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Show ZfteUTTIX , Brown JugA at KlLDSPFli 2i 8YNOPSI8. Thomas Ardmore and Henry Malno Brlswold stumble upon Intrigue when tlio rovcrnors of North nnd Soutli Carolina ITS reported to have quarrclod. Orlswold I Miles himself with Barbara Osborne, o f laughter of the governor of South Caro- nna, whllo Ardmore espouses the cause of Jerry Dangerflcld, daughter of tho gov-rnor gov-rnor of North Carolina. Theso two ladles lire trying to nil tho shoes of their fathers, fa-thers, while tho latter are missing. Doth itates aro In a turmoil over ono Applewelght, Apple-welght, an outlaw with Breat political influence. in-fluence. Unawaro of each other's position, posi-tion, both Orlswold nnd Ardmoro sot out to malo the other prosecute Both hnvo Jorces scouting tho border. Orlswold captures cap-tures ApplewelKht, but Jerry llnds him nd takes him to Ardsley. her own prls-ener. prls-ener. Orlswold and Barbara, while Investigating In-vestigating tho outlaw's disappearance, meet Ardmore and Jerry, tho latter ro-veals ro-veals the presence of Applowclght nt Ardslcy. Ardmore arrests a man on his property who says ho Is Gov. Osborno. Meanwhile another man Is arrested as Applewelght by the South Carolina mll-tla. mll-tla. Tho North Carolina mllltla Is called Into action. When Ollllngwatcr, Jerry's Banco, finds that real war Is afoot, ho Decs. CHAPTER XVII. ' On the Road to Turner's. ; , "Who goes there?" i " "A Jug." ? "What kind of a Jug?" 5 i "A little brown Jug from KUdnro." Thus Mr. Thomas Ardmoro tested '; bis pickets with a shibboleth of his 11 own devising. Tho sturdy militiamen of North Cnrnllnn natrnlorl tho north- ern bank of Raccoon creek at mid '; night, aware that riotous flood alono separated them from their foes. ' Tho terraces at Ardslcy bristled with i' the guns of tho First Light battery, while, upon a cot In the wine cellar 0 beneath, Mr. Bill Applewelght, alias Poteot, slept the Bleep of tho Just. He was rudely aroused, however, at 1' one o'clock In tho morning by Ard- more, Cooko and Collins, and taken ; out through tho kitchen to ono of the Ardsley farm wagons. Dig Paul hold tho reins, and four of Cooke's detectives detect-ives were mounted as escort Ardmore, Ard-more, Cooke and Collins were to accompany ac-company tho party as a board of strategy In the movement upon Turner Tur-ner Court House, South Carolina. y Applewelght, tho terror of tho bor- 1 dcr, blinked at tho lanterns that flash-I flash-I P eJ RD0Ut him In the courtyard. Ho 1 'In had been numbed by his imprison-1 imprison-1 '2r ment, and even now ho yielded him- V-' rolf docilely to tho Inevitable. His capture In the first Instanco at Mount Nebo had been clear enough, and he could havo placed his hand on tho men who did It If ho had been free for a couple of hours. This he had pondered over his solacing solitaire as he sat on the case of Chateau Bizet In tho Ardsley wlno cellar; but tho subsequent events had been altogether altogeth-er too much for him. Ho had been taken from his orlginnl captors by a girl, and while tho Ignominy of this was not lost on tho outlaw, his wits had been unequal to tho further fnct, which ho had no ground for disbelieving, disbe-lieving, that this captivity within tho wolls of Ardsley had been duo to a daughter of that very govornor of North Carolina whom ho had counted his friend. "The road between Klldaro and Tur 1 aer's Is fairly good," announced Cooko, j "though wo'vo got to travel four miles to strike it. Griswold ovldontly thinks that holding tho creek Is all there Is of this business, nnd he won't find out till morning that wo'vo crawled round his lino and placed Applowelght in Jail at Turner's, where ho bolongs." "You must havo a good story rendy for tho press, Collins," said Ardmoro. "Tho North Carolina border counties don't want Applewelght Injurod, and Gov. Dangorfleld don't want any harm to come to him you may bo sure of that, or Bill would havo been doing tlmo long ago." "Gentlemen, It was very Impolite of you not to tell mo you woro ready to start!" and Jerry camo briskly from tho side cntranco, dressed for tho saddlo and nibbling a biscuit. "But you aro not to go! I thought that was understood!" cried