Show I 1 ain fsr liaa r Nl HOON r RA PAY Y wal TER r 5 1507 or ay CA a SYNOPSIS atlas holbrook and alias helen her niece were entrusted to the vare care of 0 laurance laur aiice donovan a writer summering near port annandale alias ya patricia tricia con aled to donovan that she he feared her brother henry who ruined by aback a bank failure ful lure had constantly cont antly threatened threat enfil hr her for money from hla his fathers fathera will of which miss bliss patriots patricia was war guardian Ru ardlan they came to port annandale Annand alei to escape henry donovan sympathized with the two women ile he learned of bliss li helens elens an noyle suitor tor donovan discovered and rui captured capture an intruder who proved to be ba dinald suitor for the hand of helen Kolh rook disappeared the follo following viny mornin morning if A rough sailor appeared and was ordered awny away donovan saw miss man I 1 colbrook Holb anil and her father breet on art friendly terms donovan fought an italian assassin ile fie mt the I 1 man ho supposed was wad holbrook but wh who bald he WB was artrIdge Il IL a canoe mak maker after a short hort discus sl n donovan if left ri su surilla aur llly rilly gillespie wab discovered by donovan presenting a country church with 1000 gillespie admitted lie knew of 1101 brooks breaks presence prea enre ailsa vat acknowledged to donovan that helen had been misting missing far or a few hours while riding in a launch the tha italian sailor bailor attempted to molest the tha trio but ailed bliss pat announced her intention of 0 tigh fighting ting henry and not see kinor another hiding place donovan inet helen in garden at nl night ht of helen was waa confessed by the tha yo p lady y she admitted conni virT r with hei father despite her aunts aunt precautions in a night meet ng with donovan the three went tor for ft a long alde tho the following day that disguised an aa a nun ile helen A stole from the house she met gillespie who told her his love lonte was confronted by donovan helen s lover escaped at the town post office helen unseen except by donovan donovan slip slipped pell a draft into the liand hand of the italian a sailor or she also signaled her father alsa pat and donovan goolt in the canoe carnival i A youny young lady resembling bliss helen holbrook was waa observed alone I 1 in 1 I a canoe when helen was thought to have been bt at home donavan met all 11 the tha latter confided helen 11 for her rather who had bad then left to spend it gillespie told of the queer state biota of the tha holbrook affairs miss helen and donivan met in the night CHAPTER XIII continued sho she sat back in the chair and folded her arms arina I 1 bad not referred in any way to her transaction with gillespie I 1 had ad never intimated ayen remotely that I 1 knew of her meeting with the infatuate young follow fellow on st agathas pier and I 1 felt elt that those incidents were ancient history it was corking hot this afternoon I 1 hope you have too much tennis 1 in rl vo NO it was pretty enough tun sho she remarked that I 1 laughed you dont seem to recall your victory with particular pleasure it seems seema to me that I 1 am the one to be shy of the subject how did that score stand 1 I really forget I 1 honestly do she ahe laughed i thata certainly generous b but ut do dont nt you remember as aa we walked along toward the gate alter after the game that tha t you sald said 7 oh I 1 cant allow that tit nt allt alit what I 1 said yesterday or to today day Is ot of no importance now and particularly at night 1 I am jekely fo 0 o be weak minded and my memory Is poorer then ihei ithan than at ariy any other time ime I 1 1 I am fortunate in having an ex bollent memory for example ample ox for example you aro are not always the same you were different this afternoon and I 1 must go back to our meeting by the sent seat on the bluff for the miss holbrook of tonight to night all la your imagination mr donovan now tf if you wanted to prove that hat t im really helen holbrook I 1 supplied glad of a clintice chance to speak her name it you wanted to prove that I 1 an ain who I 1 am she continued with new animation as though at last something interested her how should you go about it please ask TOB me something difficult there Is there could be only one woman as aa fair as interesting as wholly charming 1 I suppose that Is 13 tho the point at which you usually bow humbly and wait for applause out but I 1 scorn to notice anything so commonplace it if you were goins going to prove rue me to be the same person you mot met at the annandale Annan dalo station how bow should you go about it well to bo be explicit you walk like an angel you are singularly favored in haying having geen been angels walk mr donovan theroa a popular superstition that they fly in my own ignorance I 1 cant concie concede that your our point la Is well taken what your head bead Is like an intaglio wrought when men inen and keener vision mid and nimbler fingers than now with your jour hair low on an your neck as aa it la Is tonight to night the tha picture carries back to n q venetian balcony centuries ago 11 thata rather below standard what else please arid and tha chak widows peak peake I would risk tho the direst st penalties of perjury la in swearing to it alone she