Show < 7 STORY c b THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND CANDLES I I = I Z By MEREDITH NICHOLSON I A thor of 1 TilE DAMERON HAtH cgfL ZELDA I loPlrlgbll b7 B ljb Jlerrlll Co I CHAPTER XIX Continued Tnt They dont all marry tho sons IOf brows I retorted You assured while your affair with that I me once Irish girl wns on that tho short upper made Heaven seem possible but lip unnecessary then tho next thing I she had shaken you for tho knew bloated maltster Take that for your pertinence Dut perhaps It was ales I did not wait for an answer I was not In a mood for reflection or nlco distinctions dis-tinctions The man camo In just then with a fresh plate of toast Hates Mr Pickering has learned that I was away from tho house on tho night of the attack and Im ordered off for having broken my agreement to stay here How do you suppose ho card of It so promptly From Morgan qulto possibly I have a letter from Mr Pickering myself my-self this morning Just a moment sir He placed before mo a noto bearing the same date as my own It was a sharp rebuke of Dates for his failure to report my absence promptly by wire and ho was ordered to prepare to leave on the first of February Close our accounts at tho shopkeepers and i I will audit your bills on my arrival The tone was peremptory and contemptuous mptuous Bates had failed to satisfy Pickering and was flung oft like a mokedout cigar How much had ho allowed you for spenses Hates 1 lie met my gaze imperturably He pays me 50 a month as wages sir and I am allowed 75 for other ex eases But you didnt buy English pheas nls and champagne on that allow ace aceHo was carrying away tho coffeo ay and his eyes wandered to the win ows owsXot Not quite sir You see But I dont see It had occurred to me that as Mr Pickerings allowance wasnt what you might call generous It was better to augment it Well sir I took tho lib rty of advancing a trifle ao you may m-ay to the estate Your grandfather wild not have had you starve sir Ho left hurriedly as though to escapo rom the consequences of his words nd when I came to myself Larry was gloomily Invoking his strange Irish ods Larry Donovan Ive been tempted o kill that fellow a dozen times I This hlng Is too damned complicated for ne I wish my lamented grandfather ad left me something easy To think or Itthat all tho time Ive been cursIng curs-Ing and abusing Bates since I came ere Ive been enjoying his bounty ind hos been giving mo tho fat of tho and just because of his devotion toy to-y grandfathers memory Loid I ant face tho fellow again As have I said before youre rather lading at times In perspicacity Your intelligence Is marred by largo opaque POts Now that there seems to bo a oman In the case youre less sane than ever Bah these women And now weve got to go to work Bah these women My own heart aught tho words I was enraged and Utter No wonder she had been anxious anx-ious for me to avoid Pickering in Cincinnati Cin-cinnati after dating mo to follow her there We called a council of war for that PSht that we mlcht view matters In the light of Pickerings letter Ills ssuredness In ordering mo to leave ado prompt and decisive action necessary on my part 1 summoned StOddard to our conference feeling nfldent of his friendliness Of course said tho broadshoul wed chaplain if I you could show that 1 your absence was on business of very grave Importance tho courts might construe In your favor Larry looked at tho ceiling and blew rIngs of smoke languidly I had not Isclosed to cither of them the cause imy r absence On such a matter I new I should get precious llttlo sym kathy from Larry and I had more Ma ver a reeling that 1 could not Discuss Iarlan i lh Doverollx with any ono I oven bank from mentioning her name hough It Tang 11110 tho call of bugles n my blood ew Sbe was always before metho harmetl panned spirit or youth linked to i very foot the of time earth very gleam of SUn upon the icebound lake every rani i of the winter sunset All tho cod Impulses l had ever stifled woro QUlckend to lifo by tho thought of hor mid the days Perplexities I started erri meUmes thinking I heard her voice girlish wing laughter or saw hor again toward mo down the stairs or Is Idlng against the light her fan with gOlden o IIIUe hutterllles I really know of liar I could associate her lib no homo f them 0mo only with that last Hlng Ivea autumn upon tho litho tho snow he WOOdland that tWilight hour at organ Omeats In the clml > el those stolen at tlm Bated the Armstrongs I re fairs anT pressure of the hours nf and alking of chafed at the necessity for uiy perplexities with tho good friends who were theta to helll 1 wished to be alone to yield to the Sweet mood tUie thought of her brought me Tho doubt that crept through my mind as to any possibility ot connlvanco between her and Picker inq was as vague nn1 lIeoting as thl shadow ot n swallows wing on a sunny meadow You dont Intend flghltig the fact of jour absence do you demanded I Larry after a long silence Of course not It I replied fiercely Pickering wasrlght on my heels and my absence was known to his men here And It would not be square to my grandfather who never harmed a lea may his blessed soul ret In > caceto He about ft They might nail mo for perjury besides Then tho quicker we get ready for a siege the better As I Understand your attitude you dont Intend to move out until youve found where the sillers hidden Being a gallant gen leman nnd of a forgiving nature you want to bo sure that the lady who Is now entitled to It gets all there Is coming to her and as you dont trust the executor any further than a true Irishman trusts n British prime minis tars promise youre going to stand by to watch the bullion counted Is that a correct analysis of your Intentions 1 Thats as near one of