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Show 'THE BLUE CIRCLE Chapter VII 12 A Message. Th- .ecretnry dressed for dinner nlctit with his mind on several 1 problems, the first of which was Z problem of the black leather rase. Inked at from every possible angle. ,f could not wholly solve It, though be ' as rapidly evolving a worUIng theory be were to have any peace and comfort this year, If be were to get wk His nervous strength and recover ,,r himself the man he had been, he mist do certain things, and do them llcklv Among them, be must once L for all do away with the melodramatic melo-dramatic mysteries of Tawno Ker. lie L, find out what there was In the house that crept along balls and climbed up to transoms and stole and duplicated leather cases and then returned re-turned them. After that, perhaps, be would have some comfort a condition he could not hope for now. This very night for example, he was probably in for some Infernal manifestation that would deprive him of the sleep be so urgent?? needed. However, he was, In a way, prepared pre-pared for these, lie had two pistols now, :M the other articles he had bought"- The pistols were loaded and ready. In one way the fact was reassuring. re-assuring. In another It disturbed him. He did not wish to do any impulsive shooting and subsequently and mtterij regret It. He begun to feel that he had made a mistake In buying the pistols. He considered hiding them In his trunk. He ended by hiding one there and slipping the other into a pocket of his evening trousers. It was b very small, unobtrusive pistol. He had been careful to select that kind. And undoubtedly It would be safer in his hands than In the dark and sinister sin-ister hatid he had seen through his transom window the night before. Dinner thut night was again almost gay. Madame Hvoeslef was her most engaging self. Evidently, with the transference of the black leather case to the Trust company's vaults a great weight had rolled off her mind. Verity and David Campbell responded to her mood. Soft ripples of laughter 6wept the table, laughter in which Kenshaw Ken-shaw did not Join but which he subconsciously sub-consciously enjoyed. It was rather wonderful to hear Verity Campbell laugh, and he had not realized that her beautiful but rather cold face could be so warmed and illumined il-lumined as he saw It now. Her laugh was delicious soft, low, and full of mirth. He listened to Mrs. Tardee but looking at Verity, and as he looked his dislike of her and his inner masculine mas-culine resentment of her cool self-sufficiency gave place to bis first Impulse Im-pulse of genuine admiration. Something Some-thing like admiration had stirred in kim tvlion ha n-otrllPli her nlaV W'itll We-wee. He began to realize that the I beautiful Miss Campbell had two sides That was disturbing. With the discovery of an attractive side, he could not lend himself to the wholehearted whole-hearted disapproval of her which he had expected and desired to feel: Her singing after dinner strengthened strength-ened this conviction. It, too, reflected her new mood. The Slavic songs to which heretofore she and Madame Hvoeslef had largely confined themselves them-selves made way tonight for French and Spanish numbers, In which the predominating theme of love was wedded to that of Joy. Listening in his corner, Renshnw felt Ills lip curl a trifle. Much that girl knew about love! The foreigner knew. There was a woman who had loved and lived and died a few times and been born again, always with a heart . IMP JHo Threw Open the Door and Stared Incredulously. Verity Campbell Stood Before Him. xl stumor to life and the master hand, i She must have had many lovers. She S w'is the type whose Inner fires were Jjj fierce and consuming and soon ex-j ex-j hausted. and readily replenished. He W wondered what she and Miss Canl-"y Canl-"y bell talked shout when they were I alone. Certainly not about love! The foreigner was too sophisticated to per- pQ( Verity Campbell's clear eyes to JCH r'st on any untldv pages In her book " lire. . He recalled his vagabond thoughts with suddenness that brought him "I'right iu his chair. Without an fO M.v.ing ,, reasons, ne felt that spec-'Jt spec-'Jt Nation as to the nosslble lovers of Uie By Elizabeth Jordan ( by The Century Co.) WNU Service. foreigner