The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-12-03

into place. There was another click. The
incident was closed.
A very few words are sufficient to cover
the expedition in quest Of the legendary
treasures Of the long dead BArons. Mr..
Bangs accompanied us. Britton carried . Ian
tern and the three Schmicks went along as
guides. We found nothing but cobwebs.
Conrad" said l, as we emerged from the
last Of the underground chambers, "tell me
the truth: was there ever such Q thing Is
buried treausure in this abominable holef'
Eyes, moin herr, he replied, with an apol'
ogetic grin, "but 1 think it was discovered
three years ago by Count Hohendahl and
Count Tarnowsy.'
We stared at him. 1.-THE deuce you sayi'
cried I, with a quick glance At the Countess
She appeared to be a. much surprised
as I.
"They searched for ; month"; explained
the old man, guilty. '"They found some
thing in the walls of the second tier. I can
not say what it was, but they were very, very
happy, my LADY, He now addressed her.
1T was at the time they went away and did
not return for three weeks, if you remember
the time
Remember itl' she cried bitterly. '"Too
well, Conrad" She turned to me. 1--WE had
been married less than two months, Mr..
Smart"
1 smiled rather grimly. Count Tarnowsy
appears to have had a great run Of luck in
those days" 1t was a mean remark and
regretted it instantly. To my surprise she
smiled-perhaps patiently-and Immediately
afterwnrd invited Mr.. Bangs and me to dine
with her that evening. She also asked Mr..
Poopendyke later on.
Poopendykei An amazing, improbable idea
entered my head. PooPendykel
The next day I was very busy, preparing
for the journey by motor to the small station
down the line where / was to meet Mrs.
Titus and her sons. 1t seemed to me tina.
every one who knew anything whatever about
the arrangements went out Of his way to fill
my already rattle Drained bad with advice.
| was advised to be careful at least one
hundred times; first in regard to the run.
ming of the car, then as to road directions,
tben as to the police. then as 70 the identity
of the party | was to pick up; but more Of
ten than anything else, l was urged to be rs
expeditions as possible and to look out for
my tires.
In order to avoid suspicion, I rented a big
German touring car for a whole month, pay
ing down a lump sum of twelve hundred
marks in advance. On Thursday morning |
took it out for a spin, driving it myself part
OF the time, giving the wheel to Britton the
remainder.
(The year before l had toured Europe
pretty extensively in q car Of the same make,
driving alternately with Britton, who be
sides being an excellent valet was a chauf-
four nf M ahi1ifu having enrynd o Top-
don actress for two years or more, which ma
turally meant that he had been required to do
a little of everything.)
We were to keep the car in a garage across
the river, drive it ourselves and pay for the
up keep. We were therefore quite free to
come and 80 as we pleased, without the re
hottest chance Of being questioned. In fact, |
l intimated that I might indulge in a good
bit of joy-riding if the fine weather kept up.
Just before leaving the castle for the ferry
trip across the river that evening, I was con
siderably surprised to have at least a dozen
brand new trunks delivered at my landing
stage. It is needless to say that they turned
out to be the property of Mrs. Titus, ex-
pressed by grande v%itesse from som vague
city in the north Of Germany. They all bore
the name Smart, U. S. A." painted in large
white letters on each end, and l was given to
understand that they belonged to my own
dear mother, who at that moment, ! I'm con-
WINGED, was sitting down to luncheon in the
provided her habits were ~ reg.
ular as l remembered them to be.
/ set forth with Britton at nine o'clock, In
3 drixzling rain. There had besn NO rain for
. month. The farmers, the fruit-raisers, the
Of grapes and all the birds and
Of the field had been begging for rain
for weeks. No doubt they rejoiced in the
steady downpour that came at hslf-psst nine,
but what must have been their Joy at ten
when the very floodgatcs Of heaven opened
and loose all the damned waters Of July
md August (and perhaps some that was be-
ing saved up for the approaching September 1
have never known it to rain SO hard as it
did on that Thursday night in August, nor
nave I ever ceased %reviling the fate that in.
stituted, on the very next day, q second sea
son Of drought that lasted for nearly six
weeks.
But we went bravely through that terrible
torn, Britton and ], and the vehement Mer'
,edes, up hill and down, over ruts and rocks,
across bridges and under them, s~ozzling and
and splashing in the path of great
white lights that rushed ahead Of US through
The gloom. At ~half-past eleven o'clock we .
we're skidding over the cobblestones of tho
streets l have ever known, careeniug
ike q drunken sailor but not half as surely,
for the Staatshahnhof, to which we had
been directed by an object in a ~raincoat who
must have been q policeman but who looked
more like a hydrant.
''Britton, - said I, YEARLY, ''have you ever
,een anything like it," Ia