Newspaper Page Text
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
SATURDAY. JULY «. 1907.
THE KIND YOU HAVE ALWAYS BOUGHT
In Use For Over Thirty Years.
GENUINE
For Infants and Children
BEARS THE SIGNATURE OF
trftl under the
EMM Copy of Wrapper.
Exact Copy of Wrapper.
THE GHOST OF LOCHRA1N CASTLE
A Thrilling Novel of Love, Intrigue, Tragedy and the Mystery of a Famous Diamond
By MRS. C. N. WILLIAMSON,
Author of "The Lightning Con
ductor,Eto* Eto,
lllustmted by
QEORQE KERR and P. NANKIVELL.
SYNOPSIS PRECEDING CHAPTERS.
Elspeth Dnd, an attractlra younc girl, re
ceive an appointment as stenographer for
Lochraln, a famous caatla In Scotland, re
cently conrertad Into a hotel. She travels
with Lady Lambert, who looks wtlh con
tempt upon the working class In general;
Lady Hilary, her daughter, young, heantlfnl
and a lady In.reality, and John Kanrlth, a
bachelor millionaire, a collector of rare
gems, mentioning a famous diamond, wbtcb
he his with him. Elapatb Is Impressed with
his gentlemanly manner, and realises that
Lady Lamhart, In spite of her years, strives
to Interest him. Elspeth Is assigned a room
In the haunted tower of the castle, and
spends the night hearing weird sounda
While examining a faded slip of paper, bear
ing the penciled Image of a boy, she Is para
lysed with fear when drops of blood fall
upon the face of the child. She notices a
crack In one of the beams In the celling,
through which the blood might " —
hare
„ Ing taken for a poacher, so It Is
rumored. Much to Lady Lambert's dis
pleasure. Captain Oxford and Lady Hilary
are deeply attached to each other and Els-
peth promises them her aid. The stenogra<
pber Is called upon to take dictation fot
Ur. McGowan, the manager; Mr. Trow-
brkdg*. posing aa an American millionaire,
who seems to hare s conspiracy on. sided
by James Grant, the hotel clerk; Mr. Ken
rlth, who la writing a book on socialism:
Captain Oxford, Countess Radepolskoi. and
Lady Ardcllffs, seed 50, a would-be poetess,
ambitious for either the millions of Messrs.
Trowbridge or Kenrlth. In spite of gossip
ing and questioning, Ktspsth discreetly does
g r work, refusing s valuable ring present-'
hr Lady ArdcUffe. Knowing little of
r Rfcotch ancestry, the Is Interested to
hear that Dean la the name of the owner
of Lochraln
brother In
Captain Oi
Australis. Elspeth decides that
..lain Oxford resemtdea the picture of
tho child which she bad found in a traok.
She hears about the Underground syndicate,
organised to rob rich aocicty folk. While
talking with Mr. Trowbridge she flnda that
that gentleman wears a gold bracelet and
part ofa woman’s kid glove high up on his
•rm. That night Elspeth wakes from sleep
with s start and hears the creak of a board
In the floor. She leaps from bed to see the
faint outline* of a man in one corner of
the room
tain Oxf<
ghostly i
lb* girl
jSP
Elspeth makes friends with Mrs. Ward,
the housekssper, who tells her tome
of the history of the old castle. Kenrlth
asks Lady Lamhart and her daughter to
sea his famous diamond and other lewels.
end insists that Elspeth be a member of
the party. Blepeh is quick to notice the look
of elation in Lady Lambert's eyes when she
learns where the millionaire keeps his val
uables. Rover ill days later Grant, the bott-l
Hark, makes violent lovs to Klepetb. Bbe
i haunted by the image of Kenrlth and
Ives the clerk no encouragement. Rhe
motorlog with Kenrlth and Lady
sees them and grows
goes motoring with
Illlaix. Trowbridge
grestfv agitated. Lad
Elspeth fast she Is fsi
^ Lady Hilary confesses to
ispeth that she Is far from happy, explain
ing that her mother Insists that she wed
Trowbridge.
CHAPTER VIII.—(Concluded.)
"You won't give It to him? You
can’t!" exclaimed Elspeth.
