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Show ITPOTING MARY 4 I SYNOPSIS. H Atcl Elbfrt Ceratalrs. capitalist. tatranRoi from H Ma trlfo In hli ol1 age. lotK, for tlio companlonlilp H of btl dmiKblcr Mary, wbo IITW "111. Mn H at Hunston on IbP-UuJwii. Child rrfuao to H romo an-1 Visit hlD). Mra Carataira toMac-. to foroa H br to do ao. and bene old Caratalrs r-ncagea Larry J Vnroor t- taVv tbe Camtalrs yacbt up the ITodnon i and Udimp Mar.f, wb.. Virocy tllrrra 1 bat I. Tarnry corn the help of IVti-r Macula In the rrn tore. Tbrrr d7l latrr the atari Ik mail. Oil J WVr tip tbo rlvrr tbc name of tbe yaebt, Cyprlanl. I araacd to throw reporter off the track J"t oppo- j fltp Hunaton th adventurer dlaeorer a younc man, ' apparently drad. n..atinR down stream In a boat. I They find be la not dead, however. Varney g Maclnnla br befriending a rarapalcner for the reform re-form candidate for mayor of Ilun'pton aee a chanca to DM tbolr Interest In politics a a blind against H their mlaalon. j! FOURTH INSTALLMENT. Introduce Mary Carataira and Another. 'T HE pale young stranger stopped two I paces away and gavo back his look I1 with the utmost composure. "Still on my studies," said he In his flat tones " though I doubt," he added j thoughtfully, " If that fully explains why I I have followed you." "Ah? Terhaps I may venture to ask I what would explain It more fully?" " O, certainly. My real motive was to J suggest, purely because of n patprnal In terest I take In you, that you leave town tomorrow morning you and your ferocious friend." Varney eyed him amusedly. " But Is not i this somewhat er precipitate?" " O, not a bit of It In fact, you hardly require me to tell you, Beany, that you wore a great fool to come back at all." " Tou don't mind If I sit down"' I A row of packing cases clogged the side- walk at thp point where they stood, and the I young man dropped down wearily upon one of them and leaned back against the store j f ron t. I "Beany?" repeated Varney. j "It was dark down on the river." ob- K eerved the other slowly, " but the instant I saw you on the square I recognized you, and so, my friend, will everybody else." "With even better success, I trust, than you hao done. For my name Is not Beany, but Indeed Varney Baurenco Varney per- mlt mo " "Ah. well! Stick It out If you prefer. In any case " j " But do tell me the name of this lndl I vldual to whom I bear such a marked re- femb'.anee I naturally " " The Individual to whom you bear such I a marked. I may say such a very marked, I resemblance," said the stranger mockingly, I " Is a certain Mr. Ferris Stanhope, a pros- j perous manufacturer of pink tea literature. I You never heard the namp, of course. But j never mind about that. I should advise you j both to leave town anyway " j " la It trespassing too far If I ask- " I " Any one who associates with little Hare, j; as I have a premonition that you two will J do if you stay, Is born to trouble as the "j. sparks fly upward." j Varney came a step nearer and rested j his foot on the edge of the packing case. " Vow that," said he, " Is by all odd the best thing you've said yet- Elucidate It a 1 bit, won't yuu? 1 admit to some curiosity about that little tableau in the square " , " Yes? Well, I owe you one for that box 4 of matches. Beany cr Mr. and it would i be rather asinine for you or your pugilistic I partner to begin monkeying with our buzz- 1 saw. I happened, you see. to overhear part of your talk with J. Pinkney Hare Just now. Jj How others might view it I know not, bnt 1 to no it seemed only fair to warn you that that Interesting young man must be 1 hunned by the wis. As to the mayoralty, ft he has as much chance of getting In as a I Jackrabblt has of butting a way through th T great wall of China, For we have & great J wall here of the sturdiest variety." I He meant, a he briefly explained, th j usual system, ami hack of It the ueual . a boss one Ry an, owner of the Ottoman sa- J loon and the city of Hunston, who held th 1 town in the hollow of his coarse hand and 1 waa slowly squeezing it to death. 