| Show E fi I 1 TORY to R THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND CANDLES by MEREDITH NICHOLSON arthr of 1 I THE MAIN MAIK CHANCE ZELDA eu elc 1 ja A IM by auw m ja t 0 CHAPTER VII continued one thing only I 1 found the slight blight sear ecar of a hammer head on the oak paneling that ran around the bed room the wood had been struck near the base and at the top of every panel for though the maik was not perceptible on all a test had evidently been made systematically with this as a beginning I 1 found a moment later a spot of tallow under a heavy table in one coiner evidently the furniture rad kad been moved to permit of the closest scrutiny of the paneling glenarm glenara house really promised to prove exciting I 1 took from a drawer a small revolver filled its chambers with cartridges and thrust it into my hip pocket meanwhile larry Don donovan s favorite air the marcho marche de Marionn ettes my aly heart went out to larry as I 1 scented adaven ture and I 1 wished him with me but speculations as to larry a where wore were always profitless and quite likely be was lu ill jail somewhere the ham 0 of whose excellence bates had hinted was no disappointment appointment dh Is I 1 have always held nothing better bater in this world than a properly baked ham and the specimen bates placed before me was a dolight to the eye so adorned was it with spices so crisply brown Us its outer coat and a taste that flait tent athe taste be tore lore the sauce was added was like a dieal of lucullus come true I 1 felt that I 1 could forgive a good deal in a cook with that touch anything short of arson and assassination bates I 1 said as he blood forth where I 1 could see mm klin ou cook amazingly well here did you learn the business 7 I 1 can hardly say I 1 know it sir air your yo ur lamented grandfather grew very captious mr glenarm Gle narin I 1 had to learn leara to satisfy him and I 1 believe I 1 did it sir it 3 ou on 11 pardon the conceit ile he didn dian t die 0 of gout did het be 1 I can readily imagine irn gine it no mr air glenarm glenara it was his heart ile he had his warning of it ali ah les es to be sure the heart or the stomach one may mav its as veil nell fall as aa the I 1 believe I 1 prof r to keep my digestion going ni as long as aa possible those grilled mi hau c i I 1 potatoes ota toes again it you please dates the gamo game that he and I 1 were play ing appealed appeal cd to me it was altogether worth while and as I 1 ate glaia jolly with cheese and toasted crackers cracke rs and then lighted one of my own cigars over a cup of bite 9 ing coffee my lily spoilt was livelier livel lr than at any time since a certain on which larry and I 1 had escaped from tangier with fill out om lives and the chuises of the police the day hal bal offered much material for fireside reflection and I 1 ie viewed its history calmly was how avei one in incident eldont that I 1 found un pleasant in the i letio et i I 1 had been guilty of most conduct toward one of the gh Is of st agatha a it had bad certainly ceita been unbecoming in me die to sit on the wall however angly and listen to the words few though they were that passed be tween her and the chai challain lain I 1 forgot the shot through the window I 1 forgot bates and the interest inter cst my room pos hessed for him and his unknown ac but the sudden distrust and contempt c 0 I 1 had awakened in the girl by my clownish behavior annoyed me increasingly I 1 rose presently found my cap and went out into the moon flooded wood toward the lake the tangle was not so greit great whim when 3 ou knew tho the way and there was indeed as I 1 had found the faint suggestion of a path the moon glorified a broad highway across the 1110 water the air was sharp and still 1 I followed the w wall all of st agatha a to the gate climbed up and sat down la in the shadow of the pillar farthest fait hest from the lake I 1 drew out a cigarette and was rubout to it when I 1 heard beard a sound as aa of a sup on stone thero there was as I 1 knew no stone paiement pa ement at hand but peering toward the lare lake I 1 saw a man walking boldly along the top of the w all toward me the Ther thernmon moon noon light threw hla his figure into clear relief several times he paused bent down aid rapped upon the wall alth an object he carried in hla his hand tap tip tap hapl the man with the hammer was examining the farther side of the gate and very likely he would carry hla bis investigations beyond it I 1 drew up my legs and crouched in the shadow of the pillar revolver lit in hand I 1 was aas not anxious to invite an all encounter I 1 much preferred erred to wait valt foi a ol oi the purpose that lay behind this mysterious tapping upon walls walla nut but the matter was taken out ot at my mr own handa bands before I 1 had bad a chance to debate it the man dropped to the tha ground sounded UM stone baso base under un the th gate likewise the pillars evident ly without re result struck a spiteful crack the iron bars then stood up ill abruptly and looked me cue straight la in tha a eyed I 1 vi waa as morgan the eare care tak talar c r a 0 tb the e a summer er colon colony y good evening mr morgan I 1 tiling th ui into my land hand flure flu re was no doubt dolbt about his surprise lie he fell back staring at me hard bard and ly drawing tho the hammer over hla his shoulder as though to fling it at me just artay where you are a mo ment morgan I 1 said pleasantly and dropped to a sitting po position on the wall for or greater ease in talking to him lie he stood sullenly aly the hammer dan gling a at aims abnis length while my to re volver coveted his bis head now it ir you vou please I 1 id d like to know what you vou mean by prowling about here and aging my house oh its ifa you Is it mr well ou certainly gave me a had bad scare his air was one of relief and his t teeth showed pia through hla his beard it certainly Is I 1 but you haven t ans answered my question what were you doing in my house to daya lie ile sailed again shaking nil his head bead youre you re really fooling mr glenarm glenara iwasa I 1 gasn wasn t in your house to daj da I 1 naver was in it jn in my life nil white gleamed in ha ble light beard his hat was pushed back from his forehead so that