Show the e recluse of ai ir WYNDHAM W Y M MARTYN A R ty N I 1 bof S th 1 avenue A venue vw floel fL jEL V AJL t in the united statha W N 0 I 1 ila 10 1 11 CHAPTER XII continued 23 it was mulct malet said lie ile was n R broken down steeplechaser which had been brought broue lil out to mexico city by an a english mining magn magnate a t e what happened to him he ran until lie he dropped dead malet returned im not a horseman I 1 had bad no idea how far or fast a horse could rua tile the thoroughbred strain barnes said lie ile passed into a disquisition on feats of thoroughbred horses and dogs it was a bobby with bam Is there a thoroughbred strain la in men too malet asked you yon bet there Js as barnes said promptly rut put the thoroughbred to the test and whether he be man horse or hound hell respond barnes malet began when tile the subject was exhausted haveit have ut you yet found out that nita Is in love with young Mc Kimber impertinent puppy barnes stormed titor nied if id been in bour ar place instead of being cast for a d d this would never hae happened im not sure but you have hare stopped it if tried stopped it malet returned yoi talk like ilke a fool I 1 could just as easily have stretched out a hand and dammed tile the Color colorado lido river in flood robin Mc Kimbers been a better man than you have haie what have you done all your do days but loaf until you were so BO seared scared of the sight of lipcsky you took those long hikes which put you to in condition dont scowl at rue me I 1 know you could lick me easily but that wont make you worthy of your daughter will it parties barnes listened to the story that had been told milman and bradney the good of telling me th tha s barnes said do you suppose I 1 want to go back to Peek peekskill skill you wont have to you 1 ou are six hundred dollars to the good your wardrobe Is enlarged and youve nita milman Mil admits that what we have done dofie leaves us less clean than we vi tt ere cre it bont hurt me said gald barnes 1 you I notice it on my bide im riot not approaching you from that nafle millet malet said craftily im reminding jo ion i that you are winning success at expense im not in ill hi e least doubt about you with Bror I 1 bicy and Mi milinton lintin there was a much grenter greater chance of defeat what the devil are yuu you co counting on barnos barnes demanded malet put his bis arm on oil the bigger mans shoulder on the thoroughbred in you im reli ing on the fact that when the test comes the thoroughbreds re lle he watched barnes who sat silent for or almost five minutes barnes did elt break arenlt the silence until lie had lorn up the copious notes he had made concerning the ranch in california 0 9 ver cr which he knew slow now he would liver ride ill do what tle others want we me V 0 lie spid 0 mulct knocked again at Brad door burnes has come through lie he said uniting 1 I know you despise men given over to sport and athletics but u when lien it comes to a showdown they have the right kind of heart god protect me from H R world governed by intellect good fil glit neit kelt morning malet went into mil mans rown room before breakfast L before you say ay anything he be began 1 I way may as well tell you that barnes Is on my side und and bradney ready to do what hat you say 1 I 1 thought they would be said mil ahn 1 I have not slept and I 1 tried in vain to convince myself my eel t you were wrong I 1 give ive in I 1 have had a great doal deal of to do to meet the changed conditions tell nie ine how would you like to live just outside florence ayou you ask me a sculptor liow how I 1 khouli like to live there near the bar gello bud aud the 1 I did not tell you I 1 think of my villa there it lies on oil the hills to the west of tile the city and overlooks hie he gardens of the villa Ial roler it has about twenty rooms abild was well fur tS nio lied hed the gardens are productive bail and oui a years ago I 1 gave it to at cousin she died recently and it comes to me again I 1 ond find ater ter settling my affairs there will be enough fur for us all to live comfortably in fit italy where here tile exchange rate ta fa nors arx orx us very much 1 I dont understand you stammered malet was this indication that peter maiman had deliberately thrown away this new york home bome 1 I sent sneed to room with it a request that she would give we me five Dilon leg after you left last night you were suite quite right I 1 achal always remember you were viere the first one of us to do the right tiling I 1 could never lle ll 11 e in this house happily knowing that to do so BO was ns the price of her I 1 am growing older but I 1 do not tl I 1 am growing bitterer it II Is better not to succeed P haps our reward may luay be that we have pot got out of our ruts we were all plodding along deep furrows seeing nothing ahead I 1 had almost forgotten the villa outside florence until I 1 saw it mentioned in Lod dons bill we shall live very comfortably in a house built on a meadow that dante once owned my cousin poor lady essayed to model in clay and there Is an excellent studio for barnes there will be a change and chianti bradley shall write a book or do what he chooses I 1 arn am not to be left alone I 1 have come after years of isolation to depend on aon oi lie he broke off abruptly as nita came in IB well my dears she said what plot have I 1 interrupted I 1 came to see why the coffee was getting cold down we are on our way to florence said malet CHAPTER XIII floyd millets movements moe ments for the next few days were rapid and successful ue ile found himself for the first time in tile the city of rochester the Mc KImbers had a big place in its most fashionable residence section a city block of it where most were livere contented with a hundred foot frontage robin Mc Kimber on his way from the works to his home was passed swiftly by a man of middle size whose carriage seemed familiar the stranger did riot not observe the scrutiny robin felt he be was not deceived the bogus viscount had shorn off his mustache and imperial he had now a brisker way of walking actually robin noted the impostor whistled gaily floyd malet felt a harsh