Ardmoro. "It may have been understood by you, Mr. Ardmoro, but not by mo! I should never forgive myself If, after all tho trouble I have taken to straighten out this little matter, I y should not bo In nt the finish. Will ' ' v you kindly got mo a horso?" Miss Dangerfleld's resolution was not to bo shaken, and a few minutes later tho party moved out from the courtyard. Cooko rodo sovoral hundred hun-dred yards ahead; thon two detectives preceded tho wagon, in which Apple-weight Apple-weight sat on a cross-scat with two more of Cooke's men on a seat Just behind him. Ho was tied and gagged, nnd an old dorby hat (supplied by Paul) had been clapped upon tho sldo of his head at an nnglo that gavo him a Jaunty air belled by his bonds. Thorjgh his tongue was sllouced, hla yes were nt onco eloquent of won- dormont, resignation and Impotent rage. Beside the wagon rodo Miss Jerry Dnngerfleld, alert and con tented. Ardmore and Collins wero Immediately Im-mediately behind her, and sho Indulged In-dulged tho Journalist In somo mild chaff from tlmo to time, to his Infinite In-finite delight, though considerably to Ardmoro's distress of heart; for, though no words had passed botween him nnd Jerry as to tho disgraceful flight of tho adjutant general, yet tho master of Ardsley was In a Jealous mood. Tho moon had left the conspirators conspir-ators to the softer radiance of the stars, but there was sufficient light for Ardmoro to mark tho gcntlo lines of Jerry's face, as sho lifted It now and then to scan tho bright globes abovo. Paul drove his team at a trot over tho smooth road of the estate to a remote re-mote and llttlo-UBed gato on tho southern south-ern side, but still safely removed from tho South Carolina pickets along the Raccoon. "It's all right over there," remarked Collins, Jerking IiIb head toward the creek. "Tho fronting armies are waiting for morning and battle. I sup-poso sup-poso that when wo send word to Grlswold Grls-wold that Applewelght la in a South Carolina Jail It will chango tho scene of operations. It will then bo Gov. Osborne's painful task to danco be- weight down on tho floor of tho wagon, whero ono of them sat on his feet to make sure ho did not create a disturbance. At her own suggestion sugges-tion Jerry dismounted and climbed into tho wagon, where she sat on tho side bonrd, with hor head deeply bowed as though In grief. "Protty picture of a sorrowing widow," wid-ow," mumbled Collins. Ardmoro punched him In tho ribs to mako him Btop laughing. To the quick stop of walking horses ahead of thorn was now added the whisper and creak of leather. "Hollo, there 1" yelled Cooke, wishing wish-ing to tako tho initiative. "Hoy-Ot" answered n voice, and all was still. "Glvo up tho road; we're taking a body Into Turner's to catch tho morning morn-ing train," called Cooke. "Who's dead?" "Ono of Ardmore's Dutchmen. Shipping Ship-ping tho corpse back to Germnny." Tho pnrty ahead of them paused as though debating the case. Tho north-bound party was a blur In tho road. Their horses sniffed and moved restlessly about as their riders conferred. "Glvo us the road!" shouted Cooko. "We haven't much time to catch our train." "Who did you say was dead?" "Karl Schmidt," returned Paul promptly. Ardmoro's heart sank, fearful lest an Inspection of tho corpso should be proposed. But at this moment a wall, eerie and heart-breaking, rose and fell dismally upon tho night. It was Jerry Jer-ry mourning her dead husband, her slight figure swaying back and forth over his body In an abandon of grief. "Do poor vldow sho be mlt us," called out big Paul, forsaking his usual us-ual excellent English for guttural dialect. dia-lect. "Who aro you fellows?" demanded Cooko, spurring his horse forward. The horsemen, to his surprise, seemed Sturdy Militiamen Patroled the Northern Bank of Raccoon Creek. tween law-and-ordor sentiment nnd tho loud cursing of his border constituents. con-stituents. Tho possibilities of this rumpus grow on mo, Ardmoro." "There Is no rumpus, Mr. Collins," said Jerry over hor shoulder. "Tho govornor of North Carolina Is moroly giving expression to his civic prldo nnd vlrtuo." Leaving Ardsley, they followed a dlsmnl stretch of road until they reached tho highway that connects