Show I 1 orm 1 N STORY FRONI FROM THE START t on the verge of nervous collapse due to over overwork woric oay gay delane artist seeks test rest at idle island aland she rents a cottage the lone pine from an island character the captain ll 11 and his sister 41 alice andover ty tor ter oay gay finds the cottage Is 41 tenanted ten anted by an elderly lady who consents to move to another abode the apple tree on an exploration of the island ony gay Is horrified by the appearance of the drifting body of a drowned man A bullet wound in the temple shows the man to have been murdered oay gay returns with the captain but they find no body there oay gay being unable to convince her neighbors of the truth draws a picture of the taco face ot of the dead t man Iii intending tendIng to send it to the authorities she meets a stranger tu to nahom she tells the story and shows the picture ile he asks for it but gay cay refuses next day the picture la is missing rand wallace wanderer and considered something of a black sheep by the islanders surprises oay gay at household tasks gays gaye acquaintance with rand hand ripen into affection gay cay determines to stay tor for the winter the stranger whom oay gay had bad met the day W it tier her Hs covery of the body inu names himself as ronald ingram Aunt almiry tells oay gay of tier son buddy wio who hap hag been tor for years hand Is auspicious of oc ronald in rani ram and apprehensive of some in a house known as an the little C club ab apparently unoccupied au y Is planning ng her party CHAPTER VII continued t 11 im sorry lie chose the lone pine for tits hibernating g tills this afternoon lie ile cheated me out of bf a pleasant hour does he think best in the top of your tree I 1 saw him perching there ns if 0 he were quite at home guy gay laughed roe merrily no indeed lie was putting up an aerial lie ile Is J building me a radio no ho he does not hibernate in my tree top and I 1 wash iou you had come in you would quite like lice him film no I 1 like him not him under aai any y circumstances circumstance sAnd and I 1 do i t not enjoy other peoples cooing it i riles me we dont coo fancy the state 0 of f maine cooing 1 kunold I 1 ingrain reverted again moodily to talk of the file lana lan d i 1 ue lie was not yet sure what he be really wanted to do with it he said ald wondered it if he would not b balse wise to sell it outright 11 1 1 I 1 gae h avent ta albney money enough vo k 0 ilna finance i n 1 ce ti n I 1 in nn n a big scale of ourse course it 1 athe the V ever r camesi comes and an d it t ought 4 to to boom it ft seen seems is the logical summer mer refrigerator for new york nail and boston yes even for washington I 1 have two companies figuring on it IL what would you athla of a chinese r P group imitation bamboo duff pago das and ell elf that 11 knowla chinese artist from boston moy aloy sen his A name Is ties lies been up a few imes making sketches tor me clever chap M he Is for a chink he was here yesterday ue U thinks we can swing it big gay was fully in sym pathy with him again by lits cani dor he entirely stilled the alons that itan hand had stirred to life x how frankly he fie spoke of ta the i ie chinese artist how flow natural his explanation 4 f of tile the little foreigners presence in tile the face of tits his disarming ingenuous ft 4 outspokenness his honest admission of his financial limitations now flow very 4 petty and narrow and menn upp appeared eared the cold suspicious nature of new england fie said he was obliged to return I 1 to portland on the early boat and gay cay went with him to the door you are very ery game I 1 know but do please be careful keep yourself locked in and everybody else locked out gilt wont you iou the genuineness of tits his dollci solicitude tude touched gay 1 I will be careful sho sh said 1 I wish you were staying all winter you are such a pleasant plea interlude interlude between cavaliere cavaliers Cava Car liers allers he said regretfully still it t Is something to see you to touch your hand blind I 1 am grateful for that you are very sweet you will not forget me will you raft half an hour later rand hand came and without jut for ft a word from hini him gay flay launched at nce into a long and fervid defense of ronald donnld ingram you may be bd right about somi some things but on Ronald Ingram you are totally wrong lies hes really a nice fel fe low and you will like ike him Iler blip q liell hell let lei you be chief priest 0 of t tits chinese pagoda rand laughed 8 at ner her the next day he went to the elty city to look up the mcp records ads of feal reu I 1 o state estate transfers lie ile found that tile the entire property proper tj ot of the little club had been hought outright for cash by ronald ingram of new york city and aint all publication of the transfer had been withheld from the press at hla his re quest presumably for busenes busl busin nes esq reasons sons hut but the date of this sr ans not within tile the past month as tip hp ilind find explicitly stated to gay but il nearly two years earlier since which atline r the place hai had not ben offered ZI R er ih for sail sa eor andall had nd been pr promptly paid wa CL ci captor vill 1 annd acot jealous watch aver the faud avei over wit me tilt oi of forest y wr i 1 by ETHEL HUESTON copyright by the dobbs bobbs merrill co service land that served so effectually to conceal it from curious eyes every day with hla his gun he tramped the woods and shore coming often afien upon the old hou house se as if by inadvertence sometimes trying ho he doors tentatively as did all casual st rollers who passed that way but in spite of his seeming nonchalance and the lazy aimlessness of tits wanderings he was always sharply alert for signs of life ife with powerful field s glasses he examined the cove from a distance and watched every day tor for a cloud of smoke to tinge lingo the blue above the woods but all of hla his efforts were unavailing after the first few tingling nerve racked days gays excrement flagged her inte interest rest waned nod and alt all of her sus restad oh its just a bunch of rum ruin runners if its anybody at all she hs assured him film half jealous acal ous of his imm immersion e p in the mystery dry pay attention he was putting up an aerial to me its none of our business besides maybe hes bes right after nil fill ronald ingram perhaps the chink an artist Bo boston bostoc stoa i but rand radd would not be drawn the of evl evi 0 o 1 frow from the pursuit mass dence was too convincing A and nd now I 1 that suspicions his were fully aroused he lie marvel marveled that he llad had never before realized real hed how completely the little club was adopted adapted for secret criminal exploitation as was the island itself for that matter securely ely bedded in sanctity as it seemed the occupation of the summer colony continued but for a scant three months odthe of the year and with its go ang the entice northern peninsula was deserted except for tile the lone pine ov on the hilltop and we apple tree in the orchard below there ans no residence within a mile of tile the cove which was admirably protected shut in s snugly by high cliffs to io east and west while directly before it 1 lay the little rock girt dome of punt punkin knob while the cove offered a perfect landing for small boats it lay to the west of tile lie i course taken by ships going in and out of portland harbor examining those locked doors and windows afresh with his suspicions aroused rand saw clearly that it was now far mot mor securely shut in than it had find been in former its desertion ser tion every crack and seam of the frames flint covered windows and doors had been sea sealed led from within it was cocked from chimney to solid rock foundation as tight ns as h drum often in wandering about both in the woods and near the club rand hand had a feeling that he was watched but nil all his efforts to discover the secret source of this were unavailing gay admitted that she too felt watched sometimes she was the troubled spirit of the body that tha j had come io her in the cove and then after three weeks of keeping beeping a watch so strict that be would have sworn that nothing untoward uni could possibly ila have i e occurred in the island without tits his knowledge it was nott noti after all the result of till fila assiduous guard eliat aliat brought result but the idle curiosity oi odthe the Feni Veni ales wallace the thing that rand hand particularly ed cud and took pleasure in decry I rand trind began miss aida timidly as they sat eat at supper you dont e know who Is moving oft the island do you no ho he said briefly Is anybody well a big furniture van came b by tills afternoon it went up toward the point I 1 walked up to the end of the lane but it was wag out of sight and I 1 dont know if it went down the back shore or up to colony corner but it come down then for the first time rand turned around with some interest it come down he be repeated it must have come down T theres h e aels nobody on the back shore nor i up jp at the colony either cither it t must have hare gone back to town on the last ferry no it mary Al malcolm alcolm was watching for it to ask the driver if I 1 hear anything about it ill let you know rand s said aid with unusual kindness quickly ho he excused himself from the table and went out at the end of tile the lane he paused to consider the ba back ck shore was a long open road subject to traffic lc it if a strange motor van went that way it had legit imite business there but the colony corner although nearly halt half a mile from the little club which stood sto d at the he other lother end of the forest foreit basselin was selin rated raed from it only by thick an aal tin m penetrable forest it was not tile the nearest point from the club to the lie motor rood rond but lt it was wesby by all odds the most desirable for one who desired secrecy anyone then who wished to remove something from the little club without attracting undue attention would most mosi certainly run a ca caf V to the end of the road at a colony corner for the arpad ended there and carry a s SP cret burden through the dark and de sorted woods to that flint point with tills lils in mind rand turned up to ne ane colony corner on a 0 aa dead d ran run like I 1 every pother r islander in h his Is pock pocket idt a small electric fla flash sh but illy ap other islander he carried it fg V r levver 6 itye i tye r n nn fi fi his I 1 s alp I 1 r As he neared the end of the road yah where relt it fell feh steep decline of rocks s he skirted wider into the woods behind the