The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume], April 28, 1917, Image 16

About The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961

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Captivating Mary Carstairs Yr H:"r
8Y3T0PSIS.
KJbsrt Carstalrs, enrraoged from his wife aod
loofin* for tlrt) ?i*bt of Ms daughter. Mary, rattgo
Larry Varney and Peter Majlunls to take the Car
stairs y?eht. the 1'yprlaul. to Hunstoa-on the-Huilaon,
ther? to kidnap Mar*. On arr'.ra! In Huuston. Var
ney and Maginnls as a blind eull?t with the reform
element to throw out the political grafter* who are
pimnlny tli? town. Br accident. Varney learn* that
Mary Carstalrs Is not a 1- year old girl, but a
b?autlfnl young woman. Yarney's close resemblance
to Ferris Stanhope, an author of pink tea literature,
who has sot himself into bad grace In ?Hun?tnn
through affairs with girl*. makes Varuey's presence
In the town hazardous. The political gang. working
under the direction of Boh* Kyan ?u<i through Collguy
Smith, editor of tin- Hutmton liasette. nee the leTer
of VtrnfT'i rcsemblauce to Stanhojn; to tvalk Var
n?y*s "help in the reform moTemc.it. A scurrilous
article about Stanhope and' a Picture Bul*h Varney
in the eyes of t*)e townspeople. :iad cn:i?e M:?ry
to break un engagement she had to have tea with
Varney on the yacht. Uiimmerton. a local reporter
who is correspondent for the N'ew York l"re?s. by a
ruse learns that Varney's reaf mission to Huiiston
is to kidnap Mary. He trie* to escape with the
news from the yacht to add to the already too wide
publicity ciTen to Varney's presence tn llunstoii.
but is kept prisoner on the yacht. Maglnai* buys
ont the Uasette and thus steals a march on Ryan,
who retaliates by Retting Jim Hacktey drunk in
order to beat up Varney and Masiunis.
T2IIR TEES' TH IS ST. 1 L LM E S T .
Escape and Capture.
* .?-? ?? iELlL?" he called impatiently.
\A/ "You. Larry?" asked av famll
II iar voice.
~ Yes. What's the matter? "
" Matter enough," said Peter in. a guarded
undertone. " Hammerton s loose.
x "What! "
"It's a fact. God knows how he did It;
but he's Just : phoned in her? from a house
a long way down the road. "W anted to let
th? city editor know he was flying in 'with
the one beat bet of the year. Luckily he
gave no details."
^^'arney's lips tightened", he spoke in a low
?loe. "He mustn't arrive ? not till I've
Hen him first. Did you find out how he's
^Wming ? river or road? "
" Trust Uncle Dudley. He's borrowed a
bicycle and is burning up the river road
with it."
" " Good. How soon will you be through? "
"About three minutes."
"You've hired a motor, you said? Get
-It and run back here as soon as you can.
will you?"
- He rapidly explained the situation, though
making no mention ? of Higglnson: hot\
somebody had plotted to get them together
in the darkness of Main street, how Miss
Carstairs and her friend had kindly stopped
to warn them, and how he had humored her
by promising to take all sorts of precau
tions.
"Right-O," said Peter, "ill be in the
alley at the' back in no time. Come quick
when I honk three times."
Varney came back into the little office
where Mary Carstairs waited, fresh from
more cheap plotting In which she was the
? innocent central figure, and faced her, un
comfortable. ill at ease, disquieted inwardly
as a conspirator taken redhanded.
?Xt was Maginnii ? upstairs." he ex
plained awkwardly.
" Yes? " she said indifferently, and re
sumed the buttonirg of her glove. "And
will you tell me something now? It has
been on my mind since last night.
" Certainly."
* "Who. was' it that spoke of me to you
and made you thinfc that I was- a little
girl? "
He was entirely taken aback by the ques
tion: but he could have parried it easily.,
and he knew it. However, he was heartily
sick of subterfuge for that night.
" It was your father." he said bluntlv.
* "My father! " She stood siient a mo
ment. slim hands interlocked before her.
heavily fringed eyes lowered. " So you
know them both? my mother and my fa
ther. Then ? the mistake ? aboui\ mi1 age.
she added with something of an effort.
" was natural enough. I have nut seen my
f at her for many years."
