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THF FLOHT.PS CO!.LECTfOW
X5he House of a Thousand
>* By MEREDITH WICHOLSOA 7 , Author “Uhe Mala Chancer Etc
Copyright, 1005—The Robbs-Merrill Co.
CHAPTER XXTI.
'I fIF. RETI’RX OF MARION DEVE-
RET'X.
I ST E It THERESA has ’.oft
!Bi
ii
Bates hail been into An-
namlRle to mall some let
ters, ami I was staring
out upon the park from
the library "windows when
he entered. Stoddard, hav
ing kept watch the night
before,wti6 at home asleep
and Harry was off some
where In the house, treas
ure hunting. 1 was feel
ing decidedly discouraged
over our failure to make any progress
with our investigations, end Rates' news
did not interest me.
•‘Well, Whitt of It?" I demanded. w
out turning round.
"Nothing, air; but Miss Devereux has
come buck!”
•'Tim devil!"
I turned and took it step toward t «
d oor,
"I said MIhb ‘Devarmix." lie repealed
in dignified rebuke, "She flame up this
morning and the sister left at once fur
Chicago. Hiater Theresa depends partic
ular! y upDn Miss Devt.eux—so iv«
heard, six", Mies XAeveruux fiuite takes
charge when tlie lister goes away, A
few of the students are staying in
Buhoo! through the holidays,"
"You seem full of information," l re
marked, taking another step toward my
hat and <.uat,
"Ami I’ve learned something else,
sir,”
"\Vel!V r
"They aU oarna together, «... -
-Who came; if yau please, Rales?
•vV
» came; u y«u , -
rh« peqple who've been travel
ing with Mr, Bickering came back with
him iiiid Mies JJevereu# cam« with them
from Cincinnati, That'S What I learned
in the village. Aed Mr, Pickering !e go
ing to stay—"
"Plckerlsig stay;”
"At his cottage on the lake for a
while. The reason is that he's worn
out with his work, ami wishes quiet.
The other people went bock to New
York In the car,”
"He’s opened a summer cottage In
mid-winter, has lie?”
1 had been blue enough without tills
news. Marian Devoreux had come back
i,» Annandale with Arthur Pickering!
my faith in her snapped iike a reed at
this astounding news. Rite was now en-
tit ed to my grand father's property and
she had lost no time in returning as
soon as she and Piokerlng bad discussed
together at the •ArmsbroiigB’ my flight
from Annandale. Her return could have
no other meaning but tiiat there was a
strong tie ’between them, and. ho was
now to stay on the ground until I
should be dispossessed and her rights
established, fcine bad led mo to follow
Tier, and my forfeiture had been sealed
by ihat stolen interview at the Arm
strongs'. Jt Tins a black record and
tlia thought of it angered me against
myself and the world.
"Tell Mr. Donovan that I've gone to
St. Agatha’s," 1 said, and I was soon
striding toward the school,
A sister admitted me. I heard the
sound of a plan-,, ermiawhere In the
building, and i consigned the Inventor
of pianos to hideous torment as scales
were pursued endlessly up ami down the
keys. Two girls passing through the
ha!! made a prolaxl of looking for a
ISilwok and came in and exclaimed over
fit heir Inability to ilrnl It with much sup-
I <8 jirossed giggling.
j jtl | Tlie plano-poundliig continued and I
[4 l.alted for wluit seemed an lnterinina-
»' io time. It was growing dark and a
|P' r- Id lighted the oil lamps. X took a
t:i!.r from the table. It was "The Rife
r a " ,-fuiuto Ce.iinl" nud “Marian Dev-
"U-Ul... * ■ o ... ,,,.. .... Mw. H,. l*,„r 1.,.
man
is written on the fly leaf by
.,vly this iiume hand tiiat penned
■ for Olivia's performances.
clear flowing lines of the
,n their lack of superfluity.
""' I r .' n ease, grace and charnt; and.
r *oe deeper stroke with which the x
teas crossed. I felt a challenge, a readi-
O’ss to abide by consequences cnce her
I bid was given.
