Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-12-02
CHAPTER " lContinued.l

CHAPTER " (Continued.)
II declare, 1 thought you was lost.
Ar. Lester" she said. II vas just go
ing to send William to look for you.
Amt you most s~tarved?"
Scarcely starved. Mrs. Hargis," l
said, but with a very creditable APP
petite, when you consider that l ate
breakfast only two hours ago"
We'll. come right ill.," she said.
Your lunch is ready"
II suppose there's a telephone some
where about?" l asked, as 1 followed
her through the hall.
Yes. sir. in here" and she opened
the door into a little room fitted up as
a study. It's here Mr.. Godfrey works
sometimes"
THANK you," I said, 1--WE got to
call up the office. 1 won't be but a
minute"
1 found Godfrey's number stamped
on the cover of the telephone book.
and then called the office. AS I a
guessed, Swain was not yet back from
lunch. and 1 left word for him to call
me as soon as he came in. Then 1
made my way to the dining room,
where Mrs. Hargis was awaiting me.
How does one get out here from
New York. Mrs. Hargis?" I asked, as
I sat down. THAT is. If one doesn't
happen to a motor carr"
why. very easily, sir: Take the
III ASGIluG elcNdIcu W lIe Sllu VI lilc
line, Ii then the trolley. 1t runs along
Dryden Road, just two blocks over"
Where does one get off?"
AT Prospect street, sir"
And what is this place called?"
This is the old Bennett place, sir"
Mrs. Hargis.' / added. that l a
never tasted a better salad"
Her kindly old face flushed with
pleasure.
Its nice Of you to say that, sir"
she said. I'VE have our own garden,
It,"
II must go and see it," I said. I've
always fancied I'd like to potter around
in a garden. [ must see if Mr.. Godfrey
won't let me in on this"
H spends an hour in 1T every
morning. Sometimes he can hardly tear
hisself away. ] certainly do like Mr..
Godfrey"
so do l." l agreed heartily. Hes
a splendid fellow-one of the incest,
squarest men i ever met-and a friend
worth having"
He's all of that. sir" she agreed.
and stood for a moment, clasp
ing and unclasping her hands ner-
vously. as though there was some
thing else she wished to say But
she evidently thought better Of 1t.
Please ring if there's anything else
you want" and she left me to myself.
l had pushed back my chai n
was filling my pipe when the tele-
phone rang. 1t was Swain.
Swain" 1 said, this is Mr.. Lester.
I'm at a place up here in the Bronx,
and l want you to come up right
away"
Very good, sir" said Swain. HOY
do l get there?"
Take the Third avenue elevated to
the end of the line, and then the troll
ley which runs along the Dryden road.
Get off at Prospect street, walk two
blocks west and ask for the old Ben
nett place. I'll have an eye out for
you"
A right. sir" said Swain again.
DO you want me to bring some pa
pers, or anything"
mo; Just come as quickly as you
cam" l answered, and hung up.
1 figured that, even at the best, it
would take Swain an hour and a half
to make the journey, and l strolled
out under the trees again. Then the
thought came to me that 1 might as
well make a little exploration of the
neighborhood, and l sauntered out to
the road. Along it for some distance
ran the high wall which bounded Elm
hurst, and 1 saw that the wall had
been further fortified by ugly pieces
of broken glass set in cement along
it's top.
I could see a break in the wall,
about midway of it's length. and, walk
ing past, discovered that this was
where the gates were set-heavy
gates of wrought iron, very tall. and
~surmounted by sharp spikes. The
whole length of the wall was, 1
judged. considerably over a city
block, but there was no other opening
in 1t.
AT the farther end, it was bounded
by a cross road, and, turning along
this, l found that the wall extended
nearly the same distance in his di-
rection. There was an opening about
midway small opening, closed by a
heavy, ~iron-banded door-the servants
entrance, / told myself. The grounds
Of a row of houses facing the road
beyond ran up to the wall at the back,
and / could not follow it without at
tracing notice. but I could see tina
there was no break in it. 1 was al
most certain that the wall which
closed the estate on Godfrey's side was
also unbroken. There We're, then, only
two entrances.
l walked back again to the front,
and paused for a glance through the
gates. But there was nothing to be
seen. The driveway parted and curved
away out of sight in either direction,
and a dense mass of ~shrubbery oppo-
site the gate shut off any view of the
grounds. Even of the house, there was
nothing to be seen except the CHM
neys and one gable. Evidently, Mr..
Vaughn was fond of privacy. and had
spared no pains to secure it.
Opposite the Vaughn place, a strip
of woodland raj back from the road.
1t was dense with underground, and, I
reflected, would form an admirable
hiding place. The road itself seemed
little Travelled, n l judged that the
main artery of traffic was the road
along which the trolley al two blocks
away
L returned to my starting point, and
assured myself that the wall on that
side was indeed without a break.
Some vines had started up it here and
there, but, for the most part, it doomed
grey and bleak, w along it's
whole length by that threatening line
Of broken glass. | judged it to be IL
feet high, so that, ever without the
glass, it would be impossible for any
one to get over it without assistance.
AS I stood there looking at it, resent
ing the threat of that broken glass, and
%pondering the infirmity of character
which such a threat revealed, it sud-
denly struck me that the upper part