"I see him." said he. "constantly. Your
father and I are great chums." A sudden
Insane hope overwhelmed him. and he went
on with a rush: " You know, or rather
probably you don't know, that he and my
mbt'ner were old friends; and I am proud to
have fallen heir to the friendship. You say
that you have not seen him for some time.
He is growing older very fast this last year
or two; he is much changed of late. And
then. Miss Carstairs. he is desperately lone
ly. all by himself in that great house of
kjtls? " .
H "Stop: " cried Mary Carstairs. with quick
passionateness. "Stop! You are trying to
make me feel sorry for my fathej.
"Well," he said, as stormy as she. "you
ought to. But your friends are waiting. I
must not detain you any longer."
At the curtness of his speech a very
faint wave of color ran up her cheek; ?.nd
^?when he saw this he was sorry and glad in
a single breath. At least, she could not
say afterward that he had ever tried .tor
- make himself falsely civil and lyingly agree
able.
" Yes. I have stayed very much too long
already. You've promised that you will be
careful, haven't you? I'm really too sorry."
she said, from the door, " that your visit
to Hunston should have b'-en made disa
greeable in all these ways."
" In the name of heaven." he said, stung
into momentary recklessness, "you don't
suppose that I came here expecting any
fun! "
" Why ? I had understood that it was
purely a pleasure trip that brought you
here* "
He made no answer to this, but stepped
fcrward and swung open the door for her.
" Maginnln." he said, " is to call for me
immediately in a motor. We shall leave by
the unobtrusive back alley. Two men. a mo
tor. and a dark rey exit. You will scarcely
Imagine that there is any danger now.
But may I thank you again -for givinc us
warning when there was, perhaps, some
danger? "
" So you think there Is a ' perhaps '? If
you take precautions, it is only to humor
a ? "
" I withdraw that ' perhaps,' " he broke
out in a rush. " I blot it out, annihilate It.
Who &n I to catch at tatters of self-respect?
Ar ? you blind? Can't you see that every,
fiber of me Is tingling with thA knowledge [
that there was real danger, and that you
saved me from It? "
The quick bitterness in his voice, which
there was no missing, was the last straw,
breaking through her reserve, demolishing
her dainty aloofness. She shook the swing
ing gray veil back out of her eyes and
looked up at him. openly and frankly be
wildered. looking very young and immeas
urably alluring.
" Will voti tell me why you speak in that
way? Will >'ou tell me why it is the worst
thing that has happened to you in I-tunston
to have been helped a little by me? "
They faced each other at the open door,
not an arm's length between them, and the
moment of his reckoning for the quarter
of an hour he had spent with her that nigh,
was suddenly upon him. He met her eyes,
which were darkly blue, stared down into
them, and as he did so the spell of her
beauty treacherously closed around him.
piping away his self-control, deadening him
to the iron fact of who she was and who
he was. shutting out all knowledge except
that of her fragrant nearness.
" It is absurd." he answered her suddenly.
" but to save my life I can't decide whether
you are tall or short."
The front door came open with a bang;
the noise brought him sharply to himself;
and the next moment a pleasant, impatient
masculine voice called out:
" I say. Miss Carstairs ! Er ? everything
all right? "
" CI ? yes. Mr. Richards! " she called peni
tently. " I'm coming this minute. No.
please don't go out with me, Mr. Varney.
Don't let anybody see that you are here."
" Certainly not." said he. struggling for a
poise which he could not quite recapture.
" Then will you be good enough to convey
my gratitude to Mr. Hlgginson and say that
I hope to have the" opportunity of thanking
him personally tomorrow?"
"Yes. of course. Good night once more ?
and good luck!"
But he detained her long enough to put
the plain business question which had been
torturing his soul 'for the last twenty-four
hours.
" We shall see you at luncheon tomor
row ? "
He strove to give his remark the air of a
mere commonplace of farewell; but at it.
he saw her look break away from his and
the warm color stream into her face.
" Why ? I ? I'll come with pleasure. We
don't get the chance to lunch on yachts
every day in Hunston. O. but please." she
. exclaimed, her embarrassment suddenly
melting in a very natural and charming
smile ? " never let my mother dream that
we've not been introduced! "
He bowed low so that she might not see
the burlesriue of polite pleasure on his face.
