Show los SERIAL TORY THE LITTLE B R rd 36 W N 1 U G AT E KILDAR LIkE MEREDITH NICHOLSON ehms by RAY WALTE ra cop copyright IM 1903 tj by the bobbs werrill wrany Compi iny SYNOPSIS thomas ardmore Aril mora and henry maine 1 a graswold upon intrigue when the governors of oc north and south carolina are arc reported to hava haro quarreled quarrel pd griswold Orl awold allies himself with barbara Oa os borne horne daughter of the governor of south carolina while ardmore espouses the cause of jerry dangl I 1 daughter d ot of the governor of north cro carolina i au ahter th these e e two young indies are ara trying to till fill the shoos of 0 f their fathers while the latter are nilas miss 1 ng hoh both states are ara in a turmoil over ono one Apple weight an outlaw w with ith great political influence unaware ot of each others position both griswold and ardmore met out to snake make the other prosecute ap ht ardmore organizes a 0 big hunt also tso takes the beld field fra frank col binm atlanta reporter is ir arrested by aril ard more but released to become press agent for tho the young millionaires expedition CHAPTER XII continued prisoner you fool im a guest euest at ardsley and im looking for a lady a very unlikely story colllns collins help the tha gentleman down and the reporter obeyed instructions with so muc much it zeal that the noble gentleman foil fell prone and was assisted to his feet with a alne mockery of 0 helpfulness ful ness 1 I tell you im looking for a lady whose horse ran away with herl her im the duke of Bally wInkle and brother inlaw in law to mr air ardmore ill have you sent to jail it you stop me here come coma along duke and well see what you look like said cooke leading the way to the bungalow veranda within ardmore was lighting lamps there was a long room finished in black oak oah with a fireplace at one end and is a table in the center the floors were covered with handsome rugs and the walls walla were hung with phot photographs 0 grablis and etchings ardmore sat at on the back bach of a leather in a pose assumed at the moment ot of the dukes entrance it was a pose of en tire nonchalance and Ard mores cap perched on the back of hta his head bead and his brown hair rumpled boyishly added to the general effect of comfort comfort an and d ease the duke blinked for a moment in the lamplight then he roared out joyously ardy old man and advanced toward his brother in law with outstretched hand keep him off lies hes quite mad said ardmore staring cc coldly idly wind and bending hla his riding crop across his knees collins please ride on after the lady and bring her back this way cooke had bad seated the prisoner rather rudely in a chair and the noble duke having lost the power of speech in amazement and fright rubbed hla his eyes and then fastened them incredulously on an ardmore but there was no question about it ho fie had bad been seized with violence he had bad been repudiated by his bis own brother in la law the useless stupid tommy ardmore w who at best had only a childs mind for pirate stories and who was indubitably the ahe most negligible of negligible figures in the drama at 0 life as the duke know knew it cooke began ardmore addressing hla his lieutenant gravely from rom hla his perch on the settee what to Is the charge against this person he ha says hes a duke grinned cooke taking his cue from Ard moras mores manner and he says hea bes visiting at ardsley that said ardmore Ard inore with decision 13 is creditable only to the gent lemans romantic imagination ills face la Is anything but du dulcely liely and theres a red streak across it points clearly to the recent sharp blow of a weapon and no one would ever strike a duke its utterly incredible and ardmore Ardro ors lifted hla brows and leaned back with his bis arms at length and his bands clasping the riding crop as he contemplated tem teni plated with supreme satisfaction the telltale tell tale red line across the dukes cheek tor gods sake ardy howled bowled the duke ardmore Ard inore drew from his pocket johnstons american politics with an air ot of greatest seriousness cooke he said half to himself is as he turned the pages 1110 do you remember just what the constitution says about dukes oh yes hery here we are aref now mr air duke of Bally winkle listen to what it says saya here in section 9 of the constitution of the united states which reads exactly eira etly os as follows in tills this book no title of nobility shall be granted by the united states and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall without the consent present af the congress accept of any present emolument office or title of