Show SERIAL LE F STORY st THIS LITTLE I 1 JUG bat AIRE f n MEREDITH NICHOLSON by RAY RAN WALTERS 1808 8 by br the B bobbs aba morda C company pany 23 SYNOPSIS thomas thomaa ardmore and ad henry maine griswold briswold uris wold stumble upon intrigue when the governors of 0 north und and south carolina ar are 0 reported to have quarreled griswold a allies lies himself with barbara laborne Oa 03 borne d daughter Lugh ter of tho the governor of 0 south carolina II 11 na while ardmore es espouses P auses tha cause of jerry dangerfield d daughter gher of 0 the governor e ot or north carol carolina I 1 na these two ladles ladies a are re to fill ail the shoes ot of their fathers t nohlia alt the latter are missing both states are in a turmoil over one ona apple weight an outlaw with great political in fluence unaware ot of each others post tion both griswold and ardmore set out to make the other prosecute both have forces scouting the border griswold captures Apple weight but jerry finds him und and takes him to ardsley Ard slay her own prisoner griswold and darbara barbara Kar bara while investigating vesti gating the outlaws disappearance meet inset ardmore and jerry the latter reveals 13 the presence of Apple weight at ardale ardsley y arrests a man on his mo property p e r Y who saya lie he la Is gov osborne 1 1 1 1 another man Is armsted as A ap dweight by the south carolina mil ula CHAPTER XVI the flight of it will be better for me to 0 o brenk break the news to col said jerry and you must go and and meet the he troops yourself with mr cooko cooke and that fi amusing musing mr air colllns collins there Is no telling what effect my tidings will have on rutherford or what he will decide to do lie ile has hag never before been so BO near trouble as he Is now and I 1 may have to give him his first aid to the tha injured when he finds out that the south carolina troops are on raccoon raccoon creek all ready to march upon our sacred soil but suppose your adjutant general go back to his bla troops after he sees you then what am I 1 to do if you dont see him by ten you tou will take tahe personal command and exercise your own discretion as to the best beest method of landing lira south carolina jail after that we must find papa and it will be up to him to satisfy the newspapers and his constituents with some excuse for his strange disappearance collins had come from raleigh on the evening train and he had solemnly assured ardmore that the present state of affairs could not be maintained another 24 hours ile he had bad exhausted bat isted nil all hla his professional resources sou and the north carolina newspapers of all shades of opinion were clamoring for the truth and were insisting that for the honor and dignity of the state gov dangerfield should show himself in raleigh weve got to find dangerfield or bust now where Is that eminent statesman ardmore you cant tell me you dont know but it you dont miss da dingerfield does and ashes got to tell she the slightest idea but it if the newspapers find out that hes really and truly missing he will have to show up but first weve got to take tahe Apple eight weight oft off that case of chateau bizet and lodge him in the jail at turner court house and let goy gov osborne have the odium of incarcerating tile the big chief of the border to whom he be Is under the greatest political obligations ligat ions lons hut but its all over the country now that osborne been seen in co lambla since he and dangerfield had bad that row in new orleans cranks are turning up everywhere pretending to be governors of various states mid and old dangerfield Dao gerfield Is seen on all the outgoing steamers theres been nothing like it since the of charley ross ardmore admore drew drew on his riding glove reflectively and a delighted grin illuminated lumina ted his countenance 1 I caught a lunatic down on we raccoon this afternoon who said he be was the governor of south carolina andi and I 1 locked him up well he may be osborne remarked colllns collins with journalistic suspicion and he may be a swiss adra admiral fral or the king of mars I 1 guess im a governor myself and I 1 know what a governor looks like and acts like you cant tool me I 1 put this impostor Impost pr where hell have a chance to study astronomy td then lie on that case of chateau bizet with Applew no I 1 locked him in a corncrib corn crib until I 1 get time to study his credentials come along now ardmore colllns collins and cooke rode rapidly away through the wide gates of the estate along the Sarp bIre road over bibich by his last bulletin the a adjutant general of north carolina was w a a marching ills his troops they had bad left cookes men with pauls foresters to guard the house and to picket uis oe banks of raccoon in the immediate neighborhood of the camp of the south carolinians 1 it I guess those fellows can hold era em till morning said cooke weve got to clean up tic the whole business by to morrow night you tou cant have two states at war with each other this way without shaking up the universe and if federal troops come coma down here to straighten things out it wont be funny they hart had ridden about a a mile when cooke checked his bis horse with an exclamation cla mation matlon theres somebody coming coining like the tha devil was after him it must be Ing water 1 they drew rein and waited tho the quick patter of hoots hoofs ringing out sharply in tho the still night the moonlight gave them a fair sweep ot at the tha road and they at once saw a horseman galloping rapidly toward them lordy the mans on fire gasped ardmore by george youre right muttered colllns collins moving nervously in hla his saddle its a human sunburst its only his gold braid explained the practical cooke seeing three men drawn across the tha road the horseman began to check hla his night flight men I 1 he shouted as his bis horse pawed the air with its forefeet la is abis the road to ardsley right you are yelled cooke and they were aware ot of a flash a glitter that startled and dazzled the eye and col rutherford thundered on they rode on and saw presently the lights of camp fires and a little later were ceremoniously halted at the roadside by an armed guard LE it had been arranged that colllns collins who had once been a second