The back alley exit proved all that the
most timorous could have desired. Peter
approached it by an elusive detour; Varney
appeared promptly at the sound of his three
honks; and the rendezvous was effected in a
black darkness which they seemed to have
entirely to themselves. Not a hand was
raised to them, not a threatening figure
sprang tip to dispute their going, not a fierce
curse cursed them. The would-be assassins,
if such there were, presumably still lurked
in some Main street cranny, patiently and
stupidly waiting, entirely unaware that they,
had been neatly outwitted by the clever
strategics of Miss Mary Cairstairs.
The car roiled noiselessly out of the alley,
skimmed off thro-igh the southern quarter
of the town and bowled into the rough and
rutty River- road toward the yacht. Once
there, since a sharp lookout for the reporter
was necessary, they slowed down and down
until the smooth little car, with all lights
out. crawled along no faster than a vigorous
man will walk.
" What're you going to do when we catch
him?" asked Peter. " Want to haul him on
back to the yacht? "
" No. I'm ? only going to talk to him a llt
. tie. Go on with the story."
?' Well." resumed Peter, taking one hand
from the driving wheel to remove a genuine
Connecticut Havana. " the. first thing was a
wire from the Daily firing Hammerton.
That assisted a little, of course. Then they
asked us to give them a new. good man at
once, and meantime to push along all the
story we had. We answered with a wire
that was a beauty, if I do mention it mvfcelf.
telling them exactly how they'd been sold
a second hand gold brick by a corrupt paper
which wiu. trying to play politics. It simply,
knocked the pins from under them. It took
- 'em quite a while to come back with inquiries
about the name of the yacht, Varney's air
of mystery, and all that line of slush. My.
. response was vigorous, yet gentlemanly,
straining the truth for all she'd stand, and
even bu'sting her open here and there. I
gravely fear. However. It wan a clincher.
It crimped them right. Not a peep have we
had from 'em since."
" I suppose they'll run four lines on the
thirteenth page tomorrow explaining it was
all a mistake."
" But that wasn't the serious part of the
thing? not by a mile walk." continued Peter,
the shine of victory in his honest eyes. " Am
I still In the road? Sing out If you see me
taking to the woods, will you? The more I
think of what you and I have missed by a
shave, the more I'm likely to feel sick in
the stomach. You know those rascals had
already begun asking for orders all over
the country ? they were so sure they d have
a hot story to send out. Not only that, but
a lot of papers wired for it without being
asked. It looked as if every newspaper of
fice In America that had got a glimpse at
the Dally this morning instantly got dead
stuck on that story. I stood at the tele
graph desk and watched the accursed things
come in. like this: * 500 words story Involv
ing Stanhope. Rochester Tribune.' 'No.
3. ? That was the number of our story
on the query list. ? ' No. 3. ? Full details, Chi
cago Ledger.' 'No. 3?1,000 words. Phila
delphia Journal.' And bo on and on. It
looked uncanny. I toll you ? all those far
away people calling for information about
our affairs Just like old friends. Will you
kindly let your mind play about that a min
ute. Laurence? Will you kindly think of a
situation like 'that with Ryan and Coligny
Smith handling it as their little whimseys
dictated? "
" I'd rather not. You wired those papers
that the story was a canard and all that,
I suppose? "
"No!" roared Peter. "J did something
I
a whole 'lot better than that. 1 had on?
of the men write a hot political sti>ry about
the Ckizette and the change of mana^emeot
and the sudden rise of reform. There's
news in that, don't you see? ? and it was the
Stanhope-Varney story, too ? the real ona.
When I left the office they were selling tt
like hot cakes all over the country ? all over
_the world ? " *
"Hold on! " said Varney, sharply. "Here's
Hammerton. I think ? bringing in a whole
lot better story than yours! "
The road here was straight as a string
stretched tight. Far down it. they saw a
single small light, dancing toward them
a foot or two above the ground.
Feter threw off his clutch, clapped on
his brakes and stopped short. Varney slid
out of the seat and stood waiting in tho
black inkiness beside the tmlighted car.
In the sudden stillness they could hear
the rattle of the bicycle chain and even
the crunch of the hard blown tires, spin
ning rapidly over the road. Now the
light was perhaps a hundred yards away.
"Blow! " whispered Varney.
