| OCR Text |
Show TfteLlTTLE BROWN Agi Bjr MEREDITH- mCYmM 8 SYNOPSIS. Thomas Anlmore. bored millionaire, and Henry Mninu Qrlswold, professor In Uio University of Virginia, tuKo trains out of Atlanta, GrlswoUl to Ills college. Ardmoro In pursuit of u ulrl who hnd winked at htm two dnys huforo. as their trains stood opposite ouch other. CHAPTER I. Continued. Prof. Grlswold's eyes wandered repeatedly re-peatedly from his manuscript to tho car celling, then furtively to tho uncompromisingly un-compromisingly averted shoulder and head of the young lady, then back to his lecture notes, until he was weary of tho process. Tho alligator-hide suit-case thrust under the seat boro the familiar label of a SwIbb hotel where Griswold had once spent a week, nnd spoko of tho girl's acquaintance with an ampler world. When Phoebo had brought it forth tho Initials "B. O." in small black letters suggosted Baltimore & unio to unsworn s lazy speculations, whereupon ho reflected that while Baltimore was plausible, the black Bcrvant eliminated Ohio; and as every Virginian knows every other Virginian, Virgin-ian, ho tried. to identify her with Old Dominion fnmily names beginning with O, but without result. He wont out to supper, secured the only remnlnlng tnblo for two, and wns giving his ordor when tho young lady appeared. Sho had donned hor lint, and as she stood a moment In tho entrance, surveying tho lino of tables, her distinction was undeniable. There were but two vacant places In tho car, ono facing Griswold, tho other across tho aisle at a largor tablo where three men were engaged en-gaged in animated discussion. The girl viowed tho prospect with evident disappointment as tho waiter drew out tho vacant chnir at Grlswold's tablo. She carried horself bravely, but wore still n tristo air that touched Grlswold's sympathy. IIo roso, told the waiter that he would b!it at tho other table, and tho girl murmured hor thanks with a forlorn , little smilo as she took his seat. Tho appearanco of Griswold aroused tho Mlssisslpplan to a rcnewnl of the discussion of tho Now Orleans Incident. Inci-dent. IIo was in excellent humor, and hnd carried to tho car a quart bottlo, which he pushed toward Griswold: "As tho governor of North Carolina said to tho governor of South Carolina" Caro-lina" "No, thank you," and ne ho spoke Grlswold's oyos fell upon tho girl, and ho saw annoynnco written fleet-lugly fleet-lugly on her fnce. "Well, sir," tho Mlssisslpplan declared, de-clared, "after you left us awhile ago wo got to talking about Dangorfleld and his trouble with Osborno. Thoro's onicthlng back of this rumpus. You -co, if they lived In tho snmo state . jii might ae Diuit for a fierce rivalry between them. Both of 'em, for example, ex-ample, might have tho senatorial bco In their bonnets; .but cither ono of 'em could make the senate any timo ho plensed. I guess they're tho two biggest men in the south right now. They're too big to be touchy about any small matter; that's why I reckon there's something behind this little rnckot over thero at Now Orleans. No passing remark would send men off that way, so wild that they wouldn't travel on tho same train together. .Why, gentlemen" "Please pass tho salt," interposed Griswold. Tho Misslsslppinn enjoyed the sound of his own voice, which boomed out above tho noise of the train with broad effects of dialect that these types will not bo asked to reproduce. Grlswold's eyes had again met those of tho girl opposite, and thoro was, ho felt, a look of appeal in them. The discussion distressed her, Just ns tho telegrams from New Orleans in tho afternoon pnpers had distressed her, and Griswold began nt onco to entertain enter-tain his tablo companions with his views on a numbor of national political polit-ical Issues that were as vital to Arizona Ari-zona or Wyoming as to the Carollnnn When ho went bnck into the car nt 11 o'clock ho found tho girl and her maid still sitting In their sections though most of tho other berths, including in-cluding his own, had been mado up. Tho train was slowing down, and, wishing a breath of air boforo retiring, retir-ing, lie wont to tho rear platform of i tho sleeper, which was tho last car of tho train. Tho porter had opened the door in tho vestibulo to allow tho brakomnn to run back with his torpedoes. tor-pedoes. The baggage car had developed devel-oped a hot box, and, Jumping out. Griswold saw lanterns flashing ahead where tho trainmen labored with tho sick wheel. The porter vanished, lenving Griswold alone. The train hnd stopped at the edge of a small