grip on his arm ne ile was spun around to stare 14 ir efrench A french manservant admitted him into the cold face of oung mckim her ber well said how Is your friend the duchess of green cheese 1 much better said malet undisturbed she can now sit up and drink in the view D n it I 1 robin exploded dont shake hands with me 1 I came to your fair air city for no other purpose I 1 want to see your father at once my father well said bald robin he see strangers lie ile will see me said floyd malet airily because I 1 bring him hack back his south his reputation and his future by this time they had come to the car which robin had parked by the curio af if tills this Is your automobile let us lose no time look here said robin you deliberately libera tely lied led to roe me about misa milis brows browns address M I 1 cabled to 1 ang land and lady horsham had bad never heard beard so arf miss agatha brown bron 1 I give ive you her aunts address said mulct millet 1 I referred you to a duchess traveling to in tuscany I 1 her aunt auner robin cried the of horsham I Is the aunt of the lady we will call for the moment MIS agatha brown she sha spoke truly in not having heard beard of such a person ive rot got to know more about tats robin exclaimed you will riot not while you grip my artil arm like that I 1 have come to see your father until I 1 do see him I 1 aila ahall riot nut tny bay any more ten ful minutes later mulct millet was in mc lie Kir libers private the man inan who was now working as anion dictated showed very markedly his depression 1 I think id better see you alone malet bug suggested why said slowly lowly my son soil Is my full partner in everi thann even een in your st louis affairs 1 I dont know what you have to do with st louis but lie he knows everything that happened to we me there ahls this simplifies matter very much said malet now gentlemen if you will listen carefully you yon will hear bear a most euth enthralling story the first essay la in serious crime of men hitherto un on distinguished lu in the crooks who who when tile the recital had bail endert is new Mc KImber stored stared into males eyen it seemed that ile he had shed years in place of 0 depression was hope and a u returning health I 1 McKlin AICKIn her iber senior had art an iron grip young man he said to molet millet and subtly flattered him never yet bag anyone done me a good turn and lost by it IL this goes for you and the others he turned to his son and commanded him blat to get three numbers on in the long distance wire im interested in peter Al limans association with brewer maybe I 1 can get something back out of the wreck but dont tell him bin that yet when can I 1 tee ee him and the rest we thought thou lit if yf you in could be at mil mans place three nights hence we would arrange to have braxon there bradney and I 1 have staged rather a pretty little scone scene of course baxon wont expect to see you or anyone but Mil XI Ilman lilan can I 1 come robin Mc KImber asked anxiously 1 I think it might be arranged malet smiled ile he could say no more because bombarded him with questions and made innumerable notes ile he was a shrewd and hardheaded hard headed man malet took the midnight train back to new york feeling lie had made a friend robins changed attitude was amusing ile he listened with the greatest deference to mulcts remarks and thrust something into his hands bands as he boarded the train thank you malet said but I 1 dont deserve a tip its a letter for her robin flushed n s little i on thursday evening which was for ever afterward memorable in the lives of peter milhans Mil 1111 mans guests paul baxon walked down fifth avenue wondering for what purpose lie he had bad been asked to confer with the recluse over uil telephone milman had said it was it a matter of urgent import and had to do with his political ambitions ordinarily baxon would have suspected danger but not where peter milman wits was concerned the milhans had bad been a great family intermarried Inter married with those who wielded immense financial power their prestige was undoubted in new york perhaps peter milman brooding over his misfortunes had some scheme to utilize the influence of his hift kin the message was given in such a way as to enlist radons lively internist Inte it was impossible to think of I 1 a visit to this austere mansion as in any sense perilous A french Mall manservant servant admitted him the financier was shown into a splendid drawing room the brilliant group which malet had done many years before took It radons axons eye immediately although he was ignorant of the sculptors oame naine lie he was examining the I 1 group closely when peter milman entered baxon looked fit at him intently ile he saw a slim man of late middle age wearing the correct garb tor for the evening there was a coldness about peter milhans Mil mans manner that was not dot reassuring it was almost as if the presence of baxon were an offense Alil iuan looked toward the sculptured group 1 I see you are arc interested in that 1 I am braxon responded who did it one who should have been our greatest sculptor but for an unjust accusation cusa tion which ruined him li milman tilman saw radons eyes narrow floyd malet malet baxon repeated slowly as it searching his memory oh yes I 1 think I 1 call his case to mind lie mixed up in a studio orgy where a woman oman was killed ur or died under mysterious circumstances something of the bort milican answered ile he pointed to a seat please ilease sit down mr baxon im wondering what ou can pos sibly bibly liae have to say to tile me peter Mili atin smiled im quite sure you are it has to do with your political future mainly it seems seeing you wish to go to the sonata senate from tills this state my ily grandfather was a senator for many years and I 1 still retain an interest in poll politics you ask tile me to call just to i hear leeor that blaxon said bluntly there Is more inure to come much more the door opened and fleming brud brad ney ley came in lie ile had been compelled i to t bave olt off his few days growth of beard auxon looked up lit at idol him frowning frow nine TO BE CONTINUED |