to follow his design and hand It over to Peggy to whom It really realy belonged as a wedding gift He do dot 1 t tat at now Cudgel his brain as he might he could see no way to put her In possession of what belonged to her herthe the money which ml might ht save sate her from the unwelcome attentions of Lord Bardley no way except one He must just leave things as he had found them The false George Hilton must to all appearance carry out the Intentions of ot the true one It would be quite easy to arrange the mise en scene at the chambers In Dover street just as he had found It ItHe itHe itHe He knew the wording of ot the thee letter by b heart with witha a little trouble he could transcribe it in a very passable imitation of ot Hiltons handwriting He had already tried his hand at copying some of ot the man manuscript manuscript of the book George Hilton HUton would disappear but by the time his flight was found out George Annesley would be out of England There would be a nine days dars wonder and then the sensation would die away Peggy would have her money that was the great thing And so that th t night he set about putting putt tg ig his project Into execution He could not get to work till late for tor Sir James Duncan put in an appearance after dinner and insisted upon discussing the funeral at which he had not been present So Lady Sara is going abroad he remarked Well Wen I should say that Is a good thing Give you a little breathing time eh Hilton Prevent gossip too Its a pity people should chatter so o There was wasa a fellow tonight at the club who said sald George would not allow him to continue Never Nevertheless Nevertheless Nevertheless he found It difficult to rid himself of his unwelcome visitor Duncan might be the he best of good fellows but that night his company was not desired Left alone at last George set about his tIone There was not very much to be done with the thee exception e of the copying of ot the letter The will might remain where it was in one of the drawers There was nothing at all to raise suspicions that for a few days an ac Interloper had bad been masquerading upon the scene He put on the clothes which he had hud been wearing on cn the day when the strange strang adventure had been thrust upon him He Ho had been wearing a silk sUk hat he remembered that would not do to travel in he must buy another at the first opportunity He would not take anything that belonged to Hilton HUton He opened a drawer of ot the desk and took cut out the letter which his father had written It would not do to leave that behind He thrust it into his pocket s the same sama pocket In which he had originally found It There Was a photograph of Peggy Marston ton in the drawer He took It out and touched it with his lips He longed to thrust it in his pocket too but did not dare to With a sigh he replaced it where he had found foune it and shut the drawer Then he began to write the letter He found it more difficult than he had Imagined The words would not come right somehow He made several false raise attempts and as he dared not tear these up up and leave them about he burnt them at the flame fiame of the candle The church 11 clock struck uck one He had just TiiT that his latest lat st effort must go the way of the others and it lay la on the desk before him when hi he fancied he heard a light footstep on the stair st lr t He e paused and listened Yes Yesa a stealthy tread tread ad it Jt had paused at the door of his bedroom Could Cou d nigh Cummins be In want ot of f anythIng at this hour of the nIght Then came the creak of a turning handle Without a moments hesitation George pushed back his chair crossed the room and entered the th bedroom by the th communicating door There was no one there He lie tU ked on the electric light and then opened op ned th the door communicating with the passage All AlI was dark He descended a few of the stairs stags and looked over the th ha There was a 8 dim speck of light in the the hatgas I was always Ie let left burning there at that was all Suddenly he le thought he heard a sound cOmIng fro 1 lie is from own sitting room The door was just lust n j ir h could see a line Une of light along It t Had he iff left e t U K He was sure he had not ajar alar Whoever It might be the Intruder had bad entered the sitting room while George eVIdently was In th the bedroom That was the only Interpretation Geor hasU y remounted the stairs and flung open the th George He H was as mer er by b the grinning face ace of the do door mask mask with Its Jaws gaping Jaws and shock of hair ha S It was not hanging the J upon wall now It had h had beep been lifted down and was being held up by b th t 1 hand hane of ora a man held beld so as to hide hido hi do the face h hairy George had not time to cry out The behind shock of It meeting that hideous thing In h C such a position posits rei him silent silent And the next ne t moment before betor on held e his breath a cloth h he could CUl CUland recover was thrown over h and a huge buga muscular arm gripped him about his head ut th the neck i c He gave gao a gasping sigh then sli slipped slip ed fh to o the gr p powerless In 10 the hands of the CHAPTER X Peggy Gets a Shock WAS A sultry afternoon of September and a punt IT Jr was moving m slowly upstream toward the little Islands which lie He midway between Cookham and Lock The Cliveden Woods Wo were in their ruff full glory and the trees that overhung ov the e water afforded tempting shade from the glare of o the sun Whit Wu t a lot let of people there are about remarked C c a h Y c l Ia w r N 1 1 l lOt Ot i i 1 I Ii It i r t I I 1 i l l i t I Ur I If f I v vt t ij I t t i 1 I 1 1 w 1 i ir r o of on f t c E 7 l 0 y g gi i r E t n t t tj j You Yot poor p or little girl Has it all been a ghastly ly mistake I l J 4 the boy who had been lazily manipulating the punt pole the worst of ot this reach Its so beastly popular that one cant can t find a shady place by b the bank that occupied by a noisy party part at tea or by b some spooning couple or other His companion laughed She looked deliciously cool and comfortable leaning against the red cushions which had been carefully piled up about her She was trailing the fingers of one hand in the water and with the other she caressed the silken ear of a 8 little toy Yorkshire terrier It a nuisance Peggy he went on when weve brought out o t our tea and when we want to spoon too Speak for yourself Bob Bobr retorted the girl She was quite accustomed to Bob Incessant Inc protestations of ot undying affection She knew that they meant in reality nothing at alL It had always been ben benthe the same between them even when they the had been little more than boy and girl What shall we do he asked He plunged the pole Into the water with a vigorous sweep which brought the punt into a