4 " The election." he went on llstles-sly, " is ;jj only two weeks off. but the rascaJ isn't 11ft- 4 Ing a ringer. He doesn't have- to. Tomor- I Mm night he holds what be calls his annual M ' town meeting ' a fake and a Joke, The I! trustful neor-1 gainer, listen to speeches by '4 Ryan retainers, quaff free lemonade- Nom J Insily, evej-ybody Is invited to speak, really 3 4ny th elect are permitted to. I saw a Jj i aurm candidal try it once, and It was Interesting to see how scientifically they put a crimp in him." "And ,1 Pinkney Hare?" queried Varney, becoming, rather interested. Whs everything, the young man explained, that Ryan was not able, honest, unselfish, public spirited. Studying the situation quietly for a year, he had uncovered a most unholy trail of graft leading to High places But when he began to try to tell the peoplo about it, he found his way hopelessly blocked at every turn. V '''' v- ' ' . .J?-'.' : v;V ' '.';-:'-',:,'r ("' .. the machine? " 3 " He can't even hire a hall." summarized the stranger "Not to sae his immortal acul. That was the meaning of the ludicrous ludi-crous exhibition a few minutes ago In one word, he can't get a hearing. He might talk with the tongues of men and angels, but nobody will listen to him. It is a dirty shame. But what In the world can you expect' Lift a finger against the gang, and. presto, your Job's gone, and you can't find another high or low Ryan's money goes everywhere into the "schools, the church, the press. The press. That, of course, is the system's most powerful ally. The Infamous Hollaston Gazette " " The Hollaston Gazette Is that published here?" asked Varney in surprise, for the Gazette was famous: one of thoso rare m small town newspapers which, by reason of great age and signal editorial ability, have earned a national place In American Journalism. Jour-nalism. " Named after the county. You bavo heard of it"" said tho young man In a faintly mocking voice, and immediately went on: " The Gazette Is eighty years old. Even now. In these bad times, everybody in the county takes It. They get ail their opinions from It, ready made. It la their Bible. A fool can see Tbat a power such a paper Is. For seventy -seven years the Gazette, fully deserved !t That was the way it won It. But all that Is changed now. And th paper is making a creat deai of money " It is crooked, then? " 1 -raid, did I not, that It was fnr Ryan?" He loungd farther back In the shadow upon hi packing case-, he appeared not to be feeling well at alL Varney regarded hlra with puzzled interest. " A very depressing little sfory," he suggested. sug-gested. " I5ut aftpr all, hardly a novel one: I don't yet altogether grasp why " " Your Jeffries of a friend is a red hot political theorist, isn't he0" naked the other apathetically. "Our Hunston politicians are practical men. They are after results, and seek them with small regard, I fear, to copybook copy-book precepts. You follow me? Rusticating Rusticat-ing strangers, visiting foclological students, Itinerant Idealists, thoso would do well to speak softly and walk on tho sunny side of the road." "You appear." laid Varney. his ourloslty increasingly piqued. " to speak of these mat ters with authority '-' " liather let us say with certitude." "Possibly you yourself hae felt tho iron toothed bite of the machine?" " I?" " Why not? " The young man looked shocked; slowly his palo face took on a look of cynical amusement. " Yes. yes. Certainly. Who more so?" He appeared to hesitate a moment, mo-ment, and then added with a laugh which held a curious tinge of defiance: " In fact, I myself have the honor of being the owner and editor of the Gazette Coligny Smith, at your service " " Coll cm y Smith!" echoed Varney am.i7.ed Tho young man glanced up. " It was my father you have heard of. He died three years at:o. However." he added, with an odd touch of pride, " he always said that I wrote the better articles " There was a moment's silence. Varney fell by turns astonished, disgusted, sorry, embarrassed. Then he burst out laughing. " Well, you have a nerve to tell me this. Smith. in doing so, you seem to have brought out conversation to a logical conclusion. con-clusion. I thank you for your kindly advice ad-vice and piquant confession, and mo, good