OCR Text |
Show BBBBBBBBBPiiel.lss.ij.lHHHBBHBBBBBMBB V T if Baa! f I THE HOUSE OFll A THOUSAND CANDLES By MEREDITH NICHOLSON Aulhor ot "THE MAIN CHANCE," ZELDA DAHERUN." Etc. t'opjrltflll IWJ bj Uubbflltnlll Co. CHAPTER XVIII. Continued. "Mr. Glenurm; Mr. Glonnrm;" ho ex-claimed ex-claimed in brokon whlspcrB. "It Is Dates, "What tiavo you dono; what has hap- pened?" I demanded. Ho put Ills hand to his head unccr- -tnlnly and Rasped na though trying to B gather his wits. Ho was evidently dazed by whatever had occurred, and I sprang round und B helped him to a couch. Ho would not Ho down but sat up, Btarlng and pass- Ing his hand over his head. It was rapidly growing lighter, and I saw a purplo and black streak across his B templo wliero a bludgeon of somo sort Uind struck him. "What docs this mean, Dates? Who has been In tlio houso?" B "It was early this morning," ho fnl- torcd, "about two o'clock, I hoard noises In the lower part of tho house. I camo down, thinking likely It was B you, and remembering that you had boon sick yesterday " B "Yes, go an." I Tho thought of my truancy was no balm to my consclcnco Just then. "As I enmo Into tho hall, saw lights In tho library. As you weren't down last night tho room hadn't been lighted at all. I heard steps, and somo ono tapping with a hammer " "Yes; a hammer. Go on!" It was, then, tho samo old story! ,Tho war hod been carried openly Into tho houso, but Hates. Just why Bbould any ono connected with tho conspiracy lnjuro Hates, who stood so near to .Pickering, Its leader? Thn fellow was undoubtedly hurt, thcro wns no nils-taking nils-taking tho wound on his head. Ho spoko with a painful diflleulty lliut was not assumed, I felt Increasingly suro, as ho wont on. "I saw a man pulling out tho books and tapping tho Insldo of tho shelves. Ho was working very fast. And tho next thing I know ho lot In nnothor man through ono of tho casomontB, tho ono thoro that still stands a llttlo open." Ho flinched as ho turned slightly to lndlcato It, and his faco twitched with pain. "Nover mind that; tell tho tost of your story." "Then I ran 'n, grabbed ono of tho big candelabra from tho tablo, and wont for tho nearest man. They wcro about to begin on tho chtmnoy-brcast i It was Mr. aienarm's prldo In all tho houso, and that accounts for my bolng thoro In front of tho fireplace They rather got tho best of mo, sir." "Cloarly; I sco thoy did. You had a hand-to-hand fight with thorn, and bolng bo-lng two to ono " "No; thero wcro two of us, don't you understand, two of usl Tlioro was another man who camo running In from somowhoro, and ho took sides with mo. I thought nt first it was you, sir. Tho robbers thought bo, too, for ono of them yelled, 'Great God; Glen-arm's Glen-arm's como back!' Just llko that, nut It wasn't you, sir, but qulto another Iiperson. "That's a good story so far; and 'thon what happened?" "I don't romombor much moro, ex-opt ex-opt that somo ono soused mo with wator that helped my head considerably, consider-ably, and the next thltoe I know I was staring across tho tablo, thoro at you." "Who woro thoso men, Dates? Speak up quickly 1" My tono was peremptory. Horo was, I folt, a crucial moment In our relations. rela-tions. "Woll," ho began, deliberately, "I dlsllko to mako charges against a follow fol-low man, but I strongly suspect ono of tho men of being" "Yos! Toll tho wholo truth or It will ho tho worso for you." "I vory much fear ono of them wns Ferguson, tho gardenor over tho way. I'm disappointed In him, sir." "Vory good; and now for tho other I ono." "I didn't got my eyes on him. I had closed with Ferguson and wo wero having qulto a lively tlmo of It when tho other ono camo In; thon the man who camo to my help mixed us all up, ho was a very Hvoly person, and what