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Show western town w!jl-ti was le-r home. I low he had laughed at le-r n-b'-ilioii at being a nrlm.,1 teacher, a.-l h-.-.v irt-.:li"w!.v irt-.:li"w!.v he had hinted she nii.'ht riot ulways he one I h, he knew what to say - k m-:v coi'-h l.'-li-r than Uiille S;,:r!, s, the soda fountain ;lTk, or i-vwi Horatio fuller, the uel;iiowle,-e, l,eaa of the toun. la f.-o-t he made boili of them seem Miie commonplace even Hortie. I'i.iiij It! 1'robably that was because he had Ira .eleil. Apparently he li.it been almost everywhere except to Alton City. (did he should new-r have been I here when h:; had V I .-, i t -. I Ju.it about every other corner, both of America and Iiui-ope. Not that he had deliberately said so. He was far too modest for that. It was while trying to find out where his home was that she had stumbled upon the Information. And come to think of It. she did not know now where he lived, she suddenly remembered. She ut'ually did not know whether he had a father or a mother; u brother or a slsi'-r. .So occupied was she with her thoughts she had not thought once of I'rlnce Hal. Id fact she had supposed that he had gone up the beach with Marcln, Now she suddenly became aware that he stood sniffing about the hearth, scratching at Its surface as If he scented something beneath. He must not do that, and she told him so In no uncertain terms. Nevertheless, Never-theless, in spite of the rebuke, he continued con-tinued to poke away at the spot, whining faintly, until his persistence aroused her curiosity and she went to see wdiat disturbed him. "What Is It, Trince? What's the matter?" mat-ter?" whispered she. Delighted to have gained her attention, atten-tion, the clog barked. "Oh, you mustn't bark, darling," she cautioned, muzzling his nose with her Dy Sara Ware Bassslt CotyrlKht by Thf I'orin rub. Co, Vv'NU ,S.rvi'- SYNOPSIS Tho filters of lli) hlltl yeotl.riil m-'l OliiMty VV 1 .1-1 e i " Mai, 1. 1 lieV..-, I -iiKf rl:a.it-i by 1 1 u I h from too- m::n;, -r!:'-lali liiio.anrl, hi a v.-i -at l..n:.l t.t-l.it Lnioro-: hou".- i v.-a of loo little t.wel.-t of Wilton. Klb'.il,!': loo IiMi.h arei w. I-dwoh I-dwoh aim, n r In I r Man in. l- pltt) tilir 1111 fol I II na I fna I I f.i',li I a t '( -periiseii-n. Iln'la iili-iiMI.it I" lixr In'", but la lonely ut tlneeo iifel leii toViN-U h.-i-latn ha.t.ii iiiI'h niB.-it, Sylvia llav.l-n, whom f.hh lias never :!-eii, to vi .lt her. Thn Klrl iirrivea timt M.u-cki tula-n to bnr ut one,-, while eyl.ia, '-: 1 1 n to mna a none- w ha 1 i-l,l'-rlv mini, llreli .Mar-rlH .Mar-rlH morn lllm k OU,-r. A Mtriiiavr, on tli vi-rita of tin a -o Ion. Ilmlii hoi v.ay to tin 'a hone;. He explains that his power-hont ran jtrroiiml In ttio foi. Heeietly, he loik l Miie-I.i lo hi.le a .urll-OKe .urll-OKe no n t a I ii I io' Jewelry. Shu does .so. Kllahit Wlnsloiv, town .sheriff, hrlro-ri nwn of a Jewel rohheiy on a rielu;li-liorlnK rielu;li-liorlnK esliit.ii. The stranger -,ives tils natnn uh Hiunb-y He-nth. CHAPTER IV Continued 5 Fur from demanding explanations, she resolved she would give him no chance to make them. Therefore, when his meal was ready and every hist Inviting touch had been Klven the tray, she said casually to Hylvia : ".Suppose you take It up, dear?" "I?" "Yes. Why not? Do you mind?" "Not at all. I Just thought perhaps you'd rather." Mnrciu shook her head. "I want to stir the Newhurg and see It doesn't catch," she explained, avoiding avoid-ing the girl's eyes. "We are too hungry hun-gry to risk having our dinner spoiled. You might Just wait and cut the chops for Mr. Heath and tlx Ids potato. Find out, too. If there Is anything more he wunts. You needn't hurry hack. I'll keep things hot." The tusk suggested did not, apparently, appar-ently, displease Sylvia. "Here goes Red Itldlnghood," she murmured, taking up the tray. "All Is, If I don't come hack, you'll know the wolf has eaten me." In spite of herself, Manila smiled. She opened the dor and stood watching watch-ing while the girl ascended the stairs, for the hall was unllghted and the tray heavy. "I'm safe," called a merry voice from the topmost stair. Murcla came hack Into the kitchen. She finished preparing the lobster, Btrnlghtened the silver on the table, Bnd let In I'rlnce Hal. Ten minutes passed I Fifteen! Half an hour went by. She fidgeted and stooped to pat the Better. Then she went to the window. win-dow. Slowly the fog was lifting. By afternoon he weather would be fine Just the right sort to get the boat off. She would go up the beach and watcii the men while they worked. The house was close. She longed for air and the big readies of the out-of-doors. A jingle of glass and silver! It was C-att, pj'a;i.-d In his s;.eed b'eit ami here he was - here, under thU very roof! A pdiber that was what he wa! A rubber a mimii', such as oi.e siw in tie.' .'