evening.' Mr. Smith straightened on his packing case and spoke with unexpected eagerness. "O must you go" The night's so young why not come up to the Ottoman and have something? I ll I'd bo glad to e. plain " " I fear I cannot yield to th edit-jriiii blandishments this evening." " Well I merely M " What?" O, nothing. But remember you'll get into trouble If you stay." Varney laughed. He went on toward his wailing Klg feeling feel-ing vaguely displeased with the results of his half hour ashore, and deciding that for the future it would bo best to give tho town a wide berth. Tho privacy of the yacht better suited his mission than Main street, Hunston. However, the end was not yet He had not reached the landing before a thought camo to him which stopped him in his .tracks. Clearly he must seo Peter, at once, before that Impetuous enthusiast had time to Involve himself in anything, and tell him bluntly that ho must leave the affairs of Hunston alone until their own delicate business had been safely disposed of. In such a matter as this It was not safe to take chances. Varney had a curious feol-Ing feol-Ing that young Mr. Smith's melodramatic warnings had been offered In a spirit of friendliness rather than of hostility. Nevertheless, Never-theless, the eccentric young man had unmistakably unmis-takably threatened thorn. While Varney had been more Interested by the man personally per-sonally than by his whlm.slcal menaces, tho editor's conversation could certainly not be called reassuring. Smith owned a corrupt newspaper; he was a clevor man and, by his own confession, an unscrupulous ono. bought body and soul by the local freebooters; and if he thought tho headlong Intruder Ma-ginnls Ma-ginnls Important enough to warrant it, there were presumably no lengths to which he would not go to mako tho town uncomfortable uncom-fortable for him, to tho probable prejudice of their mission. Clearly, here was a rink which he, as Mr. Carstairs' emissary, had no right to Incur. Tho Cyprlanl was in no position to stand tho fire of vindictive yellow yel-low Journalism. Besides, there was the complicating com-plicating matter of his own curious resemblance resem-blance to somebody whom, it seemed. Hunston Hun-ston knew, and not too favorably. Conlderably annoyed, Varney turned hi face back toward the town. To avoid more publicity ho turned off the main thoroughfare thorough-fare to a narrow street which paralleled it, and. walking rapidly, camo In flvo minute to the street whore Peter and the little candidate can-didate had left him. This street came a a surprise to him: Hunston's best "residence iectlon " leyond doubt It was really pretty, pret-ty, spaciously wide, and flanked by handsome old trees. Houses rose at Increasingly long intervals as 'iic got away from the town; and they were for the most part charming looking houses, set In large lawns and veiled from public scrutiny by much flno foliage. Varnoy cast about for somebody who would give him his hearings, and had not far to look. Puffing stolidly on tho butt of an alleged cigar, into which ho had stuck a sharpened match as a vlsiblo means of support, a boy who was probably not so old as ho looked sat upon the curbstono at the corner and claimed the world for his cuspidor. Ho wss an ill favored runt of a boy, with a sedate se-date manner and a face somewhat resembling resem-bling a hickory nut. Varney. approadilng. asked him whore Mr. Hare lived. Without turning around, or desisting de-sisting an Instant from tho tending of his cigar fwhlch. Indeed, threatened a decease at any moment), the boy replied: " Acrost an' down, one-half a block Little yaller houso wit' green blinds and ornlngs. Yer couldn't miss it. Yer party left dere ten minutes ago, dough." " What party?" asked Varney, puzzled. "Tall big party wit' ynllcr hat. 6tranger here. Seen him heatln' It out tho street for the road, him and Hare. Goln' some, they was." " How did you know I was looking for that party? " " Took a chanst," said the boy " Do I win ? " N His stoical gravity mado Varney smile. " You do a good ciar. That ono of yours has one foot in the grave, hasn't it?" " T'ank you. boss." " By tho way," ho added casually, struck