Show IDLE alj LE ISLAND LA aa 4 1 u j by ETHEL W se arvice copyright 1927 by the bobbs merrill co v r CHAPTER VIII continued y 12 there were no guns ung no casks no bottles the furniture was scant and of substantial und inexpensive ninke mahe thera was an oil oll beater heater in a corner and a large tank danli nearly full of oil betide beside it there was an oil cook stove also with pans ket kettles tie 8 and rough dishes there was tackle strewn about old magazines and ina corner cup cupboard hibard a few rough ends of food ictor beaus beans coffee salt and rice some canned things too jand a piece ot of salt pork thoro there were old pipes tying lying about edkar stubs and a nd scattered tobacco the room lc every respect was exactly as it would be left by a group of fishermen lumbermen or hunters officers OOl cers inspectors any one might step into tile room examine it from ceiling ato to rough roel roa floor and ond find it above suspicion yet rand knew that within a space of two hours fully thirty men had left that tha very spot i with revolver andela and in hand again beleta he leac the basement room and went to the stairs beavy curtains thick and wide covered every door and window so BO that no possible ray of light from within could auld be seen from without on the tipper floor were sleeping Ble v rooms six in alaj all and two baths although the water was not connected I 1 and the tubs were dusty andary and dry one of these rooms the one on the north looking down to the cove rand hand knew had bad been occupied although bu but f rough blankets were thrown loosely on the bed still it vad the feeling about it of recent occupancy 4 gays gentl gentlemanly emalily ingram he thought with a boyish grin stand it below with the Chinks no wonder hla his eyes are pad fad satisfied at last he went down careful to leave everything behind him as he had found it and clambered up through the narrow basement window again not hot without great difficulty once more he was obliged to crawl out head first end and return in order to replace th the e window as he i tind find coundit foun dIt which he did carefully edging it tightly anond band blocking lit ift loosely with rocks from fram without then lie made his final exit 1 I hope nobody bangs roe me on the head before I 1 have a chance to argue about it he thought rather a anxiously us tits his legs sprawled out from beneath the piazza in atto ahe open air evidently however the intrusion hod had been unobserved and very hurriedly bledl he threw the stones back into place to alre the same appearance as before his entrance then he crossed the woods toward the lone pine it w was as after nine rand was not shaved his face and hands were scratched and bleeding his hair was waa ft kith ath dust and bits of earth and moss his clothes were grimy ele be glanced down at liti m se lf smiling but he wenton wenton 1 I have no right to td cheat her out of such a ahr thrill ill as this he decided but lie he hurried flurried 11 his s steps step for he be hod had be no desire to explain his appe appearance drance to any othet but gay her Iler amazement at his appearance nt ni her door equaled ills his expectations rand rand she gasped weakly t let et me in let me W in he urged laughingly dont don t leave me out werd here with will the burden of crime upon me fo or the first chink to take a pot shot at 1 hurriedly she drew him into the rouin room closed and locked the door door behind him rand rand what have you done she whispered she listened silently while he told to in sketchy fashion th the le events vents of the night tier her eyes ees upon him blia were terrified and troubled when nhe tie finished tits his recital with a jaunty triumphant gesture she turned on him passion atey you do such things she cried thickly ekly you should not I 1 you have no right to take inke such chances oh rand what do they care for murder think of that thai poor boy bov ialiva it it liva was s not until he find been well fortified with strung coffee that hint slip a asked ched him gently for her sake to gre give up this l dangerous eni and pay iy ay no more attention to the activities in the little club she suld sold she was sorry she had ever told I 1 lihn him anything an thing about uie the affa affair ir in the he ewe she felt she had led him into terrible danger 1 I keep keel thinking of that boy rund rand they ar are utterly unprincipled un on 6 scrupulous V rup ulous I 1 kilow they are they would stop at nothing if tiny anything thIn g h happens to yo you J it will be my fault t rand stand tried JQ to reassure her i prom T ased 1 ed to ta take every precaution n but tie he n auld not consent concentto to give up the un staking ue ile was sure be hud his bla finger on oil a thread hat would unravel avast aktiv s t network of bf intrigue e and crime involving inny many thousands of dollars dolln rs per perhaps haill hundreds of lives ile he was galna to have the reward the unravel ilig in rw entail put out more important octant than that he pas going to have the sport I 1 ial of r unravel unraveling ini 0 would not to tier 1 r yield lilo aled A and a fl orall or all alm ilm going to UP I 1 jour tu r gad eitt friend lie hea a crock j and ill prove it to you yon him and hla his sad emesi randle handle dent gay said tier her hands bunds in his hair drawling drawing tits face ace toward tier her did tiny flay jonii one ever tell you that your eyes are sad ead too they pre ore very sad your vow lips are merry and your voice Is light but your eyes are always wistful the voice Is what one mases make s it bit bit the eyes yes open windows to the soul sad very sad CHAPTER IX it was amazing to gay that the island enmeshed as it was in a network of lawless enterprise so flagrant as asto to include open murder should continue its placid aimless course of everyday every day unruffled calm the captain fluttered from the hotel drains draIn st to 0 the nixon porch and talked regretfully of the work he did not accomplish on his boat who after mrs airs and overs stern denial of a christmas party had remained wistful quiet hurriedly he threw the stones back into place and meek climbed the hill one day with the old aright happy flush on her cheeks beeks and old bright light la in h ber er weak blue eyes she was laughing oh ob it Is a lovely morning gny gily a lovely morning coming on to christ mas now it coming on to christmas yes Y es it Is did alice A andover say you could have the party after all bur burst into joyous gentle laughter IM oh my dear when I 1 think of alice andover dear alice 1 she Is a one fine woman for all her faults one in a thousand pio usand but when I 1 think of all her administrating and tier her bussing and er scheming and all she gets for tt t oh no she interrupted herself herse if trying to sadden her exuberance ok oh no no christinas party this year oh nol she shook her little silvery head but could not cot shake shrllie away that air of ill joy she said she fid had only come coine to her bor row a beg bag a good sized handbag hand bag she wanted to take r some ome things over to town she said she would like to keep it several days if gay did not mind and promised to be very careful of it she chose the larger of two handbags hand bags lings goy gay gladly offered explaining that she wanted it to hold well plenty A few days later she came again to explain that she was not yet through with the brig and to suggest to gny gay it she did not mind that perhaps it would be better not to say a word about it to alice andover ashes a one domun site she sald loyt loy ally one in a million a credit to the island a typical maine blaine character A capable administrator too and all that bill ant once in a while slie she gets well as you might say just a wee bit nosey alice andover too climbed the hill to the lone pine se see anything of that foolish old i wom woman an down there she inquired jerking her head fiend impatiently toward the orchard below once to in a while not often ashes up to something I 1 do dont nt trust that woman you nou watch her and it if you set see anything out oui of the way ray you tell me pin im the tor for and ive got to keep an eye on her it was disappointing both to gny gay and rand that with ifill all the little threads of mystery within their grasp nothing happened they kept watch of forest clubhouse and shore but nil renial remained ned silent and deserted so BO that after a few weeks her In interest teres i waned rand however continued to go to the clubhouse se every night for he knew that eventually tile he gang would come again and he was ready for them ue he had inquired about boats leav leavi i lug I 1 ortland harbor at the time the chinese immigrants left the clubhouse and found there had been several freighters outward bound two for the south three for or eurene and oe ore which had bod called at the port com coia ing down from canada le he hart had looked up tile the records of every one of these boats and one tabulated the lb information bw bur tile name of ronald wua was not connected ed with nn anny of them so S he was obliged to await their return and dally daily scanned alie alic sailing reports for beyra news of them october faded goldenly dway awny und and november settled down don over the islands of casco ansco bay haaf about noon an on the third da of no vember it cold balu set in driven by a hard wind from the northeast by the first afir euster easter of the season was raging along the coast the rain had turned to cutting bits of ill lee ice like burning chips froin steel all iAtter afternoon noon guy gay sat in her window seat listened to the wind lashing the bare trees of the dear tittle little fores forest t watched the white sleet which tore post past tile the window on great gates gales of wind and looked down to the sea snow white with foam Final finally lyshe she fell asleep it was evening when a step on the borc porch h and an accompanying whistle wakened her she jhb sprang to her feet and went forward dizzily to meet rand nand gay took hla hands let hini him gently to the window seat sat jat beside him rand she said evenly if you want me to marry you youa I 1 will now say ft t again slowly lowly fr I 1 dont think I 1 understand yes you do if you want me to marry you I 1 will if I 1 yant want you to may marry te me you will rand repeated slowly tie he kissed her thanks gay but I 1 dont gay sighed a little sighed in relief perhaps certainly she smiled but it was a drawn smile that did not touch her darkened eyes the island shut itself up more and more behind