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Show Brown Jfi f KILDARI: 3& MEREDITH 'NICgiMHJ 111 1 SYNOPSI8. Tommy Ardmore. Now York millionaire find owner of a Krent cstnto In North Cnrollnu, reaches Atlanta In search of a pretty Klrl who winked at him an their trains Ntood opposite each other two days before. On tho depot platform ha meets his old friend, Harry Griswold, professor In the University of Virginia, on his way north. CHAPTER J Continued. "Not If I endow all tho chairs in the university! You'vo not only got to como, but you'ro going to bo there tho day they arrive" Thomas Ardmore of' New York and Ardslcy struck his heavy Btlck he nlways carried a heavy stick smartly on tho cement platform in the stress of his fooling. Ho was much shorter than Griswold, to whom he was deeply deep-ly attached for whom ho had, lndee.d, I tho frank admiration of a small boy for a big brother. Ho sometimes I wondered how fully Griswold onterod Into the projects of adventure which he, In his supremo idleness, planned and proposed; but ho himself had novor boon qulto ready to mount horso or shake out sail, and what Griswold had said about Indecision rankled In his heart.- Ho was 3orry now that ho had told of this now on-torprlso on-torprlso to which ho had pledged himself, him-self, but he grew lenient toward Grls-wold's Grls-wold's lack of sympathy as he reflected re-flected that the quest of a winking girl was rathor beneath the dignity of a gentleman wedded not merely to tho law, but to tho austere teaching profession as well. In his heart he forgave Griswold, but ho was all the more resolved to address himself stubbornly stub-bornly to his pursuit of the doltyof tho car Alexandra, for only by finding her could ho establish himself In Grls-wold's Grls-wold's eyes as a man of action, capablo of carrying through a scheme requiring cleverness and tact. Ardmore was almost painfully rich, but the usual diversions of the woalth'y did not appeal to him, and, having exhausted ex-hausted forolgn travel, ho spent much time on his cstnto In tho North Carolina Caro-lina hills, where ho could ride all day on his own land, and where he read prodigiously In u huge library that ho had assembled with special reference to works on piracy, a subject sub-ject that had attracted him from early youth. It was this hobby that had sealed his friendship with Griswold, who had relinquished the practice of law, aftor a brilliant start in his native city of Richmond, to accopt the associate professorship pro-fessorship of admiralty In the law department de-partment of the University of Virginia. Vir-ginia. Marino law had n particular fascination for Griswold from its essentially es-sentially romantic character. As a law student he had read all tho decisions de-cisions in admiralty that tho libraries afforded, and, though faithfully serving serv-ing the university, ho still occasionally occasional-ly accepted retainers In admiralty cases of unusual Importance. His lectures lec-tures wore constantly attended by students In other departments of tho university for sheor pleasure In Grls-wold's Grls-wold's racy and entertaining exposition exposi-tion of the laws touching the libeling of schooners and tho recovery of jettisoned cargoes. Henry Malno Griswold was tall, slender and dark, and ho hovered recklessly, as ho might have put It, on tho brink of thirty. He stroked his thin brown mustacho habitually, as though to hide tho smile that played about his humorous hu-morous mouth a smile that lay even more obscurely In his lino brown eyos. Ho did violence to tho academic traditions tradi-tions by dressing with metropolitan care, gray being his prevailing note, though his scarfs ventured upon bold color schemes that Interested his students stu-dents almost ns much as his lectures. The darkest fact of his life and one shared with none was his experiments experi-ments In verse. From his undergrad-urtto undergrad-urtto days he had written occasionally a little song, qulto for his own pleasure pleas-ure in versifying, and to a little sheaf of these things In manuscript he still added a few verses now and then. "Don't worry, Ardy," he was saying to his friend as "all aboard" wna called, "and don't bo reckless. When you get through looking for tho winking wink-ing eye, come up to Charlottesville and we'll plan "Tho True Life of Capt. Kldd" that is Bomo day goings to mako us famous." "I'll wlro you lator," replied Ardmore, Ard-more, clinging to his friend's hand a moment after tho train began to move. Griswold leaned out of tho vestibule to wave a last farowoll to Ardmoro, and Homothlng very kind and gentle and f5QOil to sco shono In tho lawyer law-yer t oyes. Ho went Into tho vcar smiling, for ho called