Show what the gray house hid the mystery of a haunted mansion by wyndham martyn H W N V service copyright by wyndham martyn CHAPTER IX continued j 16 she turned her to where her husband was walking with professor i curton whose son was trying to lm press cells with the idea that a col lege boy at twenty stands on an intellectual eminence not easily corn to others professor bur ton held a chair in philosophy but it was with living things tant bis aels ore was occupied mrs burton and mrs canby were cousins 0 o said the professor ive long ago given up ane in favor of something more fascinating I 1 P started by way of the reptiles and came logically to the birds logically said hanby 1 I doat fee that but then I 1 m ignorant in these batters natters if you re interested in birds youve come to the right spot tom I 1 ve got about the best bird sancta ary in the sante on his way to it canby poured into professor burton s ears some of the wisdom that bad come to him over the wire from the unknown mil llon alre ornithologist mem ory was good and be forgot nothing lou latter me said the other when he finished you have quoted almost verbatim front my article pub lashed in the may number of popular f athral history so that s where he got it from I 1 ilanay commented a trifle ruffled j 1 I thought the old taker was giving roe something from his own published dope hanby related the incident prop bessor burton shook his head ton roust haie made a mistake j in the name 1111 this Is 5 my pet bobby and 1 know every writ t er on our birds I 1 in president of my 1 state ornithological association and corresponding member of a score of others I 1 m in touch with every ornithologist in this country but I 1 have never beard of your million dalre he Is neither a contributor to literature of the subject nor a donor of funds for bird conservation sume of your friends have been play ang a joke on yon half an hour later the professor bad changed his clothes to khaki and puttees put tees he was armed with sketch J books notebooks and a costly cam era he declined any aid lie even resented it every now and then it f could be seen that he despised the amateur ornithologist ills luncheon i had been put up for him and be promised to be in time to dress for dinner he was glad as he fought his way along that he was armed with leata er gauntlett gauntlets gaunt lets and stout clothes na tore had placed about this little sanctuary a seemingly impenetrable barrier be had begun to despair of reach tog the distant mound when be saw anai this belld hedie came to an end he stepped from it to a path t worn by the foot of man a path three feet across bearing the impress of recent treading professor burton set out to follow the path to its end presently it brought him to a stream sunk at least en feet below the surrounding round it was this etre aru be supposed which had been diverted in order that the twenty acre lake half j a mile away be fed he resumed his silent walk along the path the acrid smell of a cigar his nose lie knew the noisome long and narrow cigars which only catlie indians enjoy then the odor wag naftel from him and he found his path dropping toward the stream level atie professor ue bad sud daniy encountered a stranger it would be to say ot the two seemed the more amazed the professor looked upon a small but well proportioned man dressed ian conservative elegance the rangers face was florid and his d bloc eyes were accentuated in be by reason of strong lenses clr appleton for his part thought tt bad run across an inquiring tester laden with all the that bis position demanded 0 o was tall and blight and suggest w erudition how did you get here mr apple toa began and by whose leave have too trespassed thus 1 I am kin by marriage to mr uan W said the professor lie gave nl permission status sir Is M so clear in order to make my position tar he said frankly 1 must term aselt a sanitation expert mr by has heard that former ten t of the gray bouse have euf fired att bewer gas poisoning ue dos t elsh to alarm his family and vis wt 1 am therefore making a of ret muth suii lettl alere bs alli haitt bien boiu to determine apon the of this spot and to make what recommendations 1 ee 81 before doing so I 1 should like you to come with me and see more you cannot judge from here followed the oth er along a pathway he was in the thickets very center when his guide paused on the edge of an opening the professor ex calmed upon the oddity of a lake filled tn as he bad supposed being open instead it was only partially fillod in mr appleton told alm when J tok charge of the work 1 bad my own views very interesting views too he added chuckling oh dear me besl they amuse me even now you can settle a moot point for me he looked oer the edge of the open ing gating intently at some low bushes roots were tn the moist earth what Is that appleton asked look at it and tell roe professor moved toward the adoc and peered down Is athla one of the things that amuse yon he demanded yes said mr appleton smiling with that he gave the other a pusa the professor with waving arms sought to recover bis balance but failed he went up to his knees in mud his precious camera had part ed company from him the spectacle of the amiable gentleman with the florid face who smiled down at him angered him he shook a muddy ast you shall pay tor this outrage 1 tie shouted perhaps said appleton