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Show 'i &K, MEREDITH NIcHMf JfJ! ft I8YNOPSI8. Thomas Ardmore and Henry Malno Brlswold stumble upon Intrigue whonthS lovcrnors of North nnd South Carolina L S fc.fn'i."",?0 f wllh "irbara Osborne, fiSnBwSii-fAUic Kvcr of South Caro- An moro espouses the cause of 'WceF!lXa' auBlitcr of tho gov- ' i"''' wnlle, the latter are mtsslnR. Doth nro ln .,a turmoil over ono Apple- ' A i.rJzl' n", outlaw with creat political In- '1 11 CiCw5awar9,of eocn other's posl- ; ,i,oth.iGr'8Wold nml Ardmoro sot out :, a,0 the other prosecute. Hoth havo ' lCC8 5C0U,tlnB. 1 10 border. Grlswold cap. I id,t,lls. hlnJ to Ardsloy. h6r own prls- S Sf.ri'.9rIsw..,d nnd Unrbara. while In- LCBHeaAlln.B 0,0 outlaw's disappearance, ,1 J1"".1 Ardmoro and Jerry, tho latter ro vealfl the presenco of ApplowclBht nt tJllY:. Ardmore arrests a man on his property who says ho Is Gov. Osbomo. Meanwhile another man Is arrested as i.p,nW.e,Kt Iff ihc Soulh Carolina mil-tin. mil-tin. The North Carolina militia Is called Into notion. When GIlllnBwator, Jerry's Banco, finds that real war Is afoot, ho Decs. CHAPTER XVII. i ' On the Road to Turner's. -1! j' , "Who goes there?" 'A "A 3ug-" Jg "What kind of a Jug?" ' "A little brown jug from Klldaro." '.v Thus Mr. Thomas Ardmoro tested 3 nIs Pickets with a shibboleth of his own devising. Tho sturdy militiamen of North Carolina patroled tho north-'', north-'', ro bank of Raccoon creek at mid- ' night, aware that riotous flood alono separated them from their foes. . Tho torraces at Ardsloy bristled with A . too guns of tho First Light battery, while, upon a cot ln the wine cellar beneath, Mr. Bill Applewelght, alias J Poteot, slept the sleep of tho Just. .M He was rudely aroused, however, at $1 one o'clock In tho morning by Ard- Sjgl more, Cooke and Collins, and taken W out through tho kitchen to ono of tho . Ardsley farm wagons. Big Paul hold . tho reins, and four of Cooke's detect ives were mounted as escort. Ardmore, Ard-more, Cooke and Collins were to accompany ac-company the party as a board of strategy In the movement upon Tur- I ner Court House, South Carolina. v-'J, Applewelght, tho terror of tho bor- I I fj der' bllnkcd at tho lanterns that flash- I I ed about him In tho courtyard. Ho I I !' hnd bcen nurabeu" bv h's Imprison- tr wont, and even now he yielded him- V olf docilely to tho Inevitable. His capture ln the first lnstanco at Mount Nebo had been clear enough, and ho could havo placed his hand on tho men who did It If ho had been freo for a couplo of hours. This ho had pondered over his solacing solltalro ns ho sat on the caso 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 original captors by a girl, and while tho Ignominy of this was not lost on tho outlaw, his wits had been unequal to tho further fact, which ho had no ground for disbelieving, disbe-lieving, that this captivity within tho wnlls of Ardsloy had been duo to a l daughter of that very governor of North Carolina whom ho had counted his friend. "The road between Klldaro and Tur- ( fler's Is fairly good," announced Cooke, , "though wo'vo got to travel four miles to strlko It. Grlswold evidently thinks , that holding tho creek Is all there Is of this business, and he won't And out tin morning that we've crawled round his lino and placed Applewelght ln Jail at Turner's, whero ho belongs." "You must havo a good Btory ready for tho press, Collins," said Ardmoro. "Tho North Carolina border counties don't want Applewelght lnjurod, and Gov. Dangorfleld don't want any harm to como to him you may bo suro of that, or Bill would havo been doing time long ago." "Gentlemen, It was very Impolite of you not to tell mo you woro ready to start!" and Jerry camo briskly from tho sldo entrance, dressed for tho saddle nnd nibbling a biscuit. "But you aro not to go! I thought that was understood!" cried Ardmoro. "It mny have been understood by you, Mr. Ardmoro, but not by me! I should never forglvo myself If, after all tho troublo I havo taken to straighten out this llttlo matter, I Bhould not bo ln at tho finish. Will you kindly got mo a horse?" Miss Dangorflold's resolution was not to bo shaken, nnd a fow minutes Inter tho party moved out from tho courtyard. Cooke rodo sovoral hundred hun-dred ynrds nhend; then two dotcctlvo3 preceded tho wagon, In which Applo-weight Applo-weight sat on a cross-sent with two more of Cooko's men on n seat Just behind him. Ho was tied and gagged, and an old dorby lint (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. Though his tongue was silonccd, his yes were at onco oloquont of won derment, resignation nnd Impotent rage. Besldo tho wagon rodo Miss Jerry Dangerfleld, alert and contented. con-tented. Ardmore and Collins woro Immediately Im-mediately behind her, nnd Bho Indulged In-dulged tho Journnllst ln somo mild chaff from tlmo to time, to his in. finite delight, though considerably to Ardmoro's distress of heart; for, though no words had passod botween him and Jerry as to tho disgraceful flight of tho adjutnnt general, yet tho master of Ardsloy was In a Jealous mood. Tho moon had left the conspirators conspir-ators to tho softer rndlanco of tho stars, but there was Biifllclont light for Ardmoro to mark tho gcntlo lines of Jerry's face, as Bho lifted It now and then to scan tho bright globes abovo. Paul drovo his team at a trot over the smooth road of tho estate to a remote re-mote and llttlo-used gate 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 his head toward tho creek. "Tho fronting armies aro waiting for morning and battle. I aup-poso aup-poso that when wo send word to Grlswold Grls-wold