Anlmore itls hOBl frirnd. and ho was amused by his . ' : t last words, which were always Ard-more's Ard-more's last In their partings, and wore followed usually by telegrams about the most preposterous things, or suggestions for romantic adventures, adven-tures, or some nuw hypothesis touching touch-ing Capt. Kldd and his burled treasure. treas-ure. Ardmoro novor wrote letters; he always telegraphed, and ho en-Joyed en-Joyed filing long, mysterious and expensive ex-pensive messages with telegraph operators oper-ators In obscure places where a scrupulous ten words was tho frugal limit. Griswold lighted a cigar and opened tho afternoon Atlanta papers In the smoking compartment. His eyo was caught at once by Imperative headlines, head-lines, It Is not too mucji to say that the oye of the continent was arrested that evening by the- amazing disclosure, disclos-ure, now tardily reaching the public, that something unusual had occurred at tho annual meeting of the Cotton Planters' association at New Orleans on tho previous day. Every copy-reader copy-reader and editor, ovory paragrapher on every newspaper In tho land had smiled and reached for a fresh pencil as a preliminary bulletin announced the passing of harsh words between tho governor of North Carolina and tho governor of South Carolina. It may as well bo acknowledged here that Just what really happened nt tho Cotton Planters' convention will 1 never bo known, for this particular meeting was hold behind closed doors, and as the two governors were honored guests of the association, no member has over brenthed a word touching an incident that all most slnceroly deplored. Indeed,' no hint of It would over have reached the public pub-lic had It not been that both gentlemen gentle-men hurriedly loft the convention hall,' refused to keep their appointments to speak at the banquet that followed tho business meetings, and were reported re-ported to have takon the first trains for tholr respective capitals. It was whispered by a few persons that tho governor of South Carolina had taken n fling at the authenticity of tho Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence; Inde-pendence; It was rumored In other quarters that the governor of North Carolina wns the aggressor, ho having It wns said declared that a people (meaning tho freemen of the commonwealth common-wealth of South Carolina) who were not Intelligent enough to ralso their own hay, and who, moreover, bought that artlclo In Ohio, were not worth the ground necessary for their decent Interment. It Is not the purposo of this chronicle either to seek tho truth of what passed between tho two governors gov-ernors at Nqw Orleans, or to discuss the points of history and agriculture raised in tho statements Just Indicated. Indi-cated. As ovory one knows, tho 20th of May (or was it tho 31st!), 1776, Is solemnly obsorved in North Carolina as the day on which tho patriots of Mecklenburg county sovered tho re lattons theretofore existing botwecn them nnd his mnjosty, King George tho Third. Equally well known Is the fact that In South Carolina It Is an artlclo of religious faith that on that twentloth day of May, 177G, tho citizens citi-zens of Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, cheered tho English flag and adopted resolutions rcnfllrmlng tholr ancient allegiance to tho British crown. This controversy nnd tho Inadequacy In-adequacy of tho South Carolina hay crop muBt bo pasBcd on to tho pamphleteers, pamph-leteers, with such other vexed question's ques-tion's ns Andrew JackBon's birthplace birth-place more debated than Ilouter's and not to bo cnrolessly conceded to tho strutting bohb of Waxhaw. Griswold rend of tho Now Orleans Incident with a smile, while several follow-passengers 'jlscussed It In n tone of banter. One of thorn, n gentleman gen-tleman from Mississippi, presently produced a flask, which he offered to tho others, remarking: "As tho gov-ornor gov-ornor of North Carolina said to the governor of South Carolina," which was, to be sure, pertinent to tho hour and tho discussion, nnd bristling with fresh significance. ' "They wero both In Atlanta thlr morning," said tho man with the flask, "and thoy would have been traveling togother on this train ll they hadn't met In the ticket ofilcc and nearly exploded with rage." Tho speaker was suddenly overcome with his own humor, and slapped Ills knee and laughed; then thoy all lutighcd, Including Griswold. "One ought to havo takon the lower berth nnd one the upper to make it porfect," observed an Alabama man. "I wonder when they'll get homo." "They'll probably both walk to bo Euro thoy don't take the samo train," Lighted a Cigar and Opened the Afternoon Atlanta Paper. suggested a commercial traveler