shrugged her shoulders you are an observant person that trilling ting mark on n womans comans forehead i la Is usually y considered Onside rod a nut you know well wel enough lenough that I 1 did riot not mention it with such a thought yon you know it perfectly well not foolish one she said mockingly daei peak can riot not be ba donled dented i you tou donl doni know that the peak sometimes runs in families my mother had bad it 14 and her mother blather bo be toro fora her you are not your mother or your gr grandmother to so I 1 am riot not endanger la in danger of mistaking you i well wha ha alae please C VP M ail 0 when I 1 see you again theres the emerald miss pachas pai has the same ring but yu apu are not miss bliss pat De besides sides I 1 have seen you both together still there are emeralds and eme eine I 1 and then there are your eyes there are ara two of them thein mr dono done danl i there need be no more to assure bight in a needful world miss hot hoi brook goedl you really have pos possibilities sibil 1 aleal she struck her palms together in a mockery of applause and laughed at me I 1 to a man who Is in love everything ls Is possible 1 I dared othe the celtic temperament to la very susceptible us cep tible you havo undoubtedly likened kanj man eyes to the glory odthe of the I 1 1 I swear swear rot not at allt then I 1 ww k td we laugh laughed d and were silent while tile the water alp rippled in the reeds the insects wove their woof of sound and ten str struck tick musically from st agathas I 1 1 I must leave you 1 if l you go you yon leave an empty world behind oh that was pret tyl tyll thank you youl conceited I 1 approving your remark but that meteor that flashed across the sky and dropped into the woods away out yonder alaa I 1 havo have fallen farther than the meteor and struck the earth harder you deserved it she said rising and drawing tho the yell veil about her er throat my lack of conceit has always been my undoing I 1 am the humblest man alive you are adorable I 1 said if the answer it the answer t it mero mere stars do this to you what would you be in moonlight As we nye stood facing each other I 1 was aware of somo some new difference in her perhaps her short outing skirt of dark blue had changed tier her and yet in our tramps through the woods and our excursions cur in the banoo she had worn tho the same bamo or similar costumes she b hesitated a mor moment nent leaning caning against the railing and tapping tho the floor with her boot the she gravely halt half questioningly ai na though to ta ber herself self ile ha has one awny away you rou aro are sure that he bo has gona away bour our fabb father er la Is probably ay in now new york I 1 anaw answered ered surprised at the question 1 I 1 do not expect him bird back at once it ir he be should come back she b began ile ho will undoubtedly return thera Is no debating that I 1 it he be comes comas back there will bo be trouble ls worse than anything that hass has limpp happened ened you cant understand what his his return will mean to fsr to me vau you mast not worry about ahat that you must trust TOO roe to take care card of that when lie ho coms comes unto the tha day roust must lo be 10 your watchword I 1 saw tonight all she aha repeated with unfeigned our surprise prise that was waa capitally actori I 1 laughed 1 I wish I 1 know that ho he louir nothing more to tb you than lh I 1 added seriously sho she 61 motored co ored whether alth anger OT cr surprise ak at div swift alango ca ango of tone tea e 1 I did not know then she said said very soberly mr gillespie ts is nothing to me whatever evera 1 I thank you tou for that 1 l Thank thankie me for nothing mr donovan and now goodnight Y you ou ar are e not to follow me on oh surely to the gate jot ot even to the gate my aly ways are 1 very mystery mysterious by day I 1 am one per person on by night quite another and f on should follow me 1 1 to my own gatell gatei I 1 pleaded its itis 0 only decent hospitality t I 1 urged bot not even to the gate of Drea mst dut but in trying to lo get back to the school you have to pass tha guards you will fall fail at ak that some come time not no I 1 whisper an incantation and lot lo 10 they tall asleep upon their spears and I 1 must ask you keep asking ashing for or io 0 o ask ash you must tay slay 8 I 1 please when I 1 meet you la daytime tit e do not refer to anything that we may say when we meet at night you yell have proved me at every point even to this spot ot or ink on my forehead and she put her forefinger upon the peak 1 I am helen holbrook Itol brook but as what shall ahall I 1 say oh yes bhe went on lightly as a psychological fact act I 1 am very different at night from anything iny thing I 1 ever am tn in daylight and tomorrow to morrow morning when you meet lue me with aunt pat in the garden it you should reter refer to this meeting I 1 shall never appear to you again not even through the gate ot of dreams goodnight good night good night I 1 clasped her hand band for ad an instant and she met my eye eyes with a laughing challenge when shall I 1 see you again this you that ts Is so BO different from the you 0 ot f daylight daylights I 1 she caught tier her hand away and turned to goblet go but paused at the steps when the new moon hangs bangs like a little feather