I 1 saw hla his eyes and 11 he e wore vore unmistakably the air ot of a man whose conA conscience clence Is perfectly elcar clear I 1 was confident that he lied but without appealing to dates bates I 1 was riot not prepared to pione it but you cant can t deny that you re on roy my grounds now tan an youa I 1 had dropped the revolver to my knee ce but I 1 lansed it again certainly not mr glencairn Gle nairn it if you boull 11 allow me to explain I 1 hats chats precisely pioci sely isely what I 1 want you to do well it may seem strange he laughty and I 1 felt the least lit bit tool fool ater ter the flying figure at 0 the tha care car taker ire he clearly had the advantage of familiarity with tho the wood striking off boldly into the heart of it and quickly widening the distance between us ua but I 1 kept on even after I 1 cf asod ased to hear him threshing through the he undergrowth and came out presently at the margin of the lake about BO 50 foet feet from froin the boathouse boat house I 1 waited in its shadow for some time expecting ui to VL the tellow follow again but he be did not appear I 1 found the wall mall with difficulty and followed it bick to the gate it would be just as well I 1 to possess myself of 0 the hammer and I 1 dropped down on the st agatha side of the wall and groped about among the leaves until I 1 found it thin then I 1 walked home went into the library alight with its many candles just as I 1 had left it and sat own before the the file to meditate I 1 had I 1 cen absent from the house only forty five minutes CHAPTER vill VIII A string of gold beads A moment after I 1 had flung myself down doan before the fire ere bates entered w with ith a flesh supply of wood I 1 watched him narrowly nair for some sign of perturbation bation but he was not to be caught oft off guard possibly he had not headd the tha shots in the wood at any rate he tended the ili flie e with his usual gravity and afeei brushing the hearth paused respectfully la Is there anything fu faither fuith ither cr sir I 1 believe not dates bates ohl oh here a a hammer I 1 picked up out in the grounds a bit ago I 1 wish you d see it if it belongs to the house it t belong here I 1 think bir gut but we sometimes find tools left by W i 11 A ia 01 A 4 if V 4 aek AIN like a flash he flung the hammer over his head and drove it at me ish to be pointing a pistol at the head of a follow fellow of so BO ani amiable lable a spirit hurr I 1 commanded N AI 11 as I 1 was saying it may cecin strange but I 1 was juba examining the wall to determine the character of 0 the one of the cottagers on the lake left me with the job of building a fence on hla his place and I 1 ve I 1 een ex e pecking to come over to look at this all fall you seep see mr Gl glenara glenarm Gle nann your honored grandfather was waa a master in matters and I 1 t any i harm la in getting the benefit to put it so BO of hla his experience I 1 laughed lie he had dented denied having entered the house with so much assur ance that I 1 hid had been prepared for some really plausible explanation of his interest in the wall I 1 morgan you said it was w as morgan dlan t aou ou you are undoubtedly a scoundrel ot of the first water mater men mea have been killed for saying less he be said and for doing less than fire through windows at a mans man a head it wasn gasn t friendly of iou on I 1 dont don t seo see why 3 iou on center all your suspicious suspicions on me ine you exaggerate my importance mr glenarm glenara I 1 in only the nian ot of all v work ork at a summer resort 1 I believe you yon morgan it if you sa swore ore on a stack of bibles as high as thlu wiil wall thanks he ejaculated ejaculate moc mockingly kingl like a flash he swung the hammer over ili ahli head anti and drove it at me and at the same moment I 1 fired the ham struck the pillar near the lie outer edge and la in such a manner that abri handle flew around and smote me smartly in the face dy by the time I 1 reached the ground the man was waa a al ready running rapidly through the park darting in and out among the th trees arpea and I 1 made after him at hot speed th hammer hande bad struck my mouth and the whole lower lover half of oc my face stung ecru fio a the blow I 1 abused myself roundly tor for the so ard in my cay mg abd ilan ih b ra r rim ihal hamiet ha tiet i the c carpenters that voided on oil the bouso bousi shill I 1 put this in ili the tool chest sirl sir venar mind I 1 need bich a thina thin now and then and III keep it hand veri ven good mi ale e bete not getting the fellow anas certainly an arable acao act 01 lou ou must find it pi atty lonely here liere don t hesitate to go to the vil lage when jou ou like I 1 thank ion mr glenarm glenara Gl but I 1 am not much for idling I 1 keep a few books by me for the evenings an fandale Is not what you would exactly call a diverting tillage I 1 fancy not dut but the caretaker over at the summer resort has even a lonelier time I 1 suppose that a what I 1 id 1 I call a pi etty cheerless job watch ing summer cottages in the winter that s morgin morgan sir I 1 meet him occasionally when I 1 go to the village ties lies a very person I 1 should call him on slight acquaintance no doubt of it hates dates any time through the winter you want to have lim bilm in for a socail glass Us its all right with me nohea hen I 1 plunged into the wood in the middle of the next afternoon it was waa with the definite le finite purpose t f returning to the upper end of the lake for an interview with morgan who had so hates dates informed me a small house back of the cottages I 1 took the canoe I 1 had chosen for my own use from the boathouse and paddled up the lake the air was still warm warin but the wind that blew out ot 0 the hie south tasted of rain I 1 scanned the water and the borders of the lake for signs of ufa more particularly I 1 iny invy as well admit for a certain maroon canoe and a girl in a red tam tamo taino o ab shaner anler but take and mummer flin umer cot were mine alone I 1 landed and at once my for morgan there were many paths palho through the woods back of the cottages ot end and I 1 followed aeverill se severn veriLl futilely wore bt fore I 1 at last found a small house snugly hid bid away in a maples fONT Wian |
