Show SERIAL STORY THE SMUGGLER r By ELLA MIDDLETON TYBOUT fllnslrations by Ray Walter n Copyright Ivoj lij J Ik UpplDcutt OUI SYNOPSIS Thrro slrln Kllzulivtli Gnbrlollo and Klloe started for Camilla to Bpond tlio summer tlifn1 On hoard HtonmiT they WVM frightened by an iipimrrnlly dcment cil MrnnKor who llndliiK n l > uc iHlonglnB to one of them took rnjayninnt In scru tlnlzln a photo of tlo trio Klltm nliurud her ntntcroom with a Mr Ornluun also bound for Canada Tlio younK women on BlglitorrlitR tour met Mrs Graham anxiously luvnltlnn her husband who him a nmtila for oalllnR They woro Introduced Intro-duced to Uird Wilfrid nnd Lady Killlh A cotlaRn hy the occiin wan rontod by Qhc trio for tho HUlimipr ICIlzatietli Ienm < il that a friend of her fnlherM wns to call Two men called ono of them being the qucernctlnf stranger on tho steamer The clrln wiro not ut home but Uncovered by tlio rnrds loft that onn t the men wait Elizabeths fathers HrlrniL Tho men proved to bn John C zniiika nnd Gordon Homiott The party nnut told of tho Benrch for BmuKRUrs In tthn vicinity of tho cottuKO Kllsp visited lira Graham to find tlmt her Ufa wns not tlio luipplcat Bho learned tlmt tlio Gralnimfl nnu Lady l dllh I were ncauntnt d A wisp of yqlfow lialr from Mr Ora bun pocket fell Into the hands of Kllso Mm Grahams hair wan black During n ytorra tha young women hoard n crash In tlio basement of tlio cottage nnd a moment mo-ment later Mary Anne their woman servant serv-ant entered her arm bleeding To ns rum them liuro was no danger Mary Anne descended to tho basement alone anil quieted their fnars Tndy Kdlth told trio Rlrls of n robbery of Jewels at tho hotel Kcarlng for the siifctv of her own Krtns nho loft them In a safe nt tho cot tnxi Mr Gordon Dennett was properly Introduced explained his queer actions rrrlurned the lost bng CHAPTER VI Continued T nm glad It amuses you I remarked Ja my most frigid manner which I iiavu been told Is extremely chilling Oh I say ho said quickly dont look at it that way Why it was noth Sits after all I had made two trips on rthat qld boat this summer and one of fthpau dilapidated chairs broke down with ino and nearly pitched mo overboard over-board I complained but the company would not get now ones which put my back up a bit so I got Into the ihnblt of examining hum and when 1 found ono weak in the back or logs I just pitched it overboard Tlut wasnt so bad was it Of course I never thought how It looked and I i did mutter hut rmhcartlly glad you aSW not hear Vhat I said It was a very slmplo explanation xo simple in fact that I felt provoked It had not occurred to me and I hated to think how ho would relate the Incident In-cident to his friend Mr llluko and iiow they would laugh over it So I merely looked out at the ocean and xnndo n frosty impersonal remark about tho view Out instead of tho familiar landscape land-scape I found myself looking straight Into two very bluo eyes with a trace of anxiety In them and a sunburned hand was extended toward me appealIngly appeal-Ingly Lots shako and bo friends ho jsAA heartily Im sorry I alarmed you but Im glad I found out my offense of-fense I was determined I would know what It was When the general wrote mo his daughter was hero and I discovered dis-covered who It was I was delighted for of course I saw you all on tho boat and I wanted awfully to know you You dont mind my saying so Then when I got snubbed so unmercifully I could not understand it Shall wo ntart nil over again and will you explain ex-plain to your friends that I am in possession ot all my senses nnd hope to keep them a while longer Well It was Impossible not to smile also and indeed I was very glad of a chance to descend gracefully from my high horse so wo shook hands gravely grave-ly and started all over again as ho Jhad suggested Inquired where ho spent the night and he mentioned the hotej wo had desorted so I told him about the rob hery He had heard nothing having left very early in the morning menu Ins to sail homo In tlmo for breakfast asked him If his boat suffered any illl effects from the storm and his man IlJr grew all at once constrained and ill 1rt case so I changed thu subject fearing tlmt It might have been lr rovoeably damaged against our slip and tfecJlng somewhat responsible 