Show THE LITTLE BROWN JUG 1ATI i I 1 KILDARE By MEREDITH NICHOLSON Illustration By RAY WALTERS Oupjrlulit 1003 bj The ilobbnMorrlll Company n SYNOPSIS Thorium AMtriorc und Henry Maine Oilswold stumble upon Intrigue when the governors of North nnd South Carolina mo reported to have iiuurrclid Qrlswold nlllcs himself with Barbara Osborne daughter of the governor of South Carolina Caro-lina while Ardmnra espouses the cause of Jerry DniiKerfleld daughter of the governor of North Carolina These two young Indies nre trying to fill the shoes of their fathers whllo the latter are miss Inc Both states are In a turmoil over ono Apiilowolglit an outlaw with great polltlenl Influence Unaware of each others oth-ers position both drlswold and Ardmore set out to make the other prosecute Ap pIPWclBht Anlmoro organizes a big hunt Orlswold also takes tho field Frank Collins Col-lins Atlanta reporter Is arrested by Ard more but released to become press agent for the young millionaires expedition CHAPTER XII Continued Prisoner you fool Im a guest at Ardsley nnd Im looking for a lady Thats a very unlikely story Collins Col-lins help tho gentleman down nnd the reporter obeyed Instructions with so much zeal that the noble gentleman gentle-man fell prone and was assisted to his feet with a fine mockery of helpfulness help-fulness I toll you Im looking for a lady whose horse ran away with her Im the duke of Ballywtnkle and brother inlaw to Mr Ardmore Ill have you sent to Jail if you stop mo hero Como along duke and well see what you look like said Cooke lending lend-Ing the way to tho bungalow veranda Within Ardmoro was lighting lamps There was a long room finished in black oak with a fireplace at ono end nnd a table in tho center The floors wore covered with handsome rugs and tho walls were hung with photographs and etchings Ardmore sat on tho back of a leather settee Inn In-n pose asstlmcd at tho moment of tho dukes entrance It was a paso of en the nonchalance and Ardmores cap perched on tho back of his head and his brown hair rumpled boyishly added to tho general effect of comfort and case The duke blinked for a moment In the lamplight I then ho roared out joyously Joy-ously Ardy old man and advanced toward to-ward his brotherinlaw with outstretched out-stretched hand Keep him oft lies ln1lrtrrllr quite mad said Ardmore staring coldly and bending his rlding crop across his knees Collins please ride on after the lady and bring her back this way > Cooke had seated the prisoner rath or rudely In a chair and tho noble duke having lost tho power of speech In amazement and fright rubbed his eyes and then fastened them incredulously in-credulously on Ardmoro but there was no question about It he had been seized with violence ho had been repudiated by his own brothpInla tho useless stupid Tommy Ardmoro who at host had only a childs mine for plrato stories and who was Indubl ably the most negligible of negligible figures In tho drama of life as the duke knew It Cooke began Ardmore addressIng address-Ing his lieutenant gravely from his perch on tho settee what Is the charge agnlnst this person Ho says hes a duke grlnnci Cooke taking his cuo from Ardmores manner And he says hes visiting at Ardsley That said Ardmoro with decision Is creditable only to the gentleman romantic imagination Ills face Is I anything but dukely and theres n red streak across It which points clearl to the recent sharp blow of a weapon and no one would ever strike a duke Its utterly Incredible and Ardmore lifted his brows and leaned back with his arms at length and his hands clasping tho rlding crop as he con tcmplated with supreme satisfaction the tolltale red line across the duke cheek For Gods sake Ardy howled the duke Ardmoro drew from his pocket Johnstons American Politics wit an air of greatest seriousness Cooke he said half to himself ash as-h turned the pages do you remen her just what tho constitution says about dukes Oh yes hero wo aro Now Mr Duke of Hallywlnkle listen to what It say here In Section 9 of the Constitution of the United States which riau exactly as follows in this uook No title ot nobility shall be grantld bv Dif United States And no person holdiitf any oilico of profit or iwmt ruler them shall without tho poiiBfnt of the congress accept of I1ny parse om went aflleo or title ot any kind whatever from any king prince or foreign state