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Show S GREEN FANCY p GEORGE BA! , Mc CUTCHEQN Author of "GRAUSTARK," "THE , '4 ' HOLLOW OF HER HAND," "THE I ' " -P4 n'jft ' i PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK," ETC C pyrlghl by DoJJ. Mtad and Company. Inc. J llio l':i!!i(i:in line, find why Ihe mo liiliziiliim? I iH'it to liis army of huskies." "Heirs :i i j ,j 1 1- r 1 1 nsnnlly h:ivf some sort of n li(piyyii:iril, don't tlioy?" Sprnuse was slarinf; thoughtfully nt tlic ceiling. W 1 1 ho finally lowrrcl his cyrs it was In favor Hartley with a deep, iiisi'riiialilo smilo. "1 ilari' say tho first thing for ma to do is to advi-r ihe Canadian authorities au-thorities to ko.-p a sharp lookout nlong the horder.'' CHAPTER XII. The First Wayfarer Accepts en Invitation. Invi-tation. Harm's insisted that the first .thins in he eoiisidered was the release of Miss Cameron.' 'If we can't think of any oilier way lo et her out of this dc-ilisl) predii'a-meut. predii'a-meut. Sproue, I shall apply to Washington Wash-ington for help." "And he huighed at. my friend." said ihe secret agent. "It is not n matter for the government to meddle in nt ai." "Well, something has to he done at once." said Harries doggedly. "She is depending on me. If you could have seen the light that leaped inlo her glorious glo-rious eyes when I " "Yes, I know. I've heard she is quite a pretty girl. You needn't " "Quite a pretty girl !" exclaimed P.arnes. "Why, she is the loveliest thing that God ever created. She has Ihe face of " "I am beginning to understand O'Dowd's interest in her, Mr. Carries, lie has probably fallen in love with her with as little ditliculty us you have experienced, and almost as expeditiously. expedi-tiously. He has seen a little more of her than you, hill " "Don't talk nonsense. I'm not in love with her." "Can you speak with equal authority author-ity for Mr. O'Dowd? He is a very susceptible sus-ceptible Irishman, I am told." "I don't believe he will KPt much encouragement en-couragement from her, Mr. Sprouse," -aid Barnes stiffly. "If she is as clever as I think she is she will encourage him tremendously. tremendous-ly. I would if I were in her place. .Mr. O'Dowd is only human. He isn't immune." "I catch the point, Mr. Sprouse," -aid liarnes, rather gloomily. He did not like to think of the methods that might have to be employed in the sub- of the war. She was vlslllng friends in the States and has been unable to return to her own land, for reasons that must be obvious. I may as well confess that her father was, by marriage, mar-riage, an uncle of the late ruler. "Since ihe invasion and overthrow of hoi country by the Teutonic allies she has been endeavoring lo raise money lure for the purpose of equipping equip-ping and supporting the remnants of ' the small army that fought so valiantly valiant-ly in defense of Ihe crown. These men, a few thousand only, are at present pres-ent interned ill a neutral country. 1 leave you to guess what will happen if she succeeds in supplying iliem with arms and ammunition. Her work is being carried on with the greatest secrecy. se-crecy. I'o bring the story to a close, I was instructed In keep close watch on the man O'Dowd. I traced him to this place. 1 was on the point of reporting to my superiors that he ;n in no way associated with the inueh-sought-afler crown-cousin, and thai Green Fancy was as free from taint as the village chapel, when out of a clear sky and almost under my very nose two men were mysteriously done away with at the very gales of the place. The killing of those two men changed the aspect completely. You will certainly agree with me after 1 have explained to you that the one known as Andrew Iloon was no othei than the equerry who had undertaken to find the young woman." Barnes drew a long breath. Hi: mind was made up. He had decided to pool issues with the secret agent, but not until he was convinced that the result of their co-operation would in no way indict a hardship upon tin young woman who had appealed to him for help. He was certain that slit was the fair propagandist describe!' by Sprouse. "And the young woman, what o: her? She would, in any case, be heh for examination and " "My