from Cincinnati, who had Just come from New Orleans. "Their friends are doing do-ing their best to keep them npart. They both have a reputation for being quick on tho trigger." "nosh!" exclaimed Griswold. "I daro bay It's all a newspaper story. There's no knlfe-and-plstol nonsense in tho south any more. They'll both go homo nnd attend to tholr business, and that will be tho last or It. The people of North Carolina ought to be proud of Daugerfleld; he's one of tho host governors they over had. And Osborne Is a first-class man, too, one of the old Palmetto families." The discussion had bq jun to boro Griswold, and he went back to his own section, having ll In mind to re vise a lecture he wns preparing on "Tho Right of Search on the High Seas." It had grown dark, and tho car was brilliantly lighted. Thero were not more than half a dozen other persons In his sleeper, and these wero widely scattered. Hnvlng taken an Invontory of hiB belongings to bo suro they were all at hand, ho bo-camo bo-camo conscious of tho presence of a young lady In the opposlto section. In tho sont behind her sat an old colored women In snowy cap nnd apron, who wns evidently tho young ludy'B servant. Griswold was aware that this dusky duenna bristled and frowned and pursed her Upa in the way of her plcturcsquo kind as he glanced at her, as though his pros-enco pros-enco wore an Intrusion upon her mistress, mis-tress, who sat withdrawn to the ox-tromo ox-tromo corner of her section, seeking Its fullest seclusion, with her head against n pillow, and tho tips of hor suede shoes showing under her gray traveling skirt on tho further half of tho Bcctlon. Sho twlrlod Idly In hor Angers ti half-opened white rosobud i tuct unimportant In itself, but dos-tlncd dos-tlncd to linger long lu Urlswold's memory. Tho pillow afforded tho hap-plcst hap-plcst posslblo background for hor brown head, her chenk bright with color, and a profilo clear-cut, nnd Just now nn impression duo, perhaps, to tho slight quiver of her nostrils and tho compression of her lips seemingly disdainful nf tho world. ' Tho black woman roso and minis-tercd minis-tercd to her mistress, muttering in kind monotono consolatory phrases from which "chile" nnd "honey" occa-slonnlly occa-slonnlly reached Grlswold's ears. Tho old mammy produced from n bag scv-cral scv-cral toilet bottles, a fresh handker-chief, handker-chief, a hand mirror nnd a brush, which sho arranged In tho empty seat. "Thank you, Aunt .Phoebo, I'm feel-Ing feel-Ing much better. Just lot mo nlono now, please." Tho girl put asldo the whlto roso for a moment nnd breathed deeply of tho vinaigrette, whose keen, pungent odor stolo across tho alslo to Grls-wold. Grls-wold. Sho bent forward, took up the hand mirror, nnd brushed tho hair away from her forehead with halt a dozen light strokes. Sho touched hor LH handkerchief to tho cologno flask, passed it across her eyos, and then took up tho roso again and settled back with a llttlo sigh of relief. In hor now upright position her gazo rested upon Grlswold's newspapers. which ho had flung down on the empty half of his section. Ono bf thorn had fallen open and lay with its outer page staring with tho bold grin of display typo. TWO GOVERNORS AT WAR1 What Did the Governor of North Carolina Say to the Governor of 8outh Carolina? Tho color deepened in tho girl's faco; a slight frown gathered In hor smooth forehead; then sho called tho colored womnn nnd a brlof colloquy followed between thom. In n moment Griswold was addressed in a tono and manner at onco condescending and jH deferential. "If yo' please, suh, would yo' all 'low my mlstus t' look at yo' nowspapahs?" "Certainly. "Take them along." Griswold noted with surprlso tho girl's immediate absorption in ' tho1 telegrams from Now Orleans relating to tho difficulty between tho two governors. As sho read sho lost, he thought, something of her splendid color, and at ono point In her reading hor faco went white for a moment, nnd Grls- wold saw tho papor wrlnklo under the tightening grasp of hor hands. Tho tidings from Now Orleans had un- doubtcdly aroused her Indignation. She seemed to loso account of her surroundings, nnd soveral times Grls wold wns quite miro that ho heard her half exclaim: "Proposterousl Infa- When she had finished tho Now Or- leans telegrams sho cast tho offend-ing offend-ing newspapers from her, then, recall-lng recall-lng herself, summoned tho black woman, and returned them to Grls-wold, Grls-wold, tho dusky agent expressing the elaborato thanks of her race for his courtesy. The girl had utterly Ignored Griswold, and she now pulled down the curtnln at her elbow with a snap and turned her faco away from him. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |