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Show green fancy! 0 GEORGE BMPv MS OJOEON rt&- Aulhor f "GRAUSTARK." "THE vMMWl HOLLOW OF HER HAND." "THE MM&P 3. A PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK," ETC. Copyright by DotM. MeaJ artj Company, Inc. started to back out of the door wllh mi apology for having blundered in I o I lio wrong room hy mistake. "Come right in," slii' said cheerily. "I'll soon Iks through. 1 supposes I should have done nil this no hour ago, bill. I just linil to write n few letters. I inn Miss Thackeray. 1'liin ts Mr. Barnes, 1 lielieve." Jle bowed, si ill quite overcome. "You needn't be scared," she criod, observing bis confusion. "This is my regular uniform. I'm starling u new slyle for chiiiiiberninlds. Did it paralyze para-lyze you to lind me liere?" "I couldn't believe my eyes." She abandoned her easy, careless nianuer. A lool; of mortification came Into lier eyes as sin; straightened up and faced him. Her voice was n trille liusUy when she spoke again, after a moment's pause. "Ton see, Mr. Barnes, those are (lie only duds I have wilh mo. It wasn't tlio tnblo, on which was stretched tho I'lKuro of tli( wouniled man, wero undoubtedly un-doubtedly natives: Farmers, woodsmen woods-men or employees of the tavern. At a word from Putnam Jones they opened up and allowed I'.arnes to udvanco to the side of the man. "See if you c'n understand him, Mr. P,urnes," saiil Ihe landlord. Perspiration Perspira-tion was dripping from his lon, raw-boned raw-boned lace. "And you, P.acon you and Dillin'ford hustle upstairs and i.'et a mat tress off'n one of the beds. Stand at the door then!, PiUe, anil don't let any woman in hen;. lo away, .Miss ThacUoruy ! This is no place for you." Miss Thackeray pushed her way past the man who tried to stop her and joined Karnes. "It Is tin: place for me," she said sharply. "Haven't you men got sense enough to put something under his head? Where Is he hurt? (.let that cushion, you. Stick it under here when I lift his head. Oh, you .poor thin;; I We'll he as quick us possible. There!" The man's eyes were closed, hut at the sound of a woman's voice lie opened them. The hand with which he clutched at his breast slid off and seemed to be groping for hers. His breathing was terrible. There was blood at the corners of his mouth, and more oozed forth when his lips parted in an effort to speak. With a courage that surprised oven herself, the girl took his hand in hers. It was wet and warm. She did not dare look at it. "Merci, niadame," struggled from the man's Hps, and he smiled. Karnes leaned over and spoke to hlnl in French. The dark, pain-stricken eyes closed, and an almost imperceptible imper-ceptible shake of the head signified that lie did not understand. Evidently he had acquired only a few of the simple French expressions. Barnes had a slight knowledge of Spanish and Italian, and tried again with no better results. German was his last resort, and he knew he would fall once more, for the man obviously was not Teutonic. The bloody lips parted, however, and Hie eyes opened with a piteous, appealing appeal-ing expression in their depths. It was apparent that there was something he wanted to say. something he had to say before he died. He gasped a dozen words or more in a tongue utterly unknown un-known to Karnes, who bent closer to catch the feeble effort. It was he who now shook his head ; with a groan the sufferer closed his eyes in despair. He choked and coughed violently an instant in-stant later. "Get some water and a towel," cried Miss Thackeray, tremulously. She was very white, but still clung to the man's hand. "Be quick ! Kehind the bar." Barnes unbuttoned the coat and revealed re-vealed the blood-soaked white shirt. "Better leave this to me," he said in " her ear. "There's nothing you can do. He's done for. Please go away." "Oh, I sha'n't faint at least, not yet. Poor fellow ! I've seen him upstairs up-stairs and wondered who he was. Is he really going to die?" "Looks bad," said Barnes, gently opening the shirt front. Several of the craning men turned away suddenly. sud-denly. "Who is he, Mr. Jones?" "He is registered as Andrew Paul, from New York. That's all I know. The other man put his name down as Albert Itoon. He seemed to be the boss and this man a sort of servant, far as I could make out. They never talked much and seldom came downstairs. down-stairs. They had their meals in their room." "There is nothing we can do," said The Girl of Green Fancy. Synopsis. Thomas IC. 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, who says she Is 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. Barnes finds them entertaining, but as the storm rages he worries over the mysterious mys-terious aud attractive girl of the automobile and wonders If she got sefely to Green Fancy. CHAPTER III Continued. 