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Show IjllinMlllliilM'llllllllllilillllMIIIIIIIIIIMIIIlTnTlTllillllllllillllllliliniiMIIII lllinilllllliniMMIIIIMIIIIIillllll!IIIIIIIIIIMIIIIHMillMIIIIUIIIIIIIillllllllilllilllllillllllllllllllllliiE1 1 -v YTTS Y By George Bhrr I i i r Jc r V McCUTCHEON I j llllliii;ili:ilill!lll.!Illlllllilliilllllllllllii!llll!!i:i!ltli:!lllllllil!l!lllllllill I W ff i iff Author of "GR.AU STARK," "THE HOLLOW E tazV. J J H W OF HER. HAND," "THE PRINCE OF GRAU- E E J.L -ZL J!L 11 nsss c-! STARK," "FROM THE HOUSETOPS," ETC. flliiinmiiiiiiiiHiiiiii iiiii iiinniiiiiiiiinn mm n miimiinnnHiiiiini n iiiiiiiiiii!iriiiniiiiiinimiiiinun niiiiiiii Copyright by Dodd, Mead and Company, luc. "Telegraph." lip whispered. "It's a system they have of reporting to each other. There are two men patrolling the grounds near the house. You see what we're up against, Barnes. Do you still want to go on with it?" "I'll stay by you," replied Harries sturdily. Several minutes went by. There, was not a sound save the restless patter pat-ter of rain in the tree tops. At last the faraway thud of footsteps came to the ears of the tense listener. They drew nearer, louder, and once more seemed to be approaching the very spot where he crouched. Then came the sound of a (lull, heavy blow, a hoarse gasp, a momentary momen-tary commotion in the shrubbery, "SHE IS LYING AWAKE" Synopsis. Thomas K. Harries, 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 culled Green fancy. At Hart's tavern Harries finds a standed troupe of "barn-storming" actors, of which Lyndon Rushcroft is the star and "Miss Thackeray" the leading lady. He learns Green Fancy is a house of mystery. That night Andrew Roon and his servant, guests at the tavern, are shot near Green Fancy. Barnes comes under suspicion and stays to help clear up the double murder. He gets into the Green Fancy grounds; meets the mysterious girl, who gives him the crrt direct, and Is politely polite-ly ejected by O'Dowd, an interesting inter-esting adventurer. Enter at the tavern another man of mystery, Sprouse, "book agent." ' Barnes visits Green Fancy with the sheriff and stays to dinner. Enter En-ter still another mysterious personage, per-sonage, "Loeb," secretary to Curtis, owner of Green Fancy, who does not appear because of illness. Barnes again meets "Miss Cameron," the mysterious girl, who is a ravishing beauty in evening dress. She is a 'prisoner 'pris-oner and secretly appeals to him for help. Sprouse reveals himself him-self as a -secret service man and tells the enthralling story of the 'Green (Fancy representati ves of a royal house oppressed by Germany and his purpose to recover re-cover royal papers and jewels that night. "By the way, O'Dowd, I'd like to speak with Miss Cameron if she can come to the telephone." "Don't be surprised if you are cut off suddenly. The coast is clear for rhe moment, hut Here, Miss Cameron. Cam-eron. Careful now." Her voice, soft and clear and trembling trem-bling with eagerness, caressed Barnes' eager ear. "Mr. O'Dowd will see that no evil befalls me here, but he refuses to help me to get away. I qirite understand and appreciate his position. I cannot ask him to go so far as that. Help will have to come from the outside. It will be dangerous terribly dangerous'" danger-ous'" "You say O'Dowd will not assist you to escape?" "He urges me to stay here and take my chances. He believes that everything every-thing will turn out well for me in the end, but I nm frightened. I must get away from this place." "Then keep your eyes and ears open for the next night or two. Can you tell me where your room is located?" "It is one flight up; the first jf the' two windows in my room is the third to the right of the entrance. I am confident that someone is stationed below my windows all night long." "You still insist that I am not to call cm the authorities for help?" "Yes, yes ! That must not even lie considered. 1 have not only myself to consider, Mr. Barnes. I am a very small atom in " "All right! We'll get along without them," he said -cheerily. '"Afterward we will discuss the importance of atoms." "And your reward as well, Mr. Barnes," -She said. Her voice trailed off into an indistinct murmur. He heard the receiver click on the hook, and after calling "hello" twice hung up his own with a sigh. Evidently ODowd had warned her of the approach ap-proach of a less considerate person CHAPTER XII Continued. 10 "With the landlord's approval," he explained, pointing to the instrument, , "but unknown to the telephone company, com-pany, you may be sure. Call him up about half past ten. O'Dowd may be rtp at this unholy hour, but not she. Now I must be off to discuss literature with Mrs. Jim Conley. The hardest part of my job is ;to keep her from subscribing for a set of Dickens. Con-ley's Con-ley's house is not far from !Green Fancy. Savvy?" Barnes, left to his own devices, wandered from taproom to porch, from porch to forge, from forge to taproom, his brain far more active than his legs, his heart as heavy as lead and as light as air by turns.. More than once he felt like resorting to a well-known expedient to determine deter-mine whether he was awake or dreaming. dream-ing. Could all this be real? Ten minutes later he was iu Sprouse's room, calling for Green : Fancy over an extension wire that had cost the company nothing and yielded ' in a way, voir are right. Hut, first of all, my business is to recover the crown jewels and parchments. I am going into that house and take them away from the man you know as Loeb, if he has them. If he hasn't them my work here is a failure." "Going into the house?" gasped Barnes. "Why, my God, man, that is impossible. You would he shot down as an ordinary burglar and the law would justify them for killing you. I must insist " "I am not asking you to go into the house, my friend. I shall go alone," said Sprouse coolly. "On the other hand, I came up here to rescue a -helpless " "Keep cool ! It's the only way. Now listen. She lias designated her room and the windows that are hers. She is lying awake up there now, take it from me, hoping that you will come tonight. I shall lead you directly to her window. And then conies the only chance we take the only instance where we gamble. There will nor lie a light in her window, but that won't make any difference. This nobby cane I'm carrying is in reality a collapsible col-lapsible fishing rod. First we use it to tap gently on her window ledge or shade or whatever we find. Then you pass up a little note to her. Here is paper and pencil. Say that you are below her window and all ready to v.ake her away. Tell her to lower her valuables, some clothes, etc., from the window by means of the rope we'll pass up on the pole. There is a remote re-mote possibility that she may have the jewels in her room. For certain reasons rea-sons they may have permitted her to retain them. If such is the case our work is easy. If they have taken them away from her she'll say so, some way or another and she will not leave ! Now I've bad a good look at the front of that house. It is covered cov-ered with a lattice work and huge vines. I can shin up like a squirrel and go through her room to the" "Are you crazy, Sprouse? You'd take your life in your hands and " "See here," said Sprouse shortly, "I am not risking my life for the fun of the thing. I am risking it for her, bear that in mind for her an her people. And if I am killed they won't even say 'Well done, good, ami faithful faith-ful servant.' So let's not argue the point. Are you going to stand by me or back out?" Barnes was shamed. "I'll stand by you," he said, and they stole forward There were no lights visible. Tht house was even darker than the night itself; it was vaguely outlined by a deeper shade of black. At last they were within a few-yards few-yards of the entrance and at the et'ge of a small space that had been cleared of shrubbery. Here Sprouse stopped and began to adjust the sections of his fishing rod. "Write," he whispered. "There is a faint glow of light up there to the right. The third window, did yen say? Well, that's about where I should locate it." Tire tiny metallic tip of the rod, held in the upstretched hand of Barnes, 'much the taller of the two men, barely reached the window ledge. He tapped gently, persistently on the hard surface. Just as they were beginning be-ginning to think that she was asleep and that their efforts were in vain their straining eyes made out a shadowy shad-owy object projecting slightly beyond the sill. After a moment or two of suspense Barnes experienced a peculiar, almost electric shock. Someone had seized the tip of the rod; it stiffened suddenly, sud-denly, the vibrations due to its flexibility flex-ibility ceasing. Someone was untying the bit of paper lie had fastened to the rod, and with fingers that shook and were clumsy with eagerness. He had written: "I am outside with a trusted friend, ready to do your bidding. Two of the-guards are safely bound and out of the way. Now is our chance. We will never have another. an-other. If you are prepared to come with me now write rut- a word or two and drop it to the ground. I will pass up a rope to you and you may lower anything you wish to carry away with you. Hut be exceedingly careful. Take time. Don't hurry a single one of your movements." He signe d it with a large "H." It seemed an hour before their eyes distinguished llie shadowy head above. As a matter of fact but a few minutes min-utes bad passed. During the wait Sprouse had noiselessly removed his coal, a proceediiiL' that puzzled Barnes. Something light fell to the ground. It was Sprouse who stooped anil senn hed for it in the grass. When be resumed an upright posture he rait his lips close lo Barnes' ear and whispered: Barnes, Sprouse and "Miss Cameron" have an exciting night at Green Fancy. (TO bK CONTINt'KD.) j I ft ii mm ' than himself. CHAPTER XIII. The Second Wayfarer Receives Two Visitors at Midnight. The coroner's inquest over the bodies bod-ies of Boon and Paul was held tjiat afternoon at St. Elizabeth. Witnesses from Hart's Tavern were among those to testify. The verdict was "Murder at the hands of parties unknown." Sprouse did not appear at the Tavern Tav-ern until long after nightfall. The secret se-cret agent listened somewhat indifferently indiffer-ently to the latter's account of his telephonic experiences. At nine o'clock he yawned prodigiously and announced that he was going to bed, greatly to the surprise of Mr. Barnes, who followed fol-lowed him from the taproom and demanded de-manded an explanation. "People usually go to bed at night, don't they?" said Sprouse patiently. "It is expected, I believe." "But, my dear man, we are to undertake" un-dertake" "I have some carrse for believing that one of those chaps in there is from Green Fancy. Go to bed at ten o'clock, my friend, nnd put out your light. I