Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1907-02-09
THE HOUSE OF A
THOUSAND CANDLES
BY Meredith Nicholson.
Copyright BY Merrill Co.
CONTINUED from last week.
BY Meredith Nicholson

ness. He emerged from his East Side
lodging house that night clothed prop
srIy. and wearing the gentlemanly air
OF peace and reserve that is so wholly
Incompatible with his disposition ia
breed discord and indulge in riot
When we sat down for leisureiy din.
ner at Sherry's we were not, modest.
~ maintain, a forbiddlng pair We
IL may drag myself into the matter
are both trife under the average
height, sinewy. nervous. and. Just then
trained fine. Our lean clesn-shaven
faces were well-browned-m wear.
ing fresh coat from my days on the
steamers deck
Larry had never been in America be.
fore, and the scene had for both OF us
the charm Of gay and novel spec
tacle have always maintained in
talking to Larry of people and races.
that the Americans are the hand.
soonest and best put-up people In the
world. and / believe he was persuaded
of it that night as we gazed with eyes
long unaccustomed to splendor upon
the great company assembled in the
restaurant The lights the music, the
variety and richness OF the costumes
Of the women, the many Enthusiastically
foreign faces that gave cosmopoli
tan accent to the whole, wrought a
welcomt spell upon senses Injured to
hardship in earth's waste and dreary
places.
Now tell me the story" | said
Have you done murder? n the Of
Tense treasonable?"
ut was a tenants row in Galway,
and ! smashed a constable | smashed
him pretty hard, dare say, from the
row they kicked up in the newspapers
! lay low for a couple of weeks, caught
boat at Queenstown, and here | am,
waiting for chance to get back to
The Sod without going In irons"
You were certainly born to be
hanged Larry. You'd better stay In
America There's more room here
than anywhere else, and it's not easy
to kidnap a man in America and carry
him Off.
Possibly not; and yet the situation
isn't wholly tranquil" he said, trans
fixing bit OF pompano with his fork.
Kindly note the fiorid gentleman at
your right--at the table with four
he's next the lady in pink. 1t may in
ferest you to know that he's the Brit
ish consul
Interesting, but not important. You
don't for moment suppose
THAT he's looking for me? Not at
all. But he undoubtedly has my name
on his tablets. The detective that's
here following me around is pretty
dull. He lost me this morning while
] was talking to you in the bank,
Later on had the pleasure of trailing
him for an hour or so until he finally
brought up at the British consuls OF
ice. Thanks; no more of the fish. Let
us Danish care. | wasn't born to be
hanged; and as l am a political of.
fender, doubt whether | can be de-
ported If they lay hands on me-
He watched the bubbles in his glass
, dreamily. holding it up in his slim,
well-kept fingers.
Tell me something of your own
immediate present and future" he
said.
/ made the story Of my grandfather
Glenarm's legacy as brief as possible,
for brevity was a definite law of our
intercourse.
"A year, you say, with nothing to do
hat
doesn't sound awtully attractive to me
I'D rather do without the money
But | intend to do some work.
owe it to my grandfather's memory
TO make good, if there's any good in
me"
Glenarm," he said, mockingly. What
do you SEGA ghost?"
] must have started slightly al sud-
denly espying Arthur Pickering not 20
feet away. A party of half a dozen or
more had risen, and Pickering and a
girl were detached from the others for
a moment.
She was young-quite the youngest
in the group about Pickering's table.
A certain girlishness OF height and
outline may have been emphasized by
her juxtaposition to Picker.ng's heavy
figure. She was in black, with white
showing at throat and wrists,-a SOM
Der contrast to the other women OF
the party. who were arrayed with a de
gree of splendor She had dropped
her fan and Pickering stopped to pick
1t up. In the second that she waited
she turned carelessly toward nae, apd
our eyes met for an instant. Very
likely she was chickering's sister, and
tried to reconstruct his family
which | had known in my youth but
I could not place her. AS she walked
out before him my eyes followed her,
, the erect figure. free and graceful
but with a charming dignity and poise
and the gold of her fair hair glinting
under her back toque.
Her eyes, as she turned them full
upon me. were the saddest, sweetest
Z a. A