that Applewelght Is ln a South Carolina Jail It will chango tho scene of operations. It will then bo Gov. Osborne's painful task to dance bo- Sturdy Militiamen Patroled the Northern Bank of Raccoon Creek. tween law-and-order sentiment and 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 .lorry over her shoulder. "Tho governor of North Carolina Is merely giving expression to his civic prido and virtue" Leaving Ardsloy, they followed a dismal stretch of road until they reached tho highway that connects Turnor'a nnd Klldaro. "It's going to be morning protty soon. We must got tho prisoner into Turner's by five o'clock. Trot 'em up, Paul," ordered Cooko. Thoy were all in capital spirits, with a fairly good road before them, leading straight to Turner's, nnd with no expectation of any 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's something coming wait!" "Maybe Bill's frionds aro out looking look-ing for him," suggested Collins. Cooko Impatiently bado them bo quiet. "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 ro-mnlns ro-mnlns to his wlfo'a family at Tumor's. I shall bo his grief-stricken widow." Tho guards already had Apple- weight down on the floor of tho wngon, whero ono of them sat on his feet to make suro ho did not croato a disturbance. At her own suggestion sugges-tion Jerry dismounted and climbed Into tho wagon, whore she sat on tho sldo bonrd, with hor head deeply bowed as though in grief. "Pretty picture of a sorrowing widow," wid-ow," mumbled Collins. Ardmoro punched him In tho ribs to mnko him stop laughing. To tho quick Btop of wnlklng horses nhcad of them was now added tho whlBper and crenk of leather. "Hollo, thero!" yelled Cooko, wishing wish-ing to tako tho Initiative. "Hoy-Ol" answered a volco, nnd nil was still. "Glvo ud tho road; we're taking n body Into Turner's to cntch tho morning morn-ing train," called Cooko. "Who's dead?" "Ono of Ardmore's Dutchmen. Ship ping tho corpse hack to Germany." Tho party ahead of them paused ns though debating tho caso. 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 nt this moment a wall, eerlo and heart-breaking, rose and fell dismally upon tho night. It was Jerry Jer-ry mourning her dend 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 Pnul, forsaking his usual us-ual excellent English for guttural dialect. dia-lect. "Who nro you fellows?" demanded Cooko, spurring his horso forward. The horsemen, to his surprise, seemed to draw back, and he hoard n volco speak out sharply, followed by a regrouping re-grouping of tho riders at the sldo of tho road. "Wo been to a dance nt Tumer'B, and air goln' back homo to Klldnro," camo tho reply. "That seems nil right," whlspored Ardmoro to Collins. "Thus," muttered Collins, "In tho midst of death we aro In life," and this, reaching 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 sentonces in German. "Give us tho road!" commanded Cooke, nnd without further pnrley they started ahead, closing about tho wngon to diminish, as far ns possible, tho size of tho caravan. Pnul kept tho horses nt a walk, as becamo their sad errand, and Jerry continued to weep dolorously. They passed tho horsemen at a slight rise in tho rolling road. Tho party bound for Turner's moved stead-ily stead-ily forward, tho horsomen huddled nbout tho wagon, with Jerry's led horso botween Ardmoro and Collins nt the rear. At tho top of tho knoll hung tho returning dancers, well to tho loft of tho road, permitting with duo respect tho passing of tho funor-al funor-al party. Ono of them, Ardmoro could havo sworn, lifted his hat until tho wagon had passed. Thon somo ono called good night, and, looking back, Ardmoro snw them dozen men, he Judged regain tho road and "quietly rosumo their Journey toward Klldnro "Pretty peaccablo for follows who'vo been attending n dance," suggested sug-gested Collins, craning his neck to look nfter them. I "Ono follow lifted his ht ns wt I pnssed, and I thought" "Well, what did you think, Mr. Ardmore?" Ard-more?" demnnded Cooko lmpntlently. "Well, It may seom strange, but 1 thought thero was something about that chap that suggested Grlssy." Thoy paused to allow Jerry to ro-sumo ro-sumo her horBc, and ono of tho do-tcctlvcB do-tcctlvcB Joined In tho conferenco to venture his opinion that tho men thoy had passed wore In uniform. "Thoy looked like mllitln to mo," nnd ns he was a careful man, Cooko took nota of his remark, tlirmph tin comment. But ns they moved on toward Tur tier's, Ardmoro waB still troubled ovor what had seemed to him tho remark-nblo remark-nblo Parisian courtesy of tho returning return-ing roveler who had lifted his hnt a( the corpso passod. Grlssy, ho kepi saying over and over to himself, waa no fool by any manner of means, nnd ho wns unablo to conjecture why tho nssoclato professor of admiralty, known to bo detached on special duty for tho governor of South Cnrollnn, should bo riding to Klldaro, unless he contemplated somo coup of Importance. Impor-tance. Tho stnrs paled undor tho growing light of tho enrly summer dnwn. Applewelght, Ap-plewelght, with shoulders wearily drooping, contemplated tho attending cortege with tho gazo of ono who sul-lonly sul-lonly accepts a condition ho does nol In tho least understand. A fow early risers saw tho strange company enter and proceed to the Jail; but before half tho community had breakfasted, Bill Applewelght, the outlaw, wns HOCMirnlv Wlrml In tnll In Turner Court House, tho seat of Mingo Min-go county, In tho Btnto of South Carolina, Caro-lina, and tho Jailor, moreover, was sharing tho distinguished captlvo'a thraldom. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |