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Show I THE HOUSE OF I A THOUSAND CANDLES Kr MEREDITH NICHOLSON nk,r ti "tilt MOS ClUICt." 2ttC CAMIIOH " ric. ivituht i b; ik,M-ttiii e CHAPTER VlllCentlnutd. The man I n l(MllnK for enmo to the ilixir qulckl) In reiKinw to in) knock Morn ' I tieaan "Won l you come In and rest your self, Mr nitiiarmr lie lnlemiitwl 'I reckon ou'r tlrwl trom your trip over' Thank you, no," 1 snne! 'Bull yotirwiir. Mr Olennnu" He ecniMl to like m name and ravo It n dlMKrioable drawltnK einplmsls Morann, you nre an infernnt black Kunrd Vm liave I tied twice to kilt mo" ' Wo II call It Hint, If you like." nnd lie grinned ' Hut you'd better cut on one for this" Ho lifted tho era) fedorn lint from his head, nnd poked his linger ttiroiiRli n hole In the top "Vou'ro a jretty fair shot Mr fllen arm The fact ntxnit me Is,' and he winked. 'tho honst truth Is, I in nil out ot practice Why, sir, when 1 saw you paddling out on tho lake thlsnfior noon 1 sighted you from tho casino halt n dozen times with my gun, but 1 WuS nfrnld to risk It" He seemed to bo shaken with Inner mirth 'If I d missed, 1 wasn t sum you'd bo scares! to death!" Kor a novel diversion I heartily recommend rec-ommend a meeting with tho assassin who lias, only a few days or hour bo-tore, bo-tore, tried to murder you I know ot nothing In the wny ot social ndventuro that Is quite equal to It. "Morgan, I hopo you understand thnt I am not responsible fur any In ury my grandfather may hnvo Intllct cd on you I hadn t seen him for sor srnl years before ho died I vvns never it (lleunrm before. In my lite mi It s a little rough for you to visit your dls pleumro on mo" Ho smiled tolerantly ns I spoko I know nnd ho know that I did that oo ill feeling ngalnst my grandfather lay back ot his Interest In my nftalrs "Yuu'ro not qulto the man yout, irandfathcr was, Mr Olennrm You II nana my bluntness, but I Inko It lhat you'ro a frank man yourself Ho was n very keen person nnd, Im ifrnld," ho chuckled with evident intlsfactlon to himself, 'I'm reallr ifrnld, Mr (llcnarm, that you'ro not' "There you have It, Morgan! 1 fully igrco with you! I'm as dull ns an jystcr, that's tho reason l'vo cnllnl tm you for cnllghtinment Conl ! r that I'm hero under n Hag of truce and let's seo If wo can't como to nn agreement agree-ment " 'It's too Into, Mr niennrm, too Into There wns a tlmo when wo might have dono somo business, but that's past now You seem like a protty decent fellow,- too, nnd I'm sorry I didn't sec yoti sooner; but bettor luck next time" "Woll," I said, seeing that I should only mako myself ridiculous by trying to learn anything trom him, 'I hope our llttlo spats through wludows and on walls won't Interfere with our pleasant social relations. And I don't hcsltato to tell you," I was exerting myself to koep down my anger, "that if I catch you on my ground again I'll till you with lead and sink you In tho lako." "Thank you, sir," ho said, with so perfect an Imitation of Hates' volco and manner that I smiled In splto of myself "And now, If you'll promlso not to tiro Into my back I II wish you good day Otherwise " Ho snatched off his hat nnd bqwed profoundly ' It 11 suit mo much bettor to continue handling tho case on your own grounds," ho snld, ns though lie referred to a business mnttei ' Kill Ing a man on your own property io quires somo explaining you mny have noticed It?" ' ' Yes, I commit most of my murdoi nwny from homo," I said ' I formed tho habit early In life, flood day, llor gnn" As I turned nwny ho closed Ids door with a slam, n dillcnto way of assur Ing mo that ho was acting In good faith, and not preparing to puncture my back with n rifle, ball I regained tho lako slioro, feellni; no great dls coiiragcment over tho hnn results of my Interview, but rather n