He waved her answer nslda as If It
"Really ? VYh-it a pity!" be Mid with
warn not worth his listening to.
mock sympathy.
“ Once, perhaps, I thojght so,” be
said, talking her down like a common
C H A P T E R IV .
brawler.
“ But now I hear It was
another rnnn whom yon really loved—
G athering 8 torm-Clouds.
a young Irishman who went away
And then Hlr George Wagstaff Joined
without doing you the honor o f asking them, with bis trusted butler, B rew
you to marry him."
In his words ster. lu his wake, bearing a muffin
there was. ns he Intended there should
be. a taunt that Implied more than
Ethel went gayly to meet her bene
lie actually saM
factor.
At le a s t her mariner was
tray.
hacm v
ahf r u t : v u n ru k .
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a n i l w t i l l a w u l t l n a f u r li e r t n l k a t o l l n w a -
t a r , Hlr H a o r a a ' a tiuilwr, a l i o la a O e r t m i n
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irCfCi 00-0 O OOOOOirO 0-00 0000-0-00
A fine yo u ng E n g lis h w o m a n
la c aught In the net o f In te rn a
tional plottin g and Is made the
v ic t im of olrcumatancea— traglo
circum stances. She becomes In
n oc e n tly In vo lv e d w it h an ene
m y of her c o u n tr y and he p ro
ceeds to use her as a tool. H o w
she Is c orn ered and prodded, as
boys m ig h t tease a w o u nd ed
w ild a n im a l, Is to ld v i v i d l y In
th is Installment.
S tre e tm a n , the G e r m a n s p y , and
R o ed er (a lia s B re w s te r, the b u t le r ),
are discu ssin g the p o s s ib ility of w a r.
CHAPTER
I I — C o n tin u e d .
"Yes, yes! Of course!” Streetmnn
agreed hastily, as If he would forestall
nay patriotic exhibition. "Still, one
WWiM like to live with the tU O rlM
of life. O m day I shall make the
(fraud coup; and then to cense all
th is—" li e broke off suddenly, for he
beard Miss Willoughby stirring on the
oth e r side of th a t closed door. "Kssh!
To the d o o r !"
"Very good. B rew ster!" Mr. Street-
m an said In a clear, llrtn voice, which
he Intruded to carry well ls>yond tha t
closed door. "I'll wait here for Miss
Willoughby."
And then Sir fJeorge'a butler bowed
and left the room.
CHAPTER
I I I.
A Poe In the H ou s e h o ld .
B rew ster had hardly closed the doors
fvehlnd him before Btbel Willoughby
appeared.
“Oh. Henry! You surprised me." she
said.
"I came before the others," Street-
man explained, "because there Is some
thing you must do for me a t once."
“ About the fleet, I suppose," she
snld, som ew hat wearily, ns she turned
awuy from him.
“ IIow <lld you know ?” He shot the
question nt her alm ost too quickly for
caution. But for the moment he e x
perienced
something
approaching
alarm . But her a n sw e r reassured him.
“ Nowadays It Is only of the fleet
you ask." she told him. ¿ tu l she re
garded him with eyes thnt were pa
thetic, If not reproachful. Once It had
seemed to her that H enry S treetm an
w a s Interested In her. But of Inte she
had been obliged to adm it to herself
th a t thnt Interest had quickly waned.
H er handsome caller paid no a tte n
tion to the obvious complnlnt thnt lay
In Ethel's answ er. In the most mat
ter-of-fact
fashion
he
proceeded
straight to the business tha t was up
perm ost In Ida mind.
“ You m ust learn nt onco from Sir
Oeorge where the ships nt Splthend
a r e going," he announced bluntly.
“ Find out If they sail together, or If
they will disperse—and how.”
As she faced him again there w as
beseeching In her voice, her eyes, her
whole manner.
“ Walt, Henry, w ait!" she begged.
"Before we *o Into thnt, tell me—
when nre you going to let people know
we're married?"
