, 1912-02-15

"Pirates" in a ghostly whisper.
Pirates? oh. say. now,' with n
protest
straight as a die Hes got the finest
library on pirncy In the world. every
thing from the Pirates of Penzance' to
The Life of Morgan"
But there's no pirate aiioat these
days"
mot on the high seas. no. It's just
the old mans pastime. Every so often.
be coals up the yacht. which is a seven
teen knotter, and goes of to the south
seas, hunting for treasures"
"By GeorgeF' Fitzgerald whistled
softly. Has he ever found any?'
"Not so much as a postage stamp. so
far a. I know. Moneys always been
In the family, n his Wall street
friends have shown him how to double
what he has, from time to time. Just
for the sport Of the thing some old
fellows 60 In for crockery. some for
pictures, and some for horses. The
admiral just hunts treasures. Half
past 6: you'll excuse me. There'll be
some train dispatches In a minute"
Fitzgerald gave him a good cigar. took
up his bag, and started of for the main
street; and once there he remembered
with chagrin that he had not asked
the agent the most important thing of
all: Had the admiral a daughter?
Well, at 8 o'clock he would learn all
about that. Piratesl 1t would be as
good as a play. But where did he come
In? And why was courage necessary:
His interest found new life.
Swans hotel was one Of those nom
descript buildings Of wood which are
not worth more than q three line para
graph even when they burn down.
The landlord himself lifted Fitz-
gerald's bag to the counter.
"a oom for the night and supper.
right away"
Here, Jimmy" called the landlord to
a growing, numbering boy, take this
satchel up to No. g."
The boy went his way. eying the
labels respectfully and with some
This was the third of Its Kind
he had ported upstairs in the past
twenty-four hours.
Fitzgerald cast an idle glance at the
loungers. There were half a dozen of
them. some of them playing cards and
some displaying talent on a pool table.
badly worn and beer stained. There
was nothing distinctive about any of
them excepting the little man who
was reading an evening paper. and
the only distinctive thing about him
was a pair Of bright eyes. Behind
their gold trimmed spectacles they did
not waver under Fitzgerald's scrutiny.
So the latter dismissed the room aud
Its company from his mind and pro
ceeded into dinner. As he was late
he dined alone on mildly warm chick
en-. greasy potatoes and muddy coffee
He was used often to worse fare
than this. and no complaint was even
thought of. After he had changed his
linen he took the road to the house
at the top of the hill. Now. then.
what sort of an affair was this going
to be, such as would bend G girl of
her bearing to speak to him on the
street, Moreover. at a momen when
he was playing a grownup child's
game? It could not be a joke. Women
never rise to such extravagant heights.
Pirates and treasures! He wouldn't
have been surprised at all had Old
Long John Silver hobbled out from
behind any one of those vine grown
fences and demanded his purse.
The street was dim, and more than
once he stumbled over a loose board
in fho Upp1an xyoIb re Tho nltu,t
had been the right kind of philanthro-
pist he would have furnished stone.
But. then, 1t was n thing to give q
country town something and another
to force the town council into accept
ing It. The lampposts. also of wood.
stood irregularly apart. often less than
a hundred feet. and sometimes more.
lighting nothing but their immediate
vicinity. Fitzgerald could see the
lamps plainly. but could separate none
of the objects round or beneath. That
is why he did not see the face of the
man who passed him In a hurry. He
never forgot a face If 1t were a mans.
His only difficulty was in placing it at
once.
Fitzgerald tramped on c%heerfully.
1t was not an unpleasant climb. only
dark. The millionaire's home seemed
to grow up u of a fine park. There
was a great iron fence inclosing the
grounds. and the lights on top Of the
gates set the dull red trunks of the
pines ALLOWING. There were no
lights shining in the windows Of the
pretty lodge. Still. the pedestrians
gate was ajar. He passed In. fully ex-
pecting to be greeted by the growl Of
a dog. Instead he heard mysterious
footsteps on the gravel He listened.
Some one was running.
Hello. therer" he called.
No answer. The sound eased The