dear sir, I may as well tell yor now that she is a loyal subject, and far from being in bad grace at court is an object of extreme solicitude to the ambassador. From what I can gather she has disappeared completely. complete-ly. Koon was sent over here for the sole purpose of finding her and inducing induc-ing her to return with him to Paris." "And to take the treasure with her, T suppose," said Barnes dryly. "Naturally." "Well," began Barnes, introducing n harsh note into his voice. "I should were under suspicion until I bung up the receiver, I may say." "Jones has been talking to you." said Barnes. "But you said a moment ago that you were up at Green Fancy last night. Not by invilalion, I take it." "I invilcd myself," said Sprouse succinctly. suc-cinctly. "Are you inclined to favor my proposition?" "You haven't made one." "By suggestion, Mr. Barnes. It is quite impossible for me to get inside thai house. Y'ou appear to have the entree. You are working in the dark, guessing at everything. I am guessing guess-ing at nothing. By combining forces we should bring this thing to a head, and " "Just a moment. You expect me to abuse the hospitality of " "I shall have to speak plainly, I see." lie leaned forward, fixing Barnes with a pair of steady, earnest eyes. "Six months ago a certain royal house in IOurope was despoiled of its jewels, its privy seal, ils most precious slate documents and its charter. They have been traced to the United States. I am here to recover them. That is Ihe foundation of my story, Mr. Barnes. "Without divulging the name of the bouse I will say that its sympathies have boon from the outset friendly to the entente allies especially with France. There are two branches of the ruling family, one in power, the other practically in exile. The state is a small one, but its integrity is of the highest. Its sons and daughters have married inlo the royal families of nearly all of the great nations of the continent. The present or I "SHE CAN DO NO WRONG" 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 myslprious 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 Uuslieroft is the star and "Miss Thackeray" the leading lady. He learns Green Fancy is a house of mystery. That night Andrew Boon and his servant, guests at the tavern, nre shot near Green Fancy. Barnes comes under suspicion nnd stays to help clear up the double murder. lie gets inlo the Green Fancy grounds; meets the mysterious girl, who gives him the cut direct, and is politely polite-ly ejected by O'Dowd, an inl cresting cr-esting adventurer. Knter at the tavern another man of mystery, Sprouse, "book agent." Barnes visits Green Fancy with the sheriff and stays to dinner. Kilter Kil-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. twill & hr Jlik 'I ' m WW? Ip til jugation of Mr. O'Dowd. "There is a rather important question I'd like to ask. Is she even remotely eligible to her country's throne?" ''Remotely, yes," said Sprouse. "So remotely that she could marry a chap like O'Dowd without giving much thought to future complications?" complica-tions?" he ventured. "She'd be just as safe in marrying O'Dowd as she would in marrying you," was Sprouse's unsatisfactory response. re-sponse. The man's brow was wrinkled wrin-kled in thought. "Sec here, Mr. Barnes, I am planning a visit to Green Fancy tonight. How would you like to accompany me?" "I'd like nolhing better," said Barnes, with enthusiasm. "Will you agree to obey instructions? instruc-tions? I can't have you muddling ihings up, you know." "The grounds are carefully guarded," guard-ed," said Barnes, after they had discussed dis-cussed the project for some time. "Miss Cameron is constantly under the watchful eye of one or more of the crowd." "I know. I passed a couple of them last night," said Sprouse calmly. "By the way, don't you think it would be very polite of you Co invite (he Green Fancy party over here to have an old-fashioned old-fashioned Country dinner with you tonight?" to-night?" "It would he useless, Mr. Sprouse. They will not come." "I am perfectly aware of that, but it won't do any harm to ask them, will it?" Barnes chuckled. "I see. Eslnblish-ing Eslnblish-ing myself as an innocent bystander, eh ?" "Get O'Dowd on the telephone and ask him if they can come," said Sprouse. "But there is Jones to consider. The telephone is in his odioe. What will lie think" "Jones is all rlghl," said Sprouse brielly. "Come along. You can call up from my room." lie grinned slyly. "Such a thing as tupping the wire, von know." Sprouse had iiMallod a telephone In his room, carrying a wire upstairs from an attachment made in the cellar cel-lar of Ihe Tavern. He cloved Ihe door lo his lilt ft" room on the lop door. Barnes and Sprouse make an exciting mianirjht visit to Green Fancy. no I ;r; i j.vi in i.1 i;h.i should say, the late ruler, for he died on a field of battle not many months ago, had no direct heir. lie was young and unmarried. I am not permitted per-mitted to state with what army he was fighting, nor on which front he was killed. It is only necessary to say that his little state was gobbled up by the Teutonic allies. The branch of the family mentioned as being in xile lent its support to the cause of Germany, not for moral reasons but n the hope and with the understand-ng, understand-ng, I am to believe, that the crown ands would be the reward. The di-eet di-eet heir to the crown is a cousin of he late prince. He is now a prisoner f war in Austria. Other members of the family are held by the Bulgarians as prisoners of war. It is not stretching stretch-ing the imagination very far to picture pic-ture them as already dead and out of the way. At the close of the war, if Germany is victorious, the crown will be placed upon the head of the pretender pre-tender branch. Are you following me?" "Yes," said Barnes, his nerves tingling. tin-gling. He was beginning to see a great light. "Almost under the noses of the forces left by the Teutonic allies to hold the invaded territory the crown jewels, charter and so forth, heretofore hereto-fore mentioned, as they say in legal parlance, were surreptitiously removed from the palace and spirited away by persons loyal to the ruling branch of the family. As I have slated, I am engaged en-gaged in the effort to recover them. "Now we come to the present situation. situ-ation. Some months ago a member of the aforesaid royal house arrived in this country by way of Japan. lie is a distant cousin of the crown, and in a way remotely looked upon as the heir apparent. Later on he sequestered seques-tered himself in Canada. Our agents in Europe learned but recently thai while he pretends to be loyal to the ruling bouse he is actually scheming against It. I have been ordered to run him to earth, for there is every reason to believe that the men who secured the treasure have been duped into regarding him as the avowed champion of Ihe crown. Now, Mr. Barnes, without telling you how 1 have arrived at the conclusion, I am prepared pre-pared to state that I believe this man to be at Green Fancy, and that in lime the loot lo use a baish word will be delivered lo him there. I am here to gel it. one way or another, when thai comes to pass." "What led you to suspect that lo is at Green Fancy. Mr. Sprotwe?" "Ilisiory. Il is known that Ibis Mr. Cui'lis lias spent a great deal of time in Ihe country alluded to. As a mailer mai-ler of fact, his son. who lived lr, l..ei-di'ii, l..ei-di'ii, had rallier ixirnive business in-lei-esis t here. This .-en was killed in the Balkan war several years ago. It i-i said that ihe man I am looking for was a friend of ymii!:' Clirlis, who married a Miss O'Dowd in London : In- Honorable Mi-s O'Dowd, daughter of an Iris peer and sister of the chap you have met at Green Fancy. About six weeks ago a former equerry in the royal household arrived in New York. Tlfrough him I learned that the daugh-;er daugh-;er of Ihe geiuleman in whose house he senior Mr. Curtis was a frequent uest had been In the United Slates I since some time prior to the beginning CHAPTER XI Continued. 