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Show THE MAKER OFMOONSj 1 ROBERT W. CHAMBERS I Illustrations by J. J. Sheridan j & $KJXSXSXJSS$ (Copyright, G. P. Putnam's Sons.) "What about the sntpe, David," 1 asked; "the meadows should be in good condition." "There is not a snipe on the meadows, mead-ows, sir," said David, solemnly. "Impossible," exclaimed Barris, "they can't have left." "They have, sir," said David, in a sepulchral voice, which I hardly recognized. rec-ognized. We all three looked at the old man curiously, waiting for his explanation of this disappointing but sensational report. David looked at Howlett and Howled How-led examined the sky. "I was going," began the old man, with his eyes fastened on Howlett. "1 was going along by the spinney with the dogs when Howlett came walkin' very fast toward me. I heard a noise in the covert and I seen in fact," continued David, "I may say he was runnin'. Was you runnin', Howlett?" How-lett?" Howlett said "Yes," with a decorous decor-ous cough. "I beg pardon," said David, "but I'd rather Howlett told the rest. He saw-things saw-things which I did not." "Go on, Howley," commanded Pier-pont, Pier-pont, much interested. Howlett coughed again behind his large red hand. "What David say is true," he began; be-gan; "I h'observed the dogs at a distance dis-tance 'ow they was a workin', sir, and David stood a lightin' of 's pipe be'ind the spotted beech when I see a 'ead pop up in the covert 'oldin' a stick like 'e was 'haimin' at the dogs, sir " "A head holding a stick?" said Pier-pont, Pier-pont, severely. "The 'ead 'nd 'ands, sir," explained Howlett, "'ands that 'eld a painted stick like that, sir. 'Owlett, thinks I to meself, this 'ere 's queer, so I jumps in an' runs, but the beggar 'e seen me an' w'en I comes alongside of David, 'e was gone. ' 'Ello, 'Owlett,' sez David, 'what the 'ell' I beg pardon, sir ' 'ow did you come 'ere,' sez 'e very loud. 'Run!' sez I, 'the Chinaman is harryin' the dawgs!' 'For Gawd's sake, wot Chinaman?' sez David, h'aimin' 'is gun at every bush. Then I thinks I see 'im an' we run an' run, the dawgs a boundin' close to heel, sir, but we don't see no Chinaman." "I'll tell the rest," said David, as Howlett coughed and stepped in a modest corner behind the dogs. "Go on," said Barris, in a strange voice. "Well, sir, when Howlett and I stopped chasin', we was on the cliff overlooking the south meadow. I noticed no-ticed that there was hundreds of birds there, mostly yellow-legs and plover, and Howlett seen them, too. Then before I could say a word to Howlett, something out in the lake gave a splash as if the whole cliff had fallen into the water. I was that scared that I jumped straight into the bush and Howlett he sat down quick, and ali those snipe wheeled up there was hundreds all a squealin' with fright, . ... -- . m bim and find out what he was doing in the Cardinal Woods. If he could give no satisfactory account of himself him-self I would march him !:i to Barris J as a gold-making suspect 1 would march him in. anyway, I thought, and rid the forest of his ugly face. I wondered won-dered what it was that David had beard in the lake. It must have been a big fish, a salmon. 1 thought; probably prob-ably David's and Howlett's nerves were overwrought after their Celestial chase. A whine from the dog broke the thread of my meditation and I raised my head. Then I stopped short in my tracks. The lost glade lay straight before be-fore me. Already the dog had bounded into it. across the velvet turf to the carved stone where a slim figure sat. I saw my dog lay his silky head lovingly against her silken kirtle; I saw her face bend above him, and I caught my breath and slowly entered the sun-lit glade. Half timidly she held out one white hand. "Now that you have come," she said, "I can show some more of my work. I told you that I could do other things besides those dragon-flies and moths carved here in stone. Why do you stare at me so? Are you ill?" "Ysonde," I stammered. "Yes," she said, with a faint color tinder her eyes. "I I never expected to see you again," I blurted out. " you I I thought I had dreamed " "Dreamed of me? Perhaps you did. Is that strange?" "Strange? N no but. where did you go when when we were leaning over the fountain together? I saw your face your face reflected beside mine and then then suddenly I saw the blue sky and only a star twinkling." "It was because you fell asleep," she said, "was it not?" "I asleep?" "You slept I thought you were very tired and I went back " "Back? where?" ' "Back to my home where I carve my beautiful images; see, here is one 1 brought to show you to-day." I took the sculptured creature that she held toward me, a massive lizard m with frail claw-spread wings of gold so thin that the sunlight burned 1 through and fell on the ground in i " flaming gilded patches. "Good heavens!" I exclaimed, "this is astounding! Where did you learn to do such work? Ysonde, such a thing is beyond price!" "Oh, I hope so," she said, earnestly, "I can't bear to sell my work, but my stepfather takes it and sends it away. This is the second thing I have done,, and yesterday he said I must give it to him. I suppose he is poor." "I don't see how he can be poor if he gives you gold to model in," I said, astonished. 9 "Gold!" she exclaimed, "gold! Hfe- i has a room full of gold! He makes it." I sat down on the turf at her feet i completely unnerved. "Why do you look at me so?" she asked, a little troubled. J "Where does your stepfather live?" I said at last. "Here." -, '";'.' 7i'"i. v'-ij I 1 "Here!" "'.' ' L"""" " ' "In the woods near the lake. You. could never find our house." "A house!" "Of course. Did you think I lived in' a tree? How silly. I live with my stepfather in a beautiful house a small house, but very beautiful. He makes his gold there, but the men who carry it away never come to the" house, for they don't know where it is, and if they did they could not get in. My stepfather carries the gold in. lumps to a canvas satchel. When the satchel is full he takes it out into-the into-the woods where the men live, and I don't know what they do with it. I wish he could sell the gold and become be-come rich, for then I could go back to Yian where all the gardens are sweet and the river flows under the thousand bridges." (TO BE CONTINUED.) ., SYNOPSIS. The story opens in New York, Roy Car-lenhue, Car-lenhue, the story-teller, inspecting; a tlieer reptile owned by George Godfrey of Tiffany's. Roy and Barris and Pierpont, :wo friends, depart on a hunting- trip to Cardinal Woods, a rather obscure local-,ty. local-,ty. Earris revealed the fact that he had joined the secret service for the purp Df running down a gang of gold ma r Prof. LaGrange, on discovering' I . e gang's formula, had been mysteriously billed. Barris received a telegram of instructions. in-structions. He and Pierpont set out to locate the gold making gang. A valet reported re-ported seeing a queer Chinaman in the supposedly untenanted woods. Roy went Hunting. He fell asleep in a dell. On awakening he beheld a beautiful girl at a small lake. A birthmark, resembling a ragon's claw, on Roy's forehead had a mysterious effect upon the girl, who said her name was Ysonde. Suddenly she disappeared. dis-appeared. Fleeing in terror Roy beheld a horrible Chinese visage peering at him from the woods. Barris and Pierpont returned. re-turned. Barris exhibited a reptile, like :hat owned by Godfrey. A ball of supposed sup-posed gold, he held, suddenly became alive. CHAPTER V. Continued. - "And who the devil is Yue-Laou?" I said, crossly. "You-Laou the Moon Maker, Dzil-Nbu Dzil-Nbu of the Kuen-Yuin; it's Chinese mythology, but it is believed that Yue-Laou has returned to rule the Kuen-Yuin " "The conversation," interrupted Pierpont, "smacks of peacock feathers feath-ers and yellow-jackets. The chicken-pox chicken-pox has left its card on Roy, and Barris is guying us. Come on, you fellows, and make your call on the dream-lady. Barris, I hear galloping; here come your men." Two mud-splashed riders clattered up to the porch and dismounted at a motion from Barris. I noticed that both of them carried repeating rifles and heavy Colt's revolvers. The followed Barris, deferentially, into the dining-room, and presently we heard the tinkle of plates and bottles bot-tles and the low hum of Barris' musical musi-cal voice. Half an hour later they came out again, saluted Pierpont and me, and galloped away in the direction of the Canadian frontier. Ten minutes passed, and, as Barris did not appear, we rose and went into the house, to find him. He was sitting silently before be-fore the table, watching the small golden globe, now glowing with scarlet scar-let and orange fire, brilliant as a live coal. Howlett, mouth ajar and eyes starting from the sockets, stood petrified petri-fied behind him. "Are you coming?" asked Pierpont, a little startled. Barris did not answer. The globe slowly turned to pale gold again but the face that Barris raised to ours was white as a sheet. Then he stood up and smiled, with an effort which was painful to us all. "Give me a pencil and a bit of paper," pa-per," ne said. Howlett brought it. Barris went to the window and wrote rapidly. He folded the paper, placed it in the top drawer of his desk, locked the drawer, handed me the key, and motioned us to precede him. When again we stood under the maples, he turned to me with an impenetrable im-penetrable expression. "You will know when to use the key," he said. "Come, Pierpont, we must try to find Roy's fountain." CHAPTER VI. At two o'clock that afternoon, at Barris' suggestion, we gave up the search for the fountain in the glade ani cut across the forest to the spinney spin-ney where David and Howlett were waiting with our guns and the three dogs. Pierpont guyed me unmercifully about the "dream-lady," as he called her, and, but for the significant coincidence coin-cidence of Ysonde's and Barris' questions ques-tions concerning the white scar on my forehead, I should long ago have been perfectly persuaded that I had dreamed the whole thing. As it was, I had no explanation to offer. We had not been able to find the glade although 50 times I came to landmarks land-marks which convinced me that we were just about to enter it. Barris was quiet, scarcely uttering a word to either of us during the entire search. I had never before seen him depressed in spirits. However, when we came in sight of the spinney where a cold bit of grouse and a bottle of Burgundy awaited each. Barris seemed to recover recov-er his habitual good humor. "Here's to the dream-lady!" said Pierpont, raising his glass and standing stand-ing up. I did not like it. Even if she was only a dream, it irritated me to hear Pierpont's mocking voice. Perhaps Harris understood I don't know, but he bade Pierpont drink his wine without with-out further noise, and that young man obeyed with a childish confidence which almost made Barris smile. "Barris Looked at His Watch and Closed It with a Snap." and the woodduck came howlin' over the meadows as if the old Nick was behind." David paused and glanced meditatively medita-tively at the dogs. "Go on," said Barris in the same strained voice. "Nothing more, sir. The snipe did not come back." "But that splash in the lake?" "I don't know what it was, sir." "A salmon? A salmon couldn't have frightened the duck and the snipe that way?" "No oh, no, sir. If 50 salmon had I jumped they couldn't have made that splash. Couldn't they, Howlett?" "No 'ow," said Howlett. "Roy," said Barris at length, "what i David tells us settles the snipe shoot-! shoot-! ing for to-day. I am going to take ! Pirepont up to the house. Howlett and David will follow with the dogs I have I something to say to them. If you ! care to come, come along; If not, go j and shoot a brace of grouse for dinner and be back by eight if you want to I see what Pierpont and I discovered ; last night." David whistled Gamin and Mloche to heel and followed Howlett and his hamper toward the house. I called Voyou to my side, picked up my gun and turned to Barris. "I will be back by eight," I said; "you are expecting to catch one of the goldmakers. are you not?" "Yes," said Barris, listlessly. Pierpont began to speak about the Chinaman, but Barris motioned him to follow, and nodding to me, took the path that Howlett and David had followed fol-lowed toward the house. When they disappeared I tucked my gun under ' my arm and turned sharply into the forest, Voyou trotting close to my heels. In spite of myself the continued apparition ap-parition of the Chinaman made me nervous. If he troubled me again I I had fully decided to get the drop on I |