Streetman remembered then thnt he
hnd n many sided role to piny. And
thereupon he went up to the girl; and
taking one of Ethel's ha mis In his,
while he put an arm around her, he
looked down nt her lu n most loverlike
fashion.
"Ah, my denr! I’d let them know
now— this iplnute— If I only could!” he
exclaimed.
"But we must announce our mar
riage at once,” sho said quickly.
"Announce our marriage— why?”
"Oeorgy Wagstnff told me Just a
few minutes ago that when I snld I
was In Brighton a friend o f hers saw
you and me together In Earls,” she re
plied In tragic tones.
“ You did not explain?” he asked.
"That we were on our honeymoon?
No! I kept my word to you. I snld
I was In Brighton." Sho looked at
him In a puzzled way ns he left her
then and paced the floor In a nervous
fashion.
"O f course. It’s easily proved thnt I
was not In Brighton." Ethel continued.
"<«corgy seemed to think you and
I . . , Well!—you can Imagine w ha t
she must have thought. Oh! why must
there bo this secrecy? 1 loathe It.”
Hhe sank upon the settee and stared
moodily a t the floor a most unhappy
picture of a pretty bride.
Htreetmau roused himself slid lient
over her.
"My denr! We must wait until I
can a rra n g e m ntters with my family,"
he explained In his most plausible m a n
ner. "U ntil I can come Into my own
again we should starve. Soon It will
all be a rranged." And once more he
turned aw ay from her—this time with
an air of du a lity —ns If there were
really no a rg u m e n t against his vagus
protestations.
" 80011 ? You have snld thnt for a
month," Ellud reminded him. "You've
said It ever since we were m arried."
"N ext week, then!” he agreed lu des
peration. "I promise! And you will
learn tonight about the fleet?” he
added In the sam e breath.
“ But. Henry, If I do nsk Sir George
and he tells me. Isn't It ra th e r n sh a b
by thing to do then to come to you
a n d —’’
"No, no. no— aa I've often told you!”
he Interrupted. It seemed to him thnt
her objections were Interminable.
And under the stress of th* urging
from his superiors his forbearance w as
fast reaching Its end. To hide his
anxiety and his Irritation, he stepped
to the window and looked out.
"B ut Hlr George tru sts me." Ethel
resumed. S treetm an stifled n mouth-
filling G erm an oath while he listened
to her. “ When he answ ers my ques
tions." she continued, "he does so be
cause he thinks I’m Just Idly curious.
He never dre a m s I'd repeat w hat be
says to nnyone. It all puts me In a
beastly position. Sir George Is n loyal
Englishman, and If he thought—"
Streetm an would not let her finish.
He wheeled about and snld sharply, to
forestall even the merest mention of
such a thing aa an Inform er—let alone
spy—
"And you nre a loyal E nglishw om an
—and I am loyal to— Fra n c e .”
"Then why do you pass yourself off
as an Englishm an?"
“ Because It Is the wish of ray e m
ployers, the French secret service. It
Is ttie wish of F ra n c e ." he d e d n r e d In
a grand manner, which he Intended to
carry conviction with It.
" I t ’s all quite beyond me.” she satd
with a hopeless nlr. They had hnd
many such discussions.
And never
yet hnd she been able to understand
the reasons tha t Streetmnn p u t forth
w ith unvarying gllbneaa. "W hy should
F rance wish to know about our fleet?”
"Ah! thnt I do not know,” he re
plied. "T he secret service gives me
their Instructions. It Is for me to fol
low, not to question them. It la my
w ork—my future." H e drew nenrer
to her. and his m asterful eyes gazed
full Into hors.
" It Is ou r future,
Ethel!" l)e cried with apparent em o
tion.
“ But Isn’t F rance England's ally?”
she asked. "I can't understand why
she should ne(>d tills Information."
"In times like these It Is best for
eneh country to know all possible
about every country," he explained.
"You will he doing no w rong to E n g
land when you get me the facts I
desire." He sat down beside her, and.
placing his arm about her, he drew her
close to him. “You will And out to
night about the fleet?" he pleaded.
Blit there w as something about his
persistent wheedling that made Ethel
Willoughby—or Mrs. S tre e tm a n —su s
picious.
"I c a n ’t help feeling that there Is
something behind all this—something
you n re not telling me,” she said
slowly.
Despite his confident nlr. Streetmnn
could not easily look Into her se a rc h
ing eyes.
He w as uncomfortable.
And he rose abruptly and took n few
quick, restless steps nlmut the room.
"W hy—w h a t an Imagination!” he
exclaimed, forcing a laugh nt l a s t
"Ilenlly, Ethel, you're quite nbsim ll”
" B u t alwnys, before we w ere m a r
ried, you were so kind, so thoughtful.
You talked only of pretty things. But
now, nlwnys It Is the fleet—t h e navy.
You seem Interested only In their
pinna, th e ir secrets. . . .
Ia It for
thnt you m arried me?”
8 treetm nn's pntience hnd reached
the breaking point. And a t the ques
tion he flew Into n sudden rage. li e
turned a face like a thundercloud upon
her.
“And on my side I nsk why you mnr-
rled me? F o r love? . . .
I thluk
not!” he sneered.
Ills quick auger brought Ethel to
her feet.
" B u t U e n ry —"
“ No. no!" Ethel cried.
“ | t | an*{ blithesome: but her heart w as leaden
true. It w as Just w flirtation—a few
"Hello, Sir George!" she snld.
dances—a th e a te r or two!"
"Hello. Ethel!"
They were good
"Oh! That was nil!” he retorted. pnts— those two. T he da u g h te r of one
“ And yet they told me you had known of his oldest and dearest friends.
him all your life.”
Ethel h i d a lw ays occupied a niche
“ I don’t know whom
're talking
all her ow n In Sir George's affections.
about," she said In dcqterutJon.
Hlr George wns not of the big type
"Nor do I," he rejoined. “ It was of Englishman. He was, on the con
some man In th e a r m y —a captain. I
trary. not much over the height of
think. I do not know his name: but
' Ethel herself. Blit he was nndeulnbly
I shall find It out. and then perhaps
Impressive, with his keen, gray eyes.
1 shall learn If you cored for me ut
I ids fast-w hitening hair, and his e x
all or If It was Just thnt I caught you
quisite mnuners.
And despite the
on the rebound."
punctilious politeness thnt Hlr George
"W h a t do you m ean?" She faced
displayed to everybody, there was
him tensely. Such scenes were new
something In his bearing tha t warned
to her- Trouble, of h sort, she hnd
one that he w as no person to trifle
known. But never anything like this.
It hnd been hard enough to see her with.
“ I Just dropped In for a few m in
resources dw indling steadily, without
utes because I d promised to come to
the means of replenishing them, and
your tea, E thel; a n d I try never to
with ncttiul penurv staring her In the
break my word to so c harm ing a
fuce. But now Ethel knew that that
lady.”
was as nothing compared with the
Hhe made u pretty curtsy.
situation Ri which she hnd unwittingly
“T hank you, Hlr George!”
placed herself. To be tied for life to
" F o r you. a t the a dm iralty, these
a man who did not love tier—who
must he troublous tim es?” Streetm an
seemed an a bsolute brute—tha t was
ventured.
worse, a thousand tiroes, than any
“ B ather busy, yes!” w as Sir George's
mere flnnuclal difficulties.
som
ew hat short answ er. He w as a l
Htreetinnn did not a t once reply to
her. For a few moments he regarded w ays ready, when a t leisure, to enter
her bnlefully. as If she were already upon a discussion of any topic—e x
cept such as touched upon bis high
a hateful thing In his eyes.
"I wonder, my denr,” he snld a t lost. office. And t^bere he was exceedingly
“ I wonder If today It Is only I tha t touchy.
