Show i m t I K1 i M 1 J M i1 4 SERIAL STORY i 1 I THE LITTLE tt BROWN JUG t II I I IArrl I I I I KILDARE rr 1 tt ny fit Il MEREDITH NICHOLSON Bi i Illiiilralinn fly + RAY WALTERS t Otopjrljbt 1108 br The IlobbiMrrtlll Uoupinr 1 1 7 I SYNOPSIS t F ThomAs Ardmoro knrril mllllomilru I + Mid Henry Maine Orlnwolcl proCessor In I ti the University of Virginia take trulns ae q t 1 but of Atlanta DrlMvuld to bin collrRC n Ardmoro In pursuit of IL girl who had wInked nt him Mistaken for Oov OH Etu borne of South Carolina QrlnwoldB life to threatened lie earn to Columbia to 1 warn tho governor nnd moots Harbor IMborne Ho rrmalnn to rmslBt her In tlin f absence of her father Ardmoro learn that his winking lady Is the daughter of t l Cov Danger ehl of North Carolina He I follows her to ItalelRh and On the way Is I t riven a brown Jug at Klldarc In Raleigh he discovers that tho Jill bears a men i rk rage threatening UnnRurllelil unless Ap plpwclKht a criminal In I allowed to BO tree < i CHAPTER IVContlnued I N Onco within tho air of domestic t1 peace the pictures on tho walls a 4 i a whip and a folt hat With n blue band i lIi gl y on the hall table and a book on a tj p chair In tho drawing room turned f down to mark tho absent readers place rebuked him for his Impudence l He would take the earliest train for i jut Ardsloy and bury himself there for the remainder of his days lie had hardly formed this resolution when a light stop sounded In the hall and iju Miss Geraldine Dangerfleld stood at i 1 tho threshold Ills good resolutions Wont down ono n house of cards I ° Miss Dangorfleld he began had the pleasure of meeting your father In ei Now Orleans the other day and as t I was passing through town t1I t1 unexpectedly I t unexpect-edly I thought I should glvo myself r I the pleasure of calling on him Ho t q said that In case I found hlni absent I might call upon you In fact he wrote a line on a card for me to present V pre-sent but I stupidly left It nt my t hotel t a They aced each other In tho dim K cool room for what seemed to him r endless centuries She was much younger than ho had Imagined but t f her eyes were blue Just as ho remembered re-membered thorn and her abundant y r tt light hair curled away from her forehead I t fore-head In pretty waves and was tied n today with a largo bow of blue ribbon rib-bon t Wont you please sit down Mr Ardmore 11 1 And when they were seated there titrt j was another pause during which tho rt m bluo eyes continued to take account of him and he fingered his tie feeling feel-ing sure that there was something t1ct wrong with It Its warm Isnt It 1 c tq I suppose It IB Its n way summer I has of being mostly warm lie was quite sure that she was i ° J hv laughing at him there was a tinge of Irony In the very way In which t she pronounced twang lingeringly grri as though to prolong her contempt for a his Btupldlty In not finding anything t better to say I enjoyed meeting your father so 1 much Miss Dangfrflcld I think we i ° are always likely to bo ufrnld of great 4 w men but your father made mo feel at f i I l home at once And he tolls such cap ii 1 Ital stories Ive been laughing over them over since I left New Orleans w w I suppose Mr Ardmore that yoi r t saw papa nt the luncheon at the i j Pharos club In Now Orleans Why yes Miss Dangorllold It r i a was there I met tho governor Are you sure It was there Mr i lf i Ardmoro rl M Why I think that waR the place I l I dont know my New Orleans as I should but t BI Ardmoro was suddenly conscious 1 that Miss Dnngcrilcld had risen and that she stood before him with her L t fair face the least bit flushed her t blue eyes alight with anger nnd that C the hands at her sides were clcnchet trvouslv n s My father was not nt luncheon at i JKS Pharos club Mr Ardmoro You t sliver saw my father In your life I it tnow why It Is you came here and If I ruu hro not out of that door In ono X i ii ij itooml I shall call the servants and 4 Vivo thorn throw you out Sho censed abruptly and turned to Dole Into the hull where steps sounded 1 Is that you Jerry 1 Yes mamma Ill bo up In Just a minute