The horn's honk cut the silent air
hoarsely. Instantly the speed of the on
coming light was checked. It advanced
steadily, hut much more slowly, as though
the rider sensed that his road might be
blocked, but could not yet determine where
the hidden obstacle might be.
"Hello! " <&!led a lusty young voice sud
denly. "Who's there?"
There was no answer. The light came
on more slowly still. Now it whs fifty
yards away, now twenty, now ton. Var
ney stepped out of the blackness, directly
in front of It, and seized both handle bars
in lingers that gripped like a vise. The
shock of the sudden stopping all hut cost
the rider his seat.
"May I detain you one moment, please.
Mr Hammerton?"
The little light of the bicycle lamp was
all concentrated downward. Above that
round yellow ray faces were unrecogniza
ble in the pitchy blackness. Tlie voice,
however, was unmistakable. . Hammerton
was off the back of his wheel in tlie wink
of an eye. on a sudden . desperate holt f? ?r
the woods.
Peter, still on the driver's seat, and
seeing neither his friend nor his enemy,
saw the light with the bicycle behind it
go over with a crash. That was when
Varney's hands let ko i>f tlie handle bars.
The next instant they fell upon Hammer
ton's \fcithdrawlng figure and brought it
up with a sharp jerk.
Peter heard the ensuing struggle, but
saw nothing. He paid Varney the tribute
of sitting still in his seal and saying not
a word. The contest was bitter, but brief.
Hammerton fought wildly, but Varney's
arms presently closed round him. squeez
ing the life out of him. Looked last in
each other's arms, they fell heavily,- Ham
merton underneath. . Varney freed his legs
with a swift wrench, swung ivund. and
came up riding upon the other's chest.
Charlie Hammerton was beaten and
knew it-. His body lay along the ro<-i;y
road, inert and unresisting. He breathed
in convulsive gasps, but apart from that,
now that he was down, lie never moved.
He was as tired as a man well could be.'
Varney sitting closely upon him. holding
him fast, felt that the reporter's clothes
were wringing wet. However, lie had him,
and the Cypriani's great secret was once
more in captivity.
The eyes of the two men, strained into
the dark where each other's faces must
be. but they saw nothing.
"It's all up with yo<j, Hammerton." said
Varney presently. " The Daily fired you
an hour aRo."
"Thanks to you," said Hammerton dop.
Kedly. " But K you think that lets you
out you're a bigger fool than 1 thought."
?" That Is not all." saltl Varney slowly.
" The Gazette has fired you. too."
The reporter swore bitterly beneath his
breath; curiously enough, he did not seem
to question the statement for a moment.
" "What of it?" he cried. " V'?u don't think
that'll Htop my rnouth. do you ? you devil!"
" There Is still something more. Ma
ginnis has bought the Gazette. He and
i own the news of this town now. (,'oligny
Smith Is fired, too. The Gazette starts an
honest life tomorrow, and the old dirty
regime Is over forever."
".Liar! " cried Jlammerton, hoarsely.
"Liar!" but there was no conviction in
the mad resentment of his voice.
" No." said Varney. without anger. " 1
am telling you the truth and you jtnow it."
" Well? there aro other papers ? other
towns," cried Hammerton r passionatejy.
" What I've got 011 you will sol! :my
whore. Why, damn you, damn you. damn
.voti ? don't you know you'll have to kill me
tn hush this up-'"
" Xn," said Yarnev, "I'm going to do
better than that. I'm going to make a
friend of you. I'm going to make you
editor of the Gazette in Smith's place with
double your present salary and an interest
in t lie paper."
There was black silence more thrilling
than any speech.
"Will you take it?" asked Varney.
Then the boy's overstrained self-com
mand snapped like a bow Miring and his
breast shook with sudden hysteria, " Will
1 take it?" he cried with a gasping laugh
that was rather more like a sob. " Will
I take the court of St. .lames? Will I
take money from home? O. my God, will
I take it! "
" llorray! '" rang Peter's great voice out
of the gloom. "Hip, hip, hooray for Kdi
tor Hammerton! "
Peter's tribute, in reality, was not so
much for llammerton's acceptance as for
the astonishing neatness with which Yar
ney bad disposed of the editorship of his
paper, lint to Varney, rising^ limply from
llammerton's chest at the edge of the dark
road, that cheer meant only thr.t he liad
kickeil the -last obstacle out of bis path
and that he and Mary were going; to New
York tomorrow.
