| OCR Text |
Show I 1 I - --J SYNOPSIS. Hi Eltwrt Carstalrs. capitalist, estranged from his H wife In hi. old age. longs for the companionship H ' of his dnugbter Mary, who lives with Mrs. Carstalrs M at Hunston-on-thc-UudMn. The child refuse to j come and visit him. Mr. Carstalrs refuses to force H her to do so. and bence old Carstalrs engages Larry H Varney to take the Carstalrs yacht np the Hudson H and kidnap Mary, who Varnoy belle ca Is but 1-'. H Varacy gets tho help or Tcter Maglnnis In tho ven- M tare. Ihrce days after the start Is made. On the M way up the rlior the name of tho yacht, OyprlanI, Is erased to throw reporter off the t,rack Arriving nt M Uanston, the two nlly themselves with Hare, a cam- M palgncr for reform against tho dictatorship of Boss H Rynn. Ryan so completely dominates the town that fl the rcfortu people are denied tho use of public halls. m, Varncy Is accused by Colony Smith,'6 owner of tho M Gazette, which It under Ilyan's thumb, of being H Ferris Stanbopo, author of pink tea literature, and M Is advised to leave town uulets ho wants trouble. M Tho sarao evening Varney, fleeing from a heavy raln- H storm, take shelter In a cottage and finds a 6trange H young woman there. Sho proves to be Mary Cnr- H stairs. Tnrther, she accuses htm of being Stnnhop. H Varney learns through a magazine article the reason H why he Is accused of being Stnnhope. It seems, from H the article thct Stanhope Is about to return to Hun- H ston, from which he had fled months before Alter H ricapadea with several gir.'s. Maglnnln has also H found adventure plotting to " steal " Cos Ryan's big H political meeting and turn It to one for Hare and re H form. H SEVENTH INSTALLMENT. B A Galling Rebuff. THERE was a considerable silence. Peter pulled frownlngly at his cigar; It had gone out, but ho was too absorbed to H notice It, and mechanically pulled on. H Presently he raised his head and looked at B Varncy. H1 " Well? This ends It, I suppose? You'll go B back to New York this afternoon? " H " No," said Varney, " I'm going to' stay H and carry it through Just as I expected." H Peter tapped tho chair arm with his heavy, H fingera. " Why? " H " Because well, I promised to, and on M the strength of my promise Uncle Elbert H has gone to trouble and expense, for one H thing, and has pinned high hopes on me, for H another. I had my chance to ask questions H and make terms and stipulations and I H didn't, do It. That was my fault I am not Hj even sure that he meant to deceive me. I H have no right to break a contract because I H find that my part in it is going to be harder H than I thought." H "This business about her age changes H everything. Carstalrs has no legal rights H over a 19 year old daughter." H "Legal rights! My dear Peter, you never H supposed I thought I was doing anything H legal, did you? No, no; the moral part of it H has been my prop and stay all along, and H that still holds, I .promised without condl- H tions, and I'll go ahead on tho same terms." H " Give me a match," said Peter thought- H fully. "Maybe you are right, Larry," he H added presently. " I only wanted to point H out another. way of looking at It. I stand H absolutely by your decision. You think that H this girl is wrong headed and obstinate, and H that her father has a moral right to have H her, over age or not. This discovery makes H It a pretty serious business, but, of course, H you've thought of all that. But will it bo Hl possible now? " H " I have invited her," said Varnoy with' a H light laugh, " to lunch on tho Cypriani on Hl Thursday with two or three other Hunston H friends." Hi "Well?" H " She accepted with every mark of pleas- Hj utjo. Great men like Stanhope, it seems, re- H quire no introduction; it beats me. Tho H point now is to And the other Hunston H "Haro and his sister, Mrs. Marne the H very thing I chaperon and all! I'll Invito H them tonight Then the whole thing's H done! " Peter sat silent a moment, looking Hl al Varney. "I've been awfully rushed to- H day," ho resumed. " because if I was going to H help Haro at all I didn't dare Ipso this one Hl big opportunity. But, remember, anything H that has to bo done from now on I'm your H man." H " There'll be nothing more now until Hl Thursday. The thing's pracycally done." H Peter was still looking at him steadily. H " It's going to bo dirt easy, provided wo H don't weaken. You can't do thlngB to your Hl friends, but you can emphatically do them H to your enemies. We have got to remember H always that