8 Ken my own inclination to think well
H her angtred me. It was only a pretty
of chirography, and 1 dropped the
(cAJ, 3»Lk impatiently when 1 heard lier step
the threshold.
am sorry to have kept your walt-
Mr. GJonarm. Rut this is my busy
shall not detain you long. 1 came’—
sitated, not knowing why 1 had
took a chair near the open door
bent forward with an air of at-
, n that was disquieting. She wore
—perhaps to fit her the bettor into
ouse of a somber Sisterhood. 1
1 suddenly to remember her front
e long gone, anil the effort of
•y threw me off guard. Stoddard
id there were several Olivia Arm-
• there were certainly many Mar-
-vereuxs. The silence grew in-
e; she was waiting for me to
and I blurted:
ppose you have come to take
>f tiie property.”
m?" she asked.
Du came back with the executor
to facilitate matters. I'm glad to see
tiiat you lose no time."
"Oil!” she said lingeringly, as though
she wore finding v.’lth difficulty ilic note
in which 1 wished to pitch the conversa
tion. Her calmness was maddening.
”1 suppose you thought it unwise to
wait for the bluebird when you had be
guile 1 me into breaking a promise, when
! was trapped, defeated—"
Her elbow on the arm of the chair, her
hand resting against liar cheek, the light
rippling gnldenly in her hair, her eyes
bent upon me inquiringly, mournfully—
mournfully, ns I had seen them—where?
—once before! My heart leaped in that
moment, with that thought.
“I remember now ihe first time!" 1
exclaimed, more angry than I had ever
been before in my life.
«T! tat is quite remarkable," she said,
anil nodded her head ironically.
"It wit s ut Sherry's; you were with
Tinkering—you dropped your fan and he
picked II up. and you turned toward me
for a moment. You were in black that
night; it was the unhappiness In your
fane, in your eyes, thaq made me re
member,"
T was intent upon the recollection,
eager to fix and establish It.
"You are quite right. II was at Rher-
ry'n, I was wearing black then; many
things made me unhappy that night."
lier forehead contracted slightly and
alia pressed lier lips together,
"l suppose tlinL even then tue con-
Bpiraey was thoroughly arranged,” 1 said
tauntingly, laughing it. little perhaps, and
wishing to wound her, to take vengeance
upon her,
Sim roue and stood by her chair, one
hand resting upon It. 1 faced lier; her
eves ware Ilka violet seas. She spoke
vurj^ qtiluii.v.
Hint' when !t occurred to you'
park, when 1 risked unpleasant gossip
in receiving you In a house where you
had no possible right to be, that I was
counting upon something—foolishly and
stupidly—yet counting upon it?"
“You probably thought I wag a fool,"
I retorted.
* No;”—she smiled slightly—"! thought
— I believe I have said this to you be
fore!—you were a gentleman. I really
did, Mr. Glenarm. I must say it to
Justify myself. I relied upon your chiv
alry; I even thought, when I played
being Olivia, tiiat you had a sense of
honor. Rut you are not the one and you
haven't the other. I even went so far,
after you /knew perfectly well who I
was, as to try to help you—to give you
another ehiinee to prove yourself the
nmu your grandfather wished you to be.
And now you come to me in a shocking
bad humor—I really think you would like
to be insulting. Mr. Glenarm, if you
could.”
"Hut Pickering-—you came back with
him; lie Is hero and lie's going to stay!
And now that the property belongs to
you, there i;< not the slightest reason
why we should make any pretense of
anything but enmity. When you and Ar
thur Pickering stand together 1 take
the other side of the barricade! I sup
pose chivalry would require nte to va
cate. so tiiat you may enjoy at once the
spoils of war."
"I fancy it would no* be very difficult
(o eliminate you as a factor in the sit
uation." she remarked Icily.
"And i suppose, after the unsuccess
ful efforts of Mr. Pickering’s allies to
assassinate me. us a mild form of elimi
nation, one would naturally expect me to
sit calmly down and wait to lie siiot In
the hack. Rut von ir.ay leil Mr. Pick
ering that I throw myself upon your
mercy, i have no oilier home than tli.s
shell over ihe way, and 1 beg to be al
lowed to remain until—at least—the blue
birds come 1 hope It will not embarrass
you to deliver the message."
