Show the gray house hid the mystery of a haunted mansion CHAPTER VIII continued 15 1 I wonder where the devil I 1 ami leslie murmured then his thoughts turned upon the big fighter whom he had knocked out that knock out leslie admitted was more or less accidental if the un known stranger had not turned his head obligingly as an owl hooted he would probably have won but who was be that be should stand guard outside the onnby home at night leslie presently dropped into a troubled sleep when be awoke there was the smell of strong tobacco to his cell he looked into the twinkling eyes ot lulal bartoll barong man coiner and alas tor his impetuous temper a double mar derer where am I 1 leslie demanded lulal was easily moved to mirth this seemed an excellent jest it I 1 ell you he answered trees happen to met he made the expressive gesture of cutting his throat ton come with me if you jakc a much noise I 1 break a your neck sol again the graphic action of a man bending hack the neck of a victim un til the cervical vertebrae snapped now leslie knew that this stocky jailer had the power to such a pun ills forearms were enor and bis chest measurement could not be less than iffy inches along a narrow stone corridor lighted by an overhead electric lamp went leslie and his jailer lulal paused outside a metal sheathed door and knocked apparently be was bidden to enter for he gripped les lie by the wrist and pulled him in mr appleton and two companions faced him it was a room fifteen feet quare uell furnished and artificial ly lighted an I 1 said mr appleton benedo bently here ue have air barron jr I 1 he turned to a good looking jwell dressed women who was ha Is quite a nice looking boy he he woman said ing a cigarette 1 have the highest respect tor tills young gentle man s family 1 I don t lile your way of it leslie snapped he bad seen by this time that the third person was the wild faun ly at ease in a big chair puffing at a cigar he Is quite a nice looking boy be the woman said in a low pitched charming voice the barrens are all good looking bald mr Applet tm 1 I have comment ed before on the grecian castoe mr lesliea head nave the kindness to leave my head alone leslie growled certainly certainly I 1 mr appleton assented my attentions to it last night were dictated by motives of caution not of hatred others were dependent me and I 1 must consider them mr james delaney here formerly a power in the ward politics of our common city seemed at the moment to be a corpse you are younger stronger and fleeter of foot than L I 1 did not think you were in a frame of mind which would permit me to wish you good evening and disappear had aw reported my presence tc mr canby a search would have been instituted which might have bad unpleasant conse quen ces A search will be made leslie snapped enapp ed and believe me it will have unpleasant consequences tor you bur appleton was urbane unruffled what makes you suppose that because I 1 ehnle bo missed will yon teats the a why I 1 be misled f los lie said heatedly the gray house isn t a hotel where one checks out and Is promptly forgotten fortunately for os said mr ap you did check out that silly lying impress me leslie was annoyed that the wild faun and the woman found in his as aurance something almost humorous bat you have checked out oh dear me besl mr appleton took from his pocket the letter that les lie wrote to cella miss hanby will find this tomorrow the hidden from us will be clear to her xou have had a quarrel it seems and ft till the folly 1 expect from youth you have decided to go away ery well mr barron you have car out your threat do you think miss cella will sink her pride to send out an alarm for you nol this stupid lad she will say will come back later to be or tien he shall find that there are others to console me her parents being still amazingly wrapped up in themselves will not worry until I 1 read this I 1 was n little perturbed at the situation but you have clarified it leslie opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it he was about to remind appleton that the household be alarmed because be had gone away in evening clothes leafing his other belongings in als array and had neglected to take t Is automobile we have attended to all that appleton said kindly guessing bis thoughts ah dear me besl A lifetime ot a business in which detail plays so important a part Is a great aid I 1 shill presently pack your flu I 1 have acs to every room in hp house I 1 shall tiring them to you here tour ajr will be removed hv james it will be in philadelphia hv noon tomorrow you would not recognize it james has an in in the business you will be our gue t here for a time chere anre we leslie demanded his spirits had fallen the rann were accustomed to his absences and long silences the unfortunate letter would exasperate cella for some weel s at all events be would be an ht prisoner in westchester county replied