thick mass of ot rushes from which laughing he proceeded to extricate it Well Wen go straight up between the Islands she said Theres such a lot of weed on the water there that people keep away from them We are bound to find a place pl ce to ourselves where we can land and make tea See Ill help you with the th the paddle Bob Fauntleroy laid down the punt pole and took a paddle himself digging it down vigorously among the weeds over which he was forcing the punt Peggy professed to help him but the tiny dips which she gave with her paddle were of small assistance In propelling them to their destination Peggy Peg gave a little scream at last as they passed under the overhanging boughs of a tree the roots of which were partly submerged just the place Bob she cried and there a soul in sight We Ve shall have it ah all to ourselves and can play at being cast away awa on a desert island just as we used to when we were children And so with some little difficulty Bob succeeded in mooring the punt and then jumping ashore helped Peggy Pegg her little litte dog clasped in an her arms to follow his example And there in the shade of ot the tree they boiled their kettle and enjoyed an impromptu meal laughing and talking together almost s 8 If there were no shadow upon the lives of either of them save that of the big tree under which they the sat satIn satIn satIn In a measure both the girl and the boy were playing truant and perhaps it was the knowledge of this fact which added to the enjoyment of their trip Peggy Peg was as staying with Lady Westmere at a hou house e which the latter had taken some miles from the river der In the direction of Burnham But Lady had been obliged to go to town on business summoned by an urgent telegram which she had received that morning and Peggy had been prepared pre arid to spend a solitary day with a book in the garden She had not minded this very much since she did not often get time to herself Lady Westmere having hating a constant succession of ot visitors coming down from London But as a rule they were not people that she cared about and md the most constant of all aU was the man who in her heart she tear feared cd and abhorred though she no longer dared to express openly her ted feel ings concerning him Lord Bardley stood on a dif ferent footing today tOda and Peggy was compelled to treat him with respect A telegram had arrived for her very ery soon after her aunts departure She had opened It with fear tear and ami trembling for she had imagined at once that M it must be from her elderly admirer perhaps announcing that he was coming down for tor the day as was hw his h s not infrequent customs custom To her joy however she found found that the telegram was from Bob Fauntleroy she had imagined i 11 sta staying in with friends Of his his father whom in Scotland Ive come home he announced when he lIe put nut In n his appearance appear nce not n t long after the t e telegram i Vot got tired of the tae solemn old house and all the solemn people In it Peggy Pegg It as if hered been shooting you know I have minded it any much then To go to Scotland and not shoot so well wel the very Idea of such a thing absurd grouse It was always a matter of ot wonder to Bob BObas as to every one w he lie ever came to have beeH been born a Fauntleroy at least a Fauntleroy of that particular branch to which he belonged For FOT Bobs BoVaT Bo s father tather was w s a stern austere man who had nad not the smallest n predation pre for or ap understanding of ot the various forms of or Mr sport which Bob loved and In m In which he excelled led Fauntleroy senior had bad been squire of a r con estate a hard man to his tenants who In to consequence had made his life burdensome to him sS that at last he had been obliged to leave the county so altogether and settle In London The only one who regretted this was wasi Bob who had made himself liked by all classes of the community He was a a generous Impulsive boy straight of figure and strong of arm a typical tV ical young Englishman EngUs man y t very ery soon after the move to 10 London the roys met with serious reverses reverses insufficient to toy y IJ justify Lady definition of Mr Ir Fauntleroy F as asa a poor man but still quite enough to materially alter their manner of life Ute Bob had to be satisfied with a small allowance and being a young oung man of ot extravagant tastes he found the new condition of affairs particularly gall galling galling ing Peggy had heard vague rumors of serious trouble at home on account of his extravagance The governor expected me to spend another week at Fairlie Bob continued to to explain and heaven alone knows what excuses I found to get away But ButI I tell you OU Peggy Peg it was awful It was my mothers people we were staying with and they are dour Scotch folk as solemn as they make em who go goto goto goto to kirk three times on Sundays and He shook the girl by her two hands and danced about the room where she had met him on his arrival Oh Peggy Peg I cant tell ten you how glad I am to have got away even though London in September altogether what one would wish for Still Stin In a few days time Im going off of to shoot with Ted Hastings down in and Im bound to have haea a good time there thereSo So lie he rattled on and Peggy was more than de delighted delighted delighted lighted to hear him It made her forget forger her ber own troubles for the time being She gave him lunch and then the picnic on the river was planned Peggy loved the river but not under the conditions it had lately presented to her Lord Bardley was wad not particularly at home In a boat which was no doubt a good thing for her since she might otherwise have been left more In his company than she would have cared for forand and so their river excursions had usually consisted of ot a party of at least four solemnly sol pulling up at Cookham for tor fortea fortea tea without any suggestion of a pleasant pause under the bank Furthermore how hou absurd in her h r eyes Lord Bardley Bard Bardley Bardley ley appeared when he was dressed In his flannels Of course they were always of ot immaculate make and cut far too neat and tidy in fact tact He bear to get them wet Then if he aped the young man so ridiculously it was that which offended otren ed her more than anything else ilse His tight shoes his pinched waist a and d padded shoulders how they contrasted with Bobs loose and comfortable gray flannels his straw hat perched perch tl on the back of his head and the scarf scar a scarf bright with many colors lightly knotted about his waist Bob boy as he was seemed to her far more of ot a manthan man manthan manthan than did her elderly admirer It was Vas after they had finished tea that Peggy be bethought bethought thought herself of certain rumors which had come to her ears |