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Show QSTORYgj Bthe HOUSE OF I A THOUSAND CANDLES B7 MEREDITH NICHOLSON snkir tl "tnt MAIN CiHICt." ZIID4 DtHriOl," tu. .1.tltl im ir hwMw-li.riill l CHAPTCR XXII. Continued. She swung I lit' lantern at nrm a length limk urn! forth so that III rajs at every forward motion struck in) faro like a blow "It Imi t exactlv pleasant In I his cnv cm I tilim miii wish to timi ins over In tliii lord filch executioner, I will bid juii (tood night " "Hut the Infamy of llila of coming In hero to spy upon me tn help my enemy IIik man who U seeking pluu-der pluu-der doesn't seem to trouble you " "No Not a particle'" she replied quietly, and thwi, with an Impudent fling, "Oh. no'" aht held up tile lantt-rn to look at tho wick "I'm reallj dls-Hlnteit dls-Hlnteit to find that yen were a little ahead of mo, Squire (HiiHrin I didn't Klvn )oii iredlt for so much persever-: persever-: , mice. Hut If )im hnvo tho nolo " "1 he notes' Ili told you there wore notes, did ho? Tim coward sent jou I hero tn find Ilium, nftcr lil other tool fall.il him?" She laughed that low luugli of hem that wns llku tho bubble of a spring. I "Of oourat) no ono would dare dm) what Ihe groat Squire (llenarm aaya," ! the Mid wltherlngly. "Vou can't know what nil r perlldj means to mo." I aald. ' That night at tho Armstrongs', 1 thrilled at tho sight of jou At you came down the atalr way I thought of ou as my good angel and I belonged to you. alt my life, the better future that I wished to make for f )Mir ake." "Please don't'" she exclaimed aor i Row fully, the mirth all Rone I felt I that my word had touched her, that there wore regret and re-ntnee In f her tone and In the gesture with which J she turned from me I She hurried down the vanenao toward i thn chapel, swinging the lantern at her ' aide, nnd I followed., mill no stilled, , nnd angered by her romixnuru She f even turned, with pretty courtesy, to ' hold the llKht for me at tho crypt ! sups, i service that I accepted per force and with Jojluss ncqulescincu In tho Irony of It. n "You seem to know n Rood deal about this plnco, and I suppose I enn't object to jour familiarizing yourself with your own property. And tho fji note I'll glvu mysolf tho ploasuro of l! ' handing them to jou to-morrow. You fj can cancel them and gtvo them to Mr. 1 Pickering, a fitting pledgo between i you!" L t thrust my hands into my pockot to Rho an Impression of easo I did not I possess. J "Yes," she remarked In a practical tono, "1320.000 dollars Is no moan 8 aum of money. Mr. Pickering will tin- doulitedly ba delighted to havo his debts Canceled" , "In exchange for n llfo of devotion," It I sneered. "So jou know tho sum b tho exact amount of these notes. He hasn't served ou null! Ho should havo told jou that wo found them to-i to-i day." "You aro not nice, nro jou, Squlro (llcnnrm, when jou aro cross? tint Mr. Pickering wasn't kind not to tell mo. Why, I mlKht catch a dreadful cold down hero'" 8ho wns liko Olivia now. I felt tho litter futility of attempting to reason ' with n woman who could hecomo a child at will. Bho walked up tho steps nnd out Into tho. church vestibule j Then beforo tho outer door sho spoko t with decision i" "Wo part here, It jou pleaso' And I haa not tho slightest Intontlon of trying to explain my errand Into that I passage You havo Jumped to your own conclusion, which will havo to servo jou I advlso jou not to think j cr' much about It, to the exclusion I of innro Important business, Squlro aicnana'" I ' Sho lifted tho lantern to turn out Its , light, and It made n Rlnry of nor faco, but sho paused nnd held It toward mo. "Pardon me' You will need this to llRht jou home." "Hut you must not cross tho park alone!" I 'Good night I I'leaso bo suro to closo tho door to tho passage w hen j ou t ro down. You are a dreadfully heed less person, Squlro (llenarm " I Sho llunR open tho outer chapel door and ran alone the path toward i St. AKatha's I watched her In the ,, i fctarliRht until a bend In the path hid her