was. In a way, pardonable. Certainly he had indulged In ft without the sense of recoil he now felt. The recoil merged Into a grim amusement at his own expense. He was making progress, lie wus getting hack In touch with life, when he found himself speculating spec-ulating about women! He resolutely centered Ills thoughts on the black leather case. . He went up to his room at eleven o'clock. Before he opened the door he stood for a moment In front of It, silently studying the lock. It was a good lock, hut an ordinary one. A trifle he had bought In town would effectually prevent It from being locked from the outside. He entered his room and Inserted tills trifle into the keyhole, nodding with satisfaction satisfac-tion as he did so. No one outside could lock his door tonight. On the other hand, neither could he himself lock It. He drew forward a chair, inserted in-serted Its back under the door-knob,-and so placed It that a certain effort would be required to push the door open. He could net be taken wholly by surprise. After these simple preparations, prep-arations, he read and smoked for a time. Then, with a sense of expecta tion mingled with other emotions, In which excitement, resentment, anxiety and nervousness predominated in turn, lie undressed, got Into bed and turned out the lights, putting one of the new revolvers tinder his pillow, but within immediate reach, as the final precaution precau-tion for an Interesting vigil. lie waited with taut nerves. It was almost midnight, time for the nocturnal noctur-nal activities of the Thing to begin. As soon as he heard the sounds announcing an-nouncing the Thing's near approach, he would fling open the door und spring out upon whatever was there. After that well, after that he would at least know what he was up against. The clock on his mantel struck twelve. He was almost convinced that nothing would happen. Possibly the Thing did not roam about every night. Tossibly It would never roam about again. I'roimbly it had been shut up, confined-He confined-He closed his eyes, and swiftly opened them again. Something had touched them, passed them, and was focused on the wall. It was the blue circle and this time he studied It closely. It was a circle about the size of a silver dime. Its blue color was a singularly vivid hue. It danced and quivered on the wall beside him, so close to him that he could put up his hand and touch it. As he did so. It vanished and the familiar darkness of the room closed around him. t-t i .,;it f,r tho fnf time nc i.i.V ami inii i" seriously tried to explain the circle to himself. It was, of course, as he had held from the first, a reflection from somewhere, from something. That wise conclusion was still obvious. But from what? The visiting light appeared again. It was as feverishly active now as It had been motionless on Its previous visits. It touched his face, flitted about, and came Jo rest on the footboard foot-board of his bed. It touched his hand, and flew to the opposite wall. It played about his Hps and leaped to the door leading to the hall, where it glowed silently on a panel. Renshnw watched It with a gaze that shifted when It did. If he closed his eves. It lingered on the lids till he reopened them. Its character changed. It had been Interesting at first. It became be-came annoying, like the repented attacks at-tacks of one mosquito on a hot night. It became more than annoying. It he-came he-came first infuriating and at last simply sim-ply devilish. ' - He rose and. going in turn to the ! n-imimvH. stared out at room o 1,'in Hit each With his movement the light disappeared. He could see nothing outside hut the storm and the tortured tor-tured wind-flung brandies of oaks and maples. He went to his door, opened It and glanced down the dark corridor. No sound or movement t,,ere rewarded him. He Hosed "e oor. replaced the chair-hack under the knob, and returned to his bed. As soon as be was comfortably settled, the blue hall entered, touched his fate, nnd danced for a moment on Thpn suddenly It grew quiet nr..! re ,n:lined fixed in one spot, like a watchful watch-ful and infernal blue eye. The Hock struck two. the deep-toned deep-toned strokes sounding ominous in he darkness. Two o'clock! And he heen on the edge ,in(.e eleven! That sort of H'.V would not do-i. simply could