town, whose scattered houses lay .darkly against tho hills beyond. Tho platform lamps of n station shone a quarter of a mile ahead. Tho feverish steel yielded reluctantly to treatment, und Griswold went forward and wntched tho men at work for a fow minutes, then returned to tho end of tho train. He swung himself into tho vestibule and leaned upon tho guard rail, gazing down tho track toward tho brakoman's lantern. Then he grow Impatient at tho continued delay de-lay and dropped down again, pacing back and forth In tho road-bed behind tho becalmed train. Tho night was overcast, with hints of rain In the air, and a llttlo way from tho roar lights it was pitch dark. Griswold folt suro that tho train would not leave without tho brakomnn, nnd ho wns further reassured by the lanterns of tho trainmen beside the baggage car. Suddonly, as ho reached tho car lyui' tuenpd'. torTptrac hla stepson man. sivrang pp.. BCjuiutnnfys frqm nor, vVh.cro, .ft ful. ,ncctistcdJ hjrn! v ' .'fi"roiKo'n yM'ro'tuG'gbv'nor, nln't y'u?" , "Yes, cejtalnly, my fmnn. What can t do for you?'"' replied Grlswdlfl, Instnntly. ' "I reckoned it wns y'u when y'u fust come out on the platform. I'm app'lnted to toll y'u, gov'nor, that If y'u havo BUI Applowolght arrested In South Chr'llnn, y'u'll got somothlng ono of these dnys y'u won't like. And If y'u try to find mo y'u'll get It quicker. quick-er. Good night, gov'nor." "Good night!" Btnmmorcd Griswold. Tho least Irony had crept into tho word governor ns tho mnn tittered It nnd slipped away Into tho dnrkness. Tho shadows swallowed him up; tho frogs In tho ditch, beside tho track chanted dolorously; then tho locomotive locomo-tive whistled for tho brakomnn, whoso lantern was already bobbing toward the train. As Griswold swung himself Into tho vestibule tho girl who hnd borrowed his newspapers turned nway hurriedly hurried-ly and walked swiftly boforo him to her section. Tho porter, who was gathering her things together, said, ns she paused In the nlslo by hor scat: "Beglnnln' to get ready, Miss Os-bo'n. Os-bo'n. We're gwlno Intti Columbia 30 minutes late all account dnt hot box." Griswold passed on to tho smoking compnrtmcnt nnd nnd lighted n cigar. Ills acquaintances of tho supper tablo had retired, and he wns glad to bo alone with his thoughts boforo tho train reached Columbln. Ho dealt harshly with himself for his stupidity in not having associated tho girl's perturbation over tho breach bctweon tho governor of North Carolina and tho governor of South Carolina with tho Initials on her traveling bag; ho had boon very dull, but It was clear to him now that she wns either tho daughter or some other near relative of Gov. Osborne. In a fow minutes sho would leave tho train nt Columbln. Colum-bln. whore tho governor lived, and, being be-ing u gentleman, he would continue on his wny to Richmond, and thonco to tho university, nnd the Incident would bo closed. But Griswold wns a lawyer, and he hnd an old-fnshioned southern Inwyor'B respect for tho majesty of law. On tho spur of curiosity curios-ity or Impulse he hnd received n threatening messago Intended for tho governor of South Cnrollnn, who, from tho manner of tho delivery of the messnge, had been expected on this train. Griswold nrgucd that tho mnn who had spoken to him hnd been waiting at tho little station near which they had stopped, in tho hope of seeing the governor; that tho waiting wait-ing messonger had taken advantngo of tho unexpected halt of tho train, nnd, further, that Bomo suggestion of tho governor In his own nppenranco hnd deceived the Btrangor. Ho folt tho least bit guilty at having deceived tho man, but It was now clearly his duty to see that tho governor wns advised of tho threat that had been communicated communi-cated In bo untiBiinl n manner. He was pondering whether ho should do this In person or by lottor or telegrnm, when tho rattlo of tho train ovor tho switch frogs in tho Columbia yards brought him to tho point of decision. Tho porter thrust his head Into tho compartment. "Columbia, sab. Yo' berth's all ready, sah. Yo' gwlno f Richmond-yes, Richmond-yes, sah." His hands were filled with tho young lady's luggage. The Iottorlng on tho suit-caso seemed, In n way, to nppeal to Griswold and to fix his determination. de-termination. "Porter! Put my things off. I'll wait hero for the morning train." CHAPTER II. The Absence of Gov. Osborne. Griswold spent tho night at the Saluda house, Columbln, and roso in the morning with every Intention of seeing Gov. Osborne, or somo ono In authority nt his office, as