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Show SATURDAY, ttEBRUABY 9,1924 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9; 192 1 AMEBIOAN FOUK CITIZEN i . V mm. , By GEORGE . DADR. McCUTCHEON YNOPtlt loons were the "shade of the mooes. Thert were silver spun on his 110111 riding boott, and the wide cuffs of his gauntlet! were embroidered In silver. Be was a handsome fellow of the they Uok with than iciada Carter, j type described as dashing. Dark, gleam feto..tttJliy-.,1tV!ta eye Pred out beneath thick, was devil f a fellow tad was prosd" of It. While he was affable, there wu as disguising the fact that ha waa also condescending. Unquestionably he was arrogant, domineering, even pompons at tinea, absolutely sure ef himaetf, A lordly - feBew, decided Kenneth, and forthwith took ft keen dislike for him. Nevertheless. It waa not difficult to account for Viola's Interest in him; nor, te a certain extent! the folly which led her to undertake the eiplolt of the night before. Barry Lapelle would have his way with women, ,'; .'Ton come from Kentucky.. Mr. J wynne," Lapelle was saying. "I am from Louisiana. My father came np to St. Louis a few years ago after establishing es-tablishing a line of st-Minhats between ttOtXXFJZ. Ktaaath Owyaae wee pee year old la tha sprint ef till wim ma ratnar raa away treat . with Raohel Carter, a wldaw. heart. His arandparaats brought him IS to aate tha ai Taa aril woman.' aama of Kashel Garter. CHAPTER L KeaMta. now a youaa lawyer, aaaka lodglns tar tha night at tha farm ef Phlnaaa Striker, aaar Lafayatte, lad. It appears that Kan's lather has recaatly died and that ha la hta way to take pesaaaaion ar x-aalvo x-aalvo laada he haa Inherited. Tha trlkara bourht thair (arm of- Kan'l lather and a mortare runs to his fa- aara wiaow tne Haanej vjariar. aatlful Blnateen-year-oia airi, who are aha anew hia lathar wen ana rtase te nive her name, la visiting Strikers. Kaa la much latarastad her. - 1 CHAPTER IT. In tha morning tha Ctrl is gone. Strlkar tails Kaa aha waa planning to elopa with Barry Lapalle And her mothar cama la tha night and look her home. Aa Kaa soea on hla ray Striker telle him: "That girl waa ml Am i' h a trur kiU-aliter." Tee, that would "Be Ttachel Carter's louse," he continued, harshly. "Her land and my land lying tide by side, with only a fence between" Her grain and my grain growing out of the same oil. What an unholy trick for fate to , . play. - Perhaps she Is over there,, even now. She and Viola, It Is not likely that they would have started for town at an earlier hour than this. And to think of the damnable situation I shall And In town." " ' And so they rode again, at times breaking Into a smart canter where the road was solid, bnt for the most pert proceeding with Irksome slowness through the evil slough. Ahead lay the dense wood they were to traverse before be-fore coming to the town. Suddenly Zachariah called his mas- ..: ter's attention to a horseman who rods swiftly, even recklessly, across the fields to their left and well ahead of them. They watched the rider with In terest, struck by the furious pace be was holding, regardless of consequences conse-quences either to himself or Ms steed. "Muf be somebody pow'ful sick, Ifarse Kenneth, fo' dat man to be rldln' so fas'," remarked Zachariah. "Going for a doctor, I sup Begad, he must have come from Rachel Car- - ter's farm ! There Is no other houss In sight over in that direction. I wonder won-der If" He did not complete the sen- tmnta hnt fmurnail intlnmlf hi looked over his shoulder at the dlatant house. - Judging by the manner and the direction direc-tion In which he was galloping, th rider would reach the main road a quarter of a mile ahead of them, about at the point where It entered the wood. Kenneth now made out an nnfenced wagon road through tbe-fleld, evidently short cut from Rachel Carter's farm " to tbe highway. He permitted himself a faint, sardonic smile. This, then, eras to be her means of reaching tbt highway rather than to use the lane , that ran past his house and, no doubt, Sure enough, the horseman turned Into the road some distance ahead of them and rode straight for the forest : Then, for the first UmecOwynne observed ob-served a second rider, motionless at the , roadside, and la the shadow of the towering, leafless trees that marked the portal through which they must enter , the forest. The flying horseman slowed down as he neared thla solitary figure, a - ' .