this girl, who has been so heart- H less to her old fool of a father, Is our j enemy. H "Yea, that la what wo have got to re- H member." j "Good Lord I " cried Peter, looking at his H watch. " Twenty minutes past 4, and I must B be at tho hall at 4:30 sharp. I'll havo to 1 sneak right away. You're going to sit tight H on the yacht, of course? " H "Never! I like to have a little of tho fun H myself. I must certainly tako in this moot- H ing tonight, and watch you put your heel on H their necks, and all that." H "Don't! With what you've got to do, you H can't afford to expose yourself. What's the H use of running risks, even little ones, when there Is nothing to gain? " H " Satan reproving sin! Fudge! Free your- H aelf once for all, my dear sir, that I'm star- H ring in ' The Prisoner on the Yacht ' for the H next three days, or anything of that sort" H " Well, if you will go," said Peter reluc- tuntly, " hero's a reservod seat ticket a 1 ' peacherlne, right up at the front" "Great! Count on mo to lead tho applause." ap-plause." Peter rose. Ills engrossed brow advertised adver-tised tho fact that his thought had already flown back to his own private maelstrom of new concern". "If Hare gets' his chance tonight," ho meditated out loud, " you can rely on him to make the most of it He'll make good; he's a man, sound in wind and limb, head and heart I do wish, though, he wasn't so somehow innocent so easy so confound- ''' ' ' m ':':--'"" ","'""""' :- " The sound of a violent scuffle smote the nocturnal air.' ' v edly affable and handshaking with everybody every-body thatecomes along. There's a sneaky looking stranger at tho hotel rubber heeled fellow named Hlgginson, with one of those black felt hats pulled down over his eyes like a stage villain that Hare never laid eyes on till today. For all ho knows the man may be an agent of Ryan's, a hired spy, imported to By Jove' That's just what ho is, I'll bet!" he cried suddenly and after a frowning pause hurried warmly on: "Don't you remember last night just after we hit tho town, I said thero was a man following us sneaked up tho alley when ho saw mo looking at him? " " I believe I do, Peter. But tho fact is that I met so many exciting people last night " v " It's tho same man It was Hlgginson I " said Peter positively. " I'm sure of It! I didn't get a lobk at his face last night, but it's the same hat, same figure everything. Til bet anything he's on Ryan's pay roll; and there's little Hare hobnobbing with him as friendly as though they'd been classmates class-mates at college! That kind of free for all geniality doesn't go, you know! A reformer in a rotten town like this," said Peter vehemently, " would do well to cultivate a profound distrust of strangers." Varney burst out laughing. "You yourself have known Hare from tho cradle, I believe? " " I'm different," said Peter without a smile. "Weill I must move. Now, let's see that lunch. What time shall I ask Hare and Mrs. Marne for? " " Two o'clock, Thursday. I dldn't have tho nerve," Varney explained, " to ask Miss Car-stairs Car-stairs for today rather lucky I didn't and sho was engaged for Thursday." "Right I'll arrange it all.- Well, for the Lord's sake, take care of yourself tonight, Larry, and trust me to keep out of trouble. So long." Varney looked after Peter's disappearing back, and envied him all tho fun ho was having. His own lot was certainly far less entertaining. Howevor, it was his own; and here he resembled his friend in one respect . at least His thoughts, like Peter's, had a way just now of reverting at short notlco to the matters in which he himself was most closely concerned. Ho lay back idly among tho cushions' and let his mind once more run over tho unexpected unex-pected problems of his situation. The new 'graveneos of what ho was pledged to do had, of course, been strongly present in hiB mind from tho first moment of revelation. Kidnaping a 19 year old girl was certainly, as Peter had pointed out, a pretty serious business. Ho perceived that it would not look well in tho papers in tho least Also, if sho cared to raiso a row afterward, thero might be an aftermath which would not be wholly a laughing matter. Nevertheless, this side of the question scorned remote and of minor interest, to him Just now. The problem appeared tp be a personal one. not a question of statutes and judges. In his talk with Miss Carstalrs be fore ho knew her by name he had failed to notice anything that suggested the spoiled and willful child ho had come to