1 sptikeHif the cottage and how we enjoyed en-Joyed life hero and tho contrast It was to the hotel Yes ho said ubscutlj j its a jolly little place But toll mo how did you feenr of it and how did you manage U get it I understood It was not for rent I told him ho was mistaken that wr had no trouble at all in securing I jt and that the rent WHS rldlculousl Jnw all things considered It would like to know to whom li JoIurQltl < J I remarked I understand itwas nomp womans wUii and she has tired of It Perhaps VM might gel senna of our relatives to buy It ant < comc hero every minimer Uont you know anything about lie was looking at mo curiously now Not a I thing 1 said lightly j dt you dL A dull red flush was distinctly visible visi-ble beneath his coat of ton as ho replied re-plied to my tiuestlon Im not n native you know I was hero for a bit last year and I liked It so when I had a chanco to buy an is nnd house and all I jumped at it lIut Im not wlso about my neighbors I do know that this cottage was occupied oc-cupied last summer and I heard the icoplo were very unsocial and never received a guest or entered tho village whllo they wore hero and of course there were stories Uqsslp nourishes on n mystery you know Well I returned I dont care how mysterious tho former tenants were nit Im glad they did not come back Perhaps they wore in mourning or Invalids In-valids or something of that sort No doubt ho agreed hastily no doubt And then wo changed the subject and talked of other things till the Bound of voices and laughter told me ICllzabuth and GabrIelle wore returning return-ing from the village They brought Lady Edith and Lord Wilfrid both homo with them to dinner and It wao not dlincult to persuade Mr Dennett to stay also so wo had the first of sonio very merry repasts where morning costumes wore allowed and whoro Mary Anne to quote her own words dished up hanythlng that came andy and prayed tho Lord it would bo enough That night I asked Gabrielle to look in her bag and glvo mo my side comb but she found that it was not here and that our picture also was missing Wo will ask for It tho next time we see him remarked Elizabeth I dont think It Is very nice In him to have I taken it out I Oh no I objected dont say I anything about it I dont want to glvo hIm the satisfaction of knowing we missed It And wo all agreed that this was our most dlgnllled course CHAPTER VII Elizabeth Inspected the cellar next morning and I wont with her by request re-quest Not that Im afraid oho explained elaborately but It is always nicer to liavo some ono to speak to and besides be-sides ono of you at least ought total to-tal < o an Interest in such things It looked very much like other cellars cel-lars with paved floor coal bins and so on except that It ran far back forming a sort of alleyway which was It Must Have Belonged to the People Peo-ple Who Were Here Last Year very dark and unprepossessing and seemed to bo n repository for old boxes bits of paper kindling wood and the usual accumulated trash ot a household At tho extreme end nn empty packing case largo enough to have contained a piano rested against the wall which looked and smelted very damp and mouldy Elizabeth glanced about and curled her lip contemptuously the zealot the born housekeeper shone In her eye and I knew sho had visions of nicely whitewashed walls with eminently proper receptacles for kindling and waste paper and foresaw trouble ahead for Mary Anne Wo could hear the ocean outside for tho cellar was an excavation In the bluff ana It convoyed such an tin pleasant Impression of a vaultlike cave that I was not sorry when Eliza both proposed an adjournment And here Is the hanging shelf I 1 remarked as I almost ran Into it Mary Anno has lost no time In putting put-ting It up again on chains this time so I hope It is safe1 How rusty they are said Eliza both pausing to examine them Thej look as though they had been hero for years but I suppose they are old ones she found somewhere This place must bo well aired It la awfull musty She gathered up bur skirts as sho spoke preparatory to going up the steps and I was about to follow when something caught my oye and me chanlcally 1 stooped and picked it up from n crack between two bricks Have 5011 lost anything caller Elizabeth from