15
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION SERIAL.
A Fool and His Money
Copyright, 1913,
By Geo. Barr
MeCutcheon.
By
Geo. Ban
McCutcheoa
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
O
SYNOPSIS OP PREVIOUS
A THRTATT vruifia A
$ In the opening instalments of "A
Fool nd His Money," Geo. Barr Me-
Cutrheon's charming novel, serial
rights for which have been specially
$ obtained for the Home and Farm
Magazine Section, we learn of John
Bellamy Smart, the young man who
is telling this story. He has Just
written his first novel, and at the
same time has fallen heir to an im
$ mense fortune left him by his uncle.
0 After a visit to London, Smart
V iaea a trio on the Biver Danube.
After finding an old world town, he
disinters an ancient castle, which ho
purchases from an Austrian count
With his secretary, Poopendyke, he
takes possession of the immense
o, wuicu is supposes w n v
tenanted only by the caretaker and
iniuiiy, me scnmicks. Lister amart
finds a woman who Is in possession
of a wing of the eastle that is barred
to him. She grant a brief interview,
but refuses to leave. The servant
appear to be in league with her, and
Smart is in a quandary. Later he
meets her and is eaptivated by
her wit and beauty. He finds that
she is divorced from a worthless and
scheming Austrian Count, who was
awarded the custody of the lady's
child. The Oount demands a million
dollars from his rich American father-in-law,
whan he would give it up. The
mother abducts the child and selects
the castle as a hiding place. Smart
0
but decides to assist the fair divorcee, 3
4 although she warns him of the S
V oanger. A number of visitors makes
it difficult to keep secret the prea-
cnc of the Countess in the castle,
especially as she has been seen by
some of the party, wno are aus
picious but have failed to identify
her. One guest, familiar with castle,
almost cornea upon Smart and the
Countess unawares. The woman
escapes but slams a door behind
her. The visitor suspects Smart of
an intrigue with the wife of his
valet. Finally the party leaves and
i Smart is relieved.
$)$$$$
I HAD the somewhat valuless satisfae
I tion of k no wine a blessed eieht more
about the matter than he and all of
his blood hounds put together. I could
well afford to laugh, but under the ex
tremely harrassing conditions it was far
from possible for me to get lat, as a
matter of fact it seemed to me that I
was growing thinner. Mrs. Betty Billy
Hmith toward the end of her visit,
dolefully almost tearfully remarked
upon my haggard appearance one was
very nice about it, too. i unea ncr im
mensely.
It did not require half an eye to see
that she was thoroughly sick of the
baron and Mr. Pless. She was really
nito uncivil to them toward the end.
At last thore came a day of deliver
neo. The guests were departing and I
ean truthfully say that I was speeding
them.
Elsie Hazzard took me off to a re
mntn corner, where a little later on
Betty Billy and the two husbands found
SB. "
"John, will you ever forgive met"
she said very soberly. "I swear to you
I hadn't the faintest idea what it
"Please, please, Elsie," I broke in
warmly; "don't abuse yourself in my
presence, fully understand cverymin.
At least, nearly everything. What I
can't understand, for the life of me, is
this: how did you happen to pick up
two such consummate bounders as these
fellows arc!"
"Alas, John," Baid she, shaking her
head, "a woman never knows much
about a man until she has lived a week
in the same house with him. Now you
are a perfect angel."
"You've always said that," said I.
"You did not have to live in the same
house with me to find it out, did you!"
She ignored the question. "I shall
never, never forgive myself for this aw
ful week, John. We've talked it all
over among ourselves. We are ashamed
oh, so terribly ashamed. If you can
ever like us again after"
"Like youl" I cried, taking her by
the shoulders. -I' Why, Elsie Hazzard, I
have never liked you and George half so
much as I like you now. Tou two and
the Smiths stand out like Uibraitars in
my esteem. I adore all of you. I shau't
bo happy aKin ,,nt1 1 ,now hnt vou
four ami no more are coming back to
Sehloss Rothhoefen for nn indefinite
stov. 'flood Lord, how happy wo shall
bnl"
I said it with a great deal of feelinc.
The tears rushed into her eyes.
"You are a dear, John," sue signed.
"You'll comef"
"In a minute." said sho with vehe
mence, a genuine American girl once
more.
Just as soon as those pesky work
men are out of the place, I'll drop you
a line," said I, immeasureably exalted.
"But I draw the line at noblemen."
Don't worry," she said, setting her
nice little white teeth. "I draw it too.
