The Yale expositor., 1919-06-05
"wel, Tn tremendously relieved,

"Weli, I'm tremendously relieved,
said Barnes slowly.
"And so am l." said ODowd will
conviction. 81 have seen the heroine
of our busted romance. She's good
looking girl. I'm not surprised that
she kept her veil down. If you were
to leave it to me, though, I'd say
that It's sin TO carry discretion so
far as all that. You see what mean.
don't your" His rich laugh came over
the wire.
Perfectly. Thank you for letting
me know. My mind is at rest. Cool
by" AS he hung up the receiver he
said to himself, you are a most az
fable. convincing chap. Mr.. ODOwd.
but I don't believe q 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 burglarlzing
Green Fancy were IL 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 reconstructed,
1t 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 tho
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
fellow consplrator? Was she the In
side worker at Green Fancy in a WELL
laid plan to rifle the place?
Could II be possible that she was
the confederate of these painstaking
agents who lurked with sinister pa
thence 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 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 habit
tatiOn, no indication that hE1 had
ever penetrated so far into the forest.
AS he was on the point Of vetraclng
his steps toward the road us gaze
fell upon huge moss-cOvered rock
less than a hundred yards away. Fla
stared and gradually ii began to take
on angles and planes and reeesses OF
the most astounding symmetry. Un'
der his widening gaze it was trans.
formed into 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 1t was
called Green Fancy. It's surroundings
were no greener than itself; 1t seemed
to melt into the foliage, to become
part of the natural landscape. MoAn.
tain Ivy literally enveloped it. Ex
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 unchangink
forest. And II was place of huge
dimensions, low and long and ram
bling.
"'Gad," he said to himself, "whai
manner Of crank Is he who would
bury himself like this? OF all the
crazy Ideas l ever"
His reflections ended there. A WON
an crossed his vision woman stroll
Ing slowly toward hln through the In
tricate avenues of the wildwood.