the stairs No I replied 1 have found something some-thing Look hoie Together wo examined my dls crjvary as It lay In tho palm of m > hauda mans cuff link of dull ralsui gold tho head of the Sphinx on one elde and tho under link shaped like a small key Elizabeth turned It over curiously It must have belonged to the peo jlo who were here last year she con lectured Its very ptotty Isnt It I novor saw ono anything like it Look Mary Anne I exclaimed as wo entered the kitchen See what I have found Mary Anno advanced willingly but as I raised the button by tho little key nnd held It toward her her jaw dropped suddenly and tho color forsook for-sook her ruddy free Wherod you find it mlgd In the cellar right ty tho steps Youve been down In the cellar cel-lar Certainly why not Mary Anno wiped her face with a corner of her gingham apron and lokcd wood Into the stove with reek ess prodigality Its entirely too foreanded you are Miss Elizabeth she grumbled tho collar lookln like distraction and you gain down there the fust time What Idnd of ouaekeepln do you think I do This very day I laid out to put everything shipshape down there and take you around nieself And the collars damplike nnd no place fur a lady nnyow and you like to take cold and sneeze yer ead off Elizabeth laughed and assured her hat this catastrophe was not liable to happen today and suggested that tho collar might bo Improved by the In roductlon at fresh air and sunlight And how soon you got tho shelf fixed she added by way of soothing Mary Annes ruffled feelings Shelf she repeated vaguely Oh of course miss Ow could I git along without it And what else did yo find in the cellar Miss Elsie 1 besides the little button I thought sho watched mo keenly as I replied I had not looked for anything more and wondered sho had not seen It on her trips up and down tho steps Mo oyos are not so good as they onco were nor so bright as yours Miss Ellso she remarked Its a pretty thing now Isnt It What will you bo doln with Il1 Hut I did mot reply for Gabrlollo who had been to the village for the mall now appeared and Elizabeth Immediately lost interest In everything else I do not wish to arouso false suspicions sus-picions but Elizabeth certainly wrote a great many very long letters and received re-ceived volumes all In the same handwriting hand-writing which always arrived on certain cer-tain days of the week She used to open them with an air of tndlfTorenca and glance over them carelessly then In a few minutes she would make some excuse to go off alone and wo could sometimes see her poring over them dead to the world as she turned pago after page and smiling a smllp which exasperated Gabrlello exceedingly although al-though she also did not a little corresponding corre-sponding on her own account that sum mer Today however she handed Elizabeth her letter without comment nnd only glanced casually nt the cuff link when I displayed It In triumph for she was eager to relate the news she had accumulated ac-cumulated during her trip to the village vil-lage You know that smuggler sho began be-gan seating hersqlf on the kitchen doorstep nnd removing her hat No I Interrupted Im happy to say I dont know him You know abqut him dont you 1 Its all the same thing Well 1vo fteen to the hotel and I heard that ho Is suspected of having been on tho island the night of the storm and they tlllnkshe dropped her voice cautiously cau-tiously they think he took Mrs Bundys emeralds Who thinks so Oh the detectives of course Lady Edith told me And they say it was avery a-very foolish thing for him to do because be-cause ho can now be arrested In Canada Cana-da And our government olllclals are perfectly wild too for n whole lot of things were smuggled In somehow right under their noses Is ho on the Island now Oh no As Lord Wilfrid said It would bo madness for him to stay hero now Ho must havu been ono of tho I men who left the hotel BO early that I mnrnm before Mrs Hunfly discovered discov-ered her loss They aro following them up of course but It was easy enough to register a false name and address I can forgive his smuggling but I cant forgive his robbing that poor old woman shes just scared to death and expects to have her throat cut every night they Bayso I hope they will catch him TO nn CONTINUED |