Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-05-01
need the sharp twinges Of aroused APP

enced the sharp twinges Of aroused ap-
petite.
Now you have it, and l hope you
are satisfied" said Lord 4Arrowood.
Kindly allow me to retire by the way
I came"
"First," l replied. sobered by the
| gravity of his manner, 1T would inter-
est me as IL student Of character to
know just what species of pie lured
you to this burglarious deed"
II have reason to think" he nswer-
ed, with tears in his eyes, that it is a
gooseberry. was hungry. if you must
know the truth. and. having sampled
the old lady's pies this morning. with
nothing to eat since. l saw the coal
hole open and ladder beneath. and
the rest of it was easy. If you and
the other chap hadn't chased me all
owe the estate I'd been off with my
pie and and no harm done. The old
lady's insane. you know. and has no
name Of use for pies. The house is
haunted in the bargain. When you
had about winded me down in the Gel
lar and cut me off from the ladder and
chased me up here the ghost took a
hand, and if you hadn't tripped me and
sat on me the spirits would certainly
have nailed me. o Lord, what a night"
You are sure you speak the truth
when you say that the coal hole was
open and that you found the ladder
there when you came?"
mo manner Of doubt Of it. AS l
have already said, 1 believe you to be
certain condolences may pass that
wouldn't be possible between a gentle
man and those cattle do*n there"
He jerked his head scornfully to in
dictate the suitors below.
l bowed with such dignity as is pos
sible when addressing a nobleman
whom you lave just caught in the act
Of lifting a gooseberry pie from a lady's
pantry-a pie which you hold perforce
in your hands.
"The fact is that I was without the
price of food. and. to repeat, l was
beastly hungry"
Poverty and hunger, my lord. are
%pardonable sins. but g%ooseberry pas
tries are sacred to Hezekiah. My i'm
pressions of Hezekiah are the pleas
ATTEST. and l cannot allow you to in
t~ervene between her and the pie 1 hold
in my hands. If you will accompany
me below l will undertake to gain &C.
cess to the pie vault. return this pie
to it's proper place and hand you at
the foot Of the ladder an apple pie in
place Of it. / dare say it never will be
missed, but from what I know of
Hezekiah any trifing with her appe-
tite would be a crime indictable at
common law"
His lordship seemed treasured, and
we were about to descend by the con-
cealed stair when he arrested me.
"Mr. Ames. you are a gentleman and
possess a generous heart. We under
stand each other perfectly, and as
have every reason to believe that my
suit is hopeless l ask the loan of SIS
until 1 can confer with my friend. the
British consul at New York. I shall
sail at once for England
He stepped down before me into the
ludlh Sldll W dN. anu 4 NlOoCo LAC uOOA
after me and followed him. l found
my way to the pie pantry without diff
fculty. returned the %gooseberry pie to
it's proper shelf, chose an apple pie
and gave it. with a five dollar note, to
Lord Arrowood.
At the bottom of the ladder he press
ed my hand feelingly and expressed his
gratitude in terms that would have
touched a harder heart than mine.
Then, having closed the coal hole and
hidden the ladder under a pile of wood,
l resumed my pursuit Of the ghost.
1 lighted my way with a candle
through the lost chambers Of the old
house, up the hidden stairway and out
into the fourth floor hall again. The
l old stair. l found on closer observation,
reached only from the second to the
e fourth floor. and below this had been
pieced with lumber carefully preserved
from the earlier house. There was
l nothing so strange, after all, about the
g hidden stairway, though I was con.
F? WINGED that this had been no idea OF
Pepperton's. but that he had merely
IODGYou Iuc OTuCIS VI 1lS CICClIAAS LII
t ent, the umbrella and dyspepsia cure
millionaire.
had no sooner let myself through
the secret door into the upper hall than
9 I was aware Of a disturbance in the
library below. I heard EXPLANATIONS
j. from the men, and as I ran down to-
o ward the third floor Miss Octavia's
voice rose above the tumult.
1--WE must have patience. gentlemen.
Chimneys are subject to moods just
t like human beings, and we are fortu'
nate in having in the house a gentle.
8 man who is an expert in such matters"
q "If you wait for that man to mend
q your chimney you will wait until
d%oomsday."
So spake John Stewart Dick, taking
9 his vengeance of me with my client
I and hostess. I might have forgiven
him. but I could not forgive Hartley
Q Virgins.
HE doesn't know any more about