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Show I THE HOUSE OFll A THOUSAND CANDLES By MEREDITH NICHOLSON Aulbor of "THE MAIN CHANCE," ZEIDA OAHEKON," Etc. Cupjllalit 1N6 Lj Uubbt-Marrlll Co. CHAPTER XVI. Continued. "Prny do not troublo about It, Sis-tor Sis-tor Theresa. Thoro oro a good mnny things nbout my grandfather's affairs that I don't understand, but I'm not going to sco nn old frlond of his swindled. swin-dled. There's moro In all this than appears. My grandfather seems to havo mislaid or lost most of his nssots boforo ho died. And yot ho had tho reputation of bolng a protty cautious business man." "Tho Impression Is nbrond, ns you must know, thnt your grandfnthor con-, ccnled his fortuno beforo his death. Tho pcoplo horcobouts bcllovo so; nnd Mr. Plckorlng, tho executor, has boon unnblo to trnco It." "Yes, I bollovo Mr. Pickering hns not boon nblo to solvo tho problem," I said and laughed. "But, of course, you nnd ho will cooperate co-operate In an effort to find tho lost property." Sho bent forward slightly; hor oye3, ns thoy met nilno, examined mo with a keen Interest. "Why shouiun 1 1 uo irnnK witn you, Sister Thoresn? I hnvo every reason for bollcvlnB Arthur Pickering n scoundrel. Ho docs not enro to co-opornto co-opornto with mo In searching for this monoy. Tho fact Is that ho Is very much wishes to ollmlnnto mo ns a factor fac-tor In tho settlement of tho cstato. I spenk carefully; I know oxactly what I am saying." Sho bowed hor head slightly nnd wns silent for a moment, Tho sllcnco was tho moro marked from tho fact that tho hood of hor habit concealed hor fnco. "What you sny Is very Bcrlous." "Yes, nnd his offonso Is equally bo-rlous. bo-rlous. It may scorn odd for mo to bo saying this to you when I am a stranger strang-er when you mny bo pardoned for having no vory high opinion of mo." Sho turned hor faco to mo It was singularly gcntlo and refined not a faco to nssoclnto with an Idea of self-scoklng self-scoklng or duplicity. "I sent for you, Mr. Qlonnrm, bo-cnuso bo-cnuso I had a vory good opinion of you; becauso, for ono reason, you nro tho grnndson of your grandfather1' and tho frlondly light In hor gray eyes drovo away any lingering doubt I mny havo had ns to hor slncorlty. "I wished to warn you to havo a care for your own safety. I don't warn you ngalnBt Arthur Plckorlng nlono. but against tho countryside Tho idea of a hlddon fortuno Is alluring; n mysterious mys-terious houso nnd n lost troasuro mako n vory enticing combination. I fancy Mr. Glonarm did not rcaltzo that ho was creating dangors for tho pcoplo pco-plo he wished to help." Sho was silent ngnln, hor oyes bent meditatively upon mo. Ttcn sho spoko abruptly. "Mr. Pickering wishes to marry my nloco." "Ah, I havo beon waiting to hear that. I am exceedingly glad to know thnt ho hns so noblo nn ambition. But Miss Dovoroux Isn't encouraging him, as near ns I can mnko out. Sho refused re-fused to go to California with his party I happon to know that." "Thnt wholo Cnllfornla oplsodo would havo beon nmuslng If It had not beon ridiculous. Marian novor hnd tho slightest Idea of going with him; but sho Is Bometlmos n littlo shall I say porvorso? " "Ploaso dol I Uko tho word and tho quality!" " And Mr. Pickering's rather elaborate elab-orate mothods of wooing " "Ho's ns heavy as lead!" I doclarod. " Amuso Marian up to a cortnln point; thon thoy annoy hor. Ho has Implied protty strongly that tho claim against mo could bo easily adjusted if Marian mnrrles lilm. But sho will novor marry him, whothor sho bonoflts by your grnndfnthor's will or howovor that mny bo!" "I should say not," I doclnrcd with n warmth thnt caimod SlBtor Theresa to sweop mo with thoso wondorful gray oyes. "But first ho oxpecta to find this fortuno nnd endow Miss Dovoroux with it. That Is n part of tho schomo. And my own lntorcut In tho ostnto must bo eliminated boforo ho can bring that condition nbout. But, Sis-.tor