by a thought, " Mrs. Carstairs must livo on this street somewhere, doesn't she? Which way? " " Same way as yer party went. Last houso on de street 'Remson street. Big white one, up on a hill like." Varney hurried off on tho trail of his elusive elu-sive friend He was puzzled in the last degree de-gree to know why Peter, having Just entered en-tered Hare's house, should have left it at once and gone racing off with. Hare down this empty street toward the open country. The ono explanation that occurred to him was on the whole an unwclcomo ono. This was that he had made an opening to Introduce Intro-duce tho subject of Mary Carstairs. and tho grateful candldnto had volunteered his friendly offices perhaps to show Petor tho hou?e. perhaps actually to take him up and present him. In the light of a depressed corner lamp ho glanced It his watch. Having supposed that It must be nearly 9 o'clock, he was surprised to find that It was only a few minutes after 8. Ho had tho handsome street to himself. The night had grown very dark, and tho faint but continuous rumblo of thunder waa a warning to all pedestrians to seek shelter without delay Yarney's stride was swift. Whatever Peter meant to do, he wanted to overtake him before ho did it and gently lead him to understand, here at the outsot, that he was a subordinate In this expedition, expected to do nothing without orders from above. But ho found himself at the end of tho street, and saw the country road dimly winding wind-ing on beyond, without having found a trace of I'eter or seen any other human being. Here, for all his hurry, ho was checked for a moment by a sudden now Interest. Mindful Mind-ful of the boy's succinct directions, ho paused In the shadow of tho wood, which hero camo to tho sidewalk's edge, and looked across the street for the residence of Mrs Carstairs. Through tho trees of a sloping lawn his gaze fell at once upon a wide, rambling white house, directly opposite, well back from tho street, and approached by a winding white driveway. The house was well lighted; there was a porch lamp lit, over tho carriage gate hung a largo electric globe. Desplto tho darkness of the night Varney had a first rate view. The houso was big; it was whlto; unquestionably It was up on a hill like. In fact there could be no doubt in tho world that this was tho house he had come from New York to find Th Bight drw and interested him beyond all expectation Presently, by a curious coincidence, coin-cidence, something happened which increased his Interest tenfold. Hia eye had run over the house, about the lawn, even up at th windows, taking in very detail. There was no sign of life anywhere. But now. as he stood and watched, the swing front door was unexpectedly pushed open, and, like some feat in mental telepathy, a girl stepped out upon the piazza. Involuntarily Varney shrank back into th shadows, assuming by instinct tho best conspirators' con-spirators' style, and glued his eyes upon the Impel lung sight. Not that tho girl herself was peculiarly fascinating to the eye. Tho porch light revealed her perfectly: a small, dark, nondescript child, not above 13 years old, rather badly dressed, and. to 6ay truth, not attractive looking in any way. But to Varney, t the moment, she wtu the most Irresistibly Interesting figure In the six continents. con-tinents. She camo to tho top of tho step and stood there, peering out Into the darkness bs though looking for some one. Varney from his dark retreat stared hack at her. There they stood unexpectedly face to face, tho kidnaper and his quarry. A sudden wild Impulse Im-pulse seized tho young man to act Immediately: Imme-diately: to make a dash from his cover, bind tho girl's month with his handkerchief, toss her over his shoulder, and fly with her to the yacht. That was tho way these things ought to bp done, not by the tedious and fur-tlvo fur-tlvo methods of chicanery. But, since this manlike method was forbidden him, why should ho not at least cross boldly and go in a lost wayfarer Inquiring for directions i anything to start up the vitally necessary ao-qualntance? ao-qualntance? Would ho ccr have a bettor chance? The thought had hardly