-All. L - V a. n A aIi A.I coming to a sianusuu worn u icni ala aide. A moment later, both riders were cantering toward the wood, apparently ap-parently Id excited, earnest conversation, conversa-tion, A few rods farther on, both tamed to look over their shoulders at the slow-moving traveler. Then tbej ' stopped, wheeled about and stood still awaiting their approach, Kenneth experienced . a poignant thrill of apprehension, wnai-waa ne expect: a friendly or a sanguinary encounter. en-counter. He slipped his right hand Inte .-jU. m.tra and fnrth a nla- tol which he shoved hasrtly into hit waistcoat, covering the stock with thi folds of his cape. - "Keep a little way behind me," hi said to his servant, a trace of excitement excite-ment In his voice. "Yes, .suh," said Zachariah, with more alacrity than valor, the whites oi his eyes betraying something more thus a readme to oley this conservative order. It was a foregone conclusion that Zachariah would turn tali and flee the Instant there wan sjgnof danger. When not more thnn Wtj yards sep arated the two partlns. one of the men, with a. word and an Imperative Jerk ot the head to his companion, advanced slowly to meet Kenneth. Ttitrman wat the one who had waited for the othei it the edge of the wood. Gwynne beheld a toll, strongly-bull! jming man, who rede his horse with the matchless grace of an Indian. Al-thoueh Al-thoueh his ' companion was roughly ... dressed and wore coonskln cap, this man was nnmlatakubly dnndy. H11 high beaver hat observed a Jaunty, rakish tilt ; his hrscs-buttoned coat was the color of wine and of the Istest . bion, m-JUIJ 'hJs .sjiui BUiM T.BnL- black eyebrows, which met In an un broken line above his nose. Set In face of unuHual pallor, they were ne doubt rendered superlatively brilliant by contrast. Hla skin waa singularly white above the bluish, freshly-shaven cheeks and chin. His hair waa black and long and curling. The thin lips, aet and unsmiling, were nevertheless drawn up slightly at one corner of the mouth in what appeared to be s per mnnettt stamp of superiority and dis dain, or even contempt Altogether, a most striking face, thought Gwynne, and the man himself a person of tnv portsnce. "Good morning," ssld this lordly gentleman, gen-tleman, bringing his horse to a standstill stand-still and raising his "gad" to the brim ef his hat In a graceful salote. Gwynne drew rein alongside. He had observed in a swift glance that the stranger wss apparently unarmed, except ex-cept for the short, leather gad. "Good morning," he returned. "I am pon his maarers fiSK nff NceTVtng o , answer te a thrice repeated tueav tlon, fell Bllent Ttte first log cabin' they Bid. seen since entering the wood nestled among the scrub oaks sf the hill kerd by. The front wall of rhe hut was literally liter-ally covered with the pegged-up skins of, foxes, raccoons And what were described de-scribed te Kenneth as the hides ef "tlnxea," but which. In reality, were from the catamount. A ttU. be-whiskered be-whiskered man, smoking corncob pipe, leaned upon the rati fence, regarding re-garding the strangers wltb ' lesy Interest In-terest Kenneth, drew rein and Inquired how far It waa te Lafayette. -Bout two mile an' s hslt" replies! "I Am en th Right Road te Lafayette, I Take It" on the right road to Lafayette, I take itr "Ton are," said the ether. Trom Cra wf ordsvllle way V -..... "Tea. I left that place yesterday. 