“ You think, then, there will be w ar
count with you or If you have— mem o
between
Russia
and
G e rm a n y ? ”
ries. . . . We shall see.”
He
"No, no. H enry!" she protested. Streetm an asked him eagerly.
could
not
do
otherw
ise
than
ignore
“ I’m—I’m very fond of you,” she said
Sir George's slightly frigid reply to
brokenly.
his
previous question. If he felt any
"F ond? ” The aratle thnt he gave
her was nothing If not cruel. “Come, resentm ent, he tru ste d to be able to
then! Kiss me!” And he a ttem pted puy off the si-ore In his own way, later.
Sir George lifted his eyebrows ever
to em brace her. But site pushed him
so slightly as he glanced a t Ethel's
away from her.
"No! All thnt Is over. Not until we caller.
"T hat, sir. Is a m a tte r I should pre
can let people know. This secrecy
make« me feel as If I were not your fer not to discuss." he replied.
“ Fardon me. sir. b u t as a loyal Eng
wife. W hat Georgy «aid Is enough to
m ake me believe, almost, tbat It has lishman I am naturally Interested.”
And then Ethel stationed herself be
all been Just some horrible Intrigue."
"N onsense; nonsense!” he scoffed. hind the tea table.
“Come!
Let’s talk of peace and
“ If I promise you now tha t next week
we m ake our m arrluge public, will tea." she said. It made her feel guilty
to sit there nnd he a r Streetm an try to
you believe me?"
"Yes, Henry! I w ill!" she snld In a pry Information out of Sir George be
voice to which there rang renewed neath his own roof. And It seemed
th a t the least she could do to rep^y
hope.
He stepped quickly to her side again. him for his many kindnesses w as to
Henry Streetman was not the sort of protect him a« best she might from
rnnn to miss any opportunity that o f Streetman'« Indefatigable curiosity.
They had no sooner taken their cups
fered.
"B u t to do that." he stipulated. “ I from her when Georgy W ugstaff burst
m ust secure for France this Inform a Into the room.
“ Hello, everybody!” she greeted
tion concerning the fleet T h a t will
mean promotion for me— money— them. “ H ere's Guy and his mother."
much money! And with thnt I need Close behind her followed Mrs. Ste
no longer w ait on my family. You phen K alconerand her good-lookIng^on.
who was, as everybody knew, more
u n d e rsta n d ? ” he asked her.
than devoted to Sir George W agstafTs
"Yea, Henry! I do!"
“Good! T h a t's settled.
And yon vivacious daughter. “ \Ye'd have been
will take the first opportunity to speak here earlier.” Georgy explained, “ but
to Sir George?" He w as tilled with Mrs. Falconer and Guy had gone to
elation ut the happy turn of affairs. a matinee.”
“ Silly show!” the blase Guy added
But he w as doomed to quick disap
in
a bored drawl. “The eternal tri
pointm ent. "You will?" he persisted.
angle or some such nonsense!”
“ N o!"
“ Very tiresome!” his mother agreed.
" W h a t? ” he exclaimed, scarcely be
"And so noisy! Full of shots and
lieving his ears.
"I understand tha t for some reason pistols—and mostly about some poor
you a re trying to bribe me with these creature who'd sinned and repented.”
“T h a t's the sort of play I disap
promises of yours to betray Sir
G eorge’s confidence. But I'm sick of prove of. particularly for my daugh
this deception.
I w on't do It any ter,” Sir George commented from his
“ I am glad,
longer; nnd you oughtn't to ask It of place on the settee.
Georgy,
th
a
t
you
w
ere
not
there.”
me.”
“Oil. I saw It last week,” said
"Indeed!” he snld. with a vicious
Georgy with mischievous satisfaction.
show of scorn “ And If It should hap
“ And you ought to go, father. You’d
pen to come to Sir George anonym ous
weep over the heroine.
Frightfully
ly”— he stressed the w ord—“tha t you
da ranged lady—w a sn 't she, G uy?”
hnd nlrendy 'betrayed his confidence.’
"Oh. frightfully!" said Guy. "Com
w hnt would your position be here?"
pletely beyond repair!"
He w atched her narrowly, to see w hat
“ I knew the m inute she walked on
effect his threat might have upon her.
she w a sn ’t a good woman. She was
"You wouldn't do th a t? ” she e x
so pale nnd clrcle-y, and so beautifully
claimed. ns a sudden fear gripped her.
dressed.” Georgy explained, as she
All nt once It struck Ethel tha t her
watched her father squirm. Shocking
position had Indeed become desperate.
her respectable p a r e n t wns one of
She had not dreamed th a t she would
Georgy’s favorite diversions.
Hnd herself In such an Impasse—and
"You m u stn 't ta lk this silly cyni
nt the hnnds of her husband, of all
cism,” Ethel reproved the tw o young
people.
"I should not like to do It.” Streot- people.
"D on't worry!” Georgy retorted.
mnn replied. "B ut I Intend to learn—
I shall learn—about the fleet tonight; " F a th e r knows I don't get th a t sort
and through you!” he declared, with of chat from my very proper gover
ness. I t’s Just hereditary from him.
undisguised determination.
She turned upon him like some I express w h a t he feels but doesu't
hunted wild thing then, ready to fight d are say."
But Sir George refused to be a n
desperately lu one last, mad effort.
noyed
by his d a u g h te r's hectoring.
"Oh! So that's whnt your lovo, your
“ At least I deserve credit for my
affection, am ounts to. Is It?”
"Pu t It any way you choose,” wns modesty,” he observed dryly.
his callous answer. "But I must have
this Information. . . . Come! What
do yon say?”
" W h a t Is there for me to say?”
“ Exactly!” he retorted. " I am glad
to see that nt Inst you appreciate the
situation." They both started then nt
the sound of voices. " I t Is Sir George,”
Streetman said. “ I shall leave pres
ently. But I shall some hack In an
hour. . . . And you will have found
out about the fleet?"
"Oh!
I suppose so!" she replied.
“ But It makes me hate myself— and
yon!"
friftrCrCrtrtrirCrCrirCrfrCrtrCririttrCt-it'trCrCrirti
NORTHWEST MARKET REPORTS;
GENERAL CROP CONDITIONS
Portland— Wheat— Bluestem, 11.30;
forty-fold, $1.28; club, $1.27; red fife,
$1.28; red Russian, $1.26.
Flour — Patents, $6.20; straights,
$5.60 @ 6; exports, $5.60;
valley,
$5.80; whole wheat, $6.40; graham,
$ 6 . 20 .
Millfeed—Spot prices: Bran, $23.50
per ton; shorts, $25.50; rolled barley,
$366(36.
Corn— Whole, $42 per ton; cracked,
$43.
Hay—Producers’ prices; Timothy,
Eastern Oregon $16.506(18 per ton;
timothy, valley, $15 6 (1 6 ; alfalfa,
$14.50; wheat hay, $12.506(13.50; oat
and vetch, $12 6( 12.50; cheat, $11;
clover, $10.
Butter — Exchange prices: Cubes,
extras, no bid, 30c asked. Jobbing
prices: Prints, extras, 32@34c; but-
terfat, No. 1, 31c; No. 2, 29c, Port
land.
Eggs — Oregon
ranch, exchange
prices, current receipts, 27c dozen.
Jobbing prices: Oregon ranch, candled,
286(30c; selects, 32c.
Poultry— Hens, 13}@ l4}c per pound;
broilers, 166(17c; turkeys, live, 186(
22c; ducks, ll@ 14}c; geese, 9 @ llc.
Veal—Fancy, 12}@13c per pound.
Fork—Fancy, 12}6(13c per pound.