.'IT. ie ; Timt eplained why he v. as so well-,lr....,, well-,lr....,, so haieNeiiie, had such fas. cinating manners. lie was a gentleman gentle-man burglar. , All i:p-t"-i!ate vilia:ns In these days were lientlenc-n. Xi it tiiat she had ever encountered a villain In the flesh. Still, she had read romances about them and was there not one in every moving-picture? They were not iliili-eult iliili-eult to recognize. It was exhilarating wonderful! A thief in the room overhead! Tldnk of it! Tiie very thief for whom all the police In the countryside were searching! search-ing! He was no small, cheap type of criminal, lie did things on a big scu'e so big that radio announcements had been broadcast about him and no doubt at this instant detectives and crime inspectors were chasing up and down the highways; dashing through cities; and keeping telephone wires hot In wild search for the gentleman asleep upstairs ! Why, that very morning had not K!i-sha K!i-sha Winslow, the Wilton sheriff, who had frankly admitted he yearned for excitement, helped undress the wretch and put I i I m comfortably to bed? The humor of the situation almost overcame over-came her. It seemed as If she must have someone some-one to share the joke. But no one should. No! Nobody should be the wiser because of her. The poor, hunted hunt-ed fellow should have his chance. It was a little venturesome and risky, she admitted, to obstruct justice and should she be found out she would, without doubt, be clapped Into jail. Still she resolved to take a chance. After all, who could prove she had known Stanley Heath to be what he was? Nobody. She would not even let him suspect It. The important thing was to await an opportunity and soon before he was able to be about return the handkerchief hand-kerchief she held In her hand to Its place beneath the brick. Then all would be well. This should not be difficult. dif-ficult. It would be quite easy to get Marcla to take up Mr. Heath's supper. In the meantime, the situation was intensely amusing. Its danger appealed ap-pealed to her. She had always enjoyed en-joyed hair-breadth escapades. Anything Any-thing but dullness. That had been the trouble with Alton City it had been dull deadly dull. But Wilton was not dull. In spite of the fact that only this morning Elisha Winslow had complained the town was in need of a stirring up, It seethed with electricity. If she chose, she could hurl a bomb-shell into its midst this very minute. But she did not choose. Instead she intended to play her own quiet game and keep what she knew to herself. She wondered why. Perhaps Per-haps she was falling in love with this adventures. Yes, that must be It. She was In love with him in love with a bandit ! Sylvia's imagination had traveled so swiftly and so far that it came to earth with a crash when Marcia opened the door. ) It was not alone the buffeting of the salt breeze nor the exhilaration of walking against it that had transformed trans-formed her Into something radiantly lovely. From within glowed a strange fire that made her another creatura altogether. "Why why Marcia !" breathed Sylvia, Syl-via, bewildered. "I've had such a glorious walk, dear!" cried Marcia. "The fog has lifted and the sky is a sheet of amethyst and gold." "Did the men get the boat off?" "Yes. She is floating tranquilly as a dove." "What is her name?" " 'My Unknown Lady.' " "Mercy on us! That ought to satisfy even Elisha." "It did," said Marcia. ill I 1111 li '''y I fisrj - Sylvia returning with the tray. Her eyes were shining. "lie ate every bit!" she cried. 'Tivi should have seen him, Marcia. It would have done your heart good. The poor lamb was almost starved. lie asked for you the tirst thing. I don't think he altogether liked your not carrying up the tray, although of fourse, he was too polite to say so." "You explained I was busy?" "Yes. But at tirst he didn't seem satisfied with the excuse. However, he soon forgot about it and became gay as a lark. Didn't you hear us laughing? The potato would fall off the fork. I'm not as good a nurse as you. My hands weren't so steady. I'm going buck again for his wet clothes. We can dry them here by the fire, can't "Here Goes Red Ridinghood." hand. "You'll wake Mr. Heath. Tell Misy what the trouble is. Do you sme'l a mousie under there?" For answer the dog wagged his tall. "1 don't believe It," Sylvia demurred. "You're only bluffing. Well, to convince con-vince you, I'll take up the brick." Fetching from the pantry a steel fork, she inserted the prongs In the crack and pried the offending brick out of its hole. Instantly the dog snatched from the space beneath a handkerchief containing con-taining a small, hard object Sylvia chased after him. "Bring It here, Hal! That's a good dog! Bring it to Missy." we?" "Yes, Indeed." "It's a pity there isn't a tailor at