swift moving figure. I - Down throuRh tho passago I has- . tcnod, her lantern lighting my way ' At tho Door of Howlldennent I closed tho opening, setting up tho lino of wall as wo had left It In tho afternoon, after-noon, and then I went back to the library, freshened the fire and brooded I beforo It until Hates came to rcllovo Mo at dawn. CHAPTER XXIII. i j Desleged. j It was nine o'clock. Wo had swal- lowed some breakfast, though I bellevo no ono hnd manifested an appetite, and wa wcro cheering ourselves with f" tho Idlost talk possible Stoddard, who had been to tho chapel for his usual mmpmmmmm l-eve. n r!ii. k sertlir i deep In the 1 1 i m I (In i k testament he always car I'":' I Hull run In to report a summons1 'nt i In miii i wall and Ijirry and I win' liffMlier to answer It sending Hun i In kit p watch t ward the lake inn friend the rhe'lff with a dc-iit dc-iit whu mini le in a hi ggv He stood up nnd talked to us over the wall ii 4i nta understand that Tip only doing my duty It an unpleasant IiiikIiic's, but the court order me to ijirt nil trespasser on the premises, and I've got to do It " The law Is being used by an In-I In-I fanmiis scoundrel tn protect himself I don I Intend to give In. We can hold out here for three months. If neees-isary. neees-isary. and 1 advise you to keep away I and not act as a tout for a man like Hlrkering ' The sheriff listened respect full), I resting his arms on top of the wall ' Vou ought to understand, Mr (Hen ii nil that I ain't the court, I'm the sheriff, and It's not for me to pass on these questions I've got my orders and I've got to enforce Vm. and I hope vou will tint make It necessary for me lo use violence The Judge said to me, Wo deplore violence In such cases' Those were his honor's very words." You mnj give his honor my compliments compli-ments and tell him that we are sorry not to sec things his waj, but there are points Involved In this business that he doesn't know an j thing nlMiiit, nnd we. iinrortiinalelj-. hnve no time to lay them before him " The sheriff's seeming satisfaction with his position on the wall nnd his dlsKMltlon In imrley had begun to arouse my suspicions, nnd Ijirry sov eral times exclaimed Impatiently at the absurdity of illsciisslug my affairs with n person whom lie Insisted on "Move If You Dare, and I'll Plua Yau with Your Own Gun." calling a constable, to tho sheriff's ovl dent annoyance. "You, sir, wo'v o got our cj o on you, and jou'd better como along peaceable. peace-able. Lauranco Donovan; tho descriptions descrip-tions Ills you to a 't' " "You could buy n nlco farm with that ruward, couldn't jou" begun Iirry, but at that moment Hates run toward us calling loudly. "They're comiiiR across tho lako, sir," ho reported, and Instantly tho shorld's hr.id disappeared, and as wo ran townrd tho houso wo heard his horso pounding dawn tho road toward St. ARUthn'a "Tho law bo damned. They don't Intend In-tend to riimo In hero by tho front door as n matter of law," said Larry. "Pickering's "Pick-ering's merely using the sherlft to Rlvo respectability to his maneuvers" It was no tlmo for n discussion of motives. Wo run ncross tho meadow past the water tower and down to tho boat house. Par out on tho lako wo saw half u dozen men approaching tho (llenarm grdtads They advanced steadily over tlio light snow that lay upon tho Ice, ono man slightly In nd vanco and evidently tho lender. "It's Morgan," exclaimed Dates "And there's Pcrguson " Ijirry chuckled and slapped Ills thigh "Ohscrvo that stocky llttla dovll Just behind tho leader Ilo's my friend from Scotland Yard I.ncln! this Is really an International affair." "Hatos, go back to tho houso and call at nny sign of attack," I ordored "Tho sheriff's loose somewhere." "And 1'lckerlnK Is directing i forces from afar," remarked Stoddard "I count ten men In Morgan's line." said Larry, "and the sheriff and his deputy make two moro Thai's 12, not counting Plckorlng, that wo know of on tho other sldo " "Warn them away beforo they get much noarer," suggested