"1 qiilLo sympathize with your reluctance
to deliver it yourself." she said. "Is this
all you came to say?”
rSL’vwiwf i hwrdlu shrdl shrdl uannan
T came to tell you tiiat you could have
the house, and everything in its hideous
walls." I snapped: "to tell you ; hat my
chivalry is enough for some situations
and that I don't intend to fight a wom
an. I had accepted your own renounce
ment of the legacy in good pant, but
now, please believe me, It shall be yours
omorrow. i’ll yield possession to you
whenever you ask it—'but never to Ai-
t'liui" Pickering! As against him and liIs
treasure hunters and assassins I will hold
out for a dozen years!”
“Nobly spoken, Mr. Glenarm! Yours
is really an admirable, though somewhat
complex character.”
“My character is my own, whatever it
is.” I blunted.
••I shouldn’t call that a debatable prop
osition.” she replied, and I was angry to
find how the mirth I had ioved in her
could suddenly become so hateful. She
half-turned away so that I might not see
her face. The thought that she should
countenance Pickering in any way tore
me with jealous rage.
■•Mr. Glenarm. you are what I have
heard called a quitter, defined in com
mon Americanese as one who quits! lour
blustering here this afternoon can hardly
conceal the fact of your failure—your
inability to keep a promise. I had hoped
you would really be of some help to
Sister Theresa: you quite deceived her—
she told me as she left today that she
thought well of you—she really felt that
Imr fortunes iveie safe in your hands.
Rut. of c ourse, hat is all a matter ol
post history now.”
Ill-' tone, changing from co!d indlfTer-
i :.cc to the most severe disdain, stung
roe into self-pity for my stupidity in hav
ing s >ught h< r. My ange was not
against her. bn against Pickering, who
bad, I persuaded myself, always blocked
my pac.ii. She went on.
"You really amuse mi' exceedingly. Mr.
Pickering is decidedly more ;han a match
for you, Mr. Glenarm—even in humor."
She left me so quickly, so softly, that
r stood staring like a fool al the spot
where she lini been, and then I went
gloomily back to Glenarm house, angry,
asliame 1 and crestfallen.
While we were wailing for dinner I
made a clean lircasi of my acquaintance
with her *to Larry, omit:ing nothing—re
joicing even to paint my own conduct as
black as possible.
"You may remember her.” i concluded,
"she was the girl we saw at Sherry’s
that night we dined there. She \vn« with
Pickering, and you noticed her—spoke of
her. as she went out.’’
"That littie girl who seemed so bored,
or hired? Bless me! Why her eyes haunt
ed me for days. Lord, man. do you mean
to say—"
A look of titter scorn cane Into Ills
face, and he eyed me contemptuously.
"Of course, I mean It!" I thundered at
him.
He took the pipe from his mouth, press
ed the tobacco viciously Into the ’bowl,
and swore steadily in Gaelic until I was
ready to choke him.
"R op!” I bawled. “Do you think that's
helping me? And to have you curse in
your blackguardly Irish dialect! I want
ed n little Angio-Snxon sympathy, you
fool! I diin’L mean for you to Invoke
!-.fitiip’us gods againr-t Die Hflryj _
rchcnsiblo," he admonished with madden
ing sweetness and patience. "What I
\»ap trying to inculcate was ra.: her Die
fact, borne in upon me through years of
acquaintance, that you are—to lie bold,
my lad. to be bold—a good deal of a
damned fool.*'
‘ b" trilling of his r's was like the
whirring rise o: a flock of quads.
Dhr.ier is served." .announced Bates,
m l Larry led the way, mockingly chant-
:rg a:i Irish love song.
CHAPTER XXI11.
lill’I DOOR OF BEWl LUER41 EXT.
