GREEN FANCY
0/ GEORGE DARR
' MS CUECHEON
/fu/Aor </ “GR AUSTARK," "THE
» HOLLOW OF HER HAND," "THE
> PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK." ETC
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she gnve her hand to him. and she tn
SYNOPSIS.
turn responded with one faintly sug­
gestive of tolerance, although it cer­
CHAPTER
I—Thomas
K
Rarn«®,
wr dthy New Yorker, on a vrilklng trip tainly would have been recorvled by a
through New England. is caught in a less sensitive person than Barnes as
■torus tn Iles front hi® destination. At a
ctos roa is point he meets a irirl tn the “ripping."
■ante plnrht. While they thsonss the sit­
In reply to his perfunctory “delight­
uation an automobile, »ent to meet the
grl. arrives and Barnes Is given a lift to ed. fin sure, etc.," she said quite clear­
art's tavern, while the «irl la taken
on to hr destination, which site tells ly ; “Oh. now I rememtier. I was sure
Barnes Is a place called Green Fancy.
I had seen you before. Mr. Barnes.
CHAPTER II—At the tavern Ram«*® You are the magic gentleman who
falls In with a stranded troupe of "barn­ sprang like a mushroom out of the
storming” actors, headed by Lyndon earth early yesterday afternoon."
Rushcroft, and becomes interested in
“And frightened you." he said;
them.
“wherotip«in you vanished like the
CHAPTER ITT—As the storm grows.
Ban es finds himself worrying over the mushroom that Is gobbled up by the
safety of the girl, traveling over the predatory glutton.”
mountain roads at what he considers dan­
He had thrilled at the sound of her
gerous speed.
He learns tnat Green
Fancy is something of a house of mys­
tery. Two mounted men leave the tavern voice. It was the low. deliberate voice
in a manner which arouses Barnes’ curi­ of the woman of the crossroads, and.
osity.
as before, he caught the almost Ini-
CHAPTER IV—He meets "Miss Thack­ ]>erceptlble accent
The red gleam
eray.” leading lady of the str .nded theat­
rical troupe, who Is acting as chamber­ from the biasing logs fell upon her
maid. That night he Is aroused by the shining hair; It glistened like gold.
bringing of a dying man to the tavern,
one of the two wh > had ridden away a She wore a simple evening gown of
short time before. They tell or finding the white, softened over the shoulders and
dead body of the other man. Both had
neck with a fall of rare valenelennes
been »hot
lace. There was no jewelry—not even
CHAPTER V—The wounded man. regts-
tered at the tavern as Andrew Paul, dies, i. ring on her slender, tapering fingers.
and Barnes is informed he must not leave
Mrs. Collier, the hostess, was an el-
until after the inquest. O’Dowd and De
Soto, guests at Green Fancy, visit the <:erly, heavy-featured woman, decid­
tavern, apparently much mystified over edly , overdressed.
Mrs. Van Dyke,
the affair
her daughter, was a woman of thirty.
CHAPTER VI—Barnes advances Rush­
croft money sufficient to reic.tse the com­ ‘ tall, dark and handsome in a bold,
pany from its embarrassing position, «lashing sort of way. The lackadaisi­
thereby becoming its official backer. He
visits Green Fancy, and in the grounds cal gentleman with the mustache
meets his acquaintance of the nlctw be­ I turned out to be her busband.
fore. finding her a girl of surprising
“My brother Is unable to be with
beauty.
us tonight. Mr. Barnea." explained
CHAPTER VII—She seems not to be
desirous of recognizing him, and turns Mrs. Collier. “Mr. O’Dowd may have
away. ’O’Dowd appear® and in apparently ' told you that he Is an Invalid. Quite
friendly fashion es<-orts Barnes twho tee|s
rarely Is he well enough to leave his
he is unwelcome) from the grounds.
CHAPTER VITI—Miss Thackeray warns room. He has begged me to present
Barnes that a man stopping at the tav­ his apologies and regrets to you. An­
ern, ostensibly a book agent, had searched
his baggage in his absence. O’Dowd other time, perhaps, you will give“hiui
Much to his dlaappolntnmnt fie was
not placet! near Miss Cameron at
table, lml«*»l ahe was aeatsd ■■ far
■way from him aa possible. There wm
a place aet between him and De Soto,
for symmeti •'■ sake, Barnes »in­
cluded. In this he was mistaken;
i they had barely nested thenuwlvea
when Mrs. Collier roniarkod:
"Mr. Curtis’ secretary itsunlly Joins
us here for coff«*e. He has his dinner
with my brother, and then, poor msn.
comes In for a brief period of relaxa­
tion. When my brother Is In one of
his bad spells (MHir Mr. Loeb d«H>au’t
have much time to himself."
Loeb, the prlvat«* secretary, cam«« In
for coffee, lie wa® a tall, spare man
of thirty, pallidly handsome, with
dark, studious eye® and features of an
unmistakably Hebraic east, aa his
name might have foretold. His teeth
were marvelously white amt his slow
siutle attractive. More than once dur­
ing the hour that Loeb spent with
' them Barnes fonmil and dismissed u
stubborn ever-recurring opinion that
■ the man was not a Jew. Certainly he
was not an American Jew. Illa voice,
his manner of speech, his every action
stamped him as one born and bred In
a land far from Broadway and Its
i counteniarts. If a Jew he was of Ute
east as it Is measured from Rome---
the Jew of th«* curnal Orient.
And as the evening wore on there
cam«’ to Barnes the singular fancy
that this man was the master and n<>t
pthe servant of tlu^ house! He could
not put the ridiculous Idea out of his
I mind.
He was to depart at ten. Th«* hour
drew near and he had hud n«i opportu­
nity for detached conversation with
Miss Cameron. He hud listened to her
bright retorts to O’Dowd’s sallies, and
1 niarvele«l at the ease un«l composure
with which sh«> met the witty Irish­
man on even terms
Not until the very close of the eve­
ning. ami when he had realgned hltn-
' self to hopelessness. did the opportu­
nity com«« for him to speak with her
alone. She caught his eye. und. to his
amazement, made a slight movement
of her head, unobserved by the others
but curiously imperative to him. There
was no mistaking the meaning of th«*
direct. Intens«* Imik that she gave him.
She was appealing to him as a
friend—as on«* on whom she could d«*-
■ [rend!
The spirit of chivalry took posses­
sion of him. His blood leaped to the
\
comes to tlie tavern and with Barnea and
others goes over the scene of the previous
night’s shooting. Bernes is invited to
dinner at Green Fancy.
CHAPTER IX.
The First Wayfarer, the Second Way­
farer and the Spirit of Chivalry
Ascendant.
The wide green door, set far back
I d a recess not unlike a kiosk, was
opened by a man servant who might
easily have been mistaken for a waiter
*— — ru>tn.onion's or Sherry’s.
Mi li to Barnes’ surprise—and d!s-
■ppointment—the interior of the house
failed to sustain the bewildering effect
produced by the exterior. The en­
trance hall and the living room Into
which he was conducted by the two
men were singularly like others that
he had seen. The latter, for example,
was of ordinary dimensions, furnished
with a thought for comfort rather than
elegance or even good taste. The
couches and chairs were low and deep
and comfortable, as if intended for
men only, and they were covered with
rich, gay materials; the hangings at
the windows were of deep blue and
gold; the walls an unobtrusive cream
color, almost literally thatched with
etchings.
The stairs were thickly carpeted. At
the top his guide turned to the left
and led the way down a long corridor.
They passed at least four doors be­
fore O’Dowd stopped and threw open
the fifth on that side of the hall. There
were still two more doors beyond.
“Suggests a hotel, doesn’t it?" said
the Irishman, standing aside for
Barnes to enter. “All of the sleeping
apartments are on this floor, and the
baths and boudoirs and what not. The
garret is above, and that’s where we
deposit our family skeletons, Intern
our grievances, store our stock of
spitefulness and hide .11 the little
devils that must come sneaking up
from the city with us whether we will
or no. Dabson,” addressing the man
who had quietly entered the room
through the door behind them, “do Mr.
Barnes, will ye. and fetch me from
Mr. De Soto’s room when you’ve fin­
ished. I leave you to Dabson’« tender
mercies. • The saints preserve ns!
Look at the man's boots! Dabson,
get out your brush and dauber first of
all. He’s been floundering in a bog.”
The Jovial Irishman retired, leaving
Barnes to be “done” by the silent,
swift-moving valPt. Dabson was young
and vigorous and exceedingly well
trained. He made short work of “do­
ing” the visitor; barely fifteen min­
utes elapsed before O’Dowd’s return.
Presently they went downstairs to
gether. Lamps had been lighted, many
of them, throughout the house. A fire
ernckled in the cavernous fireplace at
the end of the living room and grouped
■bout Its cheerful, grateful blaze were
the ladies of Green Fancy.
The girl of his thoughts was there,
standing slightly aloof from the oth­
ers, but evidently amused by the tale
With which De Soto was regaling
them. She was smiling; Barnes saw
the sapphire lights sparkling in her
eyes and experienced n sensation that
was wofully akin to confusion.
But everything went off quite natu­
rally. He favored Miss Cameron with
an uncommonly self-nossessed smile is
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an expert machinist to take umu ui ««
from the atari. 1 waa good enough
to Addle around with this aecond hand
pile o' Junk an* the one he hml Igal
year, bul I ain't qimllfl»l to handle
thia her* machine he’s expectin', ■<> Im
says. I guess they'« been some Influ­
ence used against me. If the truth was
known. This new sec’ehiry he’s got
«•ain't stumiulck me."
“Why «ion't you »••« Mr. Curtis ami
demand—”
"Hee him?" snortod Peter, “Might
ns well try to.see Nu|>ol«*oii Bonyparte.
Didn’t you know ho was a sick luanF
"Certainly. But he Isn’t so III that
he can't attend to huslness. Is he?"
“He sure Is, Paryllaed. they say.”
“Wlint bus Mr. laa-b ngalnat you. If
I may aak?"
"Well, It's Ilk«* this. I ain't In the
habit o* bein' ordered aroun* as If I
was Jest nobody at all.
when he
■tarts In to cuaa me about somethin'
a w«*ek or ao ago, I ups ami tell» him
I'll smash hla head If he «lou't take It
hack. He takes It back all right, but
the first thing I know I get n call­
down from Mrs. (Jollier. Oourae I
couldn't tell ner what I told th«*
sheeny, aeeln* sa she’s a female, so I
took It Ilk«» u lamb. Then they gits a
feller U|> h«*r«> to wash th«* ear. My
gosh. nil»t«*r, the durtie«! ole rattle-trap
ain’t wuth a bucket o' water all told.
No I sends won! In to Mr. Curtis that
If she has to be wiished. I'll wash her.
Then's when 1 hear» about th«* new
«•ar. Next «lay Mrs. Collier semlJ fvr
me an* I go In. She says she guesses
she'll try th«> new washer on th«* new
machine when It <*oiues. an' If I keer to
atuy on as washer Iu hla place «he'll
tie glad to have me. I any« I'd Ilk«* to
have a word with Mr. Curtis, If sh<*
don't mind, an'Mibs »ays Mr. Curtis
ain't able to ave no one. Ho I gu*-«s
I'm goln* to lie let out.”
An Ides was taking root In Barnes'
brain, but it was text »oon to consider
It fixed.
"You »ay Mr. Lieb Is new at his
JobF
"Well, h«*'s mgv up^here. Mr. Cur­
tis was down to New York all last
winter bein’ treated, you srs. He didst
coin«* up here till about Ave w«*eks
ago. IsH*t> waa workln' fvr him moat
of the winter, gittln* up a book er
somethin', 1 hear. Mr. Curtis' mind la
all right, I gueM. even If ills body
ain't.”
“I see. Mr. Loeb came up with him
from New York."
“Kersct. Him anti Mr. O'Dowd and
Mr. De Noto brought him up 'bout the
last o’ March. They waa up here vis­
itin' last spring an' the fall before. Mr.
Curtla Is vsry fond of both of 'em."
"It seems to me that I have heard
that bls son married O'Dowd'» »later.”
"That'a right. She'» ■ wldder now.
Iler huabaml waa kill»! In tlie air
between Turkey an’ them other eoun-
tries four er five years ugo."
"Rsallyr
“Yep. Him and Mr O’Jktwd—Illa
own brotlier-ln-law, y' know—-yras
flghtln’ on the side of till* Bisilgurlans
and young Ashley Curtis was killed."
"Was this son Mr. Curtis' only
• hiidr
friends. I have no on« to turu io iu
my predicament."
“Yrs, you have,“ he broke In. and
laugh»! rather boisterously for him.
lie felt thgt they were being watched
In turn by every iiersou in the rood).
Tonight—not an hour ago—I began
to feel that I could cull upon you for
help, I iH'gan t«i relax. Something
whisper«*«) to mo that I was no longer
utterly alone. Oh. you will never
know what It Is to have your heart
lighten aa mine— but 1 must control
myself. We art* not to waste words."
“You hav,« only to eomniiind mo,
MI ns Catuerou. No mon* thun a doaen
words an* necessary, Tell in«* how I
«•au be of servlit* to you.”
“I shall try to communicate with
you In some way—tomorrow. I lieg
of you. I Im pl uro you. do not d«*s«*rt
me. If I can only be sun* that you
will—”
“You may <l«*|n*n<1 on me. no matter
what happens,” said ho. and. l«M>klng
Into h«*r ey«*a. was bound forever.
“I have been thlnklug." she said.
"Yesterday I made tlie discovery that
I- that I am actually a prisoner here,
Mr. Barnes, I—Smile 1 Say something
silly I"
Together they laughed over the
ni«*aulngleaa remark he made In re­
sponse to her command.
"I am constantly watched. If I
venture outside the house I am almost
Immediately Joined by one of these
men. Y«»u saw what happen«*«! yes­
terday. 1 am distracted.”
”1 will ask the nutffurltlea to step
In and—"
"No! You an* to do nothing of th«»
kind. Th«* authorities would never
And me If they came hero to search."
(It was hanl for him to smile nt that!)
"It must be Mini«* other way. If I
could steal out of the house—but thht
la impossible.” she broke off with a
catch in her voice.
“Suppose that I were to steal Into
the house.” he said, a reckless light
In his eyes*
"Oh. you could never succ«*«*d I"
“Well, I could try. couldn't I?"
There wns nothing funny in th«* re­
mark. but they both l<*an«*d back and
laughed heartily. “Leave It to me.
Tell me where—"
"The place Is guard»! day and night.
Tlie steal thirst burglar In th«* world
could not come within a stone's throw
of the house.”
“If It's as Imjl as all that, we cannot
afford to make* any slips. You think
you are In n«> Immediate peril?"
“I am in no peril at all unless I
bring It upon myself,” she said signifi­
cantly.
■“Then a delay of a day or so will
not matter," he said, frowning.
“Leave It to me. I will And a way."
“Be careful!" De Soto came loung­
ing up behind them.
“Forgive me for interrupting, but I
am under command from royal head­
quarters. Peter, the king of chauf-
fours. sends In won! that the car Is in
an amiable moo* I nnd champing to tie
off. So seldom Is it In good humor
that h«*—”
”1’11 be off nt once," exclaim»!
Barnes, arising. "By Jove. It Is hnlf-
past ten. I had no Idea—good night.
Miss Cameron.”
He pressed her hand reassuringly
and left her.