9 "The deuce you say!" cried Barnes. "We will get right, down to tacks." said Sprouse. "My government which isn't yours, by the way sen! me up here five weeks ago on a certain cer-tain undertaking. I am supposed to find out wdiat is hatching up at Green Fancy. Having satisfied myself tha1 you are not connected with the gang up there I cheerfully place myself in your hands, Mr. Barnes. Yrou were at Green Fancy last night. So was I. Y'ou had an advantage over me, however, how-ever, for you were on the inside and I was not." "Confound your impudence 1 I- " ' "One of my purposes in revealing myself to you, Mr. Barnes, is to warn you to steer clear of that crowd. Y'ou may find yourself in exceedingly hoi water later on if you don't. Another purpose, and the real one, is to secure, if possible, your co-operation in beating beat-ing theganie up there. YTou can help me, nnd in helping me you may be instrumental in-strumental in righting one of the gravest wrongs the world has ever known." "Will you be good enough, Mr. Sprouse, to tell me just what you are trying to get at? I know nothing whatever what-ever against Mr. Curtis and his friends. You assume a great deal " "Excuse me, Mr. Barnes. I'll admit that you don't know anything against them, but you suspect a whole lot. To begin with, you suspect that two men were shot to death because they were in wrong with someone at Green Fancy. Now I could tell you who these two men really were and why they w;ere shot. But I sha'n't do-anything of the sort at least not at present." pres-ent." liarnes was impressed. "Perhaps you will condescend to tell me who you are, Mr. Sprouse. I am very much In the dark." "I am a special agent but not a spy, sir of a government that is friendly to yours. I am known in Washington. My credentials are not to he questioned At present it would be unwise I'or me to reveal the name of my government. I dare say if I can afford to trust you, Mr. Barnes, you can afford to trust, me. There is too much at stake for me to lake the slightest chance with any man. I am ready to chance you. sir, if yon will do ! he same by me." "Well."' began Barnes deliberately. "I guess you will have lo lake a chance with me. Mr. Sprouse. for 1 re-l'ii-e lo commit mysi f until I know exactly what yoyi ire up in." "lu the tii-st r-'::,-e, Mr. Parties." said Sprouse. salri.g his egg-, "you have been thinking that I was sent down from Green Fancy to spy on you. Isn't that ':" "1 am answering no quest ions, Mr. Sprout ." "Yi ;i wore wrong." -aid Sprou-'e. if P.arnes had answered in ;e affirmative. affir-mative. "I am working on my own. I You may have observed that f did n..t accompany the sheriffs po--o today. 1 was up in Kornville getting the fuia' word from No v York that you were oi the level. I I lephoned to New York Eleven dollars nod sii.iy cents. Y'ou "Six Months Ago a Royal House Was Despoiled of Its Crown Jewels, Seal and Charter." say that if she is guilty of receiving this stolen property she ought to he punished. Jail is the place for her. Mr. Sprouse." Sprouse put down his coffee cup rather suddenly. A queer pallor came into his face. "You do not understand the situation. situa-tion. Haven't I made It plain to you that she is innocent of any intent to do wrong?" "You have said so. Mr. Sprouse. bill your idea of wrong and mine may no: jibe." "There cannot be two ways of looking look-ing at it, sir," said Sprouse, after a moment. "She could do no wrong." Whereupon P.arnes reached his hand across the table and laid It on Sprouse's. His eyes were (lancing. "That's just what I want to be sure about," he said. "It was my way of finding out your intentions concerning her." "What do you mean?" "Come with me lo my room." said Panics, suppressing his exepenienl. "I think I can lei! you where she is and a great deal more that you ought lo know." In lb.- little room upstairs he fob) the whole story. The little man lis-ieja'd lis-ieja'd without so much as a singie word if interruption or i nt orroaa I ton. Sotaewhft bivathi"swy Bam i caiae Ti, the owl. "And now. Mr. Sprou-'e. what do you make of it till?" he j aq u i red. Sprouse I .-' 1 1-'! back in his chair. su.Heisly relaxing. "I am completely at sea. " be said, and Barnes looked at him in surprise. "By Jove, I thought il would all be as clear as day lo you. Here is your man and also your woman, and the traveling bag full of " "Bight you are," interrupted Sprouse. "That is all simple enough. But. my dear Barnes, can you tell me what Mr. Secretary I.oeb's real name is? Why litis he established himself so close lo |