Sis-.tor Thoresn, I nm not so easily got rid of as Arthur Pickering imagines. My staying qualities, which woro always al-ways weak In tho eyes of my family, havo boon braced tip a trlflo." "Yes." I thought pleasuro and hopo woro oxpresBod in tho monosyllnblo, and my honrt warmed to hor. "Sister Theresa, you and I nro understanding un-derstanding each other much bettor than I imagined, wo should" and wo both laughed, feeling a roal sympathy growing botweon us." "Yos, I bcllovo wo nro" and tho smllo Hghtod hor faco again. "So I can toll you two things. Tho first Is thnt Arthur Plckorlng will novor find my grandfnthor's lost fortune, for-tune, assuming that any exists. Tho second is that in no ovont will ho marry your nioco." "You speak with a good deal of con-fldonco," con-fldonco," sho said nnd laughed a low, murmuring laugh. 1 thought thoro was relief In It. "But I didn't supposo Marian's Ma-rian's affairs Interested you." "They don't, Sister Theresa. Her affairs nro not of tho slightest Importance Import-ance but sho Is!" Thero wns frank Inquiry In her oyes now. "But you don't know her you hnvo missed your opportunity." "To ho sure, I don t know hor; but I know Olivia Gladys Armstrong. Slio's n particular friend of mine wo hnvo chnued rnbblts together, and bIio told mo a great deal. I havo formed a very good opinion of Miss Devcreux In that way. Oh, that noto you wroto about Olivia's intrusions beyond tho wall! I ought to thank you for it but I really didn't mind." "A noto? I novor wroto you a noto until to-day!" "Woll, somo ono did!" I said, then sho smiled. "Oh, that must havo beon Marian! Sho was always Olivia's loyal friend and apologist." "I should say so." "But you shouldn't hnvo known Olivia It Is unpardonnblo! If sho played tricks upon you, you should not havo taken ndvnntngo of them to mako her acquaintance. That wasn't fair to mol" "I supposo not! But I protest against this deportation. Tho landscape land-scape hereabouts Is only so much sky, snow nnd lumber without Olivia." "Wo miss hor, too," replied Sister Thorcsa. "Wo havo less to do!" I went homo and studied tho timetable. time-table. CHAPTER XVII. Golden Butterflies. If you aro ono of thoso captious pcoplo pco-plo who must verify by tho calendar I Swung Myself Out Upon the Limb of a Big Maple. every now moon you read of In a book, and if you aro pained to discover tho historian lifting anchor and spreading snll contrary to tho reckonings of tho nautical almanac, I bog to call your attention at-tention to thoso Items from tho tlmo-tablo tlmo-tablo of tho Mid-Western and Southorn Railway for Docombor, 1001: Tho southbound oxpross passed Annnndalo at oxactly G3 minutes after four p. in. It was scheduled to reach Cincinnati at 11 o'clock sharp. This, I trust, Is sufficiently explicit. To tho studont of morals and motives mo-tives I will say a furthor word. I had rosolvod to practlco decoptlon in running run-ning away from Glonarm Houso to keep my promlso to Marian Dovoroux. By leaving I should forfeit my right to any part of my grandfnthor's es-tnto; es-tnto; but of moro Immodlato Import-anco Import-anco was my nbsonco from Glonarm Houso nt this Juncturo, whon tho attacks at-tacks of Morgan and tho strnngo ways of Bates mado It clearly my duty to ronialn. Plckorlng and I woro on-gaged on-gaged in n sharp contest, nnd I was beginning to enjoy It to tho full, but I did not fnltor in my determination to visit Cincinnati, hoping to return without my nbsonco bolng discovered; so tho noxt nfteruoon I began preparing prepar-ing for my Journoy. "Bates, I fear that I'm taking a so-voro so-voro cold nnd I'm going to doso mysolf with whisky nnd qulnlno and go to bod. I shan't want any dinner nothing noth-ing until you sco mo again." I yawned and stretched mysolf with a groan. "I'm vory sorry, Mr. Shan't I call n doctor?" "Not a bit of It, I'll sleop it off and bo as lively as a crlckot in tho morning." morn-ing." At