Never again! Never!"
It occurred to me that here was an
excellent opening for a bit of mission
ary work. Very pointedly l said 10
her: " I fancy you are willing to admit
now that she wasn't such a simpleton
for leaving him."
She went so far as to shudder, all the
time regarding me with dilated eyes,
"I can't imagine anything more dread
ful than being that man's wite, Joiin.'
"Then whv won't vou admit that
you are sorry for her! Why won't you
be a little just to nen"
She looked at me sharply, "uo you
know her!"
"Not by ft long shot," I replied has
tily, and with considerable truthlul
Whv are you so keen to have me
tnko nidus with her!"
"Because I did, the instant I saw
that infernal cad."
She pursed her lips. It was hard for
her to surrender,
"Out with it, Elsie," I commanded.
You know you've been wrong about
that poor little girl. I can tell by the
look in your eyes that you have
switched over completely in the last
four days, and so has Betty Billy.
"T ml. fnrinve her tor marrying mm
in the first place," she said stubbornly.
But I think sho was justified in leav
ing him. As I know him now, 1 don t
see how she endured it as long as she
dill Yes. I am sorry for her. hhe is a
dear girl and she has had a a"
"I'll say it, my dear: a nou or a
time."
"Thank vou."
"An T daresay von now think she
did right in taking the.ehild, too," I
neraiatenV
"I I hope she gets safely away with
little Rosemary, back to God's comi
tnr n9 we are nrone to call it. Oh, by
the way, John, 1 don't see wny jl snoum
feel bound to keep that wretch's secret
r lnnrer. He has treated us like
TTo dnnsn't deserve "
"Hold on! Yon'ro not thinking of
toiiinff mn his name, are youT
"Don't you want to know itf Don't
nm tn hear that vou'vo been en
tertaining the most talked of, the most
interesting
li V T flnn 't! "
"Don't you care to hear who it was
that ho married and how many millions
ho got from"
"No, I don't." ;
"And why not?" ,
"Well," said I, judicially, "in the
first place I like the mystery of it all.
t DnArtn.l nlnce T don't want to
XU IUV I I -
know anything more about this fellow
than I already know, tic is enougu ui
a horror to me, as it is, God knows,
without giving a name t) him. I pre
fer to think of him as Mr. Pless. If you
AH mind. Elsie. I'll try to eradicate
him thoroughly from my system as
Pless before 1 tauc mm on in any mun
fm nf ovil. No. I don't want to know
his name at present, nor do I care a
hang who it was he married, ouiy no
tion, I suppose, but I mean what I
sav."
Sho looked at me in wonder for a
moment and then shook her head as if
considering mo quite hopeless.. "You
are an odd thing, John. God loft some
thing out when He fashioned you. I'm
just dying to tell you all about them,
and you won't let me."
"Is sho pretty?" I asked, yielding a
little.
"She is lovely. We've been really
wnful iihmit her. Betty and I.
4U'" . , ',.,.. v.. oi,
Down in our hearts we nsu uei.
. o anniled child, of course, and all
that sort of thing, but heaven knows
slio's been pretty thoroughly made over
; o nflw crucible. We used to feel
terribly sorry for her, even while we
were dcridintf her lor tue 1001 sue uau
made of herself in marrying him. I've
seen her hundreds ortimes driving aooui
Hlnne in Vienna, where they spent two
winters, a really pathetic figure, scorned
not only by her husband out oy every
one else. He made it clear to his world
that she was not to be inficted upon it
by any unnecessary act .of his. one
rniTiA"tn sen Bcttv and me occasionally;
always bright and proud anu mu w
snirit. but we could see the wounds in
her poor little heart no matter how hard
she tried to hide them, i ten you, joun,
they like us as women but tney oespise
us as wives. It will always be we same
with them. They won't let us into
their charmed circle. Thank God, I am
married to an American. He must re
spect me whether he wants to or not.
"Poor little beggar." said I, without
thinking of how it would sound to her;
"she has had her fling, and sue ua
paid well for it. ' '
"If her Btingy old father, who per
mitted her to get into the scrape, would
eome up like a man and pay what he
ought to pay, there would be no more
nffcr nVwiiit. this busines. He hasn't
lived up to bis bargain. The Mr.
Pless has squandered the first million
and now he wants the balance due him.
A trade's a trade, John. The old man
ought to pay up. He went into it with
his eyes open, and I haven 't an atom of
sympathy for him. You have read that
book of Mrs. Burnett s, haven t joui
Th RhntHnf' Well, there you are.