don't insist on your taking oil' your clothes, however. I will rap on your door at eleven o'clock. By the way, don't forget to stick your revolver re-volver in your pocket." A few minutes before eleven there came a gentle tapping on Barnes" door. He sprang to his feet and opened it, presenting himself before Sprouse fully dressed and, as the secret se-cret agent said later on, "fit to kill." The night was its black as pitch. Barnes, 1rus1ing to the little man's eyes and hanging close upon his coat-tails, coat-tails, followed blindly but gallantly in the tracks of the lender. It seemed to liim that they stumbled along par-all"! par-all"! to the road for miles before Sprouse came to a halt. "This is Ihe short cut to Green Fancy," he whispered, whis-pered, laying his hand on Barnes" arm, "We stive four or five miles, coming this way. Do you know where we are?" I "I haven't the remotest idea.'' "About a quarter of a mile below Curtis' house. Are you all r'ght?" "Fine as a fiddle, except for a barked knee and a skinned elbow, a couple of more or less busted ribs. I've banged into more trees thin " "Shi" After a moment of silence, intensified by the mournful squawk of night birds and the chorus of katydids. katy-dids. Sprouse whispered. "Did yen hear that?" Harnes thrilled. This was real melodrama. mel-odrama. "Hear what?" he whispered shilly. "Listen!" After a second or two: "There!" "It's a woodpecker hammering on the limb of a " "Woodpeckers don't hammer at night, my lad. Don't stir! Keep your ears open." Sprouse clutched his companion's arm and, dropping to hi? knees in the thick r.n;Jrbrush, pulltJ the other down after him. Presently heavy footsteps approached. ap-proached. An unseen pedestrian passed within ten yards of them. They scarcely breathed until the sounds pv .sed entirely out of hearing. Sprouse put his "ps close to Barnes' ear. "My God! HaveYou Killed Him?" and again silence. Barnes' blood ran cold, lie waited for the next footfall of the passing man. It never came. A sharp whisper readied his ears. "Come here .quick T" He floundered through the brush and almost fell prostrate over the kneeling kneel-ing figure of a man. "Take care ! Lend a hand," whispered whis-pered f'qirouse. Dropping to his knees, Barnes felt for and touched wet, coarse garments, and gasped : "My God! Have you killed him?" "Temporarily," said Sprouse, between be-tween his teeth. "Here, unwind the r'ope I've got around my waist. Take the endhere. Got a knife? Cut off a section about three feet long. I'll get the gag in his mouth while you're doing it. Hangmen always carry their own ropes," he concluded, with grew-some grew-some humor. "Got it cut? Weil, cut two more sections, same length." With Incredible swiftness the two of them bound the feet, knees and arms of the inert victim. "I came prepared," said Sprouse, so calmly that Barnes marveled at the iron nerve of the man. "By heaven, Sprouse, I I believe he's dead. We we haven't any right to kill a" "Don't be finicky." snapped Sprouse. "It wasn't much of a crack, and it was necessary." Straightening up, with a sigli of satisfaction, he laid his hand on Barnes' shoulder. "We've just got to go through with it now, Barnes. We'll never get another chance. Putting that fellow out of business queers us forever afterward." He dropped to his knees and began searching over the ground with his hands. "Here It is. You can't see it, of course, so I'll tell you what it is. A nice little block of sandalwood. I've already got his nice little hammer, so we'll see what we can raise in the way of wireless chit-chat." Without the slightest hesitation he struck a succession of quick, confident blows upon the block of wood. "By gad. you are a wonder!" "Wait till tomorrow before you say that." replied Sprouse. senteniiously. "Come along now. Stick to the trail. We've got to land the other one." Turning sharply to the right, Sprouse guided his companion throiiLii the brush for some distance, and oiu-e more came to a halt. A'aln he stole on ahead, and as before the slow, eon-lideni. eon-lideni. even careless progress of a man ceased as abruptly as that of the comrade who lay helpless in the thicket below. Barnes laid a firm, detaining hand on the man's shoulder. "See here. Sprouse," he whispered, "it's nil very well for you. knocking men over like this, hut just what is your object? What does all this lean up to?" Sprouse broke In, nnd there was not the slightest trace of emotion In his whisper. "Quite right. You ought ?e know. I nippose you thought I was bringing you up here for a Romeo nnd Juliet tete-B-tete with the beautiful Miss Cameron and for nothing el&e. Well, "hello! How Are You This Morning?" nothing in return. After some delay O'Dowd's mellow voice sang out: "Hello! How nre you this morn Ing?" "Grievously lonesome," replied Barries, and wound up a doleful account ac-count of himself by imploring O'Dowd to save his life by bringing the entire Green Fancy party over to dinner that night. O'Dowd was heart-broken. Personally Person-ally be would go to any extreme to save so valuable a life, but as for the rest of the party, they begged him to say they were sorry to hear of the expected ex-pected death of so promising a chap and that, while they couldn't come to his party they would he delighted to come to his funeral. In short, It would be impossible for them to accept his kind invitation. The irishman was so gay nnd good hurr.ortu that Barnes took hope. |