The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1913-08-07

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
In the involved state of his affairs l
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 no
work to be done was repugnant to my
sense of professional honor, but he was
SO persistent that finally yielded.
While we ate luncheon l 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 us far from one an
other as possible. A few moments lat
er a motor hummed into the driveway,
and we heard its owner ordering his
chauffeur to return to town and hold
himself subject to telephone call This
latest arrival appeared shortly in the
dining room and. surveying the rest OF
us with disdainful air, sought 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 aloofness and
the care they exercised in isolating
themselves interested me. They ap-
peared to be gentlemen. They were,
indeed. suggestive of the ampler met
ropolitan world. and one Of them was
Enthusiastically a foreigner.
While Virgins appeared to ignore
them, i was conscious that he reviewed
the successive arrivals with every
manifestation of contempt. One OF
these glum gentlemen seemed familiar.
could not ut once recall him. but
something in his manner teased my
memory for a 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 we'll. however,
not to mention this fact, or to speak of
the man had seen so grimly posted III
the midst Of the cornfield. was an
observer. locker on, ut 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 N 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 q philoso-
per. As for the others
He dismissed them with 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 solemn band
of suitors, must confess"
"You have hit it, Ames. They are
suitors, assembled from all parts Of the
world"
Nice looking fellows. except the
chap with the monocle, who has just
ordered rather more liquor than gen
tleman should at this 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 to last? II
you fellows are going to hang on here
until Miss Cecilia HOLSTER 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 at any
minute. Such a situation would be-
come intolerable very quickly If ! were
in the game and forced to lodge here"
Il hope" replied Virgins with heat.
''that you don't imagine these fellows
can crowd me out. I've paid for
months lodging in advance, and If you
will stand by me I'm going to win"
Spoken like man, my dear Wig
gins! You may count on me to the
sweet or bitter end, even If pull down
all the superb chimneys with which
Pepperton adorned that house up yon-
der"
He silently clasped my hand. A lit
tie later telephoned from the inn to
my Office explaining my absence and
instructing my assistant to visit sew
eral pressing clients. and instructed
the valet at the Hare and Tortoise to
send me weeks supply Of linen and
an odd suit or two.
At about 8 o'clock I left Virgins In
first rate spirits and set out on my re-
turn to Honefield Manor.
ITO ne conrlnued.}
! CASTORIA
Pr Infanfa and Children.