the protective screens and storm windows that presaged the coming of winter the bomin women baked and sewed and chatted tile men got lif in the last of the wood sorted the winter apples went over the furnaces and the plumbing mrs alice andover came to the cottage but bui not often for she was fond of creature co comforts end her enthuse asna for the winter all climate matlof of her native state was as limited jo an oil burner fauner to in her furnace r birch log ing in h her er fireplace and a pretty Parl parisian stan unit knitted scarf about her aristocratic shoulders the old fool doing now she demanded dem with tile the brusk nod toward the orchard that meant arntal miry 1 I 1 dont know gay day said evasively 1 I dont see much of her ive been there P doza dozen times and never nobody home mrs andover complained therea there no foul fool like an old one ashes a perfect gadabout lets go down and see what ashes up op to so they went down the hlll hill slope and knocked at the door of the apple tree there was no answer although distinctly they could hear bear slight sounds within quick shuffling shuf ning muffled footsteps the sly creaking of a door then silence alice aldover turned the knob 1 ut the door was locked she marched grimly around the house gay following and tried the kitchen door only to find it locked also shamelessly she peered in eve every ry window one after another but there was nothing to see but the tidy house empty the old fool Is in the closet alice andover said grimy galm y she rapped smartly on the window Aunt almiry come we see eee E ee you come coine on out you big os ostrich 1 but there was no answer ashes up tip to something alice and over said anxiously S ashes he S mad a bout that christmas party all for her own good and all the thanks I 1 get I 1 thought just to pacify her she eho said fiercely id let tier ox ax little b bags as of candy and nuts for tile the children n though they dont deser deserve veIL it throwing snowballs eats cats breaking windows but just to please her so I 1 ordered fifty pounds of christmas candy sent to her oh just dear of you rou alice andover frowned at he her john jofin pays halt half im only tile the adin administrator lin ts john pays halt ashes got git fruit ashes got vegetables her cupboards full of canned goods and tier her cellar full of coul cold and wood she cant want for anything can filie fahey it did not seem indeed that she could tier her larder hod had been blounte bubly and glorious stocked a hundred pounds of sugar brown and white cereals ceren ls dried fruits beans canned goods no certainly she could not be lo in need of anything besides there was wai her charge account at the grocery and her modest account at the bank you don t suppose she ehe would go on a starvation diet to spite we 41 said alice andover anxiously 1 I dont think she knows enough to do that alien wice aleco andover had gone gay went down again alone mrs and overs anxiety had communicated itself sel to her and lay gay was persistent she meant to find out if stood in need she anticipated a long wait on the doorstep door step and she intended to walt wait so she was a little surprised when Aunt almiry who i had evidently been watching and knew ew she came alone opened the door to tj her first light tup tap that was not nice guy gay said severely alice andover Is very uneasy about you it right to worry her burst into soft but joyous laughter unashamed oh the administrator when I 1 think of alice andover 1 was quite speechless echles with secret satisfaction but why did you keep us as out now gay dont be cross its just a title secret of mine k know now before long I 1 was doing something g I 1 want alice andover to ihnow about abobo now lets have a nice cup of tes tei ats lt good t to see j you agian A but bilt for aall bull her pleasantness gny returned at last no wiser than she came november did not live up to the threat of its coming coining the weeks passed but two days before thanksgiving gay wakened in the morning to find the island thickly blanketed with snow the trees rees pendant with it the volley valley submerged and grent great cloudy flakes whitened the air this Is beautiful it Is worth living for 9 guy gay thought how childish to live always in a city where snow means only slush and grime and murky skies she sat in the window seat seal and watched it tor for hours tracing the course of the great white nukes flakes and listening for the he soft little kiss w with ith which each dropped among tits brothers by afternoon nil alt the low lew brush and shrubs were here thickly covered the forest was a solid glistening wull and the line of boats upturned rm in t lie shore shor ewas ft as like a row of grave wounds mounds the aate afternoon anoon waned and fim 1117 it little depressed with the silence und and the aloneness alun alo eness of it nil ill she was alin aim lessly tidying up her rooms blien she I 1 heard beard a guy gny voice calling hello bello the lie house heuse come out and see the sun she ran down to flud kand in snow half to tits his galst at al tier her window that led to the valley which he was struggling 0 to o raise from without guy gay caught up a tarui cape and ran to help him film you darling she cried in worm warm welcome TO OB BE CONTINUED |