away out yonder I 1 shall ta be looking at it from the stone seat on the bluffly do you think you can remember she vanished away into the wood toward st agathas Agathi Cs I 1 started to follow but paused remembering my promise and sat down and yielded myself to the thought of hor her practical questions question of how she managed to slip out ef cf SL agathas vexed roe me tor for a moment but in my elation ot of spirit I 1 dismissed them quickly enough I 1 would never again entertain an evil ell thought of her the money she had talen taken from gillespie I 1 would in some way W return to him and make an end ot tany any claim lie ha might assert against her or by reason ot of that help and I 1 re golveo to devote myself diligently to th h 1 1 business of protecting her front from her e r father I 1 was waa even impatient for him to return and resume his blackguardly practice ot of intimidating intimidate 1 11 1 1 1 two w 0 women that I 1 might d doal 1 w with afi alm ilm la in the spirit ot of his own despicable actions cc tlona my aly heart was heavy as aa I 1 ol of him but I 1 light lighted ad my pipe and found tf at bace ance a gentler glory tn in the stars then its as I 1 stared out upon the lake juice I 1 I 1 saw a shadow gliding softly away horo from the little I 1 iro ro montory where st agathas pier lights shone brightly it was d a canoe I 1 should havo have known from its sta swift tit steady flight it ih I 1 bd ad not ec eatn n the 9 adderi 3 arm rakad once twice until darkness fell upon the tiny argosy like a cloak I 1 ran out on the pier and stared after it lut but the silence of the lake was complete th then ea I 1 crossed the strip of wood to st agathas and found ajima and tho the garden gardezi er faithfully patrolling the grounds has haa any one left the buildings tonight no ono sister margaret been out or any one N no 0 one sir did you hear any t thins h n s sir I 1 r ething nothing Zt hing hjlma goodnight 11 I 1 wrote a telegram to an acquaintance equale in now york who knows everybody and asked him to ascertain whether henry holbrook of stamford Stam tord was in new york this I 1 sent to annandale nan dale and thereafter watched the stars from the terrace until the they y slipped into the dawn tearful fearful lest sleep might steal away my memories and dreams of the night CHAPTER XIV battle orchard when I 1 called at st agathas the following morning the maid told mo me t that at miss pat was ill and that miss helen as asked ked to be excused I 1 walked restlessly about the grounds until luncheon thinking helen might appear and later dei determined to act on an impulse with which I 1 had trifled for several days to seek tho the cottage on the tippecanoe and satisfy myself of holbrooks poka absence A sharps shower had cooled the air and I 1 took look the canoe for greater convenience in running into the shallow creek I 1 know nothing comparable to paddling as a lifter of the spirit and with my arras anna and head bead bared and 4 a cool breeze at my back I 1 was wag soon skimming along as buoyant of heart As as the he responsive canoe beneath me it was about tour four when I 1 dipped my way into the farther lake arid and da tl water broadened before me meat at the little strait I 1 saw the stiletto lying quietly at anchor off the eastern shore of battle orchard I 1 drew close to observe her the etter better b but there were no signs of life on board and I 1 paddled to the western I 1 side of the island it had bad already occurred to me that thal holbrook might have another hiding biding place than the cottage at red gate whore where 1 I 1 had bad talked with him and the island seemed a likely spot for it I 1 ran my canoe canoa on the pebbly beach and climbed 1 the bank the trail bore upward and I 1 soon came upon a small clearing tej about an acre in extent that had bad once been tilled but it waa wis inow now preempted pre empted by weeds as aa high as my head beyond lay an ancient orchard chiefly of apple trees and many hoary veterans stood faithful to the b brave rave hand band that had marshaled them there avery ir orchard Is linked to the hesperides and every apple waits for at alanta it if not for evel eve I 1 stooped to pick a wild flower and found an arrow head lying beside it fumbling the tha arrow head bead in my fingers I 1 passed on to a log cabin bidden away in n the orchard I 1 approached warily remembering that it this were holbrooks HoI broOks camp and he had bad gone away he had probably left the italian to look after the yacht which could be seen from the cabin door I 1 made a circuit of the mhd cabin without seeing any signs of habitation and was a about to on enter ter by the front door when byh n I 1 heard the swish 0 of branches anches hr in tho the underbrush to uie he east ano and dropped into the grass in a moment the italian appeared opp cared carrying a pair fair of oars over ills bis shoulder he had evidently just junt landed as the blades were wera dripping he throw them down by the cabin door came cama roundtop round to the western window drew out the pin from an iron staple with which it was fastened and thrust ills hia be head ad in he was wag greeted with a howl and a loud demand of some borne sort to which he re replied in monosyllables and after several minutes of this parley I 1 |