1 come from afar,- however. Ttls Is a strange country to me." "It Is strange to most ef us. Unless I am mistaken, sir, you are Ur Kenneth Ken-neth Gwynne." The ether smiled. -"My approach ap- Terre Haute and the gnlt Two of our company's boats come aa far north as Lafayette, so I spend considerable of my time there at this season of the year. I understand yon hsve spent several years In the East st college and In pursuit of your study of the law." "Principally In New Tork and Phila delphia," responded the other, subduing subdu-ing a arolle. "My fame seems to hsve preceded me, Mr. Lapelle. The farmer wltb whom I spent the night wss thor oughly familiar wltb my affairs." "Ton are an object of Interest to every one In this section," said Lapelle, Indifferently. "Where did you spend the night r "At the farm of a man named Striker Phlneaa Striker." Lapelle started. Ilia body appeared to stiffen In the saddle. "Phlneas Strlkerr he exclaimed, with a.awlft searching look Into the speaker's eyes. Suddenly a flush man tled his cheek. "You were at Phlneas Striker's last night V "Tea. We bad loat our way and came te hla place Just before the storm," said Kenneth, watching hla companion narrowly. nar-rowly. Lapelle's face waa a study. Doubt, Indecision, even dismay, were expressed In swift succession. Then you must hsve met but no. It Isn't likely." he said. In some confusion. con-fusion. Kenneth hesltsted a moment, enjoy ing the other's discomfiture. Then fee said: "I met no one there except my sister, who also happened to be apend-Ing apend-Ing the night with the Strikers." The color faded from Lapelle's face, leaving It a sickly white. "Were yon in any way responsible for well, for her departure, Mr. Gwynne T he demanded, de-manded, hla eyes flaming with swift, sudden anger. i "I was not aware of her departnrs until I arose thla morning, Mr. Lapelle. Striker Informed me that ahe went away before aunrlae." , For a moment Lapelle glared at him auspiciously, and then gave vent to a contemptuous laugh. "A thousand apologies," he said, ahruggtag his shoulders. "I might have known you would not be consult ed." "I never laid eyes on my half-sister until last night" said Kenneth, deter mined to hold his temper. "It is not likely that she would have asked the advice of a total stranger, Is it? Especially Es-pecially In so simple a matter as going borne when she felt like It" , Lapelle shrugged his shoulders again. "I quite forgot that you are a lawyer, Mr. Gwynne," he said, drily, "la It your purpose te hang out your ahingle In the town of Lafayetter "My plana are Indefinite." "You could do worse, I assure you. The town la bound to grow. It will be an Important town In a very few years." And so the subject uppermost In the minds of both waa summarily dismissed. ... ...... They came at last te the point where s road branched; off ts the right- "Follow this road," said Lapelle, pointing atralght ahead. "It will take yon Into the town. . I must leave yoq here. I shall no doubt see yon at John-eon's John-eon's Inn,- In case you Intend to' stop the msn. "My name Is Stain, Isaac Stain. I reckon yon must be Mister Kenneth Gwynne. I heerd you'd be along this way some time this morn-tnV morn-tnV ; I suppose Mr. Lapelle Informed yon that I waa arming along behind," . said Kenneth, smiling. ! "Twuxn't Bsrry Lspelle aa told me. ' I hain't seen him todsy." " I "I met him back along the road. He waa coming this way." - .- 1 "There hain't no other road. 1 reckon he turned off Into the wood t an' towed you to pass," Bald Air. Stain slowly. "But he was In great haste to reach town. He may have passed when you were not" "He didn't pass this place unless he wss astraddle of an eagle er some-thin' some-thin' like that," declared the other, grinning. "I guess he took to the woods, Mr. Gwynne, for one reason er "nother, an' It roust ha' been a mighty good reason, 'cause from what I know about Barry Lapelle be allua knows which way he's goln' to leap long before be-fore he leaps. He's sqrter like s painter paint-er to that way." .