The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1906-11-17
CHAPTER /.

CHAPTER /.
II all depends upon the manner OF
your entrance to the Castle of Adyen.
ture. One does not have to scale it's
beetling parapets or assault its scarps
and frowning bastions; neither Is one
Obliged to force with clamor and blair.
ing trumpets and glittering gorgets
the drawbridge and porteullis. Rather
the pathway lies through one Of those
many little doors, obscure, yet easily
accessible. latchless and boltless, TO
which the average person gives nc
particular attention. and yet which in,
yariably lead to the very heart Of this
Castle Detachable. The whimsical
chatelaine Of this enchanted keep is
q shy goddess. Circumspection has no
part In her affairs, nor caution, nor
practically; nor does her eye linger
upon the dullard and the blundsrer
Imagination solves the secret riddle
and wit is the guide that leads the
seeker through the winding, bewilder.
ing labyrinths
And there Is something In being
idle, too!
If l had not gone idly into Mou.
quin's cellar for dinner that night, !
should have missed the most engaging
adventure that ever fell to my lot II
is second nature for me to be guided
by impulse rather than by reason;
reason is always so square-toed and
Impulse is always SO alluring. You
will find that nearly all the great
captains were and are creatures OF
Impulse; nothing brilliant is ever
achieved by calculation. All this is
not to say that / am a great captain;
1t Is offered only to inform you that
] am often impulsive.
A Times, four days old; and if ]
hadn't fallen upon It to pass the
twenty-odd minutes between my order
and the service of it, l shouldn't have
made the acquaintance Of the police
In that pretty little suburb over in
New Jersey; nor should l have met
the enchanting Blue Domino: nor
would fate have written Kismet. The
clairvoyant never has any fun in this
cycle; he has no surprises.
/ had been away from New York
for several weeks, and had returned
only that afternoon. Thus, the spirit
of unrest acquired by travel was still
upon me. It was nearly holiday week
and those congenlal friends l might
have called upon, to while away the
evening, were either busily occupied
with shopping or we're out of town
and / determined not TO go to the club
and be bored by some Indifferent bill
Hard player would dine quietly
listen to some light music, and then
go to the theater l was searching
the theatrical amusements, when the
society column indifferently attacked
my eye. do not know why it is, but
| have wholesome contempt for the
Bo-called society columns of the daily
newspaper in New York. Mayhap, Il
is because dc not belong.
/ read this paragraph with a shrug
and that one with smirk. l was II
no manner surprised at the announce
ment that Miss High-Culture was go
Ing to wed the Duke of Impecune;
would do some such fool thing Tha
Mrs. Hyphen-Bonds was giving a fare
we'll dinner at the Waldorf, prior II
her departure to Europe, interested
my curiosity not in the least degree
It would BIO all the same to me If she
never came back. None of the wishy
washy tittle-tattle interested me, il
fact. There was only one little six
line paragraph that really caught me
On Friday night Chat is to say, the
night of my adventures in Blankshire)
the Hunt Club was to give a charity
masquerade dance. This grasped my
adventurous spirit by the throat ana
refused to let so.
The atmosphere surrounding tn,
paragraph was spirituous with en-
chantment There was a genuine
novelty about this dance Two packs
of playing cards had been sent out a,
tickets; one pack to the ladies anC
enc to the gentlemen. Charming idea
wasn't 1t? These cards we're to b,
shown at the door, together with tel
dollars, but were TO be retained b,
the recipients till two o'clock (suppe
timel, at which moment everybod!
was to unmask and take his partner
who held the corresponding card. in Il
supper. Its newness strongly appealet
to me. I found myself reading tn
paragraph over and over.
BY Jove. what an inspirationl
I knew the Blankshire Hunt Club
with its colonial architecture. its grea
ball room, its quaint flreplaces. it
stables and sheds. and the fame of it
chef. 1t was one of those great cour
try clubs that keep open house tn
year round. 1t stood back from tn
sea about four miles and was within
five miles Of the village. There wa
a fine course inland. a cross-countr
going of not less than twenty miles
a shooting-box and excellent sol
links. In the winter it was coy; i
the summer it was Ideal
I was intimately acquainted with tn
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