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Show Wib3KLWD HAD NO GOD" MARYR0DERT5PINEnART JM ' J AUTHOR0rXTOCrfANJNIX)V TlfCirC. ,, -0,VSB flARVIWBtlMVJIWitNAAT I sg.-. C3n&&&-tt ' HP I J I CHAPTER I. Hilary Kingston hart been shot. Old Hilary had been n familiar fig-ure fig-ure In the vlllugo of WofllnKham for years. The eccentricity of his grey, derby hat, his beetling gray brows, his uhvays fresh gray cloves, his erect,1 rather heavy old figure, singled him out from 'the ninss of commuters that thronged the city trains. The gray derby was n part of old Hilary. Ex-cept Ex-cept on those rare occasions when ho attended service at Saint Judo's ho was never seen without It. Ho lived on the hill above tho vlU lace, with his daughter had lived there for ten years. The hall was beautiful, but old Hilary received no' "visitors, returned no advances. Visitors Visit-ors thought this curious. Tho villagers, prosperous business men with smart wives, shrugged their shoulders. Tho man's house was his own. If be found that he could do without the town, the town could get along without him. There was no mystery about tho hnll, and little curiosity. Cars going to the country club pi-jsed under the brick wall of Its Italian garden.1 Their occupants sometimes caught n glimpse of Elinor Kingston there, reading In a rose arbor, wandering among her 'peonies and Iris In the spring, or cut ting sprays of phlox In midsummer. Tho men thought her rather lovely; the women, odd, with her blond hair and dark eyes. The assistant rector of Saint .Tilde's, newly come to the village, vil-lage, met her face to face n one of IiIh long country walks, a month or so before old Hilary's death, and could not forget her. He led the conversation to her that night at a dinner. "An exquisite fnce," he described her, "hut sad. almost tragically sad." "Blond?" The lady on his right was n Mrs. Ilryant. In honor of tho new assistant rector, who came of fine family fam-ily and was a distinct acquisition to the vlllacc. she wore the Ilrvant near- shaped pearl. She spoke rather curt-'ly. curt-'ly. "I should not call her exquisite ,but you probably met I'.llnor Kingston, ner sadness Is a pose, I believe; she has everything she wants." The assistant rector was young, but very wise. So he spoke no more of Kllnor until the women had left the table. Then he ventured again. "Don't Join the army of those of us 'who worship from afar," advised the youth who had moved up beside him. "She's the loveliest thing In this part of the country. But, except our saluted rector, no one ever gets to put a foot on tho place. It's cxcluslveness to the 'nth power, and then some. There's n lot of talk, of course, or used to be. Old Kingston brings his servants from New York, nnd except an elderly housekeeper, none of them speak English. Eng-lish. They used to sny around here that he was a refugee, but Hint's all rot. He's a stingy old dotard, afraid some handsome youth like myself will captivate the girl. That's all there Is ,to It." The assistant rector, whose name was Ward, smiled perfunctorily. Instead In-stead of the gleaming tnble, spread with flowers and candles, with the gay colors of cordials nnd liqueurs, he was seeing a girl standing at the turn of a country road nnd guzlng down Into the .valley and the distant village with Bomber eyes. . . . Faith, hope and charity, nnd the greatest of these Is faith. Faith In ourselves, our-selves, faith In those around us, and that subllraest faith of all which trusts In something beyond. To all men Is given such faith nt the beginning begin-ning of life, nnd some keep It to tho end. Hut here nnd there Is one who has lost It, who cannot turn his eyes up nnd say "Lord, Lord." Old Hilary had not kept the faith. Yeors ago he had npt been evil. Ho had gone from philosophy Into unbelief, unbe-lief, that route which all must trnvel. Ilut, unlike the many, he had not come back. He had started with socialism, but socialism must be founded on tho Christ, and him he rcorned. So from socialism ho had drifted to anarchy. To rob the rich and give to the poor, nt first. Later on, to rob the rich, to Incite seditions, to arm the rebellious oh, It was comprehensive enough, vastly vast-ly wicked with that most terrible lawlessness law-lessness of all, that believes Itself law. To pit his wits against tho world nnd win that had been old Hilary's creed. "For tho oppressed" had been at first the slogan of the bund he gathered gath-ered around him. "AgnlnBt the oppressor" op-pressor" it becatno later on. Vastly different tho two. Most of human chnrlty and kindliness lay crushed down and trampled underfoot during old Hilary's progress from Christ to Antichrist. The band hnd been gathered with much enrc. Itespectablllty, order, decorumthese de-corumthese spelled safety to old Hilary's ustute mind. Most of them were younger sons of English landed families, with n sprlukllng of other nationalities. na-tionalities. Young Huff