Turner's nnd Klldaro. "It's going to bo morning protty soon. Wo must got tho prlsonor Into Turner's by five o'clock. Trot 'em up, Paul," ordered Cooke. Thoy were all In capital spirits, with a fairly good road beforo them, leading straight to Turner's, and with no expectation of nny troublo In landing land-ing their prisoner snfely In Jail. Thoy woro well Into South Carolina territory now, and woro Jogging on at a sharp trot, when suddenly Cooko turned back and halted the wagon. "Thoro'B something coming wait!" "Maybe Bill's frlonds aro out looking look-ing for him," suggested Collins. Cooko impntlently bado them bo qulot. "If wo're accosted, what shall wo say?" ho asked. "Wo'll say," replied Jerry Instantly, "that ono of tho laborers at Ardsloy Is dead, and that we aro taking his remains re-mains to his wlfo's family at Tumor's. I shall bo his grief-stricken widow." Tho guards already had Apple- to draw back, and ho hoard a volco speak out sharply, followed by n regrouping re-grouping of tho riders at the sldo of tho road. "Wo been to a dance at Turner's, and nlr goln' back homo to Klldaro," camo tho reply. "That seems all right," whispered Ardmoro to Collins. "Thus," muttered Collins, "In tho midst of death we aro In life," and this, renchlng Jerry, caused her to bond over tho corpso at her feet as though In a convulsive spasm of sorrow, sor-row, whereupon, to add color to their story, Paul rumbled off a few consolatory consola-tory sontonces In Gorman. "Give us tho road!" commanded Cooke, and without further parley they started ahead, closing about tho wngon to diminish, as far as possible, tho size of tho caravan. Paul kopt tho horses at n walk, as becamo their sad orrand, and Jerry continued to weep dolorously. Thoy passed the horsomon at a slight rise In tho rolling road. Tho party bound for Turner's moved steadily stead-ily forward, tho horsomen huddled about tho wagon, with Jerry's led horso botween Ardmoro and Collins at tho rear. At tho top of tho knoll hung the returning dnncers, well to tho loft of tho road, permitting with duo respect tho passing of tho funor al party. Ono of them, Ardmoro could havo sworn, lifted his hat until tho wagon had passed. Then somo ono called good night, and, looking back, Ardmoro snw them a dozen men, he Judged regain tho road nnd quietly rosumo their Journey toward Klldaro "Protty peaceable for fellows who'vo been attending a dance," suggested sug-gested Collins, craning his neck to look after them. "Ono follow lifted his hat as wt passed, and I thought" "Well, whnt did you think, Mr. Ard' more?" demanded Cooko Impatiently. "Well, It may seem strange, but 1 thought there wns something about that chap that suggested Grlssy." They paused to allow Jerry to rosumo ro-sumo her horso, and ono of tho do-tcctlvcs do-tcctlvcs Joined In tho conference to venture his opinion thnt tho men they had passed wero In uniform. "Thoy looked like mllltla to mo," and as he was a careful mnn, Cooko took noto of his remark, though ho mado na comment. But as they moved on toward Tur tier's, Ardmoro was still troubled ovoi what had seemed to him tho romnrk-nblo romnrk-nblo Parisian courtesy of tho returning return-ing reveler who had lifted his hat at the corpso passed. Grlssy, ho kept saying over nnd over to himself, was no fool by nny manner of means, nnd he was unnblo to conjecture why the associate professor of admiralty, known to be detached on special duty for tho governor of South Cnroltnn, should bo riding to Klldnre, unless he contemplated some coup of Importance. Impor-tance. Tho stars paled under tho growing light of tho early summer dnwn. Applewelght, Ap-plewelght, with shoulders wearily drooping, contemplated tho nttondlna cortege with tho gaze of ono who sullenly sul-lenly accepts a condition he does not in the least understand. A few early rUcrs saw the strange company enter and proceed to the Jail; but beforo half tho community had breakfasted, Bill Applewolght, the outlaw, was securely locked In Jail In Turner Court House, the seat of Mingo Min-go county, in the state of South Carolina, Caro-lina, and tho Jailer, moreover, was sharing the distinguished captlvo'a thraldom. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |