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Show Bit:iuunninHiiuuiiiMiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiuiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiniiiiiimiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii ii Y) TT 1.Y By George Bhrr I II VzyxT JZ xXN. mccutcheon I I i TS I & Author of "GMAUSTARK," "THE HOLLOW 1 r"- I OF HER- HAND," "THE PRINCE OF GRAU- L. tff dte STARK," "FROM THE HOUSETOPS." ETC. Ccpyrigiit by Dodd, Mead aud Company, Idc. "I mean just what I said. What do you know about this business?" "How should I know anything about It?" "Well, we don't know who you are, nor what you're doing up here, nor what your real profession is. That's why I ask the question." "I see," said Barnes, after a moment. mo-ment. He grasped the situation and he admitted to himself that Jones had cause for his suspicions. "It has occurred oc-curred to you that I may be a detective detec-tive or a secret service man, isn't that the case? Well, I am neither. Did you know any more about these two men, Mr. Jones, than you know about me?" "I don't know anything about 'em." "What was their business?" "Mr. Roon was Iookin' for a place to bring his daughter who has consumption. con-sumption. He didn't want to take her to a reg'lar consumptive community, he said, an' so he was lookin' for a quiet place where she wouldn't be as- rest or even detention, you would have a nasty time defending yourself in a civil suit for damages. I shall remain here, as you suggest, but only for the purpose of aiding you in getting to the bottom of this affair." Standing on Jim Conley's front porch a little after sunrise, Barnes made the following declaration : "Everything goes to show that these men were up here for one of two reasons. rea-sons. They were either trying to prevent pre-vent or to enact a crime. The latter is my belief. They were afraid of me. Why? Because they believed I was trailing them and likely to spoil their game. Gentlemen, those fellows were here for the purpose of robbing the place you call Green Fancy." "What's that?" came a rich, mellow voice from the outskirts of the crowd. A man pushed his way through and confronted Barnes. He was a tall, good-looking fellow of thirty-five, and it was apparent that he had dressed in haste. "My name is O'Dowd, and I am a guest of Mr. Curtis at Green Fancy. Why do you think they meant to rob his place?" "Well," began Barnes dryly, "it would seem that his place is the only one in the neighborhood that would bear robbing. My name is Barnes. Of course, Mr. O'Dowd, it is mere speculation specu-lation on my part." "But who shot the man?" demanded the Irishman. "He certainly wasn't winged by anyone from our place. Why, Lord love you. sir, there isn't a soul at Green Fancy who could shoot a thief if he saw one. This is Mr. De Soto, also a guest at Green Fancy. He will, I think, bear me out in upsetting your theory." A second man approached, shaking his head vigorously. He was a thin, pale man with a singularly scholastic face. Quite an unprepossessing, un-sanguinary un-sanguinary person, thought Barnes. "Mr. Curtis' chauffeur, I think it was, said the killing occurred just above this house," said he, visibly excited. ex-cited. "Green Fancy is at least a mile Tragedy and Mystery. Synopsis. Thomas K. Barnes, a wealthy young New Yorker, on a walking trip in New England Eng-land near the Canadian border, is given a lift in an automobile by a mysterious and attractive girl bound for a house called Green Fancy. At Hart's tavern Barnes finds a stranded troupe of "barn-storming" actors, of which Lyndon Rushcroft is the star and "Miss Thackeray" the leading lady. They are doing hotel work for their board. He learns Green Fancy is a house of mystery. That night two mounted men leave the tavern under odd circumstances. A little lit-tle later one of the two riders is brought back dying, the other having been killed. Both have been shot. The whole affair is most mysterious. CHAPTER IV Continued. -A "They was hitched jest about a hundred hun-dred yards below Mr. Curtis' propity, on the off side o' the road. I hadn't any more'n got to our front gate when I heard some one running in the road up there behind me. 'Fore I knowed what was happenin', bang went a gun. I almost jumped out'n my boots. The runnin' had stopped. The horses was rarin' an' tearing' so I thought I'd " "Where'd the shot come from?" demanded de-manded Jones. . "Up the road some'eres, I couldn't swear just where. Must'a' been up by the road that cuts in to Green Fancy. So I thought I'd hustle in an' see if pa was awake, an' git my gun. Jest then pa stuck his head out'n the winder win-der an' yelled what the hell's the matter. mat-ter. You betcher life I sung out who I was mighty quick, 'cause pa's purty epry with a gun an' I didn't want him takin' me fer burglars sneaking around the house. While we wuz talkin' there one of the hosses started our way lickety-split, an' in about two seconds it went by us. It was purty dark, but we see plain as day that there was a man in the saddle, bendin' low over the hoss' neck and shoutin' to it. We waited a couple o' minutes, wonderin' what to do, an' listenin' to the hoss gittin' furder and furder away in the direction of the cross-roads. Then 'way down there by the pike we heerd another shot. Right there an' then pa said he'd put on his clothes an' we'd set out to see what it was all about. "Well, pa come out with my gun an' his'n an' we walks up to where I seen the hosses. Shore 'nough, one of 'em was