-, - "It Is very strange," he said, frown ing. 1 It was suddenly revealed to him that If Lapelle had tricked htm It waa because the messenger had brought word from Viola, at the farmhouse, and that the baffled lovers might even novr be laying, fresh jrtanejio outwit fhe girl's mother. This fear was Instantly In-stantly dissipated by the next remark ef Isaac Stain. "Nope. It wusn't him thst told me about you, partner. It wus Vloly Owyn. She went by here with her ma, Jea as 1 wna startln' off te leek it my .t ttspavlonc , about seven e'dock, t reckon headed for town. She ses to me sen she: Ike, there'll be S young man an a darky boy come rldln' this way some time this forenoon fore-noon an' I want yen te give hla s message for me.' Wlth pleasure,' ses I anything yon ask, ses L 'Well,' ses she, It's thla. raat you ak him f his name Is Kenneto Gwynne, an' ef he ses it Is, then yen look en' see mt ha la a tall feller an' very good- lookln', without n beard, sn' wearin' a hlna eane. an' when yon see that ha answers that description, why, you tell him to come an' see me as soon as he gits te town. Tell him It's very Important' 'All right' ses I. TU tell "Where was her mother all thla timer "Settln' right there In the buggy beside her. holdln the relna. Where else would she ber "Did ahe say anything about my coming com-ing te see her daughter r "Nod. She don't talk mucn, anr don't You see, she's In mournln' fer her husband. I guess be wus your pa, wusnt bet". .'. - nres'-.Bald Kenneth briefly. "She wants me to ?J'jlwJ0,ll,,r "I reckon so." "Well, I thank yon Mr. Stain, You are very kind to have waited ae long for me to arrive. I" "Oh, Fd do s whole lot more'n that fer her," aald the hunter quickly. "You see, I've knowed her ever since slw wus knee-high to s duck. She wuxn i moro'n Ave or si when I brung her her folks ud the Wabaah in m peroRiMv all the way from Vlncennea, an' It wus me that took her down to St. Louis when she went off to school Iter an' some friends, of her pa a "Skinny, gangling ort of a young uh xhe wus. hut let me telj. yjMIsjrnirtj as s plcter. I alius said s&iTbe e pqrtleat woman la all creation when ahe got her growth an' filled eat an, by hokey, X wus right Got te be mevln' along, have you? Well, ges by, an' .be a Mttle keerful when yen come to Dnrkee'i run bridge. It's kinder wobbly." - ' ? rv They were fording a creek sesse , distance beyond Stain's cabin when Kenneth broke the silence that bad followed the conversation wltb the hunter by exploding violently: , "Under ne circumstance end that's all there Is to it I cannot go to that woman's house. It Is unthinkable." They progressed slowly np a long hill and came to an extensive dear Ing. over which perhaps half a doaea farmhouses were scattered. , Beyond this orw-n space they entered a narrow ,strlp ef wood and, upon emerging, bad their first glimpse of the Wabaah river. Stopping at the brow of the hill, they looked, long and rariouatry eves the valley Into which they were about t descend. The panorama was mat alflcent To the left flowed the swollen, swol-len, turgd river,: high among the willows wil-lows and sycamores thst guarded the low-lying bank, L er to the north It eould be seen, a day lab, ugly monster, mon-ster, crawling down through the heart of jhe bowl-like digression. , (To be continued) - 9 - Crser.land. 7 - lrnttnn1 has been explored by a number of hieti, among whom sro. ll.tss, IngUfleld. De Haen, Kane, Uayes. Hnl.Gretly. '.Peary and Nan-sen. Nan-sen. Knnsen crossed fjwn sea to sea In 18R8, and Peary In 1802, and In 1805 again crossed the Ice-cap, asesf talnlng the Insular character of tha continent. Various other explorations ef the coast line have been conduded. 