The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-18

turned away as ClCUSSn to COuCedl AA embarrassment whose cause l could not surmise. When he spoke 1t was in a voice husky with emotion
 "Am & cad? Am beneath the contempt of decent peopleT
 "It's possible, Wiggy. that you are. Go on with it.''
 'FWeu, you know" he began dif1- dentIy, Cecilia hes a sister,
 grinned, but his scoWl brought me to myself again.
 "Yes. And her name is Hezekiah. The nanae pleases me.''
 "She was with Miss Octavia in her gallop over Europe, so I saw a good deal of her necessarily. She is young CT than Cecilia. She's a good deal of B kid-that sort that never grows up, you know"
 ''Just like her Aunt Octavia."
 ''Bah! Don't mention that woman. Hezektah is a very pretty girl, and suppose-weu. when you are thrown with a girl that way. seeing her con- stantly''-
 clapped my hand on his knee as the light began to dawn upon me.
 ''You old rascal! You don't need to add a single word. dare say you are guilty. I can see it in your eye. After waiting till you reached years of dis erection before beginning an attack upon womankind you began moving them down in platoons. So they come running now that you've got a start. Oh, Wiggy! And I believed you 1m- mune! And you're trying to drive 'em tandem.
 That you shameless wretch. would be sufficient reason for Miss Octavia's S aloofness-your double faced dealing
 
 pression that she is a wise woman. And Cecilia, I take it, may be deeply embarrassed by her sisters infatuati ton for you You certainly have made tangle of things, you heart wrecker. you conscienceless deceiFer! But where, may 1 ask. does this Hezekiah keep herseIfY'
 'iOh, she's with her father. They have a bungalow over the hills there. several miles from Hopefeld Manor"
 Well, 1 hope you are no longer toy ing with her affections. Of course you don't see her any more?'
 well" he mumbIed, q did see her this morning. But couldn't help it. It was the merest chance. I met her in the road when I was out taking a walk. She's always turning up. She's the most unaccountable young person"
 He rose and flung up his arms de spairingly. It was much easier to laugh at Wiggins than to be angry at him, but delivered the message which Ce- cilia had fntrusted to me. and this. I thought, might give him some comfort. '1She told you to see me?"
 ''She certainly did. I confess that my message doesn't seem luminous. but have feeling that she meant to H,- IxSv ing you time to disentangle yourself from the delectable Hezekiah's meshes. I can't eIucidate. I merely convey 1n- formation. But answer honestly if you can, has Cecilia ever refused you?''
 -'No.'' he replied grtmIy; she's never given me the chanceP'
 1 CHAPTER Vii.
 Meet Hezekiah.
 KW HIGGINS asked me to lunch ~ con, and on the way back to
 w the inn, after inquiring my
 plans for returning to town, he proposed that delay my departure until the following day. What he wanted, and he put it bluntly, was friend at court, and as had seeming Iy satisfied him of my entire good faith and of my devotion to his interests he 
 Hollister's 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 talk ing his troubles hard, and l felt that he really needed counsel and support in the involved state of his affairs. did not see how my continued pres ence under Miss Hollister's 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 I finally yielded.
 While we ate luncheon I sought by every means to divert his thoughts to other channels. After we were seated fin the dining room four other men foI- lowed, exercising considerable care In placing themselves as far from one an- other as possible. A few moments lat CT 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 a disdainful air, sought ta- ble in the remotest corner of the room. Others appeased, until eight in all had entered. The presence of these men at this hour, their air of aloofness and the care they exercised in isolatng themselves interested me. They ap- peared to be gentlemen. They were, indeed, suggestive of the ampler met ropolftan world, and one of them was unmistakabIy a foreigner.
 While Wiggins appeared to ignore them, l was conscious that he reviewed the successive arrivals with every manifestation of contempt. One of these glum gentlemen seemed familiar. I could not at once recall him, but something in his manner leased my memory for a moment before placed him. Then it dawned upon me that