The weekly times-record., 1913-09-04

EN-" he asserted doggedly. "hn, 'a.
lieve you to be gentleman"
II thank you. Lord Arrow" :
this mark of confidence. " Ol">
coat! I declare that even II you
lifted a bit Of the Hollister plate viii
let you g0."
Reluctantly. shamefacedly and still
breathing hard from his late exertions.
Lord Arrowood Of Arrowood. Hants.
England. obeyed me. There were Ave
buttons to the close fitting jacket, and
the loosening Of every succeeding one
seemed to give him pain. Then, with
his head slightly lifted as though IN
disdain Of me, he held out for my ob-
servahon pie. in the pan in which it
aud been baked. The top crust was
drowned to q nicely. Its edges were
rrimped neatly, and. in spite Of the fact
that had so lately dined sumptuously
1t Miss HOLSTERS hospitable board. at
sight Of this alluring pastry | expert
enced the sharp twinges of aroused ap-
petite.
Now you have it. and hope you
are satisfied" said Lord ArrOwOod.
KINDLY allow me to retire by the way
l came"
First" l replied. sobered by the
gravity of bis manner, 1T would inter-
est me as a student of character to
know just what species Of pie lured
you to this burglarious deed"
II have reason to Think" he answer
ed. with tears in his eyes. that it is a
gooseberry. was hungry. II you must
know the truth. and. having sampled
the old lady's pies this morning. with
nothing to eat since, saw the coal
hole open and ladder beneath, and
the rest Of It was easy. II you and
the other chap hadn't chased me all
over the estate I'd been of with my
2te 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 OF from the ladder and
chased me up here the ghost took
hand. and II 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
have already said. believe you to be
q gentleman, and between gentlemen
certain condolences may pass that
wouldn't be possible between gentle
man and those cattle down there"
He. jerked his head scornfully to In.
dicate the suitors below.
bowed With such dignity as is pos
sible when addressing nobieman
whom you have just caught in the act
Of lifting gooseberry pie from lady's
pantry-a pie which you hold perforce
in your hands.
THE fact is that l was without the
price Of food. and, to repeat, was
beastly hungry" ....'.
Poverty and hunger, my lord. are ],
pardonable sins. but gooseberry pas
tries are sacred to Hezekiah. My i'm
pressions Of Hezekiah are the pleas
ATTEST. and l cannot allow you to in
tervene between her and the pie hold
In my hands. II 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 any trifing with her appe-
dte would be crime indictable at
common law"
His lordship seemed reassured, 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 IS
until 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 closed the door
after me and followed him. found
my way to the pie pantry without diff
6culty. returned the gooseberry pie to
its proper shelf, chose an apple pie
and gave II. with 6ve 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 harder heart than mine.
Then. having closed the coal hole and
hidden the ladder under pile Of wood.
resumed my pursuit Of the ghost
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
old stair, found on closer observation.
reached only from the second to tho
fourth floor, and below this had been
pieced with lumber carefully preserved
from the earlier house. There was
nothing so strange. after all, about the
hidden stairway. though I was con-
vinced that this had been no idea OF