come to him before be-fore the child herself killed It. She turned as suddenly as she had come and disappeared Into tho house That broke the spell, and Varney, Interested by the discovery that his heart was beating above normal, :-llpped unseen from his lurking place and res imed his interrupted progress after Peter and Haro. Beyond the Carstairs" fence of hc-'-r the houses stopped with the sidewalk. The highway, high-way, having no longer anything to keep up appearances for, dwindled Into an ordinary country road, meandering through an ordl-nary ordl-nary country wood. What could have car- 1 ipf r!cd Peter out here It was impossible to conceive, con-ceive, but clearly something had, and Varney Var-ney raced on, hoping at every moment to descry his great form looming up ahead of , him out of the blackness. What luck what beautiful luck to have found hor In his very first hour In Hunston I H wns half his work done In the wink of an ey Tomorrow morning, the first thing, ho 1 would return to this qulot street, watch at 1 his ease for tho child to come outdoors, saunter saun-ter calmly from his hiding place, mak ( friends with her. By this time tomorrow i night. In all human, probability, he would be back in New York, his errand safoly accomplished. ac-complished. That done, Toter could play politics to his heart's content. Meantime, it T was more desirable than ever to toll him of v these unexpected developments and deter him from taking any step which might com- gtao plicate the game. . . ""T " t A loud thunderclap crashed across the r-traln r-traln of his thought. Another and a worse ono crowded close upon it. Ho glanced up through tho trees Into the Inky cavern of tho skies, and a single largo drop of water npattered upon his upturned forehead. "Hang it : " ho thought disgustedly. "Here comes the rain." It camo as though at his word and with V unbelievable suddenness. Thunder rolled; tho breeze stiffened Into a gale. Another w drop fell upon his hat. and then another and another. The young man came to an un- ' Willing halt. Ql Put ho Immediately saw that further pur- w! suit was. for the moment at least, out of ti the question. Tho storm broke with a vlo- "e CO lence strangely at variance with tho calm Of the earlier evening. Tho heavens oponod and the floods descended. Siieltor was to be pa found at once, if at all. but as ho hositated thi -r ho remembered suddenly that ho had not . t 00 passed a house In five minutes. In tho eanu 1 f nq moment his eye fell upon a little cottage Just ahead of him, unllghted and barely percept- a iblo In tho thick darkness, standing off the a t read not a hundred feet away. Ho mad th for it through tho driving rain and wind. of stepped upon the narrow porch, discovered j,u Immediately that it gave him no protection the at all. and knocked loudly upon tho shut door. F He got no answer. Try it with a wet hand, he perceiv ed that it was unlocked, and with- out more ado ho opened It and stepppd Insid. It was evidently, as he had surmised, an of empty house. The hall was dark and very B,e quiet He leaned against tho closed front Jf3 too door and dipped into his pockets for a matoh. atJ Behind him th rain fell in torrents, and veu the turbulent wind dashed after it and hurled Dim It against the streaming windows. It had C,rc turned In half an hour from a peaceful ov- , pin i ning to a wild niKht, a night when all men divi of good sense and good fortune should be ing bitting secure and snug by their own fire- - BP"i sides. And where, O where, was Putsr"' of t Speculating gloomily on this and still ex- fjrrj ploring his pockets for a match, ho heard tqu: a noise not far away In the dark, and know u''' suddenly that he was not alone. The next th moment a voice floated to him out of the blacknaaa near at hand, clear, but a little dow Irresolute, faintly frightened. Wh' M Didn t s-imo ono come In? Who is pr" ., - .. XQen there? , . Us It was a woman's voice and a wholly trr' charming one. There could hardly hav "le been Its match in Hunston. "What a very interesting town" th & f young man thought. " People to talk to every way you turn." f' To be continued. (Copj-rlfbt by SmalJ. Maynard a Co ) |