3 He had been standing there not more than half a minute peering in the direction from whence came the , rhythmic bang of the anvil at no great distance, he was convinced when some one spoke suddenly at his elbow. He whirled and found himself facing the gaunt, landlord. "Good Lord ! You startled me," he exclaimed. His gaze traveled past the tall figure of Putnam Jones and rested on that of a second man, who leaned, with legs crossed and arms folded, against the porch post directly in front of the entrance to the house, his features fea-tures almost wholly concealed by the broad-brimmed slouch hat that came far down over his eyes. He, too, it j seemed to Barnes, had sprung from nowhere. "Fierce night," said Putnam Jones, removing the corncob pipe from his Corner and was on his way to meet someone at Spanish Falls. It ap-yeavs ap-yeavs that there was a misunderstanding. misunderstand-ing. The driver didn't meet the train, so the person he was going after walked all the way to the forks. We happened upon each other there, Mr. .Tones, and we studied the signpost together. to-gether. She was bound for a place culled Green Fancy." "Did you say she?" "Yes. I was proposing to help her out of her predicament when the belated be-lated motor came racing down the slope." "What for sort of looking lady was she?" "She wore a veil," said Barnes succinctly. suc-cinctly. "Young?" "I had that impression. By the way. Mr. Jones, what and where is Green Fancy?" "Well," began the landlord, lowering his voice, "it's about two mile and a half from here, up the mountain. It's a house and people live in it, same as any other house. That's about all there is to say about it." "Why is it called Green Fancy?" "Because it's a green house," replied re-plied Jones succinctly. "Green as a gourd. A man named Curtis built it a couple o' years ago aud he had a fool idee about paintin' it green. Might ha' been a little crazy, for all I know. Anyhow, after he got it finished fin-ished he settled down to live in it, and from that day to this he's never been off'n the place." "Isn't it possible that he isn't there at all?" "He's there, all right. Every now and then he has visitors just like this woman today and sometimes they come down here for supper. They don't hesitate to speak of him, so he must be there. Miss Tilly has got the idee that he is a recluse, if you know what that is." Further conversation was interrupted inter-rupted by the irregular clatter of horses' hoofs on the macadam. OIT to the left a dull red glow of light spread across the roadway and a man's voice called out, "Whoa, dang ye!" The iloor of the smithy had been thrown open and someone was leading lead-ing forth freshly shod horses. A moment later the horses prancing, pranc-ing, high-spirited animals their bridle bits held by a strapping blacksmith, black-smith, came into view. Barnes looked in the direction of the steps. The two men had disappeared. Instead of stopping stop-ping directly In front of the steps the smith led his charges quite a distance beyond and into the darkness. Putnam Jones abruptly changed his position. He Insinuated his long body between Barnes and the doorwav. at "You See, Mr. Barnes, These Are the Only Duds I Have With Me." necessary to put on this hat, of course, but I did it simply to make the character char-acter complete. I might just as well make beds and clean washstands in a picture hat as in a low-necked gown, so here I am." She was a tall, pleasant-faced girl of twenty-three or four, not unlike her father in many respects. "I am very sorry," he said lamely. "I have heard something of your misfortunes mis-fortunes from your father and the others. It's it's really hi.rd luck." "I call it rather good luck to have got away with the only dress in the lot that cost more than tuppence," she said, smiling again. "Lord knows what would have happened to me if they had dropped down on us at the end of the first act. I was the beggar's daughter, daugh-ter, you see absolutely in rags. Glad to have met you. I think you'll find everything nearly all right. Good night, sir." She closed the door behind her, leaving him standing in the middle of the room, perplexed but amused. "By George," he said to himself, still staring at the closed door, "they're wonders, all of them. I wish I could do something to help them out of " Hesat down abruptly on the edge of the bed and pulled his wallet from his pocket. He set about counting the bills, a calculating frown In his eyes. Then he stared at the ceiling, sum- the same time rather loudly proclaiming proclaim-ing that the rain appeared to be over. "Yes, sir," he repeated, "she seems to have let up altogether. Ought to have a nice day tomorrow, Mr. Barnes nice, cool day for walkin'." ! Voices came up from the darkness. Jones had not been able to cover them with his own. Barnes caught two or three sharp commands, rising above the pawing of horses' hoofs, and then a great clatter as the mounted horsemen horse-men rode off in the direction of the crossroads. Barnes waited until they were muffled muf-fled by distance and then turned to Jones with the laconic remark : "They seem to be foreigners, Mr. Jones." Jones' manner became natural once more. He leaned against one of the posts and, striking a match on his leg, relighted his pipe. "Kind o' curious about 'em?" he drawled. "It never entered my mind until this instant to be curious." said Barnes. "Well, it entered their minds about an hour ago to be curious about you," said the other. CHAPTER IV. An Extraordinary Chambermaid, a Midnight Tragedy, and a Man Who Said "Thank You." Miss Thackeray was "turning down" his bed when he entered his room after bidding his new actor friends good night. He was staggered and somewhat some-what abashed by the appearance of Miss Thackeray. She was by no means dressed as a chambermaid should be. nor was she as dumb. On the contrary, she confronted him in the choicest raiment that her wardrobe ward-robe contained, and she was bright and cheery and. exceedingly incompetent. It was her costume that shocked him. Not only was she attired in a low-necked, low-necked, rose-colored