Mh had established the
birring nil ihe gates
Ml. Ti:
agiinut
practice of
tid doors at nlght-
was no way of guarding
attack from the lake, whose
r<j,:eu surface Increased ihe danger fiom
vthou:; but we counted on our night
p:tr >! to prevent a uprise from Hint
qi’lrto'. I war, well aware that I must
pi’pitr., to resist the militant arm of the
in", which Pickering would no doubt in
to e to aid itlr.t. hut I intended to ex-
*’ 13 «>e possibilities in searching for
llnjost treasure before I yielded. Ploke:-
Injlmlgtit, if he would, transfer fho
csit*'' of John Marshall Glenarm to
Mfiian Devereux and make the most iie
oouf of that service, but he should not
dr! i me forth until T had satisfied my-
seliaf Dm exact character of my grand-
fi'.ilr’s fortune. If It had vanished, if
Picking had stolen it and outwitted
me t making off wiin it. that was an-
oGufmaUer.
T, phrase. ‘ The Door of Bewilder-
mi-r. * had never i eased to reiterate
I’.set In niy mind. Wf discussed a thou-
*an.»xp!anations r.f it as we pondered
iivorho scrap of paper I liad found in
toe irnry. and every book in the house
was :nmined in th e search for further
elf ws
Thehssage between the house and the
chapetseeincd ,,, fascinate r«arry. He
brlci ill ii must have some particular
use ai ne devoted Ills time (o exploring
lie etc up at noon—It was the 29ih of
Decemr- with grimy face and hands
and a in on his face. I had spent my
moriiinju the towers, where it was
beastl.vjld. to no purpose ami was not
in a md for the ready acceptance of
new t ivies.
"I’ve Jr.d something," he said, filling
his pipe
"Not fc>, evidently!"
No, bj'm going to say the last word
on tile tlie], and within an hour. Give
me a glo of beer and a piece of bread,
and neiti back and see whether were
sold ngh or not."
Let tixplore the idea and be done
with it. yit till 1 tell Stoddard where
we’re bo\"
The eiUiin was trying the second
floor waitind I asked him to eat some
luncheon <1 stand guard whil e Larry
and I w>' to the tunnel.
M e too^ith us an iron bar, an ax
and a coe of hammers. Larry went
ahead wilp lantern.
"Y'oii setjie explained, as we dropped
through tiaap into the passage, ’’I’ve
tried a co^ss on this tunnel and find
that we’vqpn working on the wrong
theory. Thassage itself runs a straight
line from house under the gate to
the crypt: (ravine is a rough crescent
shape and a short distance the tun
nel touchesJiow deep does that ravine
average—ab(30 feet?”
“Yes; it'siilowest where the house
stands. It tls sharply from there on
;be lake:
“Very geiput the ravine is all
"Good Morning, Mr. Glenarm.’
tlie Glenarm side of tlie wall, isn't it?
Now when we get under the wall I'll
show you something.”
"Here we are,” said Larry, as th e cold
an* blew in through tlie hollow* posts.
"Now we're pretty near that sharp curve
of tiie ravine tiiat dips away from the
wall. Take the lantern while I get out
the compass. AY hat do you think tiiat C
on the piece of paper means? Why,
chapel, of course. 1 have measured tlie
distance from the house, the point of de
parture, we may assume, to the chapel,
and three-fourths of it brings us under
those beautiful posts. The directions are
plain as daylight. The passage itself is
your N. W.. as the compass proves, and
the ravine cuts close in here; therefore,
our business is to explore the wail on
the ravir.e side.”
Good! but this is just wall here—earth
with a layer of brick ar.d a thin coat of
cement. A nice job it must have been to
do tlie work,—and it cost the price of a
tiger hunt,” I grumbled.
"Take heart, lad, and listen,"—and Lar
ry began pounding the wall with a ham
mer. exactly under the north gatepost.
We had sounded everything in and about
the house until the process bored me.
"Hurry up and get through with it," I
jerked impatiently, holding the lantern at
the level of his head. It was sharply
cold under the posts and I was anxious
to prove the worthlessness of his Idea and
be done.
Thump! thump!
“There’s a plac e here that sounds a
trifle off the key. Y*ou try it."
t snatched the hammer and repeated his
soundings.
Thump! thump!
There was a space about four feet
square In the wall that certainly gate
forth a hollow sound. z
"Stand back!" exclaimed Larry eager
ly. "Here goes wuth the ax. ”
He struck into the wall sharply ar.d
the cement chipped off in rough pieces,
disclosing the brink ber.eat'b. Larry
paus-eg when he had uncovered a foot
Continued on Page Pour.
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