becamo of Forguson and tho rest of It I don't know." Thoro was food for thought In what ho said. Ho had taken punishment In defenso of my property, tho crack on his head was undeniable and I could not abu30 htm or question his veracity with any grace; not, at least, without tlmo for Investigation and study. How-over, How-over, I ventured to ask him ono ques- "If you woro guessing, shouldn't you think It qulto likely that Morgan was tho other man?" Ho met my gazo squarely. "I think It wholly possible, Mr. Glonarm," ho replied at onco. "And tho mi who holpod you who in tlio.dovll was ho?" "DIosb mo, I don't know, slrl Ho disappeared. I'd llko mightily to sco bltn again." "Humph! Now you'd bettor do some-thing some-thing for your head. I'll summon tho village doctor If you nay so." "No; thank you, sir. I'll tako caro of It myself." 'Very well. Now wo'll keep qulot about tills, Don't mention It or discuss dis-cuss It with any one." "Certainly not, sir." Ho rose, stag-goring stag-goring a llttlo from weakness, but crossed to tho broad mantel shelf In tho great chlmney-brenst, rcBted his arm upon It for n moment, passed his hand ovor tho dark wood with n sort of caress, then bent his eyes upon tho floor littered with books, drawings and papers torn from cabinets and nil Bplashcd with tallow and wax from tho candles. Tho daylight had Increased In-creased until tho hnvoc wrought by tho night's visitors wns fully apparent. Tho marauders had mado a sorry moss of tho room, nnd I thought Hates' Hp quivered as ho vlowcd tho wreck. "It would have been n blow to Mr. Glanarm; tho room was his prldo his prldo, sir," Ho wont out toward tho kitchen, and I ran upstairs to my own room. I cursed tho folly thnt had led mo to lenvo my window open, for undoubtedly undoubted-ly Morgan and his now ally, St. Agatha's Ag-atha's gardenor, had taken ndvantngo of It to enter tho houso. Quito likely, too, they had observed my doparturo for Cincinnati, nnd this would undoubtedly un-doubtedly bo communicated to Pickering. Picker-ing. I throw open my door nnd started start-ed back with an oxclamntlon of amazement. A stranger stood nt my chiffonier, between two windows, calmly shaving himself. Ho was clad In n bath gown my own, I saw with fury and ho hummed softly to nlmsolf nB ho seized tho brush nnd applied lather doftly to his upper Hp. Without turning ho nddrcssd mo, qulto coolly and cnsunlly, as though his being thoro wns tho most natural thing In tho world. "Good morning Mr. Glonarm! Itath-or Itath-or damaging ovldonco, that costumo. I "Mr Qlenarm" Whispers. "It Is Bates, Sir." supposo it's tho custom In tho country for gontlomon In ovonlng clothes to go out by tho window nnd return by tho door. You might think tho othor way round preferable" "Larry!" I shouted. "Jock!" "Kick that door shut nnd lock It," ho commanded, In a sharp, sovcro tono thnt I romembercd woll, and Just now wolcomod In him. "How, why and when ?" "Novor mind about mo. I'm horo thrown tho enemy oft for a few days; nnd you may confoss your own sins first, while I climb Into my nrmor. Pray pardon tho Informality " Ho solzcd a broom and begnn work upon a pair of trousers to which mud and brlors clung tenaciously. His coat and hat lay on a chnlr, thoy, too, much tho worso for rough usage Thoro was nover any uso In refusing to oboy Larry's orders, and as ho got Into his clothes 1 gavo him In ns fow wards as possible tho chief lncldonts that had marked my stay nt Glenurm llmieso. Ho continued dressing with euro, helping hlnuwlf to a shirt and collar from my chiffonier nnd choosing with unfailing oyo Iho host tlo In my collection. Now and thon ho nskod n question tersely, or, ngaln ho loughed or sworo dlroly In Gaollc. Whon I had concluded tho story of Pickering's visit, and