Sh*> hail arisen nnd was standing.
llarnea, their arms linked- a® on a for­
mer occasion. Barnes recalled.
"I’ll rl«l«> ^mt to the goto with you,"
said the Irishman, «fit's a winding,
devious route th«* road takes through
the trees."
They cam«« In time, after mutiy "hair
plus" und right unglva, to the gute
opening upon the highway. I'eter got
down from the sent to release th«* pud*
loektsl chain and throw open the gate.
O’Lhiwd leaned closer to Barnes und
lowered hla voice.
"See hero. Barnes, I'm no fool, mid
for that rouspn I’ve got sens«* enough
to know that you're not* either. 1
don't know what's In your mind, nor
what you’ro trying to get Into It If It
Isn’t already there. But I'll *uy this to
you. man to man: Don't let your
Ininglnatlon get th«* better of your
common »«'use. That’s all. Take the
tip from me."
“I mu not Imagining anything.
O'Dowd," »«Id Barnes quietly. "What
do you menu?"
"I mean Just what I say. Pm giving
you the tip for selflsh reasons. If you
make a bally fool of yourself. I’ll have
to s««e you through the worst of It—
and It’s a Job I don’t relish. Ponder
that, will ye. on the way home?”
Barnes did |u>nder It on th«* wuy
home. There was but on«* c«>tist ruc­
tion to put upon th«* remark: It waa
O’Dowd’s way of letttng him know
thnt he c«>Uld be depended u|a>n fur
support If the worst cam«* to pass.
O’Dowd evidently had not b»*n de-
crlv»l by the acting that mnsk»! the
conversation un the cuucli. ll«> knew
that Miss Cameron had ap|H*nlcd to
Barnin, and that the latter hud prom­
ise«! to do everything In his power to
help her.
8us|>»'tlng thnt this was the situ­
ation. mid doubtless sacrificing his own
private Interests, be had uttered the
vague but timely warning to Barnes.
The significance of this warning grew
under ret!»-tlon. Barnes was not slow
to appreciate th«* position In which
O'Dowd voluntarily placed himself. A
word or a sign from him would be suf­
ficient to bring disaster upon the Irish­
man who had rink»! hla own safety In
a few Irretrievabl«* words. Til«* ifloro
he thought of It. the more fully eon-
vlnc»l was h«* thnt there was nothing
to fear from O’Dowd.
Peter drove slowly, carefully over
the road down the mountain. Respond­
ing to a sudden impulse, Barnes low­
er»! on«* of the side sent» In the ton­
neau and moved closer to the driver.
"How long have you been driving
for Mr. Curtis?”
“Ever since he come up here, rnore’n
two years ago. Guess I’m going to get
th«* O. B. ’fore long, though. Seems
••***• hu1. amatHn* h now car un’ wunts
tri- Irìr Ir W-
4-frntb b bb b bbb b b b b b-b b ¿-’bb bb Fb b bb> ’rW"b
M-
straight and slim by the corner or tne
fireplace, a eonfideiit »mile on her Up*.
“If you uro to be long In the neigh­
borhood. Mr. Hurtle»," aiil'l Ills hostess,
"you must let us have you ugnln.”
“My stay Is short, I fear. You huve
only to reveal th«* falntesl sign that I
may come, howqxrr. and I'il Imp Into
my seven lengm* nLitv before you can
utter Jack Hoblmam'B Christian mime.
Good night. Mrs. Vuu Dyke. I huve
you all to thunk for u most delightful
evening."
Th«* cur was waiting ut th«* buck of
the house. O'Dowd walk»! out with
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(To be continue*! next week)
The ML Scott Herald, one
yeai 50 cents.
“Come and Sit Beside Me, Mr. Barnes,"
She Cslled Out Gayly.
call. She needed him and he would
not fail her. And It was with dlffi
culty that he contrived to hide the
She Wa® Thera.
the pleasure he Is missing tonight"
De Soto's cocktails came In. Miss
Cameron did not take one. O'Dowd
proposed a toast.
