The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-01

Miss Myra?'' asked the visitor, who,
 having hurried along the bank, was | awaiting us. NO thank you,'' was her naughty response T will not remain to hear ! unfounded allegations against my
 friends" And she started away to-
 ward the Grange.
 "Well?" I said, turning to the man was was Granny's bitterest enemy. And now tell me what it is you say regarding the man who is not here to
 defend hinself.''
 tI was speaking to Miss Stapleton-
 not to you.'' he replied, with sheer. 'I am Coughs friend" I declared l quickly. You know that. Therefore, | I. Philip Ralston. demand an explana- tion.''
 l sir,'' he laughed. 'So please calm l yourself. have merely warned the dear old gentleman and his daughter of an adventurer."
 ''You also called him an assassin just now!"
 'T repeat my words. If you desire proof ask at New Scotland Yard" and
 he smiled grimly at my confusion. What could I say? Had not Gran ny's flight been in itself proof of his guilt? And yet. why was this man also living in secrecy in Yorkshire. | when believed by all to be on the con- tinent?
 Where could be the woman who was his tool. the handsome adventures. Lydia Popescu? The dead woman was certainly not her.
 "A slanderer should furnish proof | himself" remarked at last. This you are apparently unable to do. You | come here. accept MT. Stapleton's hos pitality and malign one of his best friends-the man who is to marry his | daughter Do you think I, Coughs friend. will allow these statements to
 pass unchallenged? ?"
 Your attitude. my dear sir. does not concern me in the least Until a | few hours ago I had no knowledge of your existence"
 'Then of that I'm most gratifed." I
 said. thrusting my hands into my
 trouser pockets. Because I happen to know much more regarding you than you imagine!" His brows knit. and for a. moment
 he regarded me with a hard sinister | look, an expression of fear and un-
 certainty As ne stood there in his
 gray fannels and straw hat he had
 the manner and bearing of flop. as
 suming that superiority which must
 be denounced as "caddish'' by any gentleman. His perfectly kept hands. with their three diamond rings: his vest ornamented by pearl buttons with
 diamond centers. and his patent leath-
 CT boots in lieu of serviceabie brown
 shoes were all out of place in the country.
 "Yes; he was a cad of the first wa ter. How Granny could ever have taken to him in the first place was mystery. It was. of course. owing to
 the generosity of the dear old boys
 kind heart. All his mistakes. indeed,
 had been caused by his openness of
 manner, his overf1owing generosity and his religion of Friedrich Metz sche. This fellow had taken advantage of it to filch from his friend a valuable concession, and so ruin him. By
 single coup he had secured a com- fortable fortune. and had now come to visit the Suspicious with one fixed purpose-the exposure of the man
 whom he had so nisled and so shame fully swindled.
 Whatever you may know regarding
 me is quite immaterial.'' he exclaimed. insolently. fThe Stapletons are my friends, and it is therefore my duty  posed upon by a man whose whole
 career has been one long series of ad- ventures. He has never done a single
 honest days work in his life, and is chevalier dindustrie who is known in l almost every town of note from Lis 1 bon to Odessa" T laughed in the fellows face. ''This is really amusing, MT. Gar
 shorer' I declared. ''So you have the | internal audacity to set yourself up as
 a censor of business morality, eh?'' | T tell you that Suspicion believes
 your friend to be wealthy man,
 whereas he doesn't know where the
 next flyer is coming from.' he ex-
 claimed. angrily.
 | And pray is he the only man whom i the world believes to be we'll off and
 who in reality is hard up? If he | were,' I declared, then this world of
 ours would be a very different place." | '1 am speaking of Granville Cough
 the man whose ingenuity as an adven- l turer is unparalleled"
 | The man. you should rather say,
 whose bitterest enemy has never
 charged with dishonesty or with
 mean action toward a friend,'' I add l ed, looking him straight in the face. I Rene enber, MT. Garshore, that I am Granville Coughs friend, and as he is I absent and cannot refute your abomi-
 naI1e calumnies. I take it upon my
 self to do so.'
 l To be Continued