find. Ho could remember nothing sho had said or done that helped liim at all to think of hor as his enemy. Tho fact was that it was all quite the other way. And this helped him to understand now, as he had not understood before, why Uncle Elbert had begged a solemn oath from him with such a piteous look on his handsome, haggard old face. Peter's pronounced views as to Mr. Stan-I hope were not, it appeared, purely of tho stuff that dreams are made of. Testimony to the author's lack of popularity in his nativo town 'came to Varney with unexpected unex-pected promptness. In the corner of the square, as he swung along toward the Academy theater that evening, he found himself suddenly con-ftonted con-ftonted by a man who, lounging against the fence of a shabby dwelling, straightened dramatically at his approach and bent a sharp gaze upon him. Ho was a tall, shambling fellow with a white cloth swathed about the top of his head, and Varney, in tho act wmmm - - x ' 1 ' ' of passing, suddenly recognized him as the dog man whom Peter had knocked out the night before. His gaze was a wanton challenge chal-lenge for the young man to stop, and Varney Var-ney cheerfully accepted it. "Why, it's Mr. or Hackley. isn't It?" Tho man's bandage left only ono eye free to operate, and he kept this upon Varney Var-ney with a curious unwinking stare. " Yes," said ho slowly, " I'm Hackloy." " How'd the dog como out? " asked Varney. Var-ney. "Dead," said Hackley, as quiet in mien as the Hackley of last night was bellicose. " Dead an' burled." " I'm sorry," said Varney, his glance on theLrlieadcloth. "The man who did tho kicking was a friend of mino and ho wouldn't want you to lose your dog without some compensation. Er please accept -this with his compliments and regrets." Hackley, his single washed out eyo starting start-ing with pleasuro, accepted tho proffered note with a gesture resembling a clutch, investigated its size in tho dim light with i gn ' '" f''l'".m '" "Ll ' T'aai I ' i hardly concealed delight, and pinned It into his waistcoat pocket with a largo brass safety pin. Then ho raised his head slowly nnd looked at Varnoy. "Whyn't you leave town tonight, Stanhope?" Stan-hope?" he Inquired casually. Varney started. Almost to the very lan-guago lan-guago this was exactly what Editor Smith had suggested to him the night before. "Why do you call mo Stanhope, Hackley? My name happens to be Laurence Varnoy." Mr. Hackley's gazo never relaxed. " Chuck it," he said without emotion. " A sensible and eddlcated man," he added im-personalis', im-personalis', " never lies when a Ho couldn't do him no good. If I was you, Stanhope. I wouldn't lose a minute in cuttin' loose from this town." " If I were Stanhope, I dare say I wouldn't either. But suppose I were," ho added, " why shouldn't I stay here If I wanted to?" " For one reason," said Mr. Hackley deliberately, de-liberately, " there's me. When I'm a-foelln' myself there ain't a cammer, a moro genteel gen-teel nor lor abldin' citizen In Hunston. As for fussin' and flghtin', I'd no moro think of it than a dyln' lnverlld In tho orspltle. But only throw a few drinks under my belt like last night and I'm a altogether different dif-ferent creetur. And I'm mighty afraid that tho next time I overdrink myself and don't rightly know what I'm doin' I'll go out after you with a club. And then there'll bo trouble." " But why should you want to go after Stinhope with a club? What did he over do to you7 " " Don't you know? I married Mamie Or-rick's Or-rick's little sister! " j " Most Interesting," said Varney, " as a bit of genealogy, but what's it got to do with Stanhope and the club? " But Mr. Hackley said again, cryptically: " Chuck it." Then, softened by the young man's pleasant ways and by the windfall of a fortune pinned into his vest: " Be sensible, Stanhope," ho added amiably. " I ain't the only one. Old Orrick's heard that you've hit the town and Is totln a gun and talkln wild. And, of course, there's others. Don't jump off no tall bulldln's, I say, expectln' Providence to land you -soft'. There's a train to Noo York at eight-ten. Cut while you can! " v " Why, thanks," said Varney, laughing and starting on. "If I should see Mr. Stanhope Stan-hope at any time I won't fall to pass him tho friendly tip." "And If you should see that friend o yourn," called Hackley after him, " him that gimme jthe paste In the Jor you c'n just tell him that Jim Hackley is goln' to lix you both good!" " At'your convenience, Hackley." The young man passed