"I don't know what I shall do. I'm
afraid I—must. There seems no alter
native. Oh. I would beg or steal, I
believe. If I could only get the money
which could lave us In some other
way."
Elspeth would have answered, would
have tried to bid the girl havo courage,
and wait upon events, when suddenly
the car swerved; there was a grinding
crash of wood, a sensation, as If a
wheel were giving way, an Instant of
cold fear with no desire to scream, and
then—a cessation of everything. The
world stopped for her.
"la this death? Have I died, and
eolved the great mystery? Am I on
the threshold of a new life?" Slowly,
falterlngly, the words formed them
selves In Elspeth's brain.
Bhc was conscious of no suffering;
she scarcely remembered what she had
passed through, yet the Impression of
some tremendous experience Just un
dergone, lloated dimly In her mind.
Either her eyes were open, and she
saw nothing but a soft green and gold,
en light changing ^nd pulsing, else It
was an Illusion, a waking dream.
“I must have died, for 1 seem to have
no body," she told hereelf. "What has
happened and what Is coming next?"
Then, with a flash, she remembered.
Perhapi she was dead; but If she were,
the lest thing ehe had done In life was
to be In a motor car with Mr. Kenrlth
and Lady Hilary Vane. There had
been no accident. If all had been
killed. It was her fault, for ehe had had
a warning, and refused to listen The
thought that John Kenrlth was dead,
and that she might have saved him,
made her conscious that she had still a
heart to beat, still a body with warm
blood to tlow fast through throbbing
veins. An ugly aching made itself felt
In (he back of her head, and she knew
that the great mystery was still un
solved for her. She was olive, and
lying on the ground somewhere by the
roadside. The green and golden light
was that of the afternoon sun playing
among tall fronds of bracken which
spread above her like on emerald roof.
"I must find him—I must find Lady
Hilary," she whispered brokenly, half
aloud, and was glad of the sound of her
own voice In the silence, which was
like a tragic assent to her fears.
Painfully, she eat up, and would have
thanked heaven that she had the use
of her limbs. If she had thought of her
self at all now. Her head ached hor
ribly, and she felt bruised and shaken,
but there was no unbearable pain to
recall her attention sharply to her own
needs. She scrambled to her feet
swaying giddily for a moment, with sky
and treetops whirling before her eyes
but In a few seconds she was able to
walk, though rather unsteadily, and
pushing her way through the bracken,
crushed by her fall, she came out upon
the road, and almost upon Hilary Vane
who was kneeling beside John Kenrlth.
As she knelt there In the dust the
girl's back was turned toward Elsiieth,
and she was so absorbed In what she
was doing that she did not hear the
rustling of the tall bracken. She had
opened Jhe coat of the unconscious
men. who was lying close to, the big,
broken motor car, with his face stained
with blood. Busily her little hands were
searching, searching for something, and
her whole heart was tn the work.
Elspeth stood still, unable to speak,
unuble to move. Hut tho spell was
broken by the stealthy whirr of on elec
tric car coining along tho road by
which they had traveled from Loch
raln. It was close upon them, and as
Elspeth turned with a start, she saw
Trowbridge stop the automobile and
leap out.
Beside him the Counteas Radepol
skoi was sitting, but when the car
had come to a rest she left It quickly
and ran forward. Seeing Hilary kneel
ing beside Kenrlth she gave a low cry
which sounded strangely In Elspeth's
ears. There wss, or ehe fancied It, a
ring of anger and the bitterness of dls.
appointment.
Trowbridge sprang to Lady Hilary,
and, ns she struggled to her feet, he
caught her In his arms. With a moan
she let her head fall limply against his
breast, and Elspeth saw that she had
fainted.
quickly the thought lllished through
her mind that If Hilary knew she could
not bear to rest In this man's arms.
Ho bent over her, mattering something,
nnil Elspeth uttered an exclamation
just In tlmo to prevent him from touch
ing the beautiful disordered hair of the
girl with his lips.
"Give her to me," she commanded
peremptorily. Trowbridge and the
countess saw her now for the first time,
and without a word the man obeyed.
Ho laid Hilary down on the crushed
bracken by the roadside and Elspeth
knelt close to the white, still llgure.