Please dont wait for mo Its 1 only the man to see about the plumbIng w plumb-Ing ty Tho lady who had appeared for an Militant at tho door went on slowly fi up tho stains and the girl held Ard nioio ailent with her steady eyes until mho atu > died away abovo i I know what you want my father 1 3 for Mr Djlllng and you lire both I puraulng hllllits Infamous outrageous outrage-ous And it Isnt hla fault I would i liavo 3OU Know that my father Is ai IJCI1lnblo plan r The bayonets were nt his breast f lie would ask for mercy I Mlsa Dangerllfld you any I all me < f C1 t anything you please but I nm nt i quite tho scoundrel 1 you thn k im M s la N t true that I was not In Now Orleans and I never saw your anther In my life I camo to Raleigh on a mission that has absolutely nothing to do with Mr Billings ho did not know I wan coming On the way hero a message Intended for your father came Into my hands It was thrown on the train nt tlldarc last night I had gono out on ho platform because the sleeper was I hot nnd a warning to your father to keep his hands off of Applewclght was given to me Here It Is It seems 10 mo that there Is Immediate danger In this and I want to help you I want to do anything I can for you I didnt conic here to pry Into your fam lIy secrets Miss Dangerfield honestly I didnt She took tho piece of paper Into her slim little hands and read It slowly nodding her head as If tho words only confirmed some earlier knowledge knowl-edge of tho threat they contained Then sho lifted her head and her cyoo were bright with mirth as Ardmoros wondering garo met them Did you get tho jug I got two Jugs to tell the truth but when they seemed dissatisfied and howled for me to glvo one back I threw off tho buttermilk You threw back fathers buttermilk butter-milk to the man who gave you tho applejack Oh oil Miss Jerry Dangcrfleld sat down and laughed and Ardmore glad of an opportunity to escape found his hat and rushed from tho house CHAPTER V Mr Ardmore Officially Recognized She never did it she never never did Mr Ardmore from a bench In tho statehouse park thus concluded along a-long reverie It was Inte afternoon and ho had forgotten luncheon In his absorption There was no manner of use In recurring again to that episode of the lonely siding Ho bad found the girl Indubitably the glrlbut not tho wink I Miss Jerry Dnngorflold was not tho winking sort ho was well satisfied on that point and so thoroughly thor-oughly ashamed Into tho bargain that ho resolved to lead a different life and be very heedful of the cry of the poor In the future As ho sat dejectedly on his park bench he was unaware that Miss Ger aldlnc Dnngerfleld walking hurriedly through the park on her way from the 10vernorR mnnRlnn tn tn n u n DWUUUIIU passed directly behind him Ills attl tude was so eloquent of despair that It could not have failed to movo a much harder heart than that of Miss Dangerfield yet she made no sign but a fow minutes later the private secretary came out on the steps of tho statehouse and after a brief survey sur-vey of tho landscape crossed the lawn and called Ardmore by name I beg your pardon but Miss Dan gerfleld wished me to say that shed like to see you for rf minute Shes at the governors office A prisoner sentenced to death and unexpectedly reprloved with tho rope already on his neck could not experience ex-perience greater relief than that which brought Mr Thomas Ardmoro to his feet You arc sure of lltllIlt theres no mistake Certainly not Miss Dangerflold told me I was to bring you back Enthroned at tho secretarys desk amass a-mass of papers before her Miss Ger aldlnc Dangerflcld awaited him lie was ready to place his head on the block In sheer contrition for his conduct con-duct but sho herself took tho Inltla live and her tone was wholly amiable This morning Mr Ardraore Ob please forget this morning he pleaded Hut I wits rude to you I threatened threaten-ed to have you thrown out of the house and you hud come to do us a favor You traded buttermilk for moonshine I shouldnt exactly call It moonshine moon-shine Its more like dynamite than I I 7l I