And It say In Hlilun 10 thntNo state shall grant I any ilili of nobility Now Mr holly wmV It Is t in riectly clear that this government cant recognize anything r hat It cant create for that would bo foolish As I tho governor of North I Carolina cant make a duke I cant see ono You nre therefore wholly legal Its against tho most sacred law of the land for you to be here nt all and painful though it is to mot It mo-t Is nevertheless my duty to order you to leave the United States at once never to return In fact if you ever appear In tho United States again I hereby order that you bo hanged by the neck until you be dead Ono of Mr Cookos men will accompany accom-pany you to New York tomorrow and see to It that you take passage on a steamer bound for a British port The crime of having ipsulted a woman will till hang over you until you aro Veil east of Sandy Hook and I advise you not to risk being tried on that charge In North Carolina aamy people are very Impulsive and emotional and ynchlngs aro not Infrequent In our mIdst You shall spend tonight in my official caboose somo distance from hero and your personal effects will bo brought from Ardsley whero you have said you are a guest of Mr Thomas Ardmore who Is officially unknown un-known to me Tho aupromo court will now adjourn Cooke pulled tho limp bewildered duke to his feet nnd dragged him from the bungalow As they stepped out on the veranda Collins rode up In alarm I followed this road to a crossroad cross-road where It became a bridlepath and runs off Into the forest Thero I lost all trace of tho lady but here is her ridingcrop Cooko take your prisoner to the caboose and Collins come with me commanded Ardmoro and a moment later ho anti tho reporter rode off furiously In search of Jerry Danger field r CHAPTER XIII Miss Dangerfield Takes a Prisoner A dozen men carrying rifles across theIr saddlebows rodo away from Haberslmms farm on tho outskirts of Turner Court House and struck a rough trail that led a devious course over the hlllss At their head rode the guide of tho expedition long silent man on a mule Griswold and Haber sham followed immediately behind hIm on horseback Their plans had been carefully arranged before they left their rendezvous nnd save for Inn I-nn occasional brief interchange between I be-tween the prosecuting attorney nnd tho governors special representative tho party Jogged on In silence Haber shams recruits were It may be said farmers of the border who had awaited await-ed for years Just such an opportunity as now offered to avenge themselves upon tho Insolent Applowelghts Nearly Near-ly every man of tho party had some private score to settle but they had all been sworn ns special constables and were sobered by the knowledge that tho power of the state of South Carolina was back of them Thus at tho very hour that Mr Ardmoro and his lieutenant rodo away from tho lonely anchorage of I f iM + I II i L Lu I J The Guide Pushed His Mule Forward at a Fast Walk the caboose Prof GrIswold and his cavalcade set out for Mojint Nebo church When the master of Ardsley was revenging himself upon the titmice of Uallywlnkle his dearest friend against whom he had closed tho doors of his house was losing no time Insetting In-setting forth upona mission which If successful would seriously Interfere with nil Mr Ardmoros hopes and plans The guide of the expedition pushed his mule forward at a fast walk making mak-ing no excuses to Griswold and Haber sham for tho roughness of tho trails ho chose nor troubling to give warn ing of sharp turns where n horse being be-ing less wise than a mule tobogganed madly before finding n foothold Occasionally Oc-casionally a low hanging limb switched the associate professor sharply across tho face but his temper continued serene se-rene whore tho trail was darkest and steepest and ho found himself ignoring ignor-ing Haberslmms occasional polite questions about the university In his effort to summon up In memory certain cer-tain waIl of Harbara Osborno which baffled him Check up cnlnt ou1 snarled tho man on tho mull laying hold of Grls wolds rein and thus halted GrIswold found that they had been circling round a curiously symmetrical thickly thick-ly I wooded hill and had finally come to a clearing whence they wore able to gaze far off toward tho north We are almost out of bounds said Hnherslmm pointing Over there somewhere