Vegetables— Artichokes, 75c6($l per
dozen; tomatoes, 30@60c per crate;
cabbage, $1.75 per hundred; peppers,
4(<(5c per pound; eggplant, 6@7c; let
tuce, 206(25c per dozen; cucumbers,
256(50c per box; beans, 3c per pound;
celery, 75@85c per dozen; corn, 106(
25c.
Potatoes— New, 90c(q,$1.15 per hun
dred; sweets, 3i64*c.
Onions— California, $1.50 per sack;
Walla Walla, $1.50 per sack.
Green Fruits— Apples, new, 75c < a )
$1.85 per box; cantaloupes, 60c@$1.60
per crate; peaches, 40@75c per box;
watermelon*, l i e per pound; plums,
75c@$l per box; pears, $1.256(1-59;
grapes, $1.10@1.75; casabas, l i e per
pound.
Sack Vegetables — Turips, $1.25;
carrots, $1.25@ 1.35; beets, $1.25 @)
1.50.
Hops — 1915 crop, nominal; 1916
contracts, 9c, nominal.
Wool— Eastern Oregon, fine, 23@26c
per pound; coarse, 30@32c; valley, 30
6(32c.
Casara Bark—Old and new, 4 |c per
pound.
Cattle — Steers, prime. $6.50@ 6.75;
good, $66(6.50; common to fair, $5@
5.50; cows, choice, $56(5.50; medium
to good, $4.506(5; ordinary to fair,
$46(4.50; heifers, $46(5.75; bulls, $3
@4.25; calves, $3@6.
Hogs— Prime, $9.55@ 9.65; good to
prime mixed, $9.50 @ 9.60; rough
heavy, $8.75@ 9.25; pigs and skips,
$8.25@8.75.
Sheep—Lambs, $5.50 @ 8.25; year
ling wethers, $5.75@ 6.50; old wethers,
$5.50@6; ewes, $3.50@5.50.
No Slump in Produce Market.
Tacoma—There was no slump in the
produce market a9 a result of jobbers
loading up with the expectation of a
railroad strike and high prices when it
opened Tuesday after being closed two
days. None of the Tacoma jobbers
overloaded, although all had good stocks
on hand when they opened. The ar
rivals were heavy, especially in canta
loupes and peaches, including several
cars of Elbertas. Ebertas are now 75
cents a box and dealers are advising
housewives to make their preserving
peace purchases now, as the price will
likely not drop any lower. The short
age of the crop and heavy Eastern de
mand is responsible for the high price
this year.
Although beef prices dropped half a
cent a pound on the opening of the
market, pork and mutton advanced
from half a cent to 2 cents a pound.
Dressed hogs advanced from 12} to 14}
cents a pound, and Diamond T. C.
lambs from 14 to 16 cents a pound.
Hog products in the East have ad
vanced heavily during the past month
and the result is being felt here.
Heavy export trade is thought to be
responsible, as there is no shortage in
the hog crop in the Middle West. Mut
ton, because of high prices last spring,
caused heavy selling of the parent
stock, with the result that there were
fewer 1916 lambs than there other
wise would have been.
Egg and butter prices opened un
changed. Cheese shows a strong ten
dency to advance and the price may be
a cent higher all around by the end of
the week.
C h e a p P e a c h e s Are Not E xpected.
Portland—The peach market bolds
j firm, and,' in the opinion of Front-
j street dealers,
will continue so
throughout the season, as there is not
likely to be any over-supply. The best
yellow peaches are held at 65 and 75
cents a box. The market is about 20
cents over the level customary at this
time of the year. Cantaloupes were in
large supply and weak. Prices had a
(TO B E C O N T IN U E D .)
wide range of $1 to $1.60 a crate, ac
The government of Venezuela will cording to quality.
Buyers gave the
add an Ins tute of modero language preferance to California cantaloupes at
to Its school of commerce.
the higher prices over Toppenish stock.
Will Ethel get the damaging
naval information from Sir
George— and will she refuse to
pass It along? Or will 81 r
George, suddenly suspicious of
unexplained actions, refuse to
ta lk to the girl?