Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-03-20

the inn, after inquiring my
plans for returning to town
he proposed that delay my departure
until the following day. What he
wanted, and he put it bluntly, was Il
friend ut court, and lis | had seeming
ly satisfied him of my entire good faith
and of my devotion to his interests he
begged that | prolong my stay in Miss
HOLSTERS house, giving as my excuse
the condition of the chimneys of Hope
field Manor He brushed aside my
plea of other engagements and appeal
ed to our old friendship. He was TAX.
ing his troubles hard. and | felt that
he really needed counsel and support
III the involved state of his affairs. |
did not see how my continued pres
ence under Miss HOLSTERS roof could
materially assist him, and the thought
of remaining there when there was ne
work to be done was repu@nant to my
sense of professional honor but he was
so persistent that | finally yielded.
While we ate luncheon | sought by
every means to divert his thoughts to
other channels. After we were seated
in the dining room four other men fol
lowed, exercising considerable care in
placing themselves as far from one an
other as possible. \ few moments lat
er a motor hummed into the driveway
and we heard it's owner ordering his
chauffeur to return to town and hold
himself subject to telephone call. This
nj ,,ln in, I I.,
dining room and. surveying the rest OF
us with a disdainful air, sought Il ia
bic in the remotest corner of the room.
Others appeared, until eight in all had
entered The presence of these men at
this hour, their air of alootneSS ana
the care they exercised in isOlating
themselves interested me. They APP
peared to he gentlemen. They were,
indeed, suggestive of the ampler met
ropolitan world. and one of them was
Enthusiastically Il foreigner
While Virgins appeared to ignore
them, l was conscious that he reviewed
the successive arrivals with every
manifestation of contempt. One of
these glum gentlemen seemed familiar.
/ could not at once recall him, but
something in his manner leased my
memory for moment before | placed
him. Then it dawned upon me that
he was the third man | had met in
the field overhanging the garden after
my eavesdropping experience the day
before. | thought it as well, however,
not to mention this fact, or to speak of
the man | had seen so grimly posted in
the midst of the cornfield. ] was an
observer, a locker on, at HOpefeld. and
my immediate business was the col
lecting of information
will you kindly tell me, Wiggy, who
these strange gentlemen are and just
what has brought them here at this
hour?"
Il know them-they are guests of the
inn. Most of them were more or less
companions in our procession across
Europe last summer. The one in the
tan suit is Henderson-you must have
heard of him. The short dark chap of
atrabilious countenance is John Stew
art Dick, who pretends to be philoso,
per. AS for the others
He dismissed them with a jerk of the
head. My wits struggled with his ex-
PLANTATION. 1t is my wish to reduce in
formation to plain terms.
Are these gentlemen, then, your ri
walls for the hand of Miss Cecilia Hol-
lister? If so, they are a solemn band
of SuitOrs, | must confess"
you have hit it. Ames They are
suitOIs, assembled from all parts Of the
world"
Nice looking fellows, except the
chap with the monoce, who has just
ordered rather more liquor than a gen
tleman should at thiv hour"
THAT is Lord Arrowood, have
feared at times that Miss Octavia IA
vored him"
Possibly, but not likely But how
long is this thing going 70 last? If
you fellows are going to hang on here
until Miss Cecilia HolIisler has chosen
one of you for her husband shud
der for your nerves | imagine that
any one of these gentlemen is likely to
begin shooting across his plate Mt any
minute. Such a situation would be
come intolerable very quickly if were
i'll the game and forced to lodge bore
Il hope replied Virgins with heat.
that YOU don't imagine these fellows
can crowd me out. I've paid for a
months lodging in advance. and If you
will stand by Inc I'm going to win
spoken like n man. my dear Wig
uiuSt You NAV count on me 10 the
sweet or bitter end even If l pull down
all the superb rLimneys with which
Pepperton adorned that house up you-
der"
He silently clasped my hand \ lit
tie later ! te'ephonel from the inn TO
my Office explaining uL a1sl4 g AID