frosh test for tho game, whntover tho Mine might bo Tho sun wns going his ruddy way lioyond St Agatha's as I drovo mj ennoo Into a llttlo covo noar which tho girl In tho tam-o' shunter had dls appeared tho dny before Tho shore wns high hero and at tho crest was a long curved bench of stono, boldlj remlnlsccntlal of Alma Tadoma, nnd as clearly tho creation of John Marshall Olcnarm as though his name nad been carved upon It It was assuredly a, spot for a pipe nnd a mood, nnd as tho shadows crept through tho wood boforo mo nnd the wator. stirred by tho rising wind, be gan to beat below, J Invpked tho one nnd yielded to tho other Somethlnn In tho withered grass at my foci caught my oye I bent and picked ui "trln: of gold beads dropped there no doet by some girl from the school or carelBs member nf the summer col (,ny I Minted tin Depurate beads they i round nn I thire were f.0 of them ie proi r l neth for one turn about girl s tin. n perhaps not more t n that' I lift d my eyes nod looked f townrd st natha's Chi ot tin rid imn-n ahsnter Its very ry I ws rmle to you yesti-r day, fe liked Miiir Meady stroke with tho ps lc and 1 admired even more the w you spurned me when nu aw tl i among nil the cads In the world am numlxr one In Class And-tliwi golden bubbles (O alrl of the red tam-o shsnter') If they are not roira you shall help me to nnd tho oier for we are nelahbors, you and I and tin re must be xce bo-twera bo-twera Stir liousi s With this foolishness I rose thrust the bMi Into my xckct and paddled horns Is the waning glory of the still set. Tftnlaht. as I was going quite lato to t'5, bearing a candle lo light me threeat Ihe dark hall to in) room, I heard I curious sound ns of some one wnltlnf In the house At first I thought Hates tas still abroad but I waited tlittnlK for several minute without uitniui! mr several minium wunoui beta tble to mark the esart direction of thniound or to Identify It with him I w nt on to the door of In) mom nnd still imtiflled step seemed to follow ni(V-JWt It had come from below, Ihenttwns much like mime ono going up Wlrs but whtre In m own room aim heard steps, light slow-but slow-but ifctlnct galn there wns a stum bis as a hurried recover). ghosts, I ttftri, do not fall down stairs! Tin sound died away seemingly In Mtno't.tanl part of tint house, and llteuri I prowled about for an hour It dlil nt recur that night CHAPTER IX. Ths Qlrl and the Rabbit. WM nnd rain rioted In tho wood, nad tecnslonnlly both fell upon tho li'brwy windows with a howl and n e(fci A. Tho tempest had wakened is, It seemed that every chlmnoy In tfc bouso held a screaming demon 1j 'pro now woll launched upon Dorp Do-rp r, nnd I was crowing used to my afi endings. I hnd offered ni) self fm ently ns a target by land and wa i& 1 had aat on tho wnll nnd tempted fait and I had roamed tho house con -.so I; expecting to surprise Hates In act of treachery, but the days f passing monotonously asory kept plucking my sleeve t-p reminders of my grandfather I H duelled at. finding constantly his nit. lonl notes In the books he had ii ted with so much Intelligence and i , cure It occurred to me that ot- memorial, n tablet attached to thi Her wall or lerhaps. more proi-r proi-r Uced In the chaptl would be fit (nf tnd I oxperlnu nted with designs or I , covering many sheets of draw nil' 'per In nn effort to set forth In a fe ' ords somo hint of Ids character ant-' Is gray morning I produced this 11)1 Pf lilt of John rmnhall (Sltrtarm '.attitiracny to the virtue of ( troiiiy, Torbtarancc and atntltncti M btautllul thins ht lortd wt not nobltr ihari hit own day E i grandtort (who itrvtd blm III) wrlitt ihli of him 1901 I b id skotched those words on a lie of cardboard and was studying ho critically when Hates came In Id ood "t y're unmistakable snowflakes lr,' o