of tho conversation I ovor-hoard ovor-hoard botween tho exocutor and Hates In tho church porch, Larry whcoled round with tho scarf half tied In his flngors and survoyod mo commlsorat-Ingly. commlsorat-Ingly. "And you didn't rush thorn both on tho spot and havo it out?" "No. I was too much taken aback for ono thing" "I dnro say you wore!" "And for anothor I didn't think tho tlmo rlpo, I'm going to beat that follow, fol-low, Larry, but I want him to show his hand fully boforo wo como to a smash-up. I know as much about tho houso nnd ItH socrots ns ho does that's ono consolation. Sometlmos I dcut't bollovo there's a shilling horo, nnd asnln I'm suro there's a big stake In It. Tho fu.'t that Pickering Is risk Ing so much to llnd what's supposed' to bo hlddon horo Is piotty'falr evidence evi-dence that something's burled on the place." "Possibly, but thoy'ro giving you n lively boycott. Now whero In tho devil hairo you boon?" "Well," I begnn and hesitated. 1 had not mentioned Mnrlnn Dovoreux nnd this did not seem the tlmo for con lldetices of thnt Bort. Ho took n cigarotto from his pi:kct and lighted It deliberately. "Hah! thoso women! Under the terms of your excellent grandfather's will you havo thrown away all your rights. It looks to mo, ns a member of tho Irish bar In bad standing, as though you had delivered yourself up to tho enemy, so far as tho legal situation situa-tion is concerned. How does It strike you?" "If It's known that I ran away for a night, of course " "My Ind, don't dccelvo yourself. Everybody round horo will know It boforo bo-foro night. You rnn off, left your window win-dow open Invitingly, nnd two gontlomon gontlo-mon who meditated breaking In found thnt they needn't tnko tho trouble Ono enmo In through your own room, noting, of course your nbsenco, lot In his friend below, nnd toro up tho placo regrettably." "Yes, but how did you got horo? If you don't mind telling." "It's n short story. Thnt llttlo chap from Scotland Yard, who annoyed mo so much In Now York nnd drove mo to Mexico, for which may ho dwell forover in fiery torment, has novor given up. I shook him on, though, at Indianapolis thrco days ago. I bought a ticket for Pittsburg with him at my elbow. I supposo bo thought tho chaso was growing tamo nnd that tho farthor east ho could urreBt mo tho nearer I should bo to a British consul and tidewater. tide-water. I went nhend of him Into tho station and out to tho Pittsburg Blooper. I dropped my bag Into my section, If that's what thoy call It In your atrocious American language, looked out and saw him comlnp nlong tho platform. Just then tho ca' began to move thoy woro Bhuntlng It about to attneh a sleopor that had boon brought In from Louisville and my carriage, or whatever you call It, wont skimming out of , tho sheds Into a yard whoro ovorythlng scorned to bo most noisy and complex. I dropped off In tho dnrk Just boforo they began to haul tho carrlago back. A long train of empty goods wngonp, freight cars? was Just pulling out nnd I throw my bag into a wagon and climbed nfter It. Wo kept going for Boveral hours, until I was thoroughly lost, thon I took ndvantngo nd-vantngo of n stop nt a placo that seemed to bo tho ond of terrestrial things, got out nnd started across country. I expressed my bag to you tho othor day from a i laco that ro--Jolccd In tho cheering nnmo of Ko-komo, Ko-komo, Just to got rid of It. 1 wnlked Into Annnndalo lato last night, found this medieval marvel through tho kindness kind-ness of tho station master and was rcconnoltorlng with my usual caution when 1 saw a gcntlomnn romantically entering throuEh tho open window." Larry paused to light a fresh cigarette cigar-ette I "You always did havo a way of arriving ar-riving opportunely. Go on!" (TO UK CONTINUED.) |