This is but another example of what
fools American parents can be wncn
they get bees in their bonnets."
She seemed to be accusing ine!
"T lume she gets away safely with
the kiddie," said I, non-committally.
Heaven knows where sue is. may
be she's as safe as a bug in a rug.
i it oi,ni,i,in 't lip siinirised. said J.
The Billy Smiths and George Hazzard
..r, ,.f tliU iime.hire. Elsie at once
proceeded to go into a long series ot
conjectures as to the prooaoie wuciu
iJt. f Wt rieKs's former wife and
their child. I was immensely gratified
to find that they were now undivided in
their estimate of Mr. Pless and firmly
allied on the side of tho missing conn
t .ikr from their remarks that
the young woman's mother and brothers
were still in Pans, wnere meir
movement was being watched by secret
i. Tl.ov u-pre awaiting the ar
rival from New York of the father of
the countess, after which they were to
come to Vienna for the purpose or man.
:, o .ininmiined fight for the daugh
ter's absolute freedom and the custody
nf the child.
Somehow this news gave me a strange
feeling of apprehension, a sensation
that later on was to do ampiy jun
1 daresav an historian less punctilious
about the "truth than I proposo to be,
m .t ti,ic otntre of the narrative, in-
sort a whopping lie for the sake of ef
fect, or "action," or 'neart mier.,
as such things are called in mo f
world of letters. He would enliven ms
tale by making Mr. Pless do sometnmg
mmil while he was about it, such
as yanking his erstwhile companion out
of her place of hiding Dy mo un
v n v'i.-liinfT down all the barri
cades about the place, or fighting a dual
with me, or well, tnere is n '
things he might do for the sake of a
"situation." But 1 am a person ui vC
;i mj tho truth is in me. Mr. Tlcss
did none of these interesting things, so
why should I say that he didi
lie went away with the others at half -past
eleven, and that was the end of his
first visit to my domain. u
til reader, may be disappointed,
I make haste to assure you that he was
to como again.
Of course there was more or jb m
moil and-I might say disanecuon
attending his departure. He raised (.am
with my servants because they did this
and that when they shouldn't have done
either; he (and the amiable baron) took
me to task for having neglected tobook
compartments for them m wu
r. .Ni, iQiated nnon having a
luncheon put up in a tea basket and
taken to the railway station by Britton,
i, . t.n it nersonally that three
or four bottles of my best wine were
,..n. ni-ked in with the rest. He said
three or four, but Britton is firm in his
belief that there was nearer a dozen,
judging by the weight.
He also contrived to have Mr. Poo
pendyke purchase first-class railway
tiekets for him and the baron, and then
forgot to settle for them. It amounted
to something like four hundred and
fifty kronen, if I remember correctly.
He took away eleven hundred and sixty-
five dollars of my money, besides, gen
ially acquired at roulette, and I dread
to think of what he and the baron
took out of my four friends at auction
bridge.
I will sa ythis for him: he was the
smartest aristocrat I've ever known.
Need I add that the Hazzards and thd
Smiths traveled second-class!
"Well, thank the Lord!" said I, as
the ferry put off with the party, leav
ing me alone on the little landing. The
rotten timbers seemed to echo the sen
timent. At the top of the step all the)
Schmicks were saying it, too; in the
butler's pantry it was also being said,
workmen were grunting it;
and the windlass that drew me up the
hill was screaming it in wild, discordant
glee. I repeated it once more when
Britton returned from town and as
sured me that they had not missed tu
train. .
That's what I'd like to say, sir,"
said he.
Wpll."av it." said I. And he said
on vociferously that I knew it must
have been heard in the remotest corners
of heaven.
The merry Bong of the hammer and
the sweet rasp of the saw greeted my
delighted ear as 1 entered tne cahwu.
Men were singing and whistling for all
they were worth; the air was full oi
music. It was not until the grand trana
r,fmn ocfine in the nantomine when
all that has been gloom and despond
ency gives way to the flaes ci an ey
to elysian splendour and dazzling gaiety,
'Pon my soul, I never felt so exuberant
oil mv life. The once nerve-racking
clangour was like the soothing strains
of an invisible orchestra to my
lighted senses. Ha! ha! What a merry;
old world it is, after aiu
Nearing my study, I heard an almost
forgotten noise the blithe, incessant
crackle of a typewriting machine. Never
have I heard one rattle so rapidly
with such utter garrulousness.
(To be continued.) I
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