Graham guardian., 1913-07-18

| er gentlemen al the prescott Arms
were farng Ny question was par,
tally answered second later as we
passed the road tl,at forked off TO the
iun On II stone. by the roadside sat
Lord Arrowood. desoIately guarding a
Kit bag and Il suit case. He was dress.
ed in shabby Norfolk Iacket aud
knirkerbocEerS ana sucked pipe.
| mdc the driver pause and greeted
! the nobleman atfabfy.
Can give you a lift? You seem to
he bound for the station. and I'm TAX
] ing train myself"
mo, thanks" he replied sharply.
They're u lot Of hounders.- bounders.
| say
"Ah! or whom do you speak Lord
Arrowoody" | asked, glancing at my
watch
"'rhose scoundrels at the inn They
have thrown me out thrown me out
me-" .
Hard lines, for fact, but If you
are interested In trains
II refuse to leave the county," he
shouted IF they think they're going
to get rid of me they're mistaken
Boundprs say. boundersr
He uttered this opprobrious term
with great bitterness and crossed his
legs, rs though to emphasize his per.
manence upon the bUwldpr. Patience
on Il monument Is not more eternally
planted He seemed in no mood for
conversation. so sped on, with no
time to lose
| gained the step of the chair car at
tached TO the 1918 with some loss of
dignity, the porter yanking me aboard
under the conductors scofnfui eye.
The Katonah passengers were still In
the aisle. and as surveyed them |
saw Cecilia take seat in the middle
of the car She was Just unfolding
newspaper when moved to seat
behind her and hade her good morning
The look she gave me in turning
round had in II something of Hezeki.
abs quizzicaI humer. This interested
me. because | had not previously seen
any but the most superficial resem.
blance between the sisters. Her cheeks
were aglow from her sprint on the
wheel
I'VE are both truants You must
have breaEfasted in a hurry to have
caught this train,
Not all. enjoyed brief converse.
tion with your sister, and after she
had gone your aunt came back and
fingered for moment"
"She told you. suppose, that Provi.
dence would look after the servant
question, I'm going to assist provi.
dence u little .
"You become the yicaress of Provi.
dence? admire your spirit"
Its mere self preservation. Aunt
Octavia would have me chained to the
kitchen If ! didn't do something about
it."
She had permitted me to settle with
the conductor. and when had COM
pleted this transaction | found that she
had drawn from her purse the little
silver booklet about which Miss Octa-
via had inquired so anxiously, She rails
ed her eyes with the faraway look in
them.
Can you tell me how to spell Ar
rowood-is it one or two wsY
Zone | think the noble lord uses"
She seemed to write the name, and
| saw her counting on her fingers,
touching them lightly on the open page
of the book.
Then she dropped 1t into her purse,
which she thrust back carefully into
her Eocket. She sighed and was silent.
| gave her In detail the story OF the
ghost, and my recital seemed 10 nmGSe
her greatly.
you thought It was Aunt Oytuvia
herself at first, then you thought | was
the spook, and now you are not fully
persuaded that it is not my father |
will take you into my confidence This
far-that don't know how father gut
into the house last night. He wrote a
note asking me to meet him on the
roof and bring the foils. That was not
unlike him, as he is the dearest father
in the world, and his whims are just
as jolly in their way as Aunt Ortavia's.
| was sure that Aunt Octayia had re-
tired for the night, SO | changed my
dress and carried the foils up through
the trunk ROOM | had hardly reached
there before my father appeared. The
whole sltuation-my being there and
all that-has distressed father.
You think" she asked, that those
lights couldn't have winked out twice
by themselves while you were on the
stairway?" II
81 am positive of it. And somebody
"A being of some sort-passed me on
the stairway. 1t might imaginably
have been you"
"But tell you positively 1t was not"
"Then 1t might have been your father
A man who can enter q house at will
might easily play any manner Of other
tricks His disappearance after bad
gone down into the house with him
was just as mysterious as the ghost"
at was natural for father not to want
you to know how be got in. The mo-
tive for that would be the fact that he |
Is not supposed TO see me or communi- |