on, undisturbed by the dog man's quaint menaces. Ho did not exactly see himself and Peter getting into trouble at tho hands of a crack brained village humorist Streams of people, converging from all directions, di-rections, guided him easily to the theater. Pushing his way In, ho found the'' stage empty and tho proceedings not yet begun; and ho stood for a minute at the inner door, glancing over tho house. It was crowded. Oratory is a real inducement in societies seldom blessed with that attraction. attrac-tion. Even lemonade Is a magnet if you got it seldom and never to aurfelU. Already Al-ready men were clttlng in the long low windows which ran down either side of tho building, and a score of ushers, singularly singu-larly alert looking men, wero hurriedly distributing dis-tributing camp chairs to accommodate the overflow. , Certainly, Peter could have de- lyn, .. i.anii Lin,llLi Hlll " :' sired no better setting for his daring adven-turo adven-turo for reform. Thanks to tho reserved seat which his friend's reluctant liberality had furnished him, Varney was in no hurry to Join the throng Inside. Presently, to got clear of the rush at tho doors, ho strolled Into tho lobby and idly stood at one side, watching the people streaming by. Thus, by sheer luck, he became witness to the crucial episode of tho evening. An oily Teutonic volco spoke Just at his elbow. " Id't S o'clock, I zee. We'd better go back and give Taylor his speech, I guess." The young man turned. He happened to be standing Just in front of tho little cubby of a box office. In it stood two men, ono largo and fat and blonde, the other short and stocky and dark. This latter, looking up from his typewritten manuscript spoke briefly: " No hurry. Find Smith If you can and send him here." Tho fat, oily person departed obediently. Immediately thero stepped through the door of the box office office a rough looking man In a slouch hat, -with three days' stubble stippling stip-pling a grimy chin. Ho shut the door carefully care-fully and came nearer. Varney, from where , he stood, could see and hear everything. "Mr. Ryan?" The stocky, dark man nodded. Aha! thought Varncy. "Then step ouside a minute, will yer? There's a gonaman wants to speak to you right away on a matter as concerns you close." Ryan coldly looked the man over: " Then 1 tell him to come In here. No! I ain't got no time to fool vith him now. Tell him to go to the devil." , The stranger never moved a muscle. " There's a reason w'y ho can't come In here you'll see when you come outside, all right!" Then bringing his dark face sharply sharp-ly a foot nearer, he went on In a hasty undertone: "Hey, you! Ever hear of a man named Maglnnis? " Ryan had: Peter's fame had traveled far in Hunston t,hat day. "Well, listen! There's a game on to bust this meetln' tonight and put the hook into t you good and hard. Maglnnis has spent a thousand to do It. D'yer savvy? Now will er stop lively?" Tho boss considered a moment and then stepped lively. Varney, falling In behind, stepped lively too, his curiosity strongly stirred. But outside, before the theater, thero was no sign of a gentleman awaiting an audience: only tho people pouring on into the academy. "Around tho corner," whispered tho dark man hoarsely. " Ho dassen't wait hero. Quick! " Around the corner tho pair hurried, Varney Var-ney close in theii wake. In tho silent alley, ' half hidden in tho shadows of tho building, ' stood a largo carriage with a pair of strap- 1 ping bays tugging at their traces. They halted before it and tho stranger, who had ' considerately taken Ryan's arm, flung open J the door. " Here ho Is, Jim Mr. Ryan. Now you c'n tell him " i The sentence died unendod. At tho same t moment tho sound of a violent scuffle smote the nocturnal air. It appeared that Jim, presumably laboring under an unfortunate misapprehension, had not received his visitor vis-itor with that refined hospitality duo from ono gentleman to another. Even moro In- c explicable, it looked in tho deceitful dark- 1' nesa, remarkably as though tho boss' guido, r suddenly dropping that gentleman's arm, . t had laid forcible hold upon his outraged and madly protesting legs. It was all over in a minute. There -Waal a faint yoll, quickly and violontly muffled Then tho carrlago door banged, leaving no body on the sidewalk, and tho horses, responding re-sponding to an acutely painful lash from tho strong arm on tho box, sprang forward, nt tho gallop. Varnoy stood In tho dark alley, looking? after the