Show LADY LADY F 7 LARKSPUR LAI 5 V U T by MEREDITH NICHOLSON copyright by charles scribners sons 4 4 I 1 CHAPTER ill continued I 1 had noticed that she had substituted a tiny japanese fan tor for the one that had inspected so eagerly when I 1 spoke of the change she bad said the other was too precious for everyday uso use and slie she meant to keep it locked up 1 I hate to bother you sir knowing rou the mention of the fan had brought ine aie to an abrupt halt I 1 resented having the thing thrust at me in the ecstatic mood in which I 1 left the muse but tile lie visit of the german speaking stranger was serious and antoine knew that his story had startled me ile he told me further that the man had bad carefully outlined to elsie elile just liow how she could take advantage of her freedom of the house to appropriate the fan when the ladles ladies were out and the servants off the second boor she was to be paid for h her assistance si two hundred dollars bau biad been promised even more had been suggested elsie and the stranger had left the garage and passed out of earshot before elsie fully consented but pierre had given antoine the impression that site she would make the attempt it was to be for the kaiser for germany declared antoine bitterly and she was to be careful about flynn I 1 always thought thou ailt flynn was straight I 1 did indeed sir 1 I think flynn and his wife are both honest but nell mell take no chance warn the guards to be on the alert we ave dont want vant elsie to get the idea that ashes being watched so tell tile men luen to keep away from the garage ill keep an eye on the flynns flynne you go homo home and go to bed the deep calm of the country night had settled upon the shore and the flynns flynne quarters were perfectly tranquil it seem possible that an international episode was in process of incubation in that quiet neighborhood I 1 began to think that the general distrust of the german woman by her associates so socia tes might be responsible for pierres story but viewed in any light I 1 had bad a duty to perform it if elsie had visited the house and purloined the tan fan she would be very nery likely to get rid of it as quickly as possible and I 1 determined ter mined to keep watch I 1 drew the blinds got into my dressing gown and re enforcing the lampshade lamp shade with nith a newspaper to deaden the light proceeded c to read it was on toward one and I 1 c was dozing when a sound roused m ins 2 A h door on the flynn side of the hall creaked there was silence then 1 heard beard furtive steps on the stair I 1 snapped out my light and peered out of df the window just as eldies robust figure disappeared into the shadows I 1 was about to follow when the creaking of the flynn door was repeated in a moment another peep through the shade bade showed we me flynn himself und and t tie he too quickly vanished here aas as a situation E indeed I 1 if elsie was keeping tryst with her conspirator coconspirator co of the afternoon and her husband was spying i upon her a row of large proportions proportion was likely to result at any ally moment I 1 leaned from the window as far as I 1 dared and saw tile the woman close to tile I 1 1 wall at the farther end of the building the scene was well set bet for trouble and j I 1 was vas Wonder won derice frig nhat ha L could do to avert the disturbance ond find the exposure of the foolish woman when nhen the whole matter was taken out of my hands you fool I 1 you scoundrel she lie bellow boned ed in german that you should think me a plaything to commit a robbery for you that I 1 should steal from my mistress to s satisfy you you piece of swine flesh P 1 I 1 had often heard elsie vocally disciplining cip lining her irish husband lius band arid and knew tile power of her lungs and the vigor of her invective but she seemed ed bent upon apprising the whole commonwealth of connecticut of the fact that she was vastly displeased with the person she was addressing who was certainly not flynn amid sounds of a scuffle and the continuous outpouring of billingsgate the light over the garage door flashed on suddenly and disclosed flynn in the act of precipitating himself into the fray elsie Elsi chal ha 1 grasped and was stoutly clinging to a tall man who was trying to tree free himself of her muscular embrace her cries meanwhile included some of the raciest terms in the german dictionary and others mouthfuls mouth fuls of that I 1 recognize when I 1 reached the open flynn was dancing round tile the belligerents like an excited boxer occasionally springing in to land a blow and all the while elsie continued to address her captive and the world at large in her native tongue flynn was rather more ore than sixty find and elsie was not much his junior while the invader was young anil and agile the man had loosened one arm and drawn a revolver with which he was vas pounding elsie in the face I 1 knocked the gun from ills his hand will my walking stick and shouted to elsie to let jet go of him iler iier shouts had roused the guards and hearing answering cries and the beat of hurrying feet on the walks lie he redoubled his efforts to escape I 1 had hardly got my hands on him when with a twist of his hie body lie he wrenched himself tree free and sped away in the darkness I 1 gone far in pursuit of him before I 1 tripped over the skirts of my dressing gown and fell into a bed of 47 X W flung him backward over the stone curbing cannas tins this would have been less melancholy if flynn hard behind stumbled over me arid and believing lie had captured cap the enemy grip ped my legs until I 1 could persuade him to let go 90 the lights now flared on all the walks and driveways and antoine was bellowing orders to the guards to surround the lie sunken garden I 1 surmised that the fugitive surprised by the attack had lost his big bearings and wits was now far from the boundary