Graham guardian., 1913-05-09

! ness, but to my surprise Miss HolliSter
evinced no hlterest whatever in the
matter. Her tone and manner implied
that the condition Of her chimneys was
wholly negligible.
There is no haste, Mr.. Ames. /
have suffered all my life from the i'll
considered and hurried work of pro
| fessional men. AS for my chimneys, l
beg that you give me the result of your
most serious deliberations. At this
| hour ride. Cecilia, will you dress i'm.
medIately and accompany meT'
She disappeared at once, and stared
mutely after her. am by no means
an idler. and this cool Indifference to
| the value Of my time would ordinarily
have enraged me, but believe laugh
| ed, and when | turned to Cecilia l
| found her smiling.
| "rm glad, Mr.. Ames, that you are
person of humor. 1t is no joke that
my aunt is believer in thoroughness,
and one of these days when she Is
ready to talk OF chimneys she will
subject you to most rigid examina-
| uon."
"One Of these days? Why, j have
looked at the timetable, and 1t is my
present intention to take the 1908
| into town. | have appointments at
my office for the afternoon. | assure
you, Miss Holister, that I'm a man of
engagements, particularly at this sea-
SON"
remembered what Jewett had told
me of Fortner, the painter, and his
detention Mt Newport by Miss Octavia
! Hollister. | had no intention of being
immured in any such fashion, and l
was about to protest further when
Cecilia took step toward me and
after glance at the door spoke in a
low tone and with great earnestness.
"Mr. Ames, ! have every reason to
believe that YOU are gentleman, and
In that confident belief I'm going to
ask favor of you. You have said
that you know Hartley Virgins WE'LL"
II know no man better. You might
not have inferred 1t from his manner
last night. but he was undoubtedly
surprised and embarrassed by my
presence and did not act quite like
himself"
81 think | understand the cause of
that. IL ! should ask you to see him
today and give him a message for me
could you do so?''
at will be an honor to serve you
and a very simple matter, as l should
see him on my own account If he is
still in the neighborhood."
HE is doubtless at the Prescott
Arms. My message is q verbal one.
Please urge him not to make any ef-
fort to see me and not to call here
again. But at the same time, as the
chimney smoked just as we were
about to be left alone last night,
think--I think"-she Eesitated mo-
ment--"you may say that his interests
have not been jeopardized by his te-
merity in calling" .--~
In her pause before concluding this
curious commission her eyes searched
mine deeply, and | felt that she had
not lightly ntrusted me with this
singular errand. Her dark eyes held
mine an instant after she had spoken.
Then she smiled. and her face showed
relief.
ASK for anything you want. Aunt
Octavia 6espises motors, so there's no
car here, but you will find plenty of
horses and traps. Order whatever
pleases you. ! shall expect to meet
you at dinner If not Mt luncheon, and
so"--she smiled again--"will Aunt Oc-
tayia."
She nodded to me from the door, and
| heard her running lightly upstairs!
Left to my own devices l rang the
bell and ordered the library fire extin-
guished and the hearth cleaned. This
required little time, but the house
man obeyed me readily, and soon,
clad in my professional overails and
jumper, was going carefully over the
f1ue whose behavior had been so unac-
countable the previous night. Guided
by the servant, l inspected the three
fireplaces In the upper chambers that
were served by fiues in this chimney
and finally dropped my torch and
plumb line from the chimney pot.
Never In all my experience had seen
better fiues. But l had the ashes
thrown out Of the dump in the cellar
and found the chute IN perfect order.
I learned hy inquiry that the other
aues worked perfectly, but ! never
rheless scrutinized them carefully
My freedom Of the house afforded an
excellent opportunity for study Of
Its beautiful construction, 1t was
modern IN every sense, with no dark,
mysterious corners In which COLLINS
might lurk.
My professional labors were finished.
was quite ready for Miss HOLSTERS
most searching inquiries. AS for the
library tlue, had decided that Il little
care il piling the logs in the hearth
would obviate the possibility of any
recurrence of the difficulty And
thereupOn hurried to my rcom and
after tub tmy vocation encouraged
frequent tubbtngl chose from the sta
bic n neat trap for one horse. Thus
equipped set out to find Virgins at
the Prescott Arms.