across tho hills lies North Carolina I nm as thoroughly lost as you can possibly bo but those union know whore they are How far is it I 1I11he addressed the silent guldo Ito I-to Mount Nebo I About four mile and I reckon wed bettor I lot out a letlle now or theyll sing the doxology before wo git thar Whats that light away off there nsked Haborsham The guide paused to examine and tho faint glow far down the vale seemed to perplex him Ho spoko to one or two other natives nnd they viewed tho light rumlnatlvely as Is their way Thet must be on Ardmores land i said tho lender finally It shoots out and 1 all sorts o ways round hyeh reckon thets when Raccoon creelt cuts through Thats very likely I said Haber i sham Ive seen the plat of what Ardmore owns on this side tho border at the courthouse nnd I remember I that theros n long strip In Mingo i county that Is Ardsley land Ardmore i has houses of one kind nnd another scattered all over the estate and those lights may be from one of them You know tho place dont you Yes Ive visited there admitted Griswold But wed better give It a wide berth Tho whole estate Is simply sim-ply Infested with scarlet fever Theyre quarantined I I guess thats a Joke said limber sham Theres n big party on there now and I havo seen some of the guests In Turners within a day or two Within how many days demanded demand-ed Grlswold his heart sinking at the thought that Ardmore had lied to him to keep him away from Ardsley from Ardmoros house The thought of It really hurt him now Come on called Habersham Half the company rode ahead to gain tho farther side of the church the remainder Including Grlswold and Habersham soon dismounted and tied their horses out of sight of the country coun-try road which they had latterly been following We ore In plenty of time said Habersham looking at his watch The rest of tho boys arc closing In from the other side and they will be ready for Applewelght when he finishes fin-ishes his devotions Weve been studyIng study-Ing the old mans habits and ho has a particular place where he ties his horse back of tho church Its a little lit-tle apart from the fence where most of the congregation hitch and he I choso It no doubt because In case of a surprise he would have plenty of room for maneuvering Two men ore going to lay for him seize and gag him and carry him Into the wood back of the church and then were off across tho state HMO to lock him up In Jail at Klldare and give Gov Dangerfleld tho shock of his life I It sounds simple enough but It wont be long before Applewelghts friends miss him You must remember remem-ber that they are a shrewd lot Weve got to take our chances Lets hope wo are as shrewd as they are replied Habersham They moved softly through the wood and presently the faint sound of singing reached them Old Rabdlck has finished his sermon ser-mon and well know the worst In n few minutes One of the party had already detached de-tached himself and crefit forward toward to-ward tho clinch to meet his appointed comrade in the enterprise who was to como In from tho other side The clapboard church presented In tho moonlight tho nusterest outlines and as the men waited a rude though unseen hand was slamming the wooden wood-en shutters that protected the windows win-dows from Impious violence We could do with less moon muttered mut-tered Habersham as he nnd GrIswold peered through the trees Into the churchyard There goes Dill Applewelght now whispered one of the natives at his elbow and Grlswold felt his heartbeats heart-beats quicken as he watched a tal figure silhouetted against the church nnd moving swiftly toward the rear of tho building At the front of the church voices sounded as tho departing de-parting worshipers rode or drove slowly slow-ly away Habersham laid his hand suddenly on Grisvvolds arm Theyve got him Theyve nailed him See Thero Theyre yanking him back into tho timber Theyve taken him and his horse I Griswold saw nothing but a momentary I momen-tary confusion shadows then per feet silence hung over tho woods ho hind tho little I1 church The congregation congre-gation was slowly dispersing riding away In little groups Suddenly a voice called out In the road 100 yard beyond tho church Hey there Wlioros Bill Oh hes gone long ago yelled another In a moment more the church door slammed and a last figure rodo rapid ly away TO nn CONTINUED |