tiny any kind whatever from any king icing princ eor foreign state and it says la in section 10 that no state stata shall grant any title of nobility now Mr Sally winkle it Is perfectly clear thit this government cant recognize anything that it 11 cant teate fortham fo that would be ba foolish As aa 1 I the governor of north carolina cant make a duke I 1 cant see aee one you are therefore ther eforo wholly illegal we its against tho the most sacred law of the land for or you to be here at all and painful though it la is to me it la Is nevertheless my duty to order you to leave tho the united states at once never to return in fact it you rou ever appear in the united states gain again I 1 hereby order that you be ba hanged n by the neck until you bo be dead ono one of mr bir cookes men will accompany you to now new york tomorrow to morrow and see to it that you take passage on a steamer bound for or a british port the crime ot of having insulted a woman will still hang bang over you until you are well east cast of sandy sandr alook and I 1 advise you not to risk being tried on that charge in north carolina as my people are very impulsive and emotional and lynch ings are not infrequent in our midst you shall spend to in my official caboose some distance from here and your personal effects will be brought from ardsley where you have said you area araa guest ot of mr thomas ardmore Ard moro who la is officially unknown to me the supreme court will now adjourn cooke pulled the limp bewildered duko duke to his feet beet and dragged him from the bungalow As they stepped out on the veranda colllns collins rode up in alarm 1 I followed this road to a crossroad where it became a bridle path and runs runa off into the forest there I 1 lostell lost lo stall all trace of tho the lady but hero here is her riding crop cooke take taka your prisoner to the caboose and collins Col llna come with me commanded ardmore and a moment later ho he and the reporter rode off furiously in search of jerry danger held field CHAPTER XIII miss dangerfield takes a prisoner A dozen men carrying rifles across their saddle bows rode away from Habersham fl farm on the outskirts ot of turner tuiner court house and struck a rough trail that led a devious course over the hills at their head bond rode tho the guide of the expedition a long silent client man on a mute mule griswold and sham followed immediately behind him on horseback their plans had been carefully arranged before they left their rendezvous and save eava for an occasional brief interchange Inter chango between the prosecuting attorney and the governors special representative the party logged on in silence lenco al haber shams shama recruits were it may inay bo be said farmers of the border who had awaited for years just such on an opportunity as now offered to avenge themselves upon the insolent nearly every man ot of the party had soma private score to settle bottle but they had fi all been sworn na as special constables conat aMoB and were sobered by the knowledge that the power of the state of south carolina was back of them thus at the tha very hour that mr bin ardmore and his bla lieutenant rodo rode away from the lonely anc horace of if 11 4 gp 4 the guide pushed his mule forward at a fast walk the caboose prof griswold Orl awold and his cavalcade not bet out for mount blount nebo church when the master ot of ardsley was revenging himself upon the duke of his bla dearest friend against whom ho he had closed the doors of his house was losing no time in setting forth upon a nils mission sion which if successful would seriously interfere Inter fera with all mr Ard moroa mores hopes and plans the guide of 0 the expedition pushed his mule forward at a fast walk making no excuses to griswold and claber sham for the roughness of the trails he be chose chobo rift troubling to give warning ot of sharp turns where a horse being less wise than a mule tobogganed toboggan ed madly before finding a foothold occasionally casio nally a alow low banging limb switched the associate professor sharply across the face but his temper continued serene where tho trail was waa darkest ard and steepest and he faunl himself ignoring Haber Bhama occasional polite questions about the university in his efort effort to summon up tip in memory certain ways of darbara barbara osborne which balliel him check up cahnt you snarled the roan man on the mule laying hold of gris wolds rein and abua halted griswold found that they had been circling round a curiously symmetrical thickly wooded hill and had bad finally come to a clearing whence they were able to gaze far off toward the north we are