The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-06-26

THE BOTTINEAU COURANT, BOT
even IL existence, much less expected
by train Or motor Or Shanks' mare?
Well. she's here, SO there's the end Of
our mystery"
Barnes was slow In replying. BE
was doubling his own ears It was not
conceivable that an ordinary-or even
an extraordinary-lady's maid could
have possessed the exquisite voice and
manner Of his chance acquaintance OF
the day before, or the temerity to
order that sour.faced chauffeur about
as If The chauffeurl
"But / thought you said that MI.
Curtis chauffeur was moon-faced
and"
HE u.s. bedad," broke. in MI.
lO'Dowd, chuckling. 'That's what de-
ceived me entirely and no wonder. It
wasn't Peter at all, but the rapscallion
washer who went after her. He was
instructed to tell Peter to meet the
four O'Clock train, and the blockhead
forgot to give the order. Bedad, what
does he do but sneak out after her
himself, scared out Of his boots for
fear Of what he was to get from Peter.
! had the whole story from Mrs. Van
Dyke"
"Well, I'm tremendously relieved"
said Barnes slowly.
"And 80 am l." said ODowd with
conviction. II have seen the heroine
Of our busted romance. She's q good
looking girl. I'm not surprised that
she kept her veil down. II you were
to leave it to me, though, I'd say
that it's a sin to carry discretion so
far as all that. You see what ! mean,
don't you" 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 a most af.
fable, convincing chap, Mi. O'Dowd,
but I 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
a 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 b%urglarizins
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.
Il 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 uI
to the instant he encountered the
young woman at the crossroads. His
busy brain suddenly suffered the SHOCK
Of a distinct conclusion. Was she q
fellow conspirator? Was she the in:
side worker at Green Fancy in a well.
laid plan to rife the place?
Could it be possible that she was
the confederate Of these painstaking
agents who lurked with sinister pa
tience outside the very gates Of the
place called Green Fancy? =
His ramble 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 thick1y on the slope, and
they were unusually large. He pro.
gressed 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 q huge moss-covered rock
less than q hundred yards away. He
stared, and gradually 1t began to take
on angles and planes and recesses OF
the most astounding symmetry. On
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