lieutenant in the georgia militia should be presented as an officer of the regular arm army y detailed as special aide to gov dangerfield during the encampment and that in id case failed to return promptly he should take command of the north carolina forces an AIL open field had been seized for the nights camp and the tents already shone white in the moonlight the three men introduced themselves to the officers and colllns collins expressed their regret that they had missed yie oe adjutant general gov dangerfield wished you to move your force on to ardsley should we fall to meet col and you had better strike your tents and be in readiness to advance in case he be personally return with orders capt collins Col llna as he had designated himself apologized for not being la in uniform 1 I lost my baggage train he laughed and gov dangerfield la Is so anxious us not to miss this opportunity to settle the case that I 1 hurried out to meet you with these gentlemen exclaimed the group of officers in amazement none other than the great apple weight tt ros responded bonded collins the governor has him in his bis own hands at last and Is going to carry him across the border and into a 4 south carolina bastile as a little pleasa pleasantry atry on the governor of south carolina the officers gave the necessary orders for breaking the halt half 3 eg ma mules furiously formed camp and then turned their attention to the entertainment of their guests ardmore kept track ot of the time and promptly at ten colllns collins rose from the log by the roadside where they had been sitting we must obey the governors go vernora orders gentlemen said collins courteously and march at once to ardsley 1 I you understand am only a courier and your guest for tho the present it you please asked cooke when the line bad begun to move forward I 1 what Is that wagon over there ile he pointed to a mule team lit batched bitched d to a quartermasters wagon that a vas waB driving into position across the rough field it was piled high with luggage a pyramid that rose black against the heavens one of the militia officers evidently greatly annoyed bawled to the driver to get back out ot of the way pardon me said collins politely but Is that your personal baggage gentlemen that belong to col remarked the quartermaster the test rest of us have a suitcase suit case apiece i the py pyramidal baggage wagon had bad gained the road behind them and lingered uncertainly with the driver asleep and waiting for orders the conspirators were about to gallop forward to the head bead of the moving column when colllns collins pointed across the abandoned campground camp ground to where a bar horseman soman who had bad evidently made a wide detour of the advancing column rode madly toward the baggage wagon the gent lemans trying to kill hill hla his horse I 1 should judge murmured ardmore by joves jovel its chorused the trio the rider in his haste had overlooked the men in the road lie he dashed through the wide opening in the ence oft left by he abe toll militiamen took the ditch by the in adside at X lean leal wakened the sleeping Ble driver on the wagon with ft roar and himself leaped upon the tha box and began turning the horses what do you think hes doing asked as iced cooke iles hes in a hurry to get back to mothers cooking replied ardmore iles hes seen miss dangerfield and learned that war Is at hand band and hes going to get hla his clothes out of danger lordy listen to him slashing the mules but you dont think the wagon had swung round and already was in rapid flight collins howled in glee come on wo we cant miss a show like this leave leava the horses then theres a hill thero there that will break his neck wed better stop him it we caal can cried cooke dismounting they threw their reins to the driver drive of the wagon who had bad been brushel brushed from hla his seat by tho the impatient Impat lent adjutant general and was chanting weird ly to himself at the roadside the wagon piled high with trunks and boxes was dashing forward oil ling water belaboring the mules furiously and hearing bearing the shouts of strange pursuers yelling at the team in a voice shrill with fear come on boyst boys shouted ardmore thoroughly aroused catch the spy and traitor tho the road dipped down into the of a deep cut abero the moons rays but feebly penetrated and where the flow of springs had bad softened the surface 4 but the pursuers were led on by the rumble of the wagon angon which swung from side to side perilously tho the boxes swinging about noisily and toppling threateningly at the apex apes down the sharp declivity the wagon plunged like a ship bound for the bottom of the sea the pursuers bent gamely to their task in the rough road with cooke slightly in the lead suddenly he be shouted warningly to the others olbers ns as something rose darkly above them like a black cloud and a trunk fell with a mighty crash only a few feet ahead of them the top had bad been shaken off in the fall and into it bead first plunged ardmore theres There 8 another co coming yelled colllns collins and a much larger trunk struck and split upon a rock at the roadside clothing of many kinds strewed the highway A pair of trousers flung fiercely into the air caught on the limb of a tree shook free like a banner and hung thero there somberly etched against the stars ardmore crawled out of the trunk screaming with delight the fragrance of toilet water broke freshly upon the air its his ammunition bawled ardmore rubbing hla his head where he had struck the edge of a tray jha ills scent bottles are smashed and its only by the grace of providence that I 1 cut myself on broken glass they went down the road stu stumbling m now and then over a bit of debris from tho the vanished wagon its ita like ilka walking on carpet observed cooke picking up a feathered chapeau 1 I know there were so many clothes in all the world they abandoned the idea of farther pursuit on reaching a trunk stan standing ding on end from which a uniform dress coat drooped sadly this Is not our trouble its hla his trouble I 1 guess hes struck a smoother road down there wed better go back said cooke in a moment they had climbed the hill bill and were in hot pursuit of the adjutant generals abandoned army TO BE CONTINUED |