I Didnt Come Here to Pry Into Your Family Secrets anything else 1vo written a reply to the notu and put It back In the cork and Im going to return It to Klldaro What answer did you make to that Infamous effort to Intimidate my father fa-ther demanded Miss Dangerllcld I told the Applowolght gang that they were a lot of cowards and that tho governor will have them all iu Jail or Imngcd within ten days Splendid Perfectly splendid Did you really say that What else could I do I knew that thats what the governor would say hod have to say It80I thought Id save him tho trouble I j Uhpros I the jug now Mr Ard more moreht In my room at tho hotel Tho gang must have somebody on guard hero I A gentleman who seemed to bo one of them called on mo this morning I Oeriiuitllnij the jug and if lies tho j I man I think he Is lies stolen the little 1 brown jug from my room In the hotel by this time I Miss Dangorflold had picked up a spool of red tape and was unwinding It They were such nice little hands and so peaceful In tholr aimless trifling with the tape that ho was sure hla eyes had betrayed him Into ImaginIng aka had clenched them In tho quiet dnwlpg roam at tho mansion This office now that Its atmosphere enveloped him was almost as domestic domes-tic as the house In which sho lived Miss Dangerflold threw down the spool 1 of tapo and bent toward him gravely Mr Ardmore can you keep a secret se-cret Nobody over tried me with one but I think I can Miss Dangerfleld bo murmured humbly Then please stand up And Ardmore rose a little sheepish 11 I like a schoolboy who fears blame and praise alike Miss Dangerflcld lifted one of the adorable hands solemnly sol-emnly I acting governor of North Carolina Caro-lina hereby appoint you my private secretary and may God have mercy on your soul You may now sit down Mr > Sqcretary nut I thought there was a secretary secre-tary already And besides I dont write a very good hand Ardmore stammered I I am just sending Mr Hassford to Atlanta to find papa Hes already gone or will bo pretty soon But I thought your father would be home tonight Miss Dangerfleld looked out of the open window upon tho park then into the silent outer hall to be sure she was not overheard Papa xvlll not be at home tonight I ° at t l lie v Unaware That Miss Dangerfield Passed Directly Behind Him or probably tomorrow night or the night afterward Im not sure well walt next Christmas dinner for papa But of course you know where ho 1st I It Isnt possible and Ardmoro stared In astonishment Into Miss Dan gerflelds tranquil blue eyes It Is possible Papa Is ducking his official responsibilities Thats whats the matter with papa And I guess theyre enough to drive any man into tho woods Just look nt all this Miss Dangerfield rested one of those diminutive hands of hers on the pile of documents letters and telegrams tele-grams the secretary had left behind him with a nod of tho head she Indicated In-dicated the governors desk In the Inner in-ner room and it too was piled high with documents I supposed faltered Ardmore that In the absence of the governor the lieutenant governor would act I think 1 read that once You must have read It wrong Mr Ardmoro In North Carolina In the absence of the governor I am governor gov-ernor Dont look so shocked when I say 11 mean Ime Do you understand under-stand what I said I heard what you said Miss Dan gerfleld I mean what I said Mr Ardmoro I have taken you into my confidence because I dont know you I dont know anything about you I dont want to know anything about you Id be ashamed to ask anybody I know to help me Tho people ot North Carolina Car-olina must never know that tho governor gov-ernor is absent during times of great public peril And if you are afraid Mr Ardmore you had better not accept ac-cept the position Theres nothing I wouldnt do for you blurted Ardmore Im not asking ouI I would not ask youto do anything for me I am asking you to do It for the Old North State Our relations Mr Ant more will not bo social but purely official Do you accept tho terms I do and I warn you now that I shall never resign TO nn coVTiNunn |