shingle shock shack and drew up slowly to the fringe of I 1 the woods etwas it was very dark but dis he c could milt milte make e out b d huge bulky shadow against the trees that outlined the fab end of the road it was the motor dolor yan beyond a all 1 it shadow of doubt there was no DO light attached no sound from within no stir of life rand held his fits breath to listen but it was silent as a tomb suspecting the presence ence of a guard he dared not venture on examination but as he knew the von van could not possibly get off the island until the ferry at K s twenty five in the morning tie he felt he had plenty of time gingerly then he worked his way wa to the rear of the cottage with which lie he aris ans fa familiar millar and let himself into a basement window and up through the cellar stairs to the front roo room there with blankets from an adjoin adiol ing bedroom and pillows from I 1 the e couch tie he ninde himself e on the floor no orpa betide le tile the window too comfor tr tor lip fie fell sound asleep hours flours later helas he was awakened by the sudden sound of a motor and cursing fits negligence he sprang up it was neavy not yet et full daylight hilt bu the pale gray mist that hat creeps between day an and ni holding a hand of earli each lay over ahe island in the drivers seat scat of the van ar a man huddled in a great coat tits his cap drawn low his hands ands encased ali id shaggy gloves tile the motor was cold and he was obliged to press tha starter again and again when the engine ran smoothly at last the driver backed it around aroun dl carefully for or the road was narrow ovir and the rocky cliff rugged and pre pm CIP tous with trees jutting close As it turned lland isow the fie license plates places maine massachusetts new jersey new york in conformity with the law lave which requires interstate vehicles to benr bear the license of each and rand hand had time to jot down the new hemp shire number before the car wat wa finally backed away from him rind looked at his watch it was a quarter post past six the first ferry w went e ni oveirt over at six twenty five I 1 well planned for a get getaway hway he thought approvingly no time for mary malcolm alcolm bl to ask ash them any questions the guard stepped briskly down from the rocks jocks and threw open the haj doors in the rear of the van A sudden jerk of his head toward the wood was evidently a sigi signal ial for on the Ini instant trint appeared a line of men small stooped and shuffling who canie came in a sort of loping rala run down the narrow p path a th froth from the woods wooda single file 1116 their soft feet making no sound nt at all either cither on en tho rocks or among the dry dead needles of the pines the rhe guard at it the back of the car gave enci each i a handin hand in turn and swung thern them 1 up tip deafly into the van one after another and as they turned about facing him to make mah the lithe spring into th the 0 car landsaw rand saw their faces they were chinese ever every one twenty ove ore of them by count the guard hastily closed the door snapping a lock upon it and sprang up beside the driver and almost before he was in his sent the car was rolling swiftly atway away down the file cinder road for one moment rand iwas w s lute ile tie could telephone t to ic tile the police on the mainland and a detail derail of them would meet the terry at the pier and take the truck with its foreign freight into custody but on afterthought thou glit it seemed that the capture of the these s twenty old chinese men meant not nothing bing it was the ring that counted the band that bad grouped itself together to mock at the law making his decision quickly he hurriedly got out of the cottage and ran through the woods toward the little club hastily selecting the trail in the rocks where the descent was least diOl cult FL a trail held field to in his memory from boyhood adventures years year before adry rand hand dropped swiftly down from crag toi to crag until he stood in the cove cove the rhe one great door beneath the was securely locked every s eam and crock impenetrably sealed scaled reluctantly he be alando abandoned ned hope of admission from below and made hn way ray up the cliffs once more rand knew the construction of the build lutc perfectly having assisted indeed in an in its erection in the begin beginning nt ng there had been no hank bank of loose rocks beneath the blizza other than that afforded byi 67 n nature it u re and there offs was a window to th the e basement on the eastern side opening just above ground later on for the sake sake of warmth ti small rocks had been thrown under and although rand hand feit some distaste for the task he felt fell sure that mai by pulling out the rocks he could get nt at th the window beneath the plazza floor and thus into the basement it was unlikely that the basement win dow daw would be subjected to such rigid sealing sheltered as it awni behind fits ax feet of floor well walled waited with rocks in spite of his profession of indolence rand was not averse to labor when the end ju justified stifled tile lie effort so he fell sturdily to work at a dis distance lanee he judged and correctly ris n events event 1 bould lend to the basl ment window it was a long lone time before his efforts effort were |