my Ideas as onre likely to get Spoken like a man of spirit And now wod better stock lip at onco incase in-case wo should bo shut off from our source of supplies This Is a lonely place here even the school Is a remote re-mote neighbor Better let Dales raid ho village shops tomorrow Ive tried being hungry and I dont caro to repeat the experience I cant Imagine I really cant beHave be-Have began tho chaplain that Miss Jeveroux will want to be brought Into this estate matter In any way In fact I havo heard Sister Tkeresa say as much I suppose theres no way of preventing a man from leaving his property to a young woman who has no claim on hlmwho doesnt want anythIng from him Bah these women People dont throw legacies to tho birds these days Of course shell take It observed I Larry I Then his eyes widened and met mine In a gaze that reflected tho mystification mystifica-tion and wonder that struck both of us Stoddard turned suddenly from tho fire Into which he had been gazing gaz-ing exclaiming Whats that Theres some ono upstairs up-stairs Larry was already running toward tho hall and I heard him springing up tho steps like n cat while Stoddard nnd I followed Wheres Bates demanded the chaplain Ill thank you for tho answer I replied Larry stood at tho top of tho staircase stair-case holding a candle at arms length In front of him staring about We could hear quite distinctly some the ono walking down a stairway sounds were unmistakable Just as I had heard them on two previous occasions occa-sions without over being able to trace their source Tho noise ceased suddenly leaving us with no hint of Its whereabouts of tho I went directly to tho rear house and found Bates putting tho dishes away In the pantry been I de Where havo you manded Here sir I have been clearing up I Mr Glenarm Is the dinner things there anything tho matter sir Nothing I joined the others In tho library this feudal tell mo Why didnt you haunted asked Larry Imitation was tone Im Increasingly grieved In a often does it walk glad I came How admitted I third time Tlls Is tho Its tho wind In tho tower probably prank some the wind Plays queer times Youll havo to do better than that Stoddard I taw GlenarmIaughed Glenarm graveyard outsldo as a country grave still sidho the people of ho slaugh tUoZry hills the cheerfulest ghosts time nary said Larry You literal I In the world I of course tho Idea Saxons cant grasp n Hut there was substance enough In I our dangers without IlIrslllng h shadows Certain things were planned that I nIght Wo Iletermliwd to exerclso every precaution to prevent a sllrprlso Cram without and wo resolved upon a now anti systematic sounding of walls and floors taking our clue from tho efforts made lV Morgan and his ally to find hiding places b by this process Pickering would undoubtedly arrive shortly and wo wished to anticipate his movements as far as possible CHAPTER XX The Return of Marian Devereux Sister Theresa has left sir Bates had been into Annandnlo to mall somo letters and I was staring out upon tho park from the library window waen ho entered Stoddard having kept watch tho night before was at homo asleep and Larry was off somewhere In the house treasure hunting I was feeling decidedly discouraged dis-couraged over < our failure to make any progress with our Investigations and Dates news did not Interest me Well what of It I demanded without turning round Nothing sir but Miss Devereux has come back The devil I turned and took a step toward the door I said Miss Dovereux ho repeated In dignified rebuke She camo up this morning and the Sister left at onco for Chicago Sister Theresa depends de-pends particularly upon Miss Dever euxso Ive hoard sir Miss Dovereux quite takes charge when the Sister goes away You seem full of Information I ro ll r 1 s fii I L a m 7 + i I c I p s I p v I Took the Liberty of Advancing a Trifle to the Estate marked taking another step toward ray hat and coat And Ive learned something else sir Well They all came together sir Who camo will you tell me that Why the people whove been traveling trav-eling with Mr Pickering came back with him and Miss Devereux camo with them from Cincinnati Thats what I learned In tho village And Mr Pickering Is going to stayto Pickering stay At a cottage across tho lake for awhile a-while The reason Is that hes worn out with his work and wishes quiet The other people went back to New York in the car lies opened his summer cottage for January has he It does seem the least bit odd sir replied Bates moving away I had been blue enough without this news Marian Doveroux had comeback come-back to Annandale with Arthur PickerIng Picker-Ing my faith in her snapped like a reed at this astounding news Being now entitled to my grandfathers property prop-erty she was losing no time In returnIng return-Ing She and Pickering had discussed together at the Armstrongs my lIght from Annandnle and her return could have no other meaning than that there was a strong tie between them and that he was now to stay on the ground until I should bo dispossessed and her rights established She had dared mo to follow her and my forfeiture had been sealed by that stolen Interview at tho Armstrongs It was a black record rec-ord and tho thought of It angered mo against myself and the world Tell Mr Donovan that Ive gone to St Agathas I said and I was soon striding toward tho school admitted me Somew hero A Sister heroin In tho building a music lesson was In ptogrcss and I consigned the Inventor of pianos to hideous torment as scales were pursued endlessly up and downtime down-time keys Two girls passing through the hall mado a pretext of looking for a book and camo In and exclaimed over their inability to find It with much suppressed giggling that added further to my rage TO BE CONTINUED |