remarked from the window fV ' In for winter now ' Ht s had not mentioned Morgan or tftrfd avon remotely to tho pistol hjfof my first night, and he hnd cor aWj conducted himself ns a model irt)t Tho gardener at St Agatha a, , svchman named Terguson had vis (tej hjai soveral times and I bad our- "lllllMMMlMIIIllll.MMHIIIMIIlSMIl prl! them once Innoeenlty enjoying their pipes and whisky and water In the kitchen They are having trouble at the school, sir," observed Hates 'The young ladles running a little wild, eh' ' "Bister Theresa's III sir Ferguson told me last night And IVrguson says that Miss Deverenx's devotion to her aunt Is quite touching." "Vilas Devereiu!" That s the name, sir, rather odd t should call It ' ea It la rather odd," I said com posed again but not referring to the name My mind was busy with a cer tain paragraph In my grandfathers will "Should he fall nt any time during said year to eotnp!) with this provl ion, said property shsll at once revert to in) general estate and become, without reservation, nnd without ne result) for any process of law, the property, absolutely, of Marian Dov ereux, ot the county nnd state of New York " ' Your grandfather was very fond ol her, sir 8he and Htnter Theresa wen abroad nt the time he died It wns my sorrowful duty to tell them tho sad news In New York, sir, when they landed " 'The devil It wns!" It Irritated me to rt member that Hates knew exactly Ihe nature nf m grandfnthera will Sinter Theresa nnd her niece wer doubtless enlml) nnnlllng my failure lo remain at (itenarm House tlurlnf tho disciplinary year t had given little thought to Hbttet Theresa alneo coming to (llenarm Kin had derived her knowledge of me from my grandfather, and such being tin ense, she would naturally look tiixir mo as n blackguard and n mennce tr Ihe peace of the neighborhood 1 lint therefore kept rigidly to my own sldi of the stone wnll 'Hates!" Ho w as mot Ing tow ard tho door with his characteristic slow step 'It your friend Morgan, or any one V? (8fei) . mi Jmr-p "- , I Smote ths Table With My Clsnchsd Hand. clso, should shoot me, or If I should tumble Into tho lake, or othorwlso end my earthly career Ilstesl" Ills eyes had slipped from mlnu to the window and I spoko his nnmo sharply Yes, Mr Olcnarm" 'Then Bister Theresa's nleco would get this proiwrty and ever) thing else that belonged to Mr 'llenarm " 'Thais my understanding of the matter, sir ' Morgan, the caretaker, has tried to kill me twice since I ame here Ho II red at me through the window tint night I came, llatea'" I waited for his eyes to meet nilna again Ills hands opened ami shut several times and alarm and fear con valued hl face Hates 1 m trying 111) best to think well f you but I want you to under stand 'I suiolti the table with my clenched hand 'that If these women, or your employer, Mr 1'lckerlng oi (hat damned hound Morgan, or you damn you I don t knuw who or whal you are' think you can scare mr away from here, you'vo waked up the wrong man, and III till you anothei thing and ou may repeat it to youi achool teachers and to Mr Pickering who pays you, and to Morgan, whom somebody has hired to kill me. thai I m going to keep faith with my dead grandfather, and that when I've spent my year here and dono what that o( man wished me to do, 111 give them this house and every acre of ground and every damned dollar the oetaU carries with It And now ono othei thing' I suppose there s a sheriff oi some kind of a constable with Jurisdiction Jurisdic-tion over this place, and I oould have the whole lot of you put Into Jail fni conspiracy, but I m going to stand out against you alone do you understand me, you byocrlto you stupid, slinking spy' Answer me, quick before J throw you out of tho room'" (TO til. 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