still hitched to the fence, an' t'other was gone. We stood around a minute or two examinin' the hoss an' then pa says let's go up the road a ways an' see if we c'n see anything. An' by gosh, we hadn't gone moren' fifty feet afore we come plumb on a man layin' in the middle of the road. Pa shook him an' he didn't let out a sound. He was warm, but deader'n a tombstone. I wuz fer leavin' him there till we c'd git the coroner, but pa says no. We'd carry him down to our porch an' lay him there, so's he'd be out o' danger. I jumps on Polly an' lights out fer here, Mr. Jones, to telephone up to Saint Liz fer the sheriff an' the coroner, not givin' a dang what I run into on the way. Polly shied some-thin' some-thin' terrible jest afore we got to the pike an' I come derned near bein' throwed. An' right there 'side the road was this feller, all in a heap. Thinks I, you poor cuss, you must 'a' tried to stop that feller on hossback an' he plunked you. That accounted fer the second shot. The thing that worries afl of us Is did the same man do the shootin', or was there two of 'em, one waitin' down the cross-roads?" "Must have been two," said Jones, thoughtfully. "The same man couldn't have got down there ahead of Irlm, that's sure. Did anybody go up to Green Fancy to make inquiries?" " 'Twasu't necessary. Mr. Curtis heard the shootin' an' jest before we left he sent a man out to see what it was all about. The old skeezicks that's been drivin' his car lately come down half-dressed. He said nothin' out of the way had happened up at Green Fancy." "It's most mysterious," said Barnes, .glancing round the circle of awed faces. "There must have been some one lying in wait for these men, and with a very definite purpose In mind." "Strikes me," sf.ld Jones, "that these two men were up to some kind of dirty work themselves, else why did they Buy they were goln' to Spanish Falls? They were queer actln' men, I'll have to say that." His eyes met Barnes' and there was a queer light: In them. "You don't happen to know nnytlilng about this, do you, Mr. Barnes?" he demanded, de-manded, suddenly. CHAPTER V. the Farm-Boy Tells a Ghastly 8tui? and an Irishman Enters. Barnes stared. "What do you moan?" he demanded sharply. ticulatlng, and taking turn about with the glasses." "About six o'clock, you say?" said Barnes, greatly interested. "It was a quarter after six when I got back to the house. I spoke to Mr. Bacon about what I'd seen and he said he believed they were German spies, up to some kind of mischief along the Canadian border. Then about half an hour later you came to the tavern. I saw Roon sneak out to the head of the stairs and listen to your conversation with Jones when you registered. That gave me an idea. It was you they were watching the road for." Barnes held up his hand for silence. "Listen," he said in a low voice. "I will tell you who they were looking for." As briefly as possible he recounted re-counted his experience with the strange young woman at the crossroads. cross-roads. "From the beginning I have connected this tragedy with the place called Green Fancy. I'll stake my last penny that they have been hanging around here waiting for the arrival of that young woman. They knew she was coming and they doubtless knew what she was bringing with her. What do you know about Green Fancy?" He was vastly excited. His active imagination was creating all sorts of possibilities and complications, depredations depre-dations and intrigues. Bacon was the one who answered. "People live up there and since we've been here two or three men visitors have come down from the place to sample our stock of wet goods. I talked with a couple of 'em day before yesterday. yester-day. They were out for a horseback ride and stopped here for a mug of ale." "Were they foreigners?" inquired Barnes. "If you want to call an Irishman a foreigner, I'll have to say one of them was. He had a beautiful brogue. The other was an American, I'm sure. Yesterday Yes-terday they rode past here with a couple cou-ple of swell-looking women. I saw them turn up the road to Green Fancy." The arrival of four or five men, who stamped Into the already crowded hallway hall-way from the porch outside, claimed the attention of the quartette. Among them was the doctor who, they were soon to discover, was also the coroner of the county. A very officious deputy sheriff was also in the group. Mr. Jones called out from the doorway door-way : "Mr. Barnes, you're wanted in there." "All right," he responded. The doctor had been working over the prostrate form on the tables. As Barnes entered the room, he looked up and declared that the man was dead. "This is Mr. Barnes," said Putnam Jones, indicating the tall traveler with a short jerk of his thumb. "I am from the sheriff's office," said the man who stood beside the doctor. The rest of the crowd evidently had been ordered to stand back from the tables. "Did you ever see this man before?" be-fore?" "Not until he was carried in here an hour ago." "What's your business up here, Mr. Barnes 1" "I have no business up here. I just happened to stroll in this evening." "Well," said the sheriff darkly, "I guess I'll have to ask you to stick around here till we clear this business up. We don't know you an' Well, we can't take any chances. You understand, un-derstand, I reckon." "I certainly fail to understand, Mr. Sheriff. I know nothing whatever of this affair and I Intend to continue on my way tomorrow morning." "Well, I guess not. You got to stay here till we are satisfied that you don't know anything about this business. busi-ness. That's all." "Am I to consider myself under arrest, ar-rest, sir?" "I wouldn't go so far as to say that. You just stick around here, that's all T got to say. If you're all right, we'll soon find it out. What's more, if you tire till right you'll be willin' to stay. Do you get me?" "I certainly do. And I can now assure as-sure you, Mr. Sheriff, that I'd like nothing better than to stick around here, as you put it. I'd like to help clear this matter up. In the meantime, mean-time, you may readily find out who I am and why 1 am here by telegraphing telegraph-ing to the mayor of New York city. This document, which experience has 'taught me to curry for just such an emergency as this, may have some weight with you." He opened his bill folder and drew forth a neatly creased sheet of paper. "Read it. please, and nolo till- date, the signature, the official offi-cial seal of the New York police department, de-partment, and also the rather Interesting Interest-ing silver print, pasted in the lower left; hand corner. 1 think you will agree that II is a good likeness of me. Each year I take the precaution of having myself certified by the police department at home before venturing Into unknown and perhaps unfriendly communities." "Yes," said the sheriff dubiously; "but how do I know It. ain't a forgery?" "You don't know, of course, lint In ense It shouldn't be a forgery and I am subjected to the Indignity of ur- "I Think He's Going Now," She Whispered. Whis-pered. sociatin' with lungers all the time. That was his business, Mr. Barnes, an' I guess you'd call it respectable, wouldn't you?" "Perfectly. But why should he be troubled by my presence here if " Miss Thackeray put an end to the discussion in a most effectual manner. "Oh, for the Lord's sake, cut it out! Wait till he's dead, can't you?" she whispered fiercely. "You've got all the time in the world to talk, and he hasn't more than ten minutes left to breathe unless that rube doctor gets here pretty soon. I think he's going now. Keep still, all of you. Is he breathing, Mr. Barnes? That awful cough just now seemed to " Her eyes were fixed on the still face. "Why why, how tightly he holds my hand! I can't get it away he must be alive, Mr. Barnes. Where is that silly doctor?" Barnes unclasped the rigid fingers of the man called Andrew Paul, and. shaking his head sadly, drew her away from the Improvised bier. He and the shivering Mr. Diltingford conducted con-ducted her to the dining room, where a single kerosene lamp gave out a feeble, rather ghastly light. "Would you like a little brandy?" inquired Barnes, as she sat down limply limp-ly in the chair he pulled out for her. "I have a flask upstairs in my " "I never touch It," she said. "I'm all right. My legs wabble a little but Sit down Mr. Barnes. I've got something some-thing to say to you and I'd better say it now, because It may come in pretty handy for you later on. Don't let those women come in here, Dilly. "This afternoon I walked up In the woods hack of the tavern to go over some lines In a new piece we are to do later on God knows when! I could see the house from where I was sitting. sit-ting. Boon's windows went plainly visible. I saw Roon standing at a window looking toward the cross-roads with a pair of field-glasses. Every once In awhile he would turn to Paul, who stood beside him with a notebook, and say something to him. Paul wrote it down. Then he would look again, turning the glasses this way and that. Suddenly my eyes almost popped out of my head. Paul had gone away from the window. He came back aud he had a couple of revolvers In his hands. They stood there for a few rnlnules carefully examining the weapons and reloading them wilh fresh cartridges. Just as I was about to start down to the house it was a lillle after six o'clock, and getting awfully dark and overcast Roon took up the glasses again, lie seemed to be excited and called his companion. Paul grabbed the glasses ami looked down tin- road. They both became verv much excited, pointing and ges- "Bedad," Said O'Dowd, "It Beats the Devil." from here, isn't it? You don't shoot burglars a mile from the place they are planning to rob, do you?" "I'll admit It's a bit out of reason," said Barnes. "The second man could only have been shot by some one who was lying in wait for him." "Bedad," said O'Dowd, "it beats the devil. There's something big in this thing, Mr. Barnes something a long shot bigger than any of us suspects." "You'll find that it resolves itself into ii problem for Washington to solve." said De Soto darkly. "Nothing local about it, take my word for it. These men were up to some International Interna-tional devilment. There'll be a stir in Washington over this, sure as anything." any-thing." "What time was it that you heard the shots up at Green Fancy?" ventured ven-tured Barnes. "Lord love you," cried O'Dowd, "we didn't hear a sound. Mr. Curtis, who litis Insomnia the worst way, poor devil, heard them and sent some one out to see what all the racket was about. The man, It seems, made such a devil of a racket when he came home '.illi the news that, the whole house was mi in pajamas and peignoirs." peig-noirs." "I think I have a slight acquaintance with the chauffeur," said Barnes. "He gave me the most thrilling motor ride I've ever experienced, (lad, I'll never forget It." Barnes, having been forced into this unsolvable combination of mystery and violence, finds himself getting get-ting in deeper and deener. (TO BE CON1 INliKU) |