Stoddard. "Wo don't want to hurt people If wo can help It," and at this I went to tho end of the pier Morgan and his men wero now qulto near, nnd there was no mistaking their Intentions Most of them carried Rims, the oUiors revolvers re-volvers and long Ice hooks, "Morgan," I called, holding up my hands for a truce, "wo wish you no harm, but If jou enter these grounds jou do so at your peril" They had iwuhcm! at a word from Morgan and listened sullenly. "Wo'ro all sworn deputy sheriffs," wmmmmmsmmmm i cnlliil the earetater smoothly We'vi I got the Inw behind us L That must be whv vou re mmini ' In the tiaok way I replied 1 The thickset man whom I nrry hft I It mined as the I'ngllsh di lit live no! rnme clnner and sdi'riFnl ut in hliih kev I nure hiirtmrlng a bid man Mri (llenarm nnd Inner give him uul I ve Rut m paper and the Americans law supiHirts me You II get join-self Into trouble If ynn protect that man You may not understand sir that he sj a very dangerous character I "Thanks, Davidson'" called IjirryJ "You'd better keep out of this Yoifl now I'm a bad man with the shlllalah'"' "That jou are, yon blackguard!" yelled the officer, so spitefully that wor all laughed I drew back lo the boat house "They are not going to kill anjbody If they can help It," remarked dliM-dard, dliM-dard, "any more than we are Kveu deputy sheriffs are not turned loose to do murder, and the Wabana county court wouldn't. If It hadn't been Imposed Im-posed on by Pickering, lend Itself to a game like this And this business hero Is only n private affair between Pickering Picker-ing and the sheriff " , 'Now we're In for It," Jelled Larry; and the 12 men. In close order, eamo running ncross tho ke toward tho shore. "Open order, and fall liack slowly towanl the house," I commanded And we deployed from Hie Imal house, vvhlln the attacking party still clung together, to-gether, n strategic error on their side, as l,arry assured us "Htay together, lads Don't separate, sepa-rate, jou'll gel lout If jou do," ho jelled derisively to the emmj Stoddard bade him keep sllll, and wo soon hnd our hands full with a preliminary skirmish. Davidson, the detective, seemed disgusted lit Morgan's Mor-gan's tactics, oiwnly nbused tho caretaker, care-taker, and ran ahead of his column, revolver In hand, bearing down ujion Larry, who held our center. Tho englishman's haslo .-as hli undoing. A light fall of snow a fovr dnys beforo had gathered In thu little lit-tle hollows of tho wood deceptively, Tho dctectlvo plunged Into ono of theso and fell sprawling on all fours n calamity that caused his comrados to pauio unoaslly. Larry was ujion his enemy In a flash, wrenched his pistol away ami pullod tho man to bis feet. "Ah, Davidson. ThWs many a slip) Move, If jou dare, and I'll plug jou with your own gun" And ho stool behind the man, using Jilm us a shield whllo Morgan ami the rest of tho army hung near tho boat houso uncertainly. "It's tho strategic Intellect wo'vo captured, general," observed I.arry to mo "You see tho American Invaders wore depending on llrltlsh brains" Morgan now acted on tho hint wo had furnished him and sent his men out as skirmishers Tho loss of the detective had undoubtedly staggered tho caretaker, and wo woro slowly retreating re-treating towsrd the house, Larry with ono hand on tho collar of his prisoner pris-oner nnd tho other grasping tho ro-vnlver, ro-vnlver, with which ho imkeil tho man frequently In tho ribs Wo slowly continues! our rotroat, fearing a rush, which would hnvo disposed of us easily eas-ily enough It Morgan's company had shown any fighting spirit. Stoddard's presence rather amated and Intimidated Intimi-dated them, I think, nnd I saw that tho Invades kept away from his end of the lino. Wo wore now far apart, stumbling over tho snow-coverod oarth and calling to ono another now and then that wu might not becomo too wldoly separated Davidson did not relish his capture by the man ho had followed across tho ocean, and ho attempted once to roar a command to Morgan. (TO HE CONTINHHD) |