“To the rascals whe went gunning
for the other rascals. But for them
we should be short at least one mem­
ber of this agreeable company.”
It was rather startling. Barnes’
glass stopped half way to his lips. An
instant later he drained It. He ac­
cepted the toast as a compliment from
the whilom Irishman, and not as a
tribute to the prowess of those mys­
terious marksmen.
The table in the spacious dining
room was one of those long, narrow
Italian boards, unmistakably antique
and equally rare. Sixteen or eighteen
people could have been seated with­
out crowding, and when the seven took
their places wide intervals separated
them. No effort had been made by the
hostess to bring her guests close to­
gether. as might have been done by
using one end or the center of the
. table. The serving plates were of sil­
ver. Especially beautiful were the
long-stemmed water goblets and the
graceful champagne glasses. They
were blue and white and of a design
and quality no longer obtainable ex­
cept at great cost. The esthetic
Barnes was not slow to appreciate the
rarity of the glassware and the-chasfe
beauty of the serving plates.
The man Nicholas was evidently the
butler, despite his Seventh avenue
manner. He was assisted in serving
by two stalwart and amazingly clumsy
footmen, of similar ilk and nationality.
On seeing these additional men serv­
ants Barnes began figuratively to
count on his fingers the retainers he
had so far encountered on the place.
Already he had seen six. all of them
powerful, rugged fellows. It struck
him as extraordinary, and In a way
significant, that there should be so
many men at Green Fancy.
Goos Clear Through
exaltation that might have ruined ev­
erything !
While he was trying to Invent a pre­
text for drawing her apart from the
others she calmly ordered Van Dyke
to relinquish his place on the couch
beside her to Barnes.
“Come and sit beside me, Mr.
Barnes,” she called out gayly. “I will
not bite you or scratch you or harm
you In any way. Ask Mr. O’Dowd,
and he will tell you that I am quite
docile. I don’t bite, do 1, Mr. O’Dowd?”
“You do,” said O’Dowd promptly.
“You do more thah that. You devour.
Bedad 1 have to look In a mirror to
convince meself that you haven’t swal­
lowed me whole. That's another way
of telling you. Barnes, that she’ll ab­
sorb you entirely.”
For a few minutes she chided him
for his unseemly aversion. He was
beginning to think that he had been
mistaken In her motive, and that after
all she was merely satisfying her van­
ity. Suddenly, and as she smiled Into
his eyes, she said, lowering her voice
slightly:
"Do not appear surprised at any­
thing I may say to you. Smile as If
we were uttering the silliest nonsense.
So much depends upon it, Mr. Barnes."
Electrical Equipment
A Westinghouse starting and lighting system is a part of every Dort
car. In the Dort dess this high-grade equipment is exclusive. The
electrical units are applied in the most scientific manner.
For instance there is an adjust­
ment provided on the gear of the
generator which permits ready
meshing of the gears, should it be
necessary to remove and replace the
instrument.
CHAPTER X.
Ths Prisoner of Green Fancy, and the
Lament of Peter the Chauffeur.
He envied Mr. Rushcroft. The barn­
stormer would have risen to the occa­
sion without so much as the blinking
of an eye. He did his best, however,
and, despite his eagerness, managed
to come off fairly well. Anyone out of
earshot would have thought that he
' was uttering some trifling Inanity in-
’ stead of these words:
“Ton may trust me. I have suspect­
ed that something was wrong here."
“It is Impossible to explain now,”
, she said. “These people sre not my
The compact starter is geared to the
flywheel by Bendix drive.
Ignition is through a Willard storage
battery and Connecticut distributor.
Proved equipment this—trouble-proof
and highly efficient.
Lents Garage, Local Agents
4«
_D O KT
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MOT Q K C A K
Flinfhlich*
‘í'*fH!
4^ 4i 4? 4! 4!
CQMPA N Y
4f”f *4!
4'41>4S d1-
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