soon os possible pos-sible nnd proceeding to Richmond without further delay. As he scanned tho morning nowspnper at breakfast ho road with chagrin this Item, prominently prom-inently head-lined: "Gov. Osborno, who wns expected homo from tho Cotton Plnntors' convention con-vention yesterdny morning, has been unavoidably detalued In Atlanta by important personal business. Miss Barbara Osborne arrived last night nnd proceeded nt onco to the governor's gover-nor's mansion. "Sovernl matters of considerable Importance Im-portance nwnlt tho governor's return. Among these is tho matter of dealing with tho notorious Bill Applowelght. It Is understood that tho North Carolina Caro-lina ofllclals are unwilling to arrest Applowolght, though his hldlng-placo Is In tho hills on the border near Kll-daro Kll-daro Is well known. Although ho runs back and forth ncross tho stnto lino nt pleasure, ho is n North Cnro-Unlnn Cnro-Unlnn beyond question, nnd It's about timo Gov. Dangorflold took noto of tho fact. However, tho governor of South Carollnn mny be rolled on to net with his usual high sonse of public pub-lic duty In this matter." Prof. Griswold was not pleased to learn that the governor wns still absent ab-sent from the capital. He folt that ho deserved bettor luck after tho trouble he had taken to warn tho Governor;. Itc.wiyppwTuestly.t ho ;hnd no further lectures at Iho univor-'slty univor-'slty until the' fbwltifAMtidny, and after ho had taken his bearings of Columbia, whero It occurred to him ho had -not nn acquaintance, ho walked toward the capltol with a well-formed Idea of seeing tho governor's prlvnto secretary and, if that person np pcarcd to bo worthy of confldcnco, np-prising np-prising him of tho governor's dnngor. It wns not yet nlno o'clock when ho entered tho governor's office. ' IIo wnltcd In tho reception-room, ndjoln-lug ndjoln-lug tho olllclnl chamber, but tho sev- . ornl desks of tho clerical staff ro-malncd ro-malncd unoccupied. Ho chafed n bit ns timo passed and no ono appeared, for his north-bound train left nt 11. nnd ho could not fairly bo asked to wasto tho entire day hero. IIo was pacing the floor, expecting ono of tho. clerks to nppcar at nny moment, when n mnn entered hurriedly, walked ' to tho closed inner door, shook It lmpa-tlontly, lmpa-tlontly, nnd kicked It angrily ns ho turned nwny. IIo wns n short, thick-set thick-set man of 35, dressed in bluo scrgo, and his movements wero quick nnd nervous. IIo growled under his breath and swung round upon Oris-wold Oris-wold ns though to tax him with ro-sponsiblllty ro-sponsiblllty for tho closed door. "Has no ono been hero this morn-lug?" morn-lug?" he demanded, glaring at tho closed desks. "If you don't count mo I should an- swer no," replied Griswold quietly. "Oh!" Tho two gentlemen regarded each other for a momont, contemptuous dislike clearly written on tho smaller man's fnco, Griswold half-smiling and indifferent. "I tun waiting for tho governor," ro- -marked Griswold, thinking to gain VMVJ information. "Then you're likely to wait soma time," Jerked tho other. "Tho whole plnco seems to bo nbandonod. I novor snw such n lot of people" ; "Not having seen them tnysolf, 1 " must reserve Judgment," Griswold ro- a marked, and tho bluo sergo suit flung out of tho room. Presently another figure darkened tho entrance, nnd tho colored servant whom Griswold hnd seen attending Miss Osborno on tho train from At-lnnta At-lnnta swept into tho reception-room nnd, grandly Ignoring his prcsenco, sat down In n chair nearest the closed door of tho Inner chamber. Griswold felt that this was encouraging, ns lm-plying lm-plying somo link between tho govor- t nor nnd his domestic household nnd ho wns nbout to nsk tho colored worn-nn worn-nn If she knew tho business hours of tho ofllco when the closed door opened BMfl nnd Miss Osborno appeared on the threshold. The colored woman roso, AVfl nnd Griswold, who happened to be facing tho door when it swung open with Buch startling suddonncss, starod an instant nnd bowed profoundly. "I beg your pardon, but I wish very VMJ much to see Gov. Osborno or his sec-rotary." sec-rotary." Miss Osborne, in whlto, trailing a wliito parasol In her hand, nnd with white roses In hor belt, still stood hall withdrawn lnsldo tho prlvato office. "I nm very sorry that Gov. Osbornt nnd his sccretnry are both abBont," sho answered, nnd the two tsyod each other gravely. Griswold felt that the brown eyes Into which ho looked had lately known tears; but she hold her head high, with a certain defiance, (TO ne CONTINUED.) |