band. His suit might to be pressed." "I can do it," Marcia declared with eagerness. "I'm Quite used to pressing men's clothes. I always pressed Jason's." Ja-son's." This time the name dropped unnoticed unno-ticed from her lips. Indeed she was not conscious she had uttered it. She Was not thinking of Jason. s s s s Sylvia was glad Heath was asleeri very glad Indeed. She did not begrudge be-grudge him a moment of his slumber. But what a delightful person he was when awake! His eyes were wonderful wonder-ful so dark and penetrating. They bored right through you. And then he listened with such lntentness, watching watch-ing every curve of your lips as If fearing to lose a word. Such attention was distinctly llattering. Even though your chatter was trivial, he dignified It and transformed It into something of Importance. How Interested, for example, he had been In Marcia; in learning she had been married and now lived a widow In the old Daniels Homestead! And what a host of inquiries he had made about Jason the sort of man he was and how long ago he had died ! Sylvia hud not beeu able to answer all his questions, but of course she had asserted that Marcia had adored her husband because well, not so much because she actually knew it, as because be-cause widows always did. Certainly Marcia had declared she loved the Homestead so deeply she never Intended In-tended to leave It, and was not that practically the same thing as saying ehe loved Jason, too? Anyway, the thing that really mattered mat-tered was Mr. Heath's Interest In her Sylvia ; In her trip east and her description de-scription of Alton City, the little mld- lhe setter came fawning to her side and unwillingly dropped his prize at her feet. As It fell to the ground, out rolled such a glory of jewels the girl could scarcely believe her eyes. There was a string of diamonds, dazzling as giant dew-drops; a pearl and sapphire pendant; several beautiful beauti-ful rings; and an oval brooch, its emerald center surrounded by tier after tier of brilliants. Sylvia panted, breathless. She had never soon such gems, much less held them In her hands. How she longed to slip the rings upon her fingers and try the effect of the diamonds about her slender throat ! Prudence, however, overmastered the impulse. Marcia might return and stir prise her at any moment. Before that the treasure must be returned to the place from which it had been taken. Gathering the rainbow heap together, she reluctantly thrust It into Its blue leather case, snapped the catch, and placed it once more under the brick. Then with relief she stood up and wiped the perspiration from her forehead. fore-head. It was not until she was again In her chair, book In hand, and struggling to nuiet her quick breathing that she discovered dis-covered she still held in her hand the handkerchief that had been wrapped about the jewel case. It was a man's handkerchief of finest linen and one corner bore the embroidered em-broidered Initials S. C. II. She had known It all the time! There was no need to be told the Jewels were his. What puzzzled her was when he had found time to hide them. He had not, so far as she knew, been left alone a moment and yet here was his booty safe beneath the floor. She rated It as booty, because there could be no doubt he had stolen It. Ht bad stolen It from that Long IslanJ CHAPTER V Sylvia's plans, so well laid and ap parently so easy of execution, did not, to her chagrin, work out, for instead of awaking and demanding supper Stanley Heath slept without a break . until morning. Sun was tinting the lavender sands to rose and gilding the water with its first flecks of gold when she saw Marcia Mar-cia standing at the foot of her bed. "Mr. Heath has a high fever and can scarcely speak aloud," explained she. "I'm afraid he is quite ill. I wish you'd call up Doctor Stetson." "Mercy on us!" The girl, drowsy and heavy-eyed, sprang out of bed. "I'll be down in just a minute," she exclaimed. "How do you happen to be up so early?" "I've been up off and on all night," answered Marcia. "Mr. Heath was restless rest-less and thirsty. About midnight I heard him tossing about, and thinking he might be hungry, I heated some broth and took It to him. He declares he is going back to New York today." "But he can't he mustn't." "He is determined to. He says he has something very important to attend at-tend to. Of course I have no authority author-ity over him but perhaps Doctor Stetson Stet-son can exert some. That is why I am anxious to reach him before he goes out," explained Marcia. moving toward the door. "I will call him right away." "I'll go down and start breakfast, then. Mr. Heath is dozing. He bio, promised not to get up for at least an hour. We must have the docto'- here within that time." "I'll tell bin. to hurry." Marcia tipt I down the stairs n n nr c.l:;:t;m, i n |