almost out cut of bounds said pointing painting over there somewhere across the hills bills lies north carolina I 1 am as aa thoroughly lost as you can possibly bo be but these men know where they are arc ilow how far Is it dilly billy he addressed addres seif tho the silent guide to mount bount nebo about fatir mile and I 1 reckon we wed d better let out a lettle now or sing the doxology before we glothan git abar whets that light away off there asked II aberaham the guide paused to examine and the faint glow far down the vale achmed to perplex him llo ile spoke to one or two other natives and they viewed the light ruminatively as to Is their way thet must be on Ard morea mores land said the lender leader finally it shoots out all sorts borts 0 ways round beeh and I 1 reckon theto cheh raccoon creek cuts through very likely said cald haber sham ive seen tho the plat 0 of what ardmore owns on this side aide the bordet border at tho the courthouse and I 1 remember that theres a long strip aln a mingo county that la Is ardsley land ardmore has houses of one kind and another scattered all over tho the estate and those lights may bo be from ono one ot of them you know tle the place dont you yes yea ive visited there admitted griswold but wed bettor better give it a wide berth tho the whole estate la Is simply ply infested with scarlet fever quarantined 1 I guess a joke said bald habersham theres a big party on there now and I 1 have seen somo some of the guests tn in turners within a day or two within how bow my mry mr y days demanded griswold Ort awold tits his heart sinking at the thought that ardmore had lied to him to keep him awny away from ardsley train from Ard moras mores house the thought of it really hurt him h I 1 in now dow come ont called half the company rode ahead to rain gain the farther side of the church he remainder including Orf I 1 nud and soon dismounted and tied their belr horses out of sight of tho the conn try ry road which they had latterly been following we bra are in plenty of time said looking nt at hla his watch the rest of the boys are ara closing in from tho the other side alda and they will be ready for when lie he in aln shea ashes his devotions weve been studying the old mans habits and he has a Patti particular eular place where ho ties his horse arso back of the church its ita a lit tle tie apart from tho the fence where most of tho the congregation hitch und and ho he chose chosa it no doubt because in case of a surprise ho he would havo have plenty of room for maneuvering two won men are arc going to lay for him so seize ize and gag him and carry him into the wood back of the church andasen and then were off neross across tho the state 11 hite 0 o to look lock him up tip in jail at kildare and give gov GOT dangerfield tho the shock of hla his life it sounds simple enough but it wont be long before friends miss him you must remember that they are arc a shrewd lot weve got to take our chances lets hope wo we are as shrewd as they are replied they moved softly through gli the wood and presently the bound pi ot singing reached them old alnis finished ed his sermon and well know tho worst in a few minutes one of tho the party had bad already detached himself and crept forward toward tho chuch to meet his appointed comrade comrade in the enterprise who was to tc j come me in from the other side the clapboard church presented in the moonlight the au austor cat outlines and as the men waited a rude riida though unseen hand was slamming tho the wooden shutters that protected the windows owa from impious violence wo we could do with less leas moon muttered as lie he and griswold peered through tho the trees 1 into ato the churchyard there goes dill now whispered ono one of tho natives at his elbow and griswold felt his heartbeats quicken as aa lie he watched a tall figure silhouetted against the church and moving swiftly toward the rear of the building at the fronton front of the church voices d n the departing worshipers rode or drove slowly away laid hla his hand suddenly on Gris griswoldsr wolds arm got himi nailed himl seel there yanking him back into the timber taken him blin and his corsel hor sel griswold Orl awold saw nothing but a momentary contusion confusion of shadows then perfect silence hung oyer over the woods behind the little church the congregation was waa slowly dispersing riding away in little groups suddenly a voice called out in the road yards beyond the church illey hey therol therel cheros dill oh hes heb gone long agol yelled another in it a moment morn more the church door slammed and a last figure rode rapidly away TO UK BE CONTINUED |