evening gown, liberally lib-erally bespangled with tinsel, but she wore a vast, top-heavy picture hat whose crown of black was almost wholly obscured by a gorgeous white feather that once must have adorned the king of all ostriches. She was not at all his idea of a chambermaid, lie ming up. "1 11 do it, he said, after a moment of mental figuring. He told off a half dozen bills and slipped them into his pocket. The wallet sought its usual resting place for the night : Under Un-der a pillow. He was healthy and he was tired. Two minutes after his head touched the pillow he was sound asleep. He was aroused shortly after midnight mid-night by shouts, apparently just outside out-side his window. A man was calling in a loud voice from the road below ; an instant later he heard a tremendous pounding on the tavern door. Springing out of bed, he rushed to the window. There were horses in front of the house several of them and men on foot moving like shadows among them. Turning from the window, he unlocked un-locked and opened the door into the hall. Some one was clattering down the narrow staircase. The holts on the front door shot back with resounding resound-ing force, and there came the hoarse jumble of excited voices as men crowded crowd-ed through the entrance. Putnam Jones' voice rose above the clamour. "Keep quiet ! Do you want to wake everybody on the place?" he was saying say-ing angrily. "What's up? This is a fine time o' night to be Good Lord! What's the matter with hint?" "Telephone for a doctor, Put damn' quick! This one's still alive. The other one is dead as a door nail up at Jim Conley's house. Git ole Ltoc James down from Saint Liz. Bring him in here, boys. Where's your light? Easy now ! Eas-ee !" Barnes waited to hear no more. His Hood seemed to be running ice cold as he retreated into ihe room and began be-gan . scrambling for his clothes. The thing he feared had come to pass. Disaster Dis-aster had overtaken her in that wild, senseless dash Up the mountain road, lie was cursing half aloud as he' dressed, cursing the fool who drove that machine and who now was perhaps per-haps dying down there in the taproom. "The other one is dead as a door nail." kept running through his head "the other one." A dozen men were in the taproom, gathered around two tables that had been drawn together. The men about j Barnes, "except try to stanch the flow of blood. He is bleeding inwardly, I'm afraid. It's a clean wound, Mr. Jones. Like a rifle shot, I should say." "That's just what it is," said one of the men, a tall woodsman. "The feller who did it was a dead shot, you c'n bet on that. Pie got t' other man square through the heart." "Lordy, but this will raise a rumpus," rum-pus," groaned the landlord. "We'll have detectives .an' " "I guess they got what was comin' to 'em," said another of the men. "What's that? Why, they was ridin' peaceful as could be to Spanish Fulls. What do you mean by sayin' that, Jim Conley? But wait a minute! How does it happen that they were up near your dad's house? That certainly ain't on the road to Span " "Spanish Falls nothin' ! They wasn't goin' to Spanish Falls any more'n I am at this minute. They tied their horses up the road just above our house," said young Conley, lowering his voice out of consideration for the feelings of the helpless man. "It was about 'leven o'clock, I reckon. I was comin' home from singin' school up at Number Ten, an' I passed the hosses hitched to the fence. Naturally I stopped, curious curi-ous like. There wasn't no one around, fer as I could see, so I thought I'd take a look to see whose hosses they wore. I thought it was derned funny, them hosses bein' there at that time o' night an' no one around. Looked mighty queer to -me. Course, thinks I, they might belong to somebody visit in in there at Green Fancy, so I thought I'd" "Green Fancy," said Barnes, starting. start-ing. "Was it up that far?" demanded Jones. Mystery follows upon tragedy. Who are the men and why were they shot? Barnes finds himself forced into the complication. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Some One Spoke Suddenly at His Elbow. lips. Then, as an afterthought, "Where'd you walk from today?" "I slept in a farmhouse last night, about fifteen miles south of this place, I should say." "That'd be a little ways out of East Cobb," speculated Mr. Jones. "Five or six miles." "Goin' over into Canada?" "No. I shall turn west, I think, and strike for the Lake Champlain country." coun-try." "I suppose you've traveled right smart in Europe?" "Quite a bit, Mr. Jones." "Any partie'lar part?" "No," said Barnes, suddenly divining divin-ing that he was being "pumped." "One end to the other, you might say." "What about them countries down around Bulgaria and Itoumania? I've been considerable interested in what's going to become of them if Germany gets licked. What do they get out of it, either way?'' Barnes spent the next ten minutes expatiating upon the future of the Balkan Bal-kan states. Jones had little to say. He was interested, and drank in all the information that Barnes had to impart. im-part. He puffed at his pipe, nodded his head from time to time, and occu-" occu-" sionally put a leading question. And quite as abruptly as he introduced the topic he changed it. "Not many automobiles up here this time o' the year," he said. "I was a little surprised when you said a feller fel-ler had given you a lift. Where from?" "The crossroads a mile down. He came from the direction of Frogg's |