The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-08-14
GREEN FANCY
By George Barr McCutcheon
George Barr McCutcheon
CHAPTER XIV.

.sss CHAPTER XIV.
4 Flight 4 stone-c utter's shed, and =.
Voice Outside.
why have you COME up hereT" She
came swiftly to his side.
sThank the Lord, ! made It." he
whispered, breathlessly. II came up
because there was nowhere else to go.
/ thought / heard voices-a man and
q woman speaking. They seemed to
be quite close to me. Don't be
alarmed, Miss Cameron. I am conf
dent that I cam"
::And now that you are here, trapped
as / am, what do you purpose to do7
You cannot escape. Go back before It
is too late"
us Sprouse-where is he?"
'He is somewhere In the house. I
was to wait until he-Oh, Mr.. Barnes,
IL am terrified. You will never know
the" y. s
'Trust him." he said. "He is a mar
vel. Wen be safely out of here in a
little while, and then it will all look
simple to you. You are ready to go?
Good! Sit down, do! If he doesn't
return in a minute or two, I'll take a
look about the house myself. I don't
intend to desert him. I know this floor
pretty well, and the lower one. The
stairs IRE"
"But the stairway is closed at the
bottom by a solid steel curtain. It is
made to look like a panel in the wall.
You are not to venture outside this
room, Mr.. Barnes. / forbid it. You"
"How did Sprouse get out? You said
your door was locked"
HE had a key. I do not know
where he obtained" :
skeleton key, such as burglars use.
BY Jove, what a wonderful burglar he
would make! Courage, Miss Cameron!
He will be here soon. Then comes. the
real adventure-my part Of it. I didn't
come here tonight to get any f1ashy old
crown jewels. ]. came to take you out
Of"
'sYou-you know about the crown
jewels7' she murmured. Her body
seemed to stifen. 'aThen you know
who / amt"
mo. You will tell me tomorrow"
Eyes. yes-tomorrow," she whis-
pered. -.
For some time there was silence.
Both were listening intently for sounds
In the hall. She leaned closer to whis-
per In his ear. Their shoulders
touched. He wondered If she expert
enced the same delightful thrill that
ran through his body. She told him Of
the nan who watched across the hall
from the room supposed to be occupied
by Loeb the secretary, and Of
Sprouse's incomprehensible daring.
"Where is Mr.. Curtis?' he asked.
Her breath famed his cheek, her
lips were close to his ear. "There-i is
mo MI. Curtis here. He died four
months ago in Florida"
II suspected as much" He did not
press her for further revelations.
"Eprouse should be here by this time.
4 must go out there and e II he re-
Quires any" - sq 2 g.
She clutched his arm frantically.
'You shall do nothing of the kind. You
shall not" ~ SSH.
"Sh! What do you take me for.
Miss Cameron He may be sorely in
need Of help. Do you think that !
would leave him to God knows what
sort OF fate3" 49,.
"But he said positively that I was to
90 in case he did not return INN If
teen minutes" she begged. HE may
have been cut of and was compelled
to escape from another"
"Just the same, I've got to see what
has become Of"
"Nol Mop She arose with him,
Dragging at his arm. "Do not be fool.
hardy. You are not skilled at"
saThere is only n way to stop me.
Miss Cameron. II you will come with
me now
.But / must know whether he co
cured the"
Then let me go. ] Will nnd out
whether he has succeeded"
He was rougher than he realized II
wrenching his arm free. She uttered 9
low moan and covered her face with
her hands. Undeterred, he crossed t.
Tie door. His hand was on the knob
when Z door slammed violently some
where In q distant part Of the house.
4 hoarse shout Of alarm rang ont
and then the rush sof, heavy feet ove'
thiGkiy 9ecaip9ted ihoors.
BarnasSfactadfwith lGAtning 6Wift
ness He sprang to the open window
h~alf-carrying, half-dragging the gir
with.him.
His feet touched the ground. n ths
twinkling Of an eye he picked her up
n his arms and bolted across the lit
tie grass pot into tie shrubbefy. She
taid not utter q sound
Presently he set her down. Hls
breath was gone, his strength *
AAn~0&na Ee 55ts8sH 8 @N H 65&