wall back of the garage from which presumably lie had entered the grounds with the sound cutting off his exit beyond the residence there was a fair chance of catching him it if antoinet An veterans were ere at all vi vigilant ilant I 1 found antoine firmed armed with a club and swinging a lantern majestically posed at the nearer entrance to the garden with a swallowtail swallow tail tall coat over ills nightshirt and his nightcap tipped over one ear car lie he was an enthralling figure As lie he strode toward me his slippers slipped flapped weirdly upon tile the brick walk theres somebody in the garden sir he whispered huskily the troops has lills it surrounded no general in all history reporting in some critical hour the disposition of his army could baye been wore more composed you have done well antoine Ant olne shall you dig in until morning or go over tile top now As you say str its ita better you should take charge I 1 walked round the garden and found ills his men well distributed but the lie old fellows ax were pre exceedingly nervous its a bit suspicious sir that he broke tor for the garden remarked antoine Ant olne re he broke for or the garden I 1 suggested because his line of retreats retreat u as cut oft off lind and lie had to go somewhere V its queer though sir when dutch ims has been sleeping on the long bench down there by the fountain you know how low we feel about blin sir he being of that race dutch told me he was camping in the tool house I 1 answered the boys drove him out sir and he took to to the garden nasty of the boys I 1 should say it if that interloper should murder him A yell rose from the midst of the garden followed by a crash and an instant later by a splash that interrupted another yell I 1 sn atchel antoan An es lantern and ran down the steps toward the scene of commotion when I 1 readied reached the circular pool the jet was still playing gayly but tile the waters on one side were in furious agitation two men were rolling and tumbling about as though bent upon drowning each other I 1 swung the la lantern n te r n 6 over v e r I 1 them hem just as dutch got chelp upon 0 n h his I 1 s f feet e e t gripping his antagonist by the collar he flung him backward over the stone curbing of the pool and fell upon him in the walk with a swish of wet garments the guards from the outer edges ot of the garden had bad clambered down and they gathered about us as I 1 began questioning dutch dutch undoubtedly enjoying his victorious encounter wits was tearing open the prostrate captives collar to give him air and with ills his knees clam clamping the mans body was disposed to delay the story of ills his adventures to increase its dramatic effect it happens this evenin he began spouting water that I 1 seen elsie chos been sn sneak eakin ln me meals to the old stables an she say says s to me dutch she says theys all agan us here callin us huns an we gotta show em wes good americans she says an she tole me a feller been to see er a at t wanter er to rob the house fer am im he th imkin ler er likely to do ut ter for love 0 the kalser kaiser slie she said as ow shed n nail all iro im when ahen he comes tonight to git a fan ashes promised to lift fer am lm she said prove slie she no dutchwoman Dutch woman and recommended it if I 1 got the chance to do the same I 1 thought auz eoln to happen an auz slee sleeping sleep pin ln on me bench here in the garden when ahen the hollerin at the garage woke me up I 1 sits quiet its an this guy drops into the garden an auz crawlin crawl ln past me bench an I 1 pinches im fm ite he auz fer havin a fight an we knocks over one of the big urus an lit in the tank ile he says its a thousand bones an ye turn me loose he says an I 1 soused doused im agin ter for that the man was inas still choking from the sousing cousing and dutch turned him over and pounded him vigorously on the back assisted by zimmerman the obliging valet who had seized the occasion to show ills his land hand on the side of the allies shall I 1 telephone for the barton police sir asked antoine with an extreme exaggeration of his professional manner this was obviously the thing to do 10 but I 1 feigned not to hear bear the question while I 1 debated the matter it was plain that many things relating to the capture c were veiled in mystery that if sirs mrs bashford and her companion were involved in an international tangle and had in their possession something that vitally concerned tile the nations at war common chivalry clil valry demanded that I handle bandle the arrest of monta nis agent in III such a manner its as to shield them I 1 was tU Inking hard and in my perplexity even considered sending a messenger to torrence Torro but he was w as already suspicious and would be very likely to summon raynor kaynor immediately med mediately lately and precipitate a crisis I 1 was not prepared to face to invite the attention of the american state department part ment to the increasingly complex situation would not be giving my aunt the chance I 1 meant she should have to clear hei herself self the captive had got upon ills feet and stood dazedly staring at us he refused to answer my questions even when ben I 1 suggested that it if he be could give a satisfactory account of himself lie would bo be released ue he only doggedly shook his head when I 1 asked it if he had been hurt in ills his bout with dutch lie smiled and extended his arms in ill denial lie he was a very decent looking lookin fellow blue eyed and smooth shaven who seemed to accept his plight with will a degree of good humor I 1 decided that its as nothing would be gained liy by sending him to the barton ca labome that night I 1 would assume the responsibility of detaining him until I 1 had groped ray MY way through the haze of suspicions and circumstance that enveloped him di aunt alice count and the mysterious fan TO BE CONTINUED |