"Mr. Kenrlth—he Is not dead?" she
stammered.
Trowbridge gave her no answer, ex
cept to stoop over the motionless body
of the man. The countess, too, bent
down, half kneeling, and ae the two
were between Elspeth and Kenrlth, ehe
could no longer see him lying beside
his broken car.
It seemed many moments before
Trowbridge spoke, though perhaps not
twice sixty seconds passed. t
"No, he's not dead," the answer came
at last. "I can feel his heart beating.
If only I could have made you hear In
the nvenue, as you drove out. this
needn't have happened. I saw that the
near driving wheel was out of shape,
os the car went by, and called out; but
I could make none of you hear, though
I took a short cut through the park,
and ran after you until I saw there was
no hope of catching you up. Then I
hurried back, thinking to get one of the
hotel motors, to follow, but luckily
Lady Ardctlfte’e electric car was at the
door ready to take her out with the
countess. I’ve driven the same kind,
and she let me take It, though she
wouldn't come, end I don't think she
half understood what I meant. The
chaufTeur—a stupid young animal—
stood by like a stock, staring sa If he
thought me mad, as I spun oir with his
auto. I hoped to overtake you before
anything hod happened, but 1 was Just
too late. The wheel Is matchwood and
the car badly smashed. It's a miracle
you weren’t all killed.”
"Mr. Kenrith's head Is bleeding.” said
the countess. "You had better try to
lift him Into Lady ArdcllfTe's automo
bile. Mr. Trowbridge, and get him
home, where he can he taken rharge
of by the doctor. Miss Dean could hold
his head on her lap, for he oughtn't
to he left alone, while you drive; ard
I can stay here with Lady Hilary till
you come back for her. She doesn't
seem to be hurt at all."
To Elspeth's surprise, Trowbridge
laughed, a singularly hateful laugh.
"Oh, you are very kind," he said, "very
unselttsh, but I will not trouble you,
thanks. Miss Dean will not leave Lady
Hilary."
As he spoke Elspeth saw his eyes
and those of the countess meet, with a
look of defiance and understanding.
"I hope," said the countess with
deadly politeness, "that you will not
repent your decision.” Her voice and
her eyes were like steel. For the mo
ment she was no longer beautiful, but
hideous, though sho had evidently re
membered Elspeth's presence, and was
striving for self-control.
"She has some rlan,” was the thought
that dashed through the girl's head,
"some plan by which she means to
make him repent.”
Trowbridge, however, no longer look
ed at the countess. He bent down and
lifted Kenrith's shoulders from the
ground, exerting so much strength In
the effort to raise the unconscious man
that the clasp of the strange bracelet
Elspeth had once before noted on his
wrist, snapped open ns his sleeve was
pushed back, exposing the arm.
CHAPTER IX.
More Myeterieo.
Before Trowbridge woe aware of the
thing that hail happened, the bracelet
had fallen from his arm to the ground,
which It struck with a delicate metallic
sound, then rolled away Into the brack
by the roadside. Elspeth saw him
start, but his eyes did not follow the
brncelet. They darted to the exposed
wrist; and what they muat have seen
there hers saw at the same time,
The band of white kid, resembling
the top of a long glove from which the
hand has been rut off, or another like
It, still covered the arm tightly and
smoothly, but the heavy band of gold
which had masked the end above the
wrlstbone had hidden the ragged edge
of a curious scar. Elspeth now saw
that the flesh was Inflamed and that
just above the wrlstbone was a deep
red mark.
Instinctively she turned her eyes,
that Trowbridge might not be aware
of her discovery. Shs felt that he
glanced quickly at her. to see whether
hie secret—whatever It might be—was
at her mercy; but her face betrayed
nothing. As he was In the act of lift
ing Kenrith's shoulders from” the
ground, he could not pull down the cuff
and coat sleeve which had been pushed
back; but he turned In such a way
that. If Elspeth had not already seen
the scar, she would be unable to catch
sight of It. His change of position
must have exposed the scar to the
Countess Radepolskot's gaxe, but Trow
bridge either did not care, or consid
ered her knowledge of his secret a les
ser evil. Half lifting, half dragging
Kenrlth toward the electric car lent
by Lady ArdcUffe. he had almost
reached It when the unconscious man
showed signs of coming to himself.
