Perth Amboy evening news., 1913-02-11


breathing hard from his late exertions.
Lord Arrowood Of Arrowood. Hants,
England. obeyed me. There were i've
buttons to the close biting jacket, and
the ioosening of every succeeding one
seemed to give hun pain. Then, with
his head slightly lifted as though In
disdHin Of me. he held out for my OBJ
%serration q pie. In the pan In which It
had been baked. The top crust was
Drowned TO a nicely. Its edges were
rrtmped neatly, and. In spite of the fact
thut I Ind go lately dined sumptuously
at Miss HOLSTERS hospitable board. at
sight Of this alluring pastry | expert
| enced the sharp twinges OF aroused ap-
petite.
Now you have 1t, and l hope you
are satisfied" said Lord Arrowood.
kindly allow me to retire by the way
! cnme."
First" ] replied. sobered by the
gravity of his ann 1T would inter
est ME as n student of character to
knou Just what species OF pie lured
| you to this burgiarious deed"
Il have reason to think" he answer
ed. with tears In his eyes, that 1t is q
gooseberry. ! was hungry. II you must
know the truth. and. having sampled
the old tady's pies this morning. with
nothing to eat since. I saw the coal
hole open and ladder beneath. and
the rest Of 1t was easy. II you and
the other chap hadn't chased me all
over the estate Id been off with my
pie and and no harm done. The old
lady's insane. you know, and has no
manner 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 II you hadn't trlpped me and
sat on me the spirits would certainly
have nailed me. . Lord. what n night"
You are sure you speak the truth
when you say that the coal hole was
open and that yon found the ladder
there when you Gamer"
mo manner Of doubt OF ii. AS l
have already said. | believe you to be
a gentleman. and between gentlemen
certain condolences may pass that
wouldn't be possible between a gentle
man and those cattle down 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 ha We Just caught in the act
Of lifting a gooseberry pie from a lady's
Pantry-a pie which you hold perGorce
in your hands.
1.-THE fact Is that I was without The
price of food. and, to repeat. l was
beastly hungry"
Poverty and hunger. my lord. ere
pardonable sins. but EooSeberry pas
tries are sacred TO Hezekiah. My i'm
| pressions OF Hezekfah are the pleas
ATTEST, and | cannot allow you to in
tervene between her and the pie / bold
Ia my hands. If you will accompany
me below | will undertake to gain ac-
cess to the pie vault. return this pie
to its 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 | know of
Hezekiah amy triding with her appe-
tite would be a crime indictable al
common law"
His iordship 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 n generous heart. We under
stand each other perfectly. and as
ha every reason to believe that my
suit is hopeless l ask the loan Of S.
until I can confer with my friend. the
British consul at New York. l shall
sail at once for England"
He stepped down before me into the
dark stairway. and l closed the door
after me and followed him. | found
my way to the pie pantry without diff
acuIty. returned the g~ooseberry pie to
its proper shelf. chose an apple pie
and gave II. with a Ave dollar note. to
Lord Arrowood.
At the bottom Of the ladder he press
ed my hand feeiingiy and expressed his
gratitude in terms that would have
touched a harder heart thar mine.
Then, having closed the coal hole INK
hidden the ladder under q pile OF WOOD
| resumed my pursuit Of the ghost.
l lighted my way with n candle
through the lost chambers OF the Old
house. up the hidden stairway and on
into the fourth floor hall again. Tho
old stair. l found on closer observation
reached only from the second to the
fourth floor. and below this had been
| piecsd with lumber carefully preserved
from the earlier house. There was
nothing 80 strange. after all, about the
hidden stairway. though ] was con
WINGED that this had been nc idea OF
pepperton's. but that he had merely
obeyed the orders Of his eccentric Gil
ent. the umbrella and dyspepsia cure
millionaire.
had no sooner let myself through
the secret door into the upper hall than
| was aware Of a disturbance IN the
library below. I heard examinations
| from the men. md rs ! ran down to
ward the third door Miss Oetayia's
yoice rose above the tumult.
I'VE must have patience. gentlemen
Chimneys are subject to moods Just
| like human beings. snd we are FORTH
| nate In having In the II a gentle
| man who is an expert In such matters
.,ys -. .rofk FOR thut man TO mend