The expectation appeared thoroughly con
servative; not a cloud, so large as a jnan's
band any longer darkened the horizon. At
" o'clock m-xt day Mr. Carstairs' t'ypriani
rode gaylv at her old anchorage. At the
rail stood Varney and Maginnis, hosts of
pleasant and guileless mien, their eyes upon
tlie trim gig which came dancing over the
water toward them. In the gig sat .1. l'ink
ney Hare and- his sister. Mrs. Martie. blithely
coining 'lo lunch aboard with their two new
friends!
The yacht's return to llunston had been
in all ways different from her going. She
bad slipped away like the hunted thing
sin- was, running to cover with a hold full
of fears, shying at every craft that passed,
and jelled after from the shore by a stout
is 1 1 young man with inimical opinions in
his eye. She had steamed back early this
morning not merely without fear but
proudly, her whistle screaming for the
limelight, her foreliuck Hying, so to say,
the burgee of vindication: and the stoutisli
and inimical young man had come aboard
for breakfast with his new employer at 9
o'clock sharp. Such was the 'measure of
the whitewashing work accomplished by
three columns in Ml. Maginnis' Gazette
that morning.
Of the "news value" of those astonish
ing columns "tho author's double" (as thfi
Gazette's converted reporters felicitously
dubbed himi had had abundant evidence in
the many glances that followed hirn upon
the streets of llunston that morning. Ynr
ney's errand in town. had had to do with
Tommy Orrick. Some search was needed to
find the transient tenant of Kerrigan's loft,
but when he was finally located .the matter
ol" homes in New York was discussed and
settled in the most satisfactory way in the
world. It was decided that Tommy should
romovp his Penates' to the city that very
evening, where he was to be met at forty
second street by a .Mr. Horace O'Hara. an
interesting personage who had once been a
Lurplar but was now in the -Ash and vege
table way at Fulton market. Together they
would make their way to the home. Future
plans had to do with an educative course at
the graded schools and other matters bo
?strange and exalted that one could not hear
them mentioned without experiencing the
most benumbing abashment.
The two good friends parted with a hand
shake. enforced by the young man? a unique
ceremonial which filled the .small breast ot
Thomas with a conflict of strange emotions;
and Varney. having dispatched a telegram
to Mr. O'Hara and another to Mrs. Marie
Duval, who had the home with no boys In
It on One Hundred and Seventeenth street,
had at once turned his face back to the
yacht. He chose the woodland path for his
walk, which struck straight down from the
handsome residence street and skirted the
river at a point near the Cypriani's anchor
age; and here an Incident of Interest befell
him. -As he sauntered down the path, con
scions of a sudden curious loss of spirits, his
attention was caught by the blurred sound
of voices from the street, some fifty yards
behind him. and presently the vague rumble
crystallized into something like this;
. Infernal absence of livery. .
Far . . . station master fellow
say it was, Henry?".
The voice was masculine, carefully modu
lated, decidedly elegant. A different sort of
voice gave answer:
?? 'E said, sir . . ? mile, but knowing
the hodd way. they count distances away
from the cities, sir. I'm 'ardly 'oping to see
it under two mile ? hlf that.
Varney idly turned. The woods were thick
just ahead of him. cutting off all view of
the street; but further on, to the north,
there was a break In the leafy wall, repeal
ing a small slit of patent cement sidewalk.
Soon, as he watched, two pedestrians
stepped into view within this frame of fo
1 l<i ? a tall, immaculate looking man
swinging a trim cane, and behind him a
stocky, middle sized, black garbed fellow
struggling along; under two suitcases and
a roll of umbrellas. In three steps they
had passed across the little open space and
were again lost behind the trees, their voices
running once more into an indistinguish
able rumble.
Vanney, halting in the path, had little
doubt who the tall man was. It was Ferris
Stanhope, returning to the home of his
boyhood and sublimely unaware of the na
ture of the reception which awaited him.
Now, as they stood calmly chatting at the
rail under the brilliant sky. he told Peter
of the author's arrival and dutifully re
minded him of that promise. Teter re
newed it without enthusiasm. His eyes
rested on the approaching gig with a kind
of fascination and Varney followed Ills
gaze.
