The gold leaf., 1909-06-17

L
! Horace was still holding the
hand OF the fair countess, they
encountered Almeric, who was stroll
ing in aimlessly from the direction o.
the village. Hawcastle beckoned to
him.
Anything unusual down there" he
asked, pointing to the village.
| "Rawther! Carabinieri still hunting
| that bandit chap" said his hopeful son
| languidly.
Don't humble your words" snapped
| the old lady, and Horace and madame
| turned sharply and confusedly. AL
meric made q gesture of impatience
and, putting his head close to his re-
| spected aunt's ear, shouted:
"Hunting a bally banditw at which
the old woman screamed sharply.
Hawcastle took him by the shoulder.
"What do they say about him?" he
demanded.
'"That he is still in the neighbor-
hood" replied his heir, with languid
sigh.
what did I tell you?" asked Lady
Creech triumphantly. And the earl
made gesture Of impatience.
"Almeric, find your betrothed and
bring her here" he said. And the
young man trotted OF slowly. Horace
came slowly forward.
whats the row, sir" he asked, and
| the earl smiled.
my dear young man." he said, II
congratulate you that you and your
sister need no longer submit to an
odious dictation."
He was about to say more, but at
that moment Daniel came down the
steps and walked across the grass to
the motor. AS he passed the group he
smiled genially and observed:
Looks to me as if it was going to
clear up cold"
"Good afternoon, Mr.. Pike" answer
ed the earl and motioned the others to
leave.
Pike merely nodded his head, and
Hawcastle came up to him.
"It is pity that there should have
been any misunderstanding in the mat
ter Of your wards betrothal." he said,
and Pike smiled grimly.
ooh, I wouldn't call it a misunder-
standing" he said, and the earl went
on.
"It would i'll become father to press
upon the subject Of his sons merits
he began, but Pike cut him short.
II won't talk with you about him."
he said. II don't want to hurt your
feelings"
Hawcastle glared at him and was
about to reply when Mariana entered
| with letter on tray, which he hand
ed to the lawyer, who regarded it curl
ousiy. There was growing menace in
the earls attitude, and as his anger
grew his suavity grew with it.
''There is another matter to which
want to call your attention." he went
on, and Pike answered him at once.
"Tll talk about anything else with
you," he replied and looked up to see
Ethel coming down the steps. She
came forward to the earl and said:
you wished me to come here?"
II wish to tell you that see light
breaking through the clouds. Have an
other talk with our friend here, and,
believe me, all Will be Weu.'
With a bow he left the garden, and
Ethel stood staring after him. Pike
looked up quickly from the letter he
was reading and crossed over to her.
'pm glad you've come" he said.
1--WE got something here I want to
read to you. When got your letter at
home I wrote to Jim Cooley, our vice
consul in London, to look up those
Hawcastle folks and write me here
how they stand"
you did thatv' she cried in anger
you had the audacity to pry into the
| affairs of the Earl of Hawcastle"
"Why, I'd "a done that If it'd been
| the governor of Indiana himself,' he
| replied, with surprise. Besides, Jim
| Cooley's home folks His Office used
to be right next door to mine in Ko-
but l haven't much doubt but Jim III
have some statements in it that'll show
you I'm right about these people"
| How do you know that?" she de-
! manded heatedly.
Because I've had experience enough
of life"-
| "1n Kokomo" she asked scornfully.
| Eyes, ma'am," he answered. ''There's
just as many kinds Of people in Ko-
komo as there is in Pekin, and I didn't
serve term in the legislature without
learning to pick underhand men at
sight. Now, that earl, let alone his
having a bad eye-his ways are too
much on the stripe Of T. Cuthbert
Bentley's to suit me. T. Cuthbert was
a Chicago gentleman, with a fur lined
overcoat, that opened up bank in our
town, and when he caught the Cana
| dian express three months later all he
left in Kokomo was the sign on the
front door. That was painted on. But,
there, here's the letter. Read it for
yourself"
He handed it to her and watched her
while she broke the seal and then be-
gan to read:
| Dear Dan-The earldom of Hawcastle is
| one of the oldest in the kingdom, and the.
| st. Aubyns have distinguished themselves
| in the forefront Of English battles from
| Agincourt and Crecy to Sebastopol. The
present holder of the title came into it by
| accident. He was younger sons younger
son and had spent some years in Russia
| In business under another name. Nothing
here in his English record is seriously
| against him, though everything he has is
| mortgaged to the handle.
| She finished with look Of triumph
What a terrible indictmentw she
said scornfully. $50 that was what
|