Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1919-08-23

''Wer, I'm tremendously relieved, ?
said Barnes slowly.
"And so am l." said O'Dowd with
conviction. Il have seen the heroine
Of our busted romance. She's a good
looking girl Tn not surprised that
she kept her veil down. If you were
to leave 1t to me, though, I'd say
that it's sin to carry discretion so
far as all that. You see what I mean,
don't youT" His rich laugh came over
the wire.
perfectly. Thank you for letting
me know. MY mind is at rest. Good
by" As he hung up the receiver he
said to himself, "YOu are most af-
fable, convincing chap, Mr.. O'Dowd,
but don't believe a word you say.
That woman is no lady's maid, and
you've known all the time that she
was there"
At four o'clock he set out alone for
tramp up the mountain road in
which the two men had been shot
down. His mind was quite clear.
Room and Paul were not ordinary rob-
bers. They were, no doubt, honest
men. He would have said that they
were thieves bent on burglarizing
Green Fancy were it not for the dis
closures of Miss Thackeray and the
very convincing proof that they were
not shot by the same man.
1t was not beyond reason-indeed,
it was quite probable-that they were
trying to cross the border; in that
event their real operations would be
confined to the Canadian side Of the
line. He could not free himself of the
suspicion that Green Fancy possessed
the key to the situation. Room and his
companion could not have had the
slightest interest in his movements up
to the instant he encountered the
young woman at the crossroads. His
busy brain suddenly suffered the shock
of distinct conclusion. Was she a
fellow cOnspirator? Was she the in
side worker at Green Fancy in we'll
laid plan to rifle the place?
the confederate of these painstal1ing
agents who lurked with sinister pa
thence outside the very gates of che
place called Green Fancy?
His Tamble carried him far beyond
the spot where Rooms body was found
and where young Conley had come
upon the tethered horses. His eager,
curious gaze swept the forest to the
left of the road in search of Green
Fancy. Overcome by a rash, daring
impulse, he climbed over the stake
and rider fence and sauntered among
the big trees which so far had OBJ
scured the house from view. The trees
grew very thickly on the slope, and
they were unusually large. He pro-
crossed deeper into the wood. At the
end of what must have been a mile
he halted. There was no sign Of habi-
tation, no indication that man had
ever penetrated so far into the forest.
AS he was on the point of retracing
his steps toward the road his gaze
fell upon a huge moss-covered rock
less than hundred yards away. He
stared, and gradually it began to take
on angles and planes and recesses of
the most astounding. symmetry, IN
der his widening gaze it was trans
formed into a substantial object of
cubes and gables and-yes, windows.
He was looking upon the strange
home of the even stranger Mr.. Cur
tis-Green Fancy.
Now he understood why it was
called Green Fancy. Its surroundings
were no greener than itself; it seemed
to melt into the foliage, to become a
part of the natural landscape. Noun
tain ivy literally enveloped it. FIX
posed sections of the house were paint
ed green; the doors were green; the
leafy porches and their columns, the
chimney pots, the window hangings-
all were the color Of the unchanging
forest. And it was a place of huge
dimensions, low and long and ram
bling.
"'Gad," he said to himself, "what
manner Of crank is he who would
bury himself like this? Of all the
crazy ideas I ever"
His reflections ended there. A WON,
an crossed his vision; q woman stroll
ing slowly toward him through the in,
tricate avenues of the wildwood.
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