"Isn't Hare dressy, though! Frock coat
and all that
- Yes . . . He'll add a needed touch
of elegance to the somber . setting of the
dramn." /
?? My the way." said Varney, presently.
" how did Hammerton get away last night?
1 believe Ferguson's been dodging me all
day. but the fact is I've never given It a
thought."
l'eter laughed.
"lie's sharp as a tack, that boy Is. He
played dead till old Ferguson got first in
terested. then nervous, and lastly careless.
Uiv there two hours without moving,
breathed as little as he could do with, and at
l? ng intervals fluttered one eyelid and took
a peep how the land lay. After a while
there came a time when the door was left
wide open and only one deckhand in sight,
j l.umnerton floored him with :t chair from
behind and jumped over tin? rail. She hap
P?|:?d 10 be moving close inshore at the
time and he was In the woods before the
fatheads even got a boat down."
Vfirr.ey echoed bis laugh absently. All
mormr.K since his return from Hunston he
had felt himself enfolded by a mysterious
despondency which he had seemed unable
either to account for or to shake off. But
now, as the final climax of his business
drew near ti> summon him. he felt his spirits
inexplicably rising again. A certain excite
ment possessed him; he was glad that at
last his hour had come.
Hardly listening to l'eter. lie was running
over in the most business like way the little
scheme, mapped out' and rehearsed together
that morning, by which the two superfluous
Kuests. the mere " sleepers " In the orches
tra, were to be detached at the proper mo
ment. Yes. certainly; it was sound and
would hold water. So would everything
else. Peter's things had gone ashore two
hours before, for be was to remain in Hun
ston. KverythinK had been provided for; ?
the lssi detail systematically arranged. A
surer schctne and a clearer coast could not
possibly have been contrived or desired.
"At breakfast." continued l'eter, "Ham
merton suddenly blurted out that, while he
wasn't crazed with conscientiousness as a
rule, one thine had kept him awake last
night. Pemanded whether we had the nerve
to think that we had simply bought him off
with a Job. ' Perish t he thought. Charlie.'
said, I. looking kind of hurt at the bare sug
gestion. 'Thank you. Maginnis.' said he.
dignified as the president. ' It's an honest
fact that I gave up the chase because I felt
all along that you two follows couldn't pos
sibly be. mixed up In anything underhand
ed..' Alia', thinks me to myself . . ?
Eh, Laurence?"
just exactly."
-Well, cheer up. U> done every day by
our best families. And speaking of doing
underhanded things." said Peter, "our
Kuests approach rapidly. Pp. guards, and
at them'. "
rie LOOK OIL 1UB LCIIiUlC LT txiiauna.
waved It in a friendly manner.
" Howdedo, Mrs. M-irne'! Morning, can
didate! Welcome aboard."
The sister and brother came up the stair
and were cordially greeted by their hosts.
"Ashore again'." ordered Varney, over
the side. '."There is another guest."
" So we have not kept you waiting at .
all," cried Mrs. Marne. flashing a trium- J
pliant eye upon her brother. "Mary to not '
here yet? the prlnker! "
She was dark, vivacious for a chaperon,
easily on the correct side of 30, and arrayed
in very light mourning Indeed. She had a
will, for it was she who had baited J. Pink
ney Hare with sociology and politic* to
abandon the law in New York, at which he
was doing rather well, and follow her to
Hunston.. This was when her husband, a
member of Hunston's oldest family ? for
there was aristocracy in the town ? had left
her widowed the year of their marriage.
" Three times." Hare elucidated to Var
ney, " did she tell me, ' I'll be ready In a
minute.' And a ten minute interval elapsed
each time by my grandfather'* trusted
chronometer." *
" Oh, well," said Varney, " who'd put any
trust in a woman who waa ready when she
said she'd be? Let's get into the shade."
" Pinky," said Mrs. Marne, sister-wise, as
she turned with Varney, " get s Ms ideas
about women from the comic weeklies."
They sauntered aft, Peter and Hare in\
the rear.
" Committee meeting at 5:307**
" Precisely. And by the bye," began
Hare. .
The candidate in his tiny frock coat with
pale gray spats and scarf to match looked
overdressed In the brilliant sunshine. Yet
probably Peter, whose purple tie blossomed
too gorgeously above a blue silk " fancy
vest " of a cut a good deal affected In the
early nineties, looked the more striking of
the two.
