Show THE lifa OF tha AR TY BY MINN AL am JIMBI U aw IN 0 D ltv co jr ino WW barte SYNOPSIS young rex ibex lisle cans can on casper knee kne land friend ot of his hi father in new york k and and him proudly successful but itra arangel neely preoccupied lie ile tells lisle hale of his Is a a death while insane invites him tor or the summer to li halcyon alcyon camp his hi home iame on en long lon island and promises him he a will be useful il as ai bit s secretary there hero CHAPTER I continued a 2 this Is the first american outfit ive had tor for several years hilo hale told the clerk been living abroad theres a certain satisfaction in starting from the ground up the clerk agreed and led lea him firmly to the socks underwear and pajamas hale bought a lot efthem of them and threw in a new dressing gown hed give his old one he decided to the th a chop chap who cleaned his boots at his bis modest hotel it was certainly in hand me down condition he paid the bills with undiminished cheerfulness and went to a popular restaurant at one for needed rest and refreshment the restaurant was one kneeland had becom mended inthe in the final moments of their interview ile he ate his excellent lun luncheon choon with open enjoyment it was great to eat well cooked food again A hand fell on his shoulder hello old man maxim ought to keep you here in his restaurant as a permanent exhibit you look like the cat that gobbled the canary 1 I feel like her so would you if you had been eating omelets and tough beef in spain J Z got back from there yesterday so kneeland said oh you know mr kneeland It Ra therl atherl ile ho sent me here to look you up said he had advised you to lunch here today and bethought be he thought you would the newcomer dropped into the chair hale indicated what will ul you havet have hale asked nothing but a cordial thanks apricot brandy ive had my lunch hale summoned hi bis waiter swatter and ordered the liqueur ile he was not enthusiastic thusia over the encounter but it was pleasant to see almost any familiar face he ha had had to think a minute to remember who this ibis fellow was someone he had known at t chicago no at cornell yes he had him now ainsworth frederick ainsworth he looked exactly as he had bad looked then dark thin sleek green eyed catlike cat like sardonic on mr Kne elands mind now he asked con conversationally ally Ain reply showed that h he e had changed as little in character as in appearance A good deal I 1 fancy he said lightly as he sipped his liqueur but nothing to pass on to you that is he send you any message I 1 think he told mo me to look you up ap because he wanted to get rid of me I 1 dropped into his office at twelve and he care to take me out for lunch iles hes been very successful hale murmured yes an odd expression fell over Ain smooth face it was like a dark mask settling into place he stared sture dinto into the small glass he held in his hand somewhat ostentatiously he changed tha subject ile he tells me youre coming to halcyon camp yes im going tomorrow afternoon 1 good im out there myself it will interest me ma very much ainsworth purred returning to his liqueur to see what you you make of us youre in for some surprises that rh sounds rather cryptic I 1 late hale smiled its a cryptic place on the surface everything Is sweetness and light be charmed tomorrow night by our carefree manner and our sunny faces but dont scratch the top youre apt to find some ugly crawling things underneath thava thata a queer way tor for a guest to talk hale said stiffly ills his early dislike of ainsworth was increasing with every word the fellow uttered then he pulled himself up remembering that for the moment he ha was the fellows felloW 3 host mr kneeland told me he had three house guests he wen went t on more naturally whoa there now besides you and the family only two more ainsworth had plainly decided not to be offended by the others criticism theres miss hosannah hosannas Hos aimas annas friend mrs spencer For forbes besan an ash blondo blonde lady with a past chos the other guest doctor craig cragg a friend of berts iles hes another mysterious person it you ask rne inc but were all mysterious ns its ive hinted find us an interesting study in our romantic setting of sea fea and sky and woods halcyon camp is oft off the main arteries as I 1 suppose kneeland told you he laughed halcyon camp he quoted ironically kneeland says he wants it to be a serene happy place the contrast between the camp as it really is and as hl meant it to be is awfully fumy funn if he knew it he no hes too abs absorbed orbid in his own big problem hes he on an unhappy man and with good reason buthe but he wants everyone around him to be contented he has always seen himself as aa a benevolent god in the machine working ghis his miracles to benefit others it Is to laughl laugh hale moved abruptly in his chair and Alna worth took the hint he had finished his liqueur he got up be off now be he sald said see youat you at halcyon camp shall itell lItell miss hosanna join our happy band in time for dinner tomorrow nighta night yes thanks the tinner dinner hour Is 13 halt half past sev en and the run down takes almost two hours better come coma on the half past four our train 11 1 I will thanks again they shook hands and with a strong sensation of relief hale watched Ain departure he told himself irritably that the fel i low had pricked his balloon and the next instant reproached himself for being so susceptible to the ma mans nin influence hale finished his shopping and saw oil ait amusing play that night it diverted him even more successfully than the shopping had done he took a calm mind to bed with him and into dreamland but his bis dreams w were ere troubled kneeland had told him to leave the train at a certain station adding that it was three miles from the camp and that probably ha be would be met hale left the train af at that station staffon shortly after six the next evening and was not surprised to find no one in sight who seemed to be looking for a redheaded red headed stranger