ty but not just yet mr appleton gave another of his excellent owl imitations in a few moments lulal bartolt joined alm in order that he might not e cape appleton explained 1 I had to push him down there de enjoyed you shall pay for this outraged Out ragel he shouted v it less than I 1 your tusk lulal Is to get him out and put him with the man who came first adult bad proved a tract able prisoner in reality be lacked the courage to do anything that might bring him punishment he realized that hu was the prisoner ot three men who had powers of life and death over alm of appleton he saw almost nothing james delaney the second in corn mund knew era sort and despised harn lulal was his jailer he enjoyed incendiary talk the day could not come too quickly which would permit of looting unattended with penalties by this time was so much the prey of delusions that he had al most forgotten bla borce and family he blooded brooded upon the chaotic dav when by the alchemy of strange events he should be high among whose mission it was to destroy lulal who cringed to capital la the guise of appleton would be an early victim adolf looked up that afternoon to find his cell invaded by a stranger not such a man as the previous young capitalist in evening dress but a worker clad in muddy khaki stained and torn professor burton wondered at the heartiness of his welcome after be had been an hour in ers corn pany he spoke incisively your mania be said Is termed dementia praecox our word precocious comes from the root r it means that your intellect la an able to assimilate the ideas yon crowd into it be kind enough to leave me in silence I 1 find such awad die as yours extremely tedious infuriated at this at tacked the professor he was res cued by the professor was bagger stronger and in a rather evil temper lulal dragged him to an other small stone room and shut thea door what the devil said leslie car ron rudely awakened 1 I am not the devil snapped the professor but I 1 feel like him I 1 have been brutally beaten A caliban from southern italy has promised to twist my head from by neck t am in no mood tor the ordinary social amenities another null sighed leslie tell me if you ve liny decency left whereabouts I 1 am you are in what my cousin hll ton nanby terms a bird sanctuary you I 1 take it are one of the birds I 1 presume that I 1 am another 1 I was by that appleton I 1 arf an idea that I 1 d been put in an and taken miles away leslie recounted the mis adventures he had suffered eer mandl said the other you will be rescued when they get me out cheery little optimist arent leslie retorted that man aple ton Is the devil hell arrange it so that you won t be looked for impossible I 1 said the oi leslie barren was right appleton Apple tun who had a skill with the pen that might have earned him a great name among forgers was at that very mo ment looking at professor bartons burtons notes and forging a letter he called to mind the professors way of speak ing Is what mrs burton read have sustained injury to corner of right eye through a thorn eelke in advisable to trust to local physician have accepted offer ot passing motorist to go to a specialist do not worry will telephone you rom the city tom Is aldaya nervous about bu eyesight airs curton declared 1 I Is just like him to rush to see a oh why was I 1 out lou have done it you had been here her cousin said comforting her we shall have a telephone call before long but nothing was beard arom pr bessor burton CHAPTER X at one 0 clock in the morning alm pelham beard a rap on his door 1111 ton nanby entered behind him waa junior they vere both dressed abc it tor hiking am I 1 asleep at the switch bia cried rubbing his eyes what Is it florence burton Is going to see tn pine plains police tomorrow hanal answered I 1 can t blame her kofl know what that means every amov ment of toma will be traced I 1 suppose I 1 shall lave to tell everything I 1 know rom miss down t this last disappearance alna say she thinks tom has leen murdered you dont mean to say youve art some explanation inquired pelhan with incredulity in bla voice I 1 mean just that if you 11 get up and put some such kit as this on tell you shoot I 1 pellam urged ill be ready in three minutes the last I 1 saw of tom burton was when be walked toward that bird sanctuary those acres that ive guarded so carefully I 1 dont deny he might have run a spike in bla eye it may be that hes in a nursing home and we shall have a wire rom him in the morning ave been thinking about that sanctuary a whole lot it doean doesn t owe its conservation to any idea of mine I 1 should never have thought of it but tor that talk over the telephone with a man who deliberately blurred slurred his name BO that I 1 get it straight another thing this man pretended to be a writer on bird subjects and yet be quoted in extensor from an article that tom burton wrote the man was a liar but he gained bis end I 1 did noi have the thicket removed he eil dently wanted it kept as it was and I 1 obediently ell into the trap nanby s manner was impressive bill there s something wrong about that bird sanctuary I 1 1 I believe youre right agreed pelham much impressed who could have done dad thinks junior broke in that we ought to see what that bird sanctuary really contains he took an automatic pistol rom his pocket and handed it to pelham and I 1 have one each TO HE CONTINUED |