four o'clock I told lilm to carry somo hot wntor and lemons to my rooms; bado him nn emphatic goodnight good-night and locked the door ns hu loft. Thon I packed my ovonlng clothos in a sult-caso. I throw tho bng nnd heavy ulstor from a window, swung mysolf out upon tho limb of a big maple ma-ple and lot it bond mo to its sharpest and thon dropped lightly to tho ground. t I passed tho gnto and struck off toward to-ward tho vlllago with n Joyful sonso of freedom. I renchod the station without Incident nnd waited in the freight shod to knnp out of sight of tho station lonfors until my train drow up, thon qulotly Jumped aboard. I bought a stat In tho Washington I sleeper and nftei supper In tho dining car mado myself comfortablo and dozed nnd dreamed as tho train plunged through tho dark. Tho through passengers about mo wont to bed, nnd I wns left sprawled out In my open section, lurking on tho shadowy frontier between tho known world nnd dreamland. "Wo'ro runnnlng into Cincinnati ten minutes lato," said tho porter's volco. nnd In a moment I wns In tho vestibule vesti-bule nnd out, hurrying to a hotol. At tho St. Botolph I ordered a carrlago nnd broko nil records changing my clothes. Tho tlmo-tnblo Informed mo thnt tho Chicago oxpress left at half-past half-past ono. Thoro was no reason why I should not bo safo at Glennrm Houso by my usunl breakfast hour In tho morning If all went well. To avoid loss of tlmo In returning to tho Rta-tlon Rta-tlon I paid tho hotel chargo and carried car-ried my bag away with mn "Doctor Armstrong's residence? Yes, sir; I've already taken two londs there." Tho carriage was soon climbing whnt semed to bo a mountnln to tho holghts nhovo Cincinnati. To this dny I nssoclnto Ohio's most Interesting city with n lonely carrlago rldo that wa3 as strange to mo ns a trackless Junglo In tho wilds of Africa. And my heart began to perform strango tattoos on my ribs. I wns going to tho houso of n gentleman who did not knov of my existence, to see a girl who wns his guest, to whom I had never, as tho conventions go, been presented. It did not seem half so easy, now that I was woll Inunchcd upon tho advon-turo. advon-turo. I stopped tho cabmnn Just as ho was about to enter an iron gateway whoso posts boro two great lamps. "That's all right, sir. I can drive-right drive-right in." "But you needn't," I said, jumping out. "Walt right here." Doctor Armstrong's rcsldonco was brilliantly lighted, nnd the strains of a .waltz stolo across tho lawn chcorlly. I made a dotour and studied tho houso, seoklng a door by which I could enter without pnsslng the unfrlondly Gibraltar Gib-raltar of n host and hostess on guard to wolco'mo bolated guests. A long conservatory flllod with tropical trop-ical plants gavo mo an opportunity. Promonaders were passing Idly through It and out into another part of the houso by nn exit I could not sco. A hnndsomo, spectacled gentleman gentle-man oponcd a glnss door within a yard of whoro I stood, sniffed tho air and snld to his companion ns ho turned turn-ed back with a shrug Into tho conservatory: conser-vatory: "Thoro's no sign of snow. It Isn't Christmas weather nt all." Ho strolled nwny through tho palms and I Instantly threw off my ul!or and cap, cast thorn bohlnd somo bushes nnd boldly opened tho door nnd entered. Tho ball room was on tho third flour but tho guests woro straggling-down .to supper and I took my stand at tho foot of tho broad stairway and glanced up cnrolossly as though waiting for somo ono. it was a largo nnd brilliant bril-liant company and ninny n lovoly fnco passed mo ns I stood waiting. Tho vory slzo of tho gathorlng gavo mo security, and I smoothed my gloves complacontly. Tho spectacled gontloman whoso Interest In-terest in tho weather had glvon mo a valued hint of tho opon conservatory door, enmo now and stood besldo mo. Ho oven put his hand on my arm with intimate friendliness. (TO 1113 CONTINUED.) |