no, he endured. Tomorrow be would tell Campbell that he. Kenshaw. must go a '.that he was not up to the wo ." '-' "::i.,,:;:r-;,11o had already suo - 1 work. Canipl.ell hud referred at " i ,i of thin-s to he done ",inr ', da Wei hen. he could I'!; rJ- nn, in - g condition -rsuiiderm .eared h, co. He could not resign! He ZTZJlon to resign-simply be-se be-se he had refused a -ear "M" - Li'and. .?p--xxrr.;" n "r !" enTi !a P-nll nn,l V : "advam-e on the pur- e dv spent in town. Even nssum ng tered Into, he must work a month to pay off the obligation imposed by that advance. In other words, he was a fixture here. He could not leave. His eyes had closed and he had almost al-most -lost consciousness when he heard a noise In the hall. It was not the fumiliar thump, nor was It the equally abhorrent sound of crawling. It was the sound of footsteps light and running. There was also the sound of hurried, excited breathing and of a nip on bis door. He sprang out of bed and hastened to open It, disturbed yet reassured by the rap. ! It was alarmed, but it was normal. He threw open the door and stared incredulously. in-credulously. Verity Campbell stood before him in the darkness. He could not see her, but he knew her even before be-fore she spoke to him in a voice hushed and terrified. "Oh, Mr. Kenshaw," she gasped, "please come witli me quickly! I can't find either Jenks or James and something dreadful has happened to grandfather!" Kensliaw nodded and stepped back into bis room. "One moment," he said, "and I will be with you." He thrust his feet into slippers and pulled a dressing gown over his pajamas, pa-jamas, knotting the cords of the robe as lie rejoined her. He had to run to catch up with her. Having summoned him. she was almost at the end of He Lifted the Light Figure In Hie Arms as Easily as If It Had Beer the Body of a Child. the corridor when she felt him be side her. As they hurried past the ppn I r;l hall landim: ur,d into the wes' wing of the bouse, he asked a low-toned low-toned question or two. She replied in a voice that trembled. "Madame Hvoeslef is with blra," she said. "I called her first, when I could not get the servants. I can't Imagine what has happened to Jenks. He Is so reliable and faithful. But Aunt Katharine says they take a car and go into town sometimes at night, and perhaps per-haps she is right, though I never thought so." "What's the matter with your grandfather?" grand-father?" Itenshaw's long, swinging stride was easily keeping pace now with her shorter steps. "1 don't know. I heard a fall. His bedroom is next to mine, you know. I thought 1 heard a groan. I ran out In the ball to bis door and knocked. When there was no answer, I went In. He was lying In his bedroom, on the floor." "Hurt? Unconscious?" "1 don't know. I run for help for Jenks first, then, when' I couldn't find him. for Madame Hvoeslef. Auntie is of no use, or course, in a crisis, o. we didn't even wake her." She stopped as they readied what was evidently the door of the old man's bedroom, and passed through In silence, leaving the door open for Ben-shaw Ben-shaw to follow her. His first Impulse was one of shock j llt the seeming llfdessness of the ; prone figure on the floor, over which j Madame Hvoeslef was distractedly j keeping guard. Her dark face lighted up with relief as the young man j joined her. "1 have not ventured to do anything" any-thing" she explained in a quick whis- ! per." "He breathes; hut 1 did not , Unow if it would be wise to lift his : head" j Kenshaw knelt beside his master, nnd Ids heart lightened. He had been ! ifrald of violence, even of tragedy, j vnythifg. he now believed, might hap pen in Tawno Ker. Bit teeininglv what hail happened ' common enough. The old man had felt 111. had -u.-n" had perhaps tried to call for help, and had fallen unconscious. "What is it?" Verity asked the question In a whisper. whis-per. The young man went on with hl hurried examination. A shock. I'm afraid." Is lie dying?" ;o no. indeed. He's unconscious, hut his heart Is working well. The first thing to do is to make him comfortable." com-fortable." lie lifted Tl"' ,;-!,t f'- rf" in his arms .,, e is.iv as if It had b-cn the body of a child 'and carrying It to the bed laid ;t between the sheets, drawing the hedcioihing carefully up around it (TO ..IE Cl"NTINI"r:.: |