He sighed, opened his eyes, and met
those of Elspeth. who hod risen and
was watching him anxiously. Instantly
he seemed to have remembered all that
had happened, for looking straight at
her, he said, "Thank heaven, you're
safe! And Lady Hilary—”
"Doesn't seem to be much hurt,
though she has fainted." Trowbridge
answered before Elspeth could speak.
"Don't worry. We hope you are going
all right too. Better not try
end help yourself, for fear you may
have a bone broken, or a sprain some
where. I'll lift you Into this car—"
"There's nothing the matter with me.
dive me a hand and I'll get to my
feet," said Kenrlth. "No"—as he stag-
gered up supported by Trowbridge.
"I'm all right No bones broken evi
dently.” He passed his hand over his
forehead, where a few drops of blood
trickled down over his eyes. "Just a
cut on the head. It's nothing at all.
You're sure you’re not hurt. Miss Dean,
or Lady Hilary"—
"She was up and bending over you
when wo came," said the countess,
somewhat sharply. "It was only when
she saw us that she fainted. There,
she's coming to herself now. One
might almost fancy she heard us
speaking about her."
There was nothing actually offensive
In the words, yet they gave the Im
pression that Lady Hilary had feigned
unconsciousness to draw attention to
herself, or for some other reason. Els
peth felt an Impulse of anger, and
would have defended the girl, but It
Besides, the color was coming back to
Lady Hilary’s face, and the long dark
lashes were quivering. A moment later
she was looking up Into Kenrith's
anxious eyes.
"I—I—how stupid of me!” she mur
mured, to Ing to sit up, and sinking
back on the shoulder of Elspeth, who
had bent down again to help her. 'Tm
not a bit hurt, onlyi jarred, I think. At
(Iret I was up. looking for Miss Dean,
and trying to And out If Mr. Kenrlth
was alive; but then, suddenly, my heart
seemed to stop beating. I suppose H
must have been the shock and then
the reaction. When did you come,
countess—and Mr. Trowbridge "
"1 thought you saw us arrive In
Lady ArdcllfTe's electric car," said the
conntess, with an odd emphasis. "You
appeared to before you—fainted."
"No. I didn't see you—consciously,"
Hilary replied.
"I called after you all. as you drove
past me tn the avenue," Trowbridge
repeated. "I saw one of the driving
wheels was out of shape, and followed
as quickly as I could, with Lady Ard-
cllffe'a car. In which the countess was
Just going out with her. She thought
that shs might be needed to give some
assistance; but fortunately you are all
able to help yourselves. Even your
ear has apparently escaped any very
serious damage, Mr. Kenrlth; and now
If you feel up to the effort, I can get
you all back to the hotel."
Involuntarily Elspeth glanced at the,
was scarcely a moment fur argument, place where the bracelet had fallen.
and where the heavy band of gold had
been visible at the side of the road, lu
pearls and turquoises gleaming nut
among the grass. Would he leave it
lying there? she wondered. But al
ready It was gone.
It could not have been he who had
reclaimed It, for he had not once moved
away or stooped down since Kenrlth
had recovered consciousness. But for a
moment or two Elspeth had lost eight
of tho Countess Radepolskol's move
ments, and now she quickly decided
that, while she had not been looking,
the countess must have picked up tn«
bracelet.
"Will she keep It, or give It beck to
him?"—Elspeth asked herself curious
ly. as she stood aside while Trowbridge
helped Lady Hilary Into the car. »
was then the countess' turn to
her aget, and Trowbridge’s asalstanf'
was given to her also, notwithstanding
the bitter words and defiant
which had passed between them »
short time ago. "Now, Miss Pean,
said Trowbridge, when the country
was seated beside Lady Hilary In U»
large tonneau. But he did not come
forward to help her. He let Kenritn
give her a hand, as she mounted the
step, turning his back for a second nr
two. Then, when Kenrlth was also ®
the tonneau, Trowbridge closed
door: and Elspeth had a fleeting
glimpse of gold and turquoise under
his ruff as he did so.
Continued in Monday’s Georm*"-