" He's a fool." declared Peter presently,
"The chances are that Ryan has a barrel
of votes salted down where we'll have the
devil's own time tapping them. You can't
smoke out a skunk in a minute, I tell you."
Mrs. Marrie, in a cushioned chair, was
being markedly agreeable to her host.
" It's my d6but on a yacht," she was rat
tling away. " Is there any special etiquette?
Coach me from time to time when you see
me fumbling, won't you? And if there is a
code, there is one thing that I move shall
go into it here and now. Politics is ? or are
?barred for the day! Will you make it a
rule that whoever mentions it ? or them?
forfeits butter, Mr. Varney? "
;
Varney laughed. "A rank outsider my
self," said he, " I'm absolutely willing. But
I fear that in a division the nays would
have it."
" Vou and I," she said, " against Mr. Ma
ginnis and Pinky. A tie. Mary would huve
the deciding vote."
"Then you'd lose out," said her brother,
whose social manner, it was developing, dif
fered somewhat from that of his official
moments.
"I know women?' said Mrs. Marne. "X\
could lobby Mary over in exactly two min
utes, Mr. Varney. Besides, she is absent at
roll call, you know."
" The point is well taken," spJd Vamey,.to
whom the thought was anything but a nov
elty.
" There she is now," said Peter over theii
shoulders.
Varney turned and looked ashore at th?
point where the gig was patiently, waiting.
There was no sign of anybody there.''
" Upstream," added Peter, and the' sudden
honk of a motor horn punctuated the ob
servation like a full stop. ' t
Two hundred yards above them, a nkrrow
driveway circled down to the river ^o an
ancient boathouse, and here the gaze o( th?
little party turned. Where the road curved
at the water's edge, there stood a great w^hlt<
louring car, shining in the sun like a pen
pin. 1'pon the driver's seat sat a bare headed
young man with a brown face and light stin
burned hair, brushed back. On the farther
side of him. gloved hand holding to the sqat
back, stood a young girl in a blue linen dress
and a rather conspicuously large hat, also of
lilue. Both of them were looking off toward
Jiu Cyprlani. Now the horn tooted again irf
salutation: and the girl, catching their eyesj
waved her ! and and smiled, making a little
gesture indicative of her lack of equipment .
to navigate the intervening stretch of water.
Mrs. Marne answered the salute in kind, j
lteassuring gesticulations were duly wafted i
ashore. ?
" Who's the new swain, Pinky," demanded '
Mrs. Marne, thoughtfully.
Pinky did not know. The sailing master,
at a word from Varney. hurled an order to
the gig ashore. Then he swept hia mega
phone upstream, pointing it straight at the
motor:
" The gig is on the way to you now, MI?s."
" That's an awfully sweet hat she's wear
ing." said Mrs. Marne. " I wonder where she
found that shape."
Miss Carstalrs nodded her thanks to the
sailing master. The bare headed young man
sprang down, assisted her to descend, waited
with her at the water's edge, assisted her
most thoroughly Into the Cypriani's gig. He
was a handsome boy. He stood on the shore
looking after the departing boat, laughing
and calling out something.
?' We wanted to have luncheon on deck,"
said Varney. abruptly, to Mrs. Marne, "as
tin' day is so uncommonly fine. But about
noon there came up a little cloud no larger
than a man's hand? it took a telescope to see
it and the steward, a pronounced conserva
tive. begged us not to trifle with our luck.
It si'cnis too bad to go indoors on such a
glorious day." (>
" But If we were to stay outdoors." she
laughed. " would it have been such a glorious
day? These are the questions that make
cynics of us all. I am unhappy, Mr. Varney,
because I luive to fly the moment luncheon
IS over. The Married Women's Culture club
meets at 4 o'clock. Only fancy ! _ I am to
read a paper on Immanuel Kant."
l-'eter. who had known no women In his
life and was oppressed with the thought that
Hare's sister was his personal responsibility
for the day, was strolling moodily about the
deck, hands thrust deep In his trousers
pocket. Hare hung at the rail, his aeat
glasses turned upstream.
| To be continued. 1
iCopvrlelit hr Small. Mirnird * 0*) ,