vanishing carrlago with mingled admiration and amazement Swift footstepa sounded near him; and tho noxt momenta strong hand seized him and pulled him bacll I into tho shadow of tho wall. I "Sh-hl It's mo 1 Anybody see it? " V "Hello! ' Not a soul but mo." I Poter leaned against tho wall and dreraf a deep breath. " Ho can never provo It on me not to savo his soul! and I hold his meeting in the hollow of my hand. Do you seo that lighted window at tho back there? Thafa my las: bridge. Waiting in thero aro iho chairman of the meeting and tho mayor, who's tho orator of the evening. I'm going In and make 'cm take mo on as ono of the , platform speakers. I'll pass out a few remarks re-marks and call on Hare " But how will you make them " They daren't refuso mo anything," said Peter swiftly and tapped his breast pockot, " I'vo papers horo that mean stripes fofr them both. Mind your eyo. Larry, and bd good! " He disappeared through the littlo gato toward the dressing room, whero tho offl clals of tho meeting waited vainly for last instructions from their lord. Varney looked after him with a sigh. In Hunston only twenty-four hours and already to be rurn ning tho town! He emerged from the alloy fooling rather gloomy, and halted on tho sidewalk id front of the theater. Idly watching tho peoplo as they poured in. Tho sRectaolo of this steady stream made a fitting background back-ground for his meditations; for ho was thinking, absently, of tho oxtromo boldness bold-ness of Peter's course. Certainly, thero was little hero to suggest the quiet onlooker. on-looker. But all at once something happened hap-pened which checked tho current of his thought as effectually as a slap upon tho cheek. In that shifting waste of strange faces his vagrant eyo suddenly fell upon a fa- rs? miliar one two, three familiar ones and his flagging interest sprang to life. Thero approached, side by sldo, J. Plnknoy Hare, who, though few knew it, might provo the brilliant hero of the night's proceed- ' ings; the child, little Jenny Something, who had spent yesterday at tho Carstalrs house, leading strangers to think that sho was somebody else, and Miss Carstalrs herself, a fair flowor in that moving tanglo of weeds. Hare saw Varney and bowed in his stiff affected way. But Varney's eyes had already al-ready gone on to Miss Carstalrs, and bo did not return that grcotlng. Seeing tho little candidate lift his hat, .her look followed fol-lowed his, and so her eye met Varney's. When this happened her expression did not change, except that so ho thought, sho faintly colored. Varney awaited her bow; bo half bowed himself: a stiff smile was ready on his Upa, But ho never gavo it Her eyes rested full upon him for a second, ' " j moved away; and the next moment sho swept past him fhto the theater. There was no shadow of doubt about it Sho who only last night had treated him with such marked kindness had unmistakably un-mistakably cut him. It hardly seemed possible. pos-sible. Why, they had parted llko friends! But he understood instantly what had happened. To her he was Ferris Stanhope; ho himself had given her the right to think that. Since thoy had parted, somo of that unpleasant gossip about Stanhope of which she had known nothing last night had made Its way to her; and she had behoved it as to him, Laurence Varney. Yes, sho had believed it as to him. Peter was right after all. A self-respecting girl owed it to herself, it seemed, not to recognize him. Curiously, so strong was his sense of tho personal meaning of tho Insult that its more practical aspects for tho moment altogether alto-gether escaped him. But that was only for the moment In tho noxt breath it rushed over him that j with that cool glance the luncheon engage- " "" cnent upon which his whole mission depended de-pended stood canceled; and with that thought ho felt his will hardening into Iron. What sho thought of him, personally, was sf course nothing, but no power should eep him from carrying through his plana precisely as ho had arranged them. Ho ilbowed hla way into the lobby to find Jnclo Elbert's daughter and mako her re-.ract re-.ract that look. But it gradually became evident that Jncle Elbert's daughter was not in the obby: the most systematic exploration failed o reveal any traco of hor. In fact, it waa icrtaln that she had passed straight on to icr seat within tho hah; whence a loud oar proaently gavo warning to stragglera I hat the oratory had begun. j To be continued.' ' 'i COopTTight by-Small, Uajnard-4, Oo) f -. . y |