wus nn Australian, Aus-tralian, for Instance, tho son of a wealthy sheep-owner, Iloroday tho Ilusslan implicated In tho bomb-throwing bomb-throwing thut destroyed the minister ,of war was a nobleman. Old Hilary hid got him out sf Siberia during those early days when ho righted what, to his crooked mind, were wrongs. I There were twelvo In the band nt the beginning, nnd for flvo years there were no changes. Then cntno the kid-' napping nnd holding fo ransom of( Mackintosh the banker In Iown, and the unexpected cnlllng out of the state mtlltla. The band hnd hidden Mnck-I Intosh In n deserted mlno nnd three of ' the band went down In the shooting Hint followed his discovery. In the looting of Tiffany's vaults, which bus never been published, it Frenchman named Dupres was killed; and only recently a tire hnd burst after tho holding tip of the enr of tho governor of Delaware, and their enr, overturning, overturn-ing, had crushed Jerrold, tho mechanic of the band nnd old Jlllnry's chauffeur. Ono way and another, there were only flvo left: Talbot and Lcthbrldgo tho To Pit His Wits Agalnit the World I and Win That Had Been Old Hilary's Hi-lary's Creed. Englishmen, Boroday, Huff and old Hilary himself. And old Hilary's hour . was almost come. Old nilary lived well, ns ho might. His foreign servants were artists. He liked good food, good' wines, good books. He even hnd n few pictures from the lending gnllerle of Europe. He hung them In the house nt Wolllng-ham, Wolllng-ham, with a cynical smile. "Safest place In tho world," ho said to old Henrlette, who protested. "The village has never even heard of them 1" And so In this atmosphere with which he surrounded himself, of Hue living and wrong thinking, of atheism rnlsed almost to religion, of no law and no Christ, old Hllnry had brought up his daughter. Ho had been proud of her in his way; absolutely selfish, too. She had hod no other companion. compan-ion. Ho taught her his unbelief, pointing point-ing out the churchgoers, ns they drove together on Sunday mornings, ns slaves to a myth. Also, ho taught her to hate n lie, nnd to give nlms. Enrly In her life their drives together had been punctured with questions. "But If my mother Is dead, where is she?" nsked Elinor on ono of them. Old Hilary had eyed her from under eyebrows that were already gray. "She lives In the memories of thoso that knew nnd loved her." "But I never knew her. Then for mo she doesn't live 1 But Mndemolscllo " she checked herself. Suspicion had been dnwnlng in old Hilary's eyes. "Death Is the end," he said tersely, and quoted Darwin nnd Ilacckel to her. nut at the end of tho drive ho Interviewed Mademoiselle, and sent her flying to her chamber, where from under tho carpet beneath her bureau, she got her rosury and wept over It. Ellnor'Vns twenty the year her father fa-ther died, a slender girl, fond of flowers, flow-ers, rather n dreamer. Well educated, too. Old Hilary had seen to that; sho knew Mnlato, Haeckel, linUunln; spoko French nnd Spanish Hilary had spent much time In Central America helping the Insurgents; It wns ho who financed the Insurrection In northern , Mexico nnd wrote fluently the form of shorthand that her father had devised de-vised as n means of communication between be-tween tho leader of tho band. A keen-eyed, keen-eyed, wistful-mouthed slip of n girl,' shut off In the great house on tho hill nbove Woinnghum; living her life of big theories and small duties, cal-1 loused to robbery and violent deeds, und viewing wistfully from her win- dows the little children In tho road be-; low. CHAPTER II. I Once a year the association closed ' its books. During all of the Juno be-j foro old Hilary's sudden death, Elinor had been busy arranging figures, col-' lecting data In the cryptic shorthand i sho knew. Then, on tho first of July, : Hilary gave his annunl dinner. I The band, from twelve, was down to , five, Borodny, the Ilusslan, glancing around the table, shrugged his shoulders. shoul-ders. It was the elm nee of the gamo they played, and percentages would be larger. Nevertheless there was a k . . aa weight! of depression over them all." , H Elinor wns at her father's right, H simply dressed. The dinners were nl- I wnys a trial to her. She was palpltnt- I Ingly anxious that the pners before old Hilary bo In order nnd accurate. I They were her work. The deeper slg- I nltlcnnce of the meeting sho wns not I so much Ignorant of ns profoundly In- H different to. If her father did n thing, , H It took on order, became a law, HJ There wore present Talbot nnll I.eth- H bridge, tho Englishmen; Iloroday, H whose rescue from Siberia had made H hint " old Hilary's henchman; 'nnd H young Huff. Huff wns the mechnnl- H clan. He hnd been trained in tho 1H Illerlot works; atrplnnes to wireless, HJ automobiles to automatic pistols, he HJ knew them all makes, nil grades. It HJ old Hilary was tho brains, Huff wns ,'HJ the hnnds of the band. H Ho sat beside Elinor, nnd watched HJ her