4 rlrt 'J M lw ar " -v A1 vi A . aaaaaBBBBni pears to be fairly well heralded. Were I a vain person I should feel highly complimented." "Then you are Kenneth Gwynne T said the stranger, rather curtly. "Yea. That la my name." "Permit me to make myself known to you. My nsiue Is Lapelle Barry Lapelle. La-pelle. While mine no doubt Is unfamiliar unfa-miliar to you, yours is well known to me. In fsct it Is known to every one In these parts. You have long been expected. You will And the town anxiously anx-iously awaiting your appearance. I am on my way to town, Mr. Gwynne, so If you do not mind, I shall give myself the pleasure of riding along with you for a abort distance. , I ahall have to leave you soon, however, ss I am due In the town by ten o'clock. You are too heavily laden, I see, to travel at top speed and that Is the way I am obliged to ride, corse the luck. When I have aet you atralght at the branch of the roads a little way ahead, I shall use the spurs end tee you later on." "You are very kind. I will be pleaaed te have you jog along with CHAPTER IV Barry Laps lie. 80 thla was Barry Lapelle. This was the wild rake who might yet become hla "brother-in-law, and whose sprightly enterprise had been frustrated by s womun who had, herself, stolen away In the dark of a far-off night As they rode slowly along, side by side, Into the thick of the forest, Kenneth Ken-neth found hlmwlf studying the lover's fsce. He looked for signs of the reckless, reck-less, dissipated life he waa supposed to have led and found them hot. La-.yiiii'i La-.yiiii'i i'M n-en brlzht and-clear, his skin unblemished, his hand steady, hid Infrequent smile distinctly engaging. The slight, disdainful twist never left the corneT of his mouth, however. It lurked there ss s conitnnt reminder to sll the world thsMie.. Barry Lunelle. "the Went by Here With Her Ma," r I 1 cJyLis C ( & an 1 - I, 1 s t ' :- 1 . Insist on gutting 4 m 9 "m 8,. there. Good morning, sir." He lifted his hat and, touching the spirited mare with the gad, rode swiftly swift-ly away. A few hundred feet ahead he overtook his mud-spattered friend and the two of them were soon lost to sight among the trees. Kenneth fell Into a profound cogtta tlon. Evidently Lapelle had waited at the. edge of the forest for a report of some description from the farmhouse belonging to Rachel Carter. In all prob ability Viols waa still at the farm with ber mother, and either she had sent s message to her lover or had received one from him. Or waa It possible Lapelle La-pelle had dispatched his roan to' the farmhouse to ascertain whether the girl was there,' er had been hurried on Into the town by her mother. In any caae, the disgruntled lover wss not content con-tent to acknowledge himself thwarted or even discouraged by the miscarriage of Ms plans for the night Just ended. Kenneth found himself wondering If the Incomprehensible Viola would prove herself to he equally determined. If so, they would triumph over opposition opposi-tion and be married, whether or no. He was conscious of sn astounding, almost unbelievable desire to stand v.lth Rachel Carter la her hour of trouble. Ilia thoughts went back, aa they had done more than once that morning, morn-ing, to Viola's artful account of his " own 'father.- Ile-had tlteorrj,fpr her during snd after the recital snd now, with the truth revealed to him, he wss even mote concerned than br fore for be ssw unhapplnes ahead of her If ahe married this fellow Lapelle. La-pelle. He went even farther back and recalled hla own caustic opinions of certain young rakes he bsd known In the Eat wherein hejisd Invarlsbly asseverated thslf lie "had a sister he would sooner se her lal than married to thst rascal." Well -here he waa with, a sis:er-and what was he to do about it? Zachariah, observing the dark frown x n r r h.'t f .iwwyj vv mi m Jimi m tklnaa have made It wesatWe ter us to olve you this 20 reduotlon onTiisedot 1. A res) Motion In the seat of Kentucky Burley tobaooo and In paokago ana tertale, aa weH. ' t. The oonaolldatlon of three of our beg plants Into one. (Mr. ford may net be In the tobaooo business but he la right about ooneolldatlon.) ; Tuxedo laalwaye ratSH. Every paokaoo le I Ouaxrtuiteed Vy. in vaa .--v r ) |