it was a lonely little station and only one passenger had got off with him this was a slight woman coolly dressed in blue volle voile she had bent a furrowed brow over a notebook note book during most of her journey she seemed to be unsuccessfully adding columns column of figures that annoyed her A small sedan car with a youth at the wheel was waiting tor for her on her way to it she heard hale question the station agent who stood on the platform as to the direction dIrect Jon of halcyon camp she turned and came toward hm him she was a woman in her forties with prematurely white hair a youngish face and a worldly smile mile you must be the young mm man miss kneeland is expecting today she said cheerfully anyone met you hale jerked off his hat and returned her smile with warmth he liked her on the instant no but it far to the cam camp P IU ill enjoy the walk 00 you wont enjoy three miles 0 ol 01 it with an all that luggage put it in roy my carand ill 1111 take you to the edge of the camp clearing I 1 dont like the road that leads to halcyon camp itself I 1 can drop you when we come to that road within a quarter of a mile from the house awfully good ot of you my name is hale 1 I know youre the young engineer who has just got back from spain miss kneeland celand told me about you last night im mrs wilbur nash one ot of her neighbors this Is my son wilbur better known in the neighborhood as the nash cub lisle hale had put his luggage into the car now he got in himself and took the seat feat mrs nash indicated beside her the boy started the car with a jerk that thai lifted his passengers from their seats and sent it along the narrow rutted country road at almost 59 50 miles an hour he wants a new car mrs mra nish explained when she had returned to her seat after the jerk he thinks if he wrecks this hell have one you wont darling daril ng she ehe assured the boy ive often reminded you that my annuity dies with me have to go right to work probably on a truck and darling please dont turn to point out the beauties of nature to us when youre driving angat at this speed theres no sight more beautiful to me than young driver mhd keeps his hands firmly on the wheel and his bis eyes on the road the cub turned and waved a carets careless paw he was lightly cladIn a low necked khaki shirt khaki shorts and a pair of dirty white tennis shoes ile he had a brown skin brown hair and brown eyes She Shw returned her full attention to fatale hale and gave him a few details about the neighborhood very casual at atHil halcyon cyon camp she told him when she ha reached that point of interest it never occurs to them to meet guests or boget to get them to trains tor for that matter matte r time means nothing to them and no re specters of persons mr kneeland talks about living close to the soll soil he lets his guests do it but he makes himself thoroughly comfortable you wont catch him ploughing sloughing hing through the tha underbrush and along muddy country roads to the camp miss hosanna and joan do it halt half the time mr kneeland keeps his car for his bis own journeys back and forth bert has a tour four wheel wreck that he disappears in every day when he oft off in his motorboat motor boat here we are sorry I 1 cant take you to the door follow those excavations at the right they represent a road hale thanked her and jumped out of the sedan ile he grasped the bags and his hatbox hat box and started oft off along the branch road that ran at an angle to the so called highway at a rather unexpected turn in the road he be saw the camp he stopped put down his luggage and looked it over it was not a camp or a bungalow but a big mid victorian house set in a wide clearing seen at that short distance it had something of the effect of a brooding brogdin 9 gray then hen with outspread wings wing crouched close to the earth and un n willing to be approached or dit disc it spread over a lot of ground A large screened ln in veranda ran along the entire front of the frame building another extended along the right side french win dows opened on these there were a numb number erpf of outbuildings buildings out several tents were set up on pine board foundations and entered by roughly built steps there was an impressive sive outdoor out door oven tor for camp cooking down on the beach he saw what were evidently private bath houses a boathouse boat house and a pier A good sized float loomed up some distance from the shore yet with all this halcyon camp did not suggest a i hospitable home throughout his life hale had been subject to what tor for lack ot of a better word he called hunches his hunches were sudden and wong strong convictions without understanding them he had developed a certain respect tor for them he had a hunch now and he did not like it J IN etwas it was a long time since he had bad experienced a hunch so BO definite and disturbing hale straightened drew a quick breath handpicked and picked up hi his s luggage it was a long time since he had bad experienced perien ced a hunch so definite and so disturbing 1 ile he approached the strangely strange lyst sl len there must be a num ber befog of human beings tn in and around it but not a sound suggested their presence many of the windows were open and their chintz curtains billowed in the breeze nota voice was heard not a note of music came out to him not a dog barked one would think have dogs in a place like this if they had the dogs were inside hidden like the humans hale strode up the wide steps leading to the front veranda passed through th the screen door reached the double front doors and pressed a compelling finger against an electric button on a side panel light steps came along the inner hall il and the right hand door swung open A young and pretty girl in a maids uniform gave him a welcoming smile and stood aside to let him pass even before he apo spoke ke she was so pleasant to look lock at so matter ot of factly reassuring that the newcomer er experienced an absurd sense of relief he smiled at her as ht at a familiar friend TO BE CONTINUED |