Show ER1AiJ STORY M w THE SMUGGLER By ELLA MIDDLETON TYBOUT t Illustrations by Ray Walters lloi > yrlgbt 1W7 by JII Ltiiplucott COI SYNOPSIS Three girls Elizabeth Gabrlcllc and Kllse started for Canada to spend the sunnier there On board steamer they wire frightened by nn apparently demented dement-ed stranger who finding a bag belonging to ono of them took enjoyment In scrutinizing scru-tinizing a photo of the trio also shared her stateroom with u Mrs Graham also bound for Canada The young women on a sightseeing tppr met Mrs Graham unxlomily awaiting her husband who had ix minlu for sailing They wero Intro dured to Lord AVIIfild aul Lady Kdlth A cottage by the ocean was rented by the trio for the summer nilzabeth learned that a friend of her fathers was to call Two men called ono at them being the queernctlng stranger on the steamer < The girls were not nt home but discovered by the enrdj left that one of the men was Elizabeths fathers friend The men proved to bo John C Hlake and Gordon Bennett The party was told of the search for smugglers In tho vicinity of the cottage Elise visited Mrs Graham to llnd that her life was not the happiest She learned that the Grahams and Lady idlth were acquainted acquaint-ed A wisp of yellow hall from Mr Grahams Gra-hams pocket < < fell Into the hands of Elise Mrs Grahams hair was black During a storm the young women heard a crash In tho basement of me cottage and a moment mo-ment latjr Mary Anne their woman servant serv-ant entered her arm bleeding To assure as-sure them there was no danger Mary Anne descended to the basement alone and quieted their fears CHAPTER VI It was a very beautiful world which greeted us In tho morning after the storm all swept and garnished and freshly painted for our delectation I wish I could describe It as wo stood upon oar veranda drinking In the llfeglvlng ozuae and feasting our eyos upon the luodscape Perhaps If I were an artlat I could better express tho bright azure of thc sky the deeper deep-er blue of tho sparkling ocean rippling with whitecapped waves tho wonderful wonder-ful clearness of the atmosphere and the glorious sunlight gliding everything every-thing until tho commonest objects were endowed with n charm hitherto unsuspected I had wakened tired and unre fieshed and both Gabrlello and Elizabeth Eliza-beth looked rather pale and heavy eyed so wo decided to spend tho day at home and established ourselves Upon thc veranda for ono of tho long lazy mornings In which we frequently Indulged Lady Edith Campbell soon joined us fresh and dainty In her pretty morning costume and simple hat and wo greeted her with enthusiasm Wilfrid has gone fishing she remarked re-marked as she removed her hat and as ho means to be away all day I shall not be missed How very cozy you a1 look and what a wonderful morning Is It not 1 If storms bring days llko this remarked re-marked Gabrielle from the hammock I shall not care how often they como Oh shall you not replied Lady Edith with a little shiver I do not believe I agree with you Last nigh was terrible oven in the village what It must have been in this exposed placo I cannot Imagine I am always afraid of tho wind and then too She paused uncertainly and looked at us Such a dreadful thing happened Do you care to hear hotel gossip Wo hastened to assure her that we loved all gossip hotel or otherwise and sho resumed Well last night Mrs Dundy the fat old lady who had the table next to ours you know Who wore n diamond sunburst on lor forefinger and headlights In her jars Interrupted Gabrielle And camo to breakfast In a velvet ceagown with an emerald necklace supplemented Elizabeth Of course wo remember her Did sho die of apoplexy or anything Sho was robbed said Lady Edith gravely All hor Jewels wero taken and they wore very valuable Poor old woman 1 Was It not dreadful She is In a stato of hysterical collapse this morning and who can wonder Robbed I exclaimed Incredu loulyYes Yes robbed It makes one very uncomfortable does It not They say It is tho work of an expert and have put the matter into tho hands of the police hoping to recover tho jewels Whom do thoy suspect I do not know sho hesitated a moment then resumed quietly You see tho hotel was crowded last nigh with strangers stormbound on the island and It will be difficult to forman form-an opinion Mrs Bundy was alarmed at the storm and spout most of time night In her daughters room It Is 1 irobablo the thief got In then or when she was at dinner But objected Elizabeth It must havo been some ono who know she bad them It could not havo been a stranger One can never toll said Lady r Edith thoughtfully Hut I confess It has made tuo nervous I did not bring many Jewels fortunately but I have my mothers pearls and a few otlur trinkets I would not caro to lose arid I do not know what to do with them since it appears unsafe to trust things i ones room oven It they are se rely put away Mrs llundy insisted that she locked tip hor emeralds with her own hands and had tho key on a rib round her neck lad wo left when wo did I rot i as she paused Not that I 1111 jurdoned with Jewels but It must be awfully unpleasant It Is alto agreed ono Is Inclined to look suspiciously at onos neighbors not to mention servants As for mo 1 havo put my treasures In this box and carried It with mo everywhere this morning I would not even trust my maid who has boon with mo for years i I do not know what In tho world to do with them and run more than half inclined In-clined to dig n hole and bury them deep and safe Sho gave a vexed little laugh as sho spoke and raised a box wrapped In white paper which sho held on her lap and which had appeared to con Lain bonbons Ill toll you said Elizabeth 1m mlstvely Leave them here There Is a little Iron safe under the china closet In the dining room I cant imagine why It was put there for its it-s not big enough to hold much silver oven If wo had anything but the most obvious plate but It possesses two padlocks and you could lock It and Jeep tho keys Do you really mean It said Lady Edith Incredulously Yes why not Im sure wo wont bo pursued for our valuables and If you will take all responsibility for leavIng leav-Ing them you are more than welcome to the exclusive use of tho safeIsnt she