mr appleton App leron we are be guests of one ho Is dear to me he bowed with distinguished courtesy to the lady you will have no opportunity to escape am I 1 held for ransom aou are held because it would be inconvenient to let you go 00 oo said UP james commented so mighty inconvenient that it make me sleep no worse if I 1 had orders from the chief to croak you I 1 lulal here made his expressive gesture of slitting a windpipe A sudden panic swept ner leslie he was not used to consorting with the sense of real danger came to him he had no chance to escape and at cast two of three men were openly hostile it must be that he was the success of some secret the two might sway appleton to their views ue glanced at them wildly ou cant get away with mur derl he cried we should not try appleton told him considerately it would be an accident your body be picked cp tn the sound we might even ar range tint it should be clad in a costume I 1 rather think the thimble islands would be suit able somewhere near stony creek why frighten the nice looking boy sueo ested the woman in her caressing voice it la only if we think he Is trying to escape that we should have te d that really and truly mr darrou we are not mur derera or you will be held onell a certain deal that we are putting ough Is successfully accomplished your treatment depends on yourself lulal will bo your jailer look at him un barren and judge for yourself whether it would be wise to try to escape lie has carried a grand piano on that broad back of bis lulal has a system which has proved very effective with another uninvited guest here he eat a out 0 my hand now lulal said proudly thees one tool assuredly 1 esble could expect no mercy from lulal the strung man so there was another prisoner 1 les lie felt lonely and fearful why had he allowed to take offense at cella ellal it waa hard wort to keep tears from eyes as h thought of her she would neer anuw how much be loved ur if cruel death took him here among these hardened men she would think of him as one who allowed tl e ir ol 01 a moment to overcome affection be bad protested cven lo 10 that moment leslie won dered by what magic of authority the little plump man controlled such as theae there was no ques tion of his dominance and this was alie same quiet modest affable bon bum leslie had grown used to seeing at the allanby table the man who rarely ventured an opinion and listened deferentially to those of oth earsl of the three appelton Ap peton seemed the most sinister and alarming N CHAPTER IX the day on which as the canby family supposed sed young barron bad bis early morning departure saw the arrival of half a dozen vogl tors ula absence was in a measure overshadowed mrs canby spoke of leslie and hoped that there had been no quarrel cella assured her mother that he was no more than a friend and eliat ehe was well satisfied to be rid of him for a little while alna canby put her arm about the girls shoulder do yon expect me to believe you she asked 1 I wonder what was in that letter he wrote to you I 1 here it Is cella said it you can interpret what he means by threatening to jump off the road tor good I 1 should like to know I 1 don t understand references to a wild faun said mrs canby that was nothing cella replied aeres dad with his house detective not a word to them I 1 1 m going to play tennis with my bew cousin ue looks most attractive I 1 re often wanted to contrast ann arbor and new haven alna looked at th two as they sauntered to the courts leslie had been very to go just now she thought you two look as it you were con she said to her husband 1 I m reminding bill of what be said a few weeks back ue remarked that it was beneath the dignity of a lord of the manor to 40 ala own sleuthing bill was boosting himself for the job nave I 1 fallen dorro bill demanded canby s bantering tone ceased see that something wor aled him dill he said you have but I 1 shame myself too I 1 assumed rath er that when miss selenda proved merely an emerald in disguise we bad been making mountains from molehills mole hills seymours letter puzzled me but when nothing happened I 1 put that aside there was one other threat the woman who said that llad kerr was killed because be was tike you in build oh ull you dont think that was anything serious it prevents us from being dull replied her husband laughing 1 I find I 1 rather thrive on suspense and certainly this bouse has given us enough surprises one way and an other I 1 in now due to show it to torn burton hes a man who always ans a hobby some sort of bug or other I 1 ve got to listen lords of the manor have their duties do you think hes nervous bill asked as he disappeared ot a bit replied mrs canby lies getting annoyed add that means that he wants to fight ills mental reactions are quite simple look to your laurels bill or he will get ahead of you in this affair I 1 wonder if there Is anything in ato BE CONTINUED |