with worshiping eyes. 1'erhaps It H was as well that old Hllnry was Intent i HJ on his food und on tho business in ' H . hand. HJ The routine of (lie nnnunl dinner HJ j seldom varied. Five of them then, HJ that Inst dinner around the tnble. In HJ evening clothes, well set up, spare, HJ three of them young, nil temperate, HJ honorable about women us polished, HJ ns harmless In nppearance, as death- HJ dealing, ns the gleaming projcctllo of HJ u twelve-Inch gunt IHJ First old Hilary went over the books. , JH It might have been the-board meeting IH ,of some respectable bank. He stood jHJ at hjs end of the table, and the light .IH .from tho chandelier fell full on hlhi. H "I liovo to report, gentlemen," he j H would sny, "n fairly successful year." ( I This Is where It differed from n bank. H The association had had no bad years. JH '"While our expenses have been heavy, JHJ returns hnvo been correspondingly so." HJ And so on, careful lines of figures, out- H lays and returns, to (he end. For old 'H Hilary wns secretary nnd treasurer as M well ns president. jl This time, when he had reached tho M end of what was to lie his last report, ! he paused nnd cleared his throat. IM "Unfortunately, that is not all, gcti- j H tlenien, 'Nothing can we call our JH own but death,' And It Is my snd HJ duty to report, this last year, the loss jHJ of threo of our number. A calamitous year, gentlemen." !HJ He might have been n trustee, In- M tueiitlng tAc loss of valued supporters jHJ to a hospital ! HJ Afterwnrd, In the library, with Et- HJ Inor embroidering by the Are, they HJ cashed in. They dealt only In cash. HJ Securities were dangerous. Once or IH twice Iloroday had successfully nego- jn tinted with a fenco In Paris, but nl- J ways under old Hilary's protest. Tho routine never varied. Elinor ' J unlocked the door to a winding stair- ,j case, which led to n basement room A IJ , where the steel vault stood tu Its ce- H ment wnlls. The live wont down, re- 'H I turning shortly with tho cash-boxes. LH The money was divided on tho library MJ table. It went by percentages. III!- H ury drew SO that lust year, each vC H the others 10 n total of CO per cent. H Tho -10 per cent remaining was dl- W7 vlded, or sent ns n whole, according Ml to tho sense of tho meeting, Ilcrlln got It nil one year, for Instance, to 41 Borodny's disgust. Itusslh generally Wm received a lnrge proportion. The Chi- HJ 'nose revolution; tho defenso of Berk- H 'hnrdt, who killed Ecker tho pork- JJ packer; n shipment of guns und am- v Jji 'munition to Central America thus It went, HJ Although they preferred only money, , ' now nnd then the loot Included Jewels. M Lily common consent, such gems, HJ 'stripped of their settings, wero put jJ aside for Elinor. They meant nothing ' HJ to her. Had anyone told her that for 'M several years her share had been HJ greater In actual value than all tho money that hnd fallen to her father HJ sho would not have believed It. . . . V3 I Four days or so after the annual Im ' meeting, the rector of Saint Judo's wits '& I always nsked to dinner. And ulthough H tho reverend gcntlemnn would under jff normal circumstances hnvo been fish- HJ Ing In Canada, ho never went until this M function wns over. For old Hilary, do- 3 testing his creed, respected the man. E A certain percentage, then, of old HII- d nry's share went over tho library tn- Wh blc, after tho dinner, to tho rector. , ' "Use It where It will do the most Xtf , good," ho would sny. lb "Tho church organ" "Not n cent to tho church organ. HJ Buy tho youngsters n playground, or HJ build a lylng-ln ward tn the hos- HJ pltnl." HJ Elinor's mother hnd died In child- jHs birth. JaI Tho last check had been unusually jH generous. Tho rector, who htd been JH smoking ono of old Hilary's choice HJ cigars, put It down nnd faced his host H resolutely. It took courage. HJ "Mr. Kingston," ho said, "tho church Bl needs men lll:o you. Why be a Chris- M tlnn In tho spirit nnd avoid the let- Hsl HJ "Tut." Old Hilary roso and looked down at him. "I am like all gamblers. VJ This nnnunl check to your poor Ik- tbe H hop I throw to luck. That's nil, sir." HJ And his tone closed tho discussion. H Tho word "gambler" worried tho roc- H tor. lie thought over It on his way H down tho hill tn the rectory. But Ids JH poor wero very poor. Ho cashed the HJ check tho next day. , , . HJ Elinor was In the library that sunny ,H I August dny when they brought old J Hilary to her. Sho had never been H I death before, except on the streets of H Mexico, and for u good many years he HJJ had been nil sho had since her labt 9J governess, In fnct, hnd been discovered I secreting the rosary nml had been H I word-scourg;d from the house In tears. Hi I Hhn fainted, nnd wrinkled Henrlette HJ laid her on n couch, H Iloroday, tho Ilusslan, hnd brought ,H the body home, and now he stood, look- H Ing down nt Elinor und tstioklug his H English-cut beard. H .-u.bg k(To be continued in our next issue.), H |