girls Of course we agreed willingly and were qulto repaid by tho look of relief In her big brown oyes and the pretty eager manner with which she endeavored endeav-ored to express her gratitude Let us put them away at once and get them off our minds suggested GabrIelle springing frum the hammock ham-mock and leading the way to the dinIng din-Ing room So we opened the doorwhich looked like an ordinary wooden panel l below the corner closet and disclosed Xii d s ltuaskwlt ls I l b iw ni I I For Awhile I Swung Idly To and Fro the little Iron safo with Its two padlocks pad-locks both so rusty from disuse that it took all the strength I possessed to turn the keys There I remarked handing them 1 to Lady Edith and closing the outer wooden door Now you can rest In peace You havo removed an Incubus from my shoulders she said with a quick display of dimples and I am more grateful than I can express I should not havo had an easy minute after Mrs Bundys experience although I am Inclined to believe It was ono of the strange men who spent the night here rather than a guest or servant of the hotel I would rather think so And do you know she continued thoughtfully my maid says that several sev-eral of these men left very early without with-out waiting for breakfast tas soon as It was light In fact That In Itself seems suspicious under the circumstances circum-stances but then as I said every ones one-s inclined to suspect every ono else and it is all very horrid and uncomfortable uncom-fortable Now do let us go outside again and not waste this glorious dayWo We had a delightful morning for our guest was even moro charming than usual There was a subdued exhilaration ex-hilaration In her manner and an exuberance ex-uberance of spirit we had never seen before her cheeks wero softly pink and her eyes shone as she chatted merrily of various things after the fashion of girls the world over In her softened mood with tho grando dame manner laid aside she was quite Irresistible and I found myself wondering won-dering why her left hand bore neither wedding nor engagement ring and whether sho as well as her brother had an unhappy romance to be lived down and forgotten Sho dfd not however convey the Impression of a lovelorn damsel for n moro radiant creature I have nover seen By the time lunch was over we felt as though wo had known her always al-ways and wore planning a summer abroad part of which was to be spent at her fathers castle In Scotland I hope she added that Wilfrid will havo qulto recovered his poise before you come over rind you can see him SH ho really Issllch a dear fellow fel-low And then who knows what might happen One of you might be induced to stay in the old world fur we have many friends and American girls aro very popular you know After lunch Elizabeth declared her I Intention of going down the cellar to see what it was like say tug that It made her very uncomfortable not to I know what she lived over but silt ro I turnod Immediately with a most disgusted 1 dis-gusted expression lary Anne Is scrubbing sho announced I an-nounced and the whole phtco Is as wet as the ocean Ill havo to wait j t until tomorrow Just now I would I need n boat i thats theuse of bothering In1 quired Oabrlello placidly It would not worry mo If I never explored the cellar Just so I know Its there I dont care what It looks like Well I do returned Elizabeth and Im going down there tho first thing In tho morning It I dont forgot for-got it Suppose we walk down to thd wharf in tho village suggested Lady Edith and meet Wilfrid Wo might Induce him to take tm for a sail But 1 still felt very Indolent and preferred the hammock with its many Billows and cool breeze to tho long hot walk to tho village so the other throe started cheerfully off leaving mo to my own devices For a while I swung Idly to anti fro watching the dancing water and admiring ad-miring the effect of the sunlight on the occasional sail which ventured around tho point from the Island colony col-ony on the other side I was thinking In a desultory way of poor Mrs Bundy and her lost emeralds and of Lady Edith and hor mothers pearls and wishing sho had opened tho box and shown them to us before locking them uwny when I heard a step upon the gravel path and Gordon Bennett lifted his cap and smiled amicably upon rite as though ho were quite In the habit of paying us dally visits I noticed then what white teeth he had and how ho smiled with his eyes as well as his lips but this is an unimportant unim-portant digression I apologize for coming so often ho remarked appropriating a com fortablo chair My excuse Is that I wish to return your property I forgot for-got It yesterday Ho drew Gttit Hallo s tag from his pocket as ho spoke and regarded It affectionately af-fectionately At last he continued I suppose It belongs to ono of you I found It on tho steamer coming up you know Just where you had been sitting I acknowledged our ownership of the nroperty and extended my hand for It but ho held it thoughtfully as though unwilling to relinquish It Would roil mind ho said at last with soma hesitation telling mo why I when 1 started to bring you this bag that night on the steamer you all turned and fled as though I had been a carnivorous animal There was a twinkle in his eye which made me hotly resentful although al-though I tried to preserve a cool and Indifferent manner Would you really like to know Pining to bo told I have lost val uablo sleep trying to work It out Well we thought you wero crazy Why please His voice was genuinely astonished and I plunged at once Into an explanation explana-tion hoped would bo satisfactory You see it was those chairs yoi throw overboard It was such an ex traordlnnry thing to do And Gabriellt said you muttered when you did It Is that alltrelle and amusement struggled for supremacy In his voice and I felt myself Hushing uncomfortably uncom-fortably I think Its quite enough I returned re-turned Irritably No men in theft senses go around throwing chairs overboard over-board And is that why I got tho cold shoulder when I called Mr Gordon Bennett laughed then as ho has never dared laugh since when referring to that subject for we dont like to talk about It as It makes us appear rather foolish ITO Un CONTINUED |