Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1919-05-22

HuShcroft TOOK tne Wnole RHdir WIN
the Most Noteworthy Complaeeney.
more properly speaking a. if he were
doing Barnes n great favor in allowing
him to lend money to u person of his
Importance.
"a thought has just come to me,
my dear fellow" he remarked as they
arose from table. with the proper
kind of backing l could put over n
Of the most stupendous things the the
alter has known In fifty years. ! don't
mind saying to you-although It's
rather sub rOsa-that l have written q
playa fOur-act drama that will pack
the biggest house on Broadway to the
roof for as many months as we'd care
to stay, Perhaps you will allow me
to talk 1t over with you Il little later
on. You will be interested, I'm sure.
Egad, sir, I'll read the play to you.
Ill-What no, landlord. Have your
best automobile sent around to the
door as quickly as possible. A couple
of my men are going to Hornville to
fetch hither my"
"Just a minute" interrupted Put
nam Jones, wholly unimpressed. "A
man just called you up on the phone,
Mr.. Barnes. / told him you was en-
te%-taining royalty at lunch and
couldn't be disturbed. SO he asked
me to have you call him up as soon
as you revived. His words, not mine.
Call up Mr.. O'Dowd at Green Fancy.
Here's the number"
The mellow voice of the Irishman
soon responded to Barnes call.
II called you up to relieve your
mind regarding the young woman who
came last night" he said. "YOu OBJ
serve that l say Came She's quite
all right, safe and sound, and no cause
for uneasiness. l thought you meant
that she was coming here us a guest,
and so ] made the very natural mis-
take of saying she hadn't come at all,
at all. The young in question
is Mrs. Van Dykes maid, But, bless
me soul, how was l to know she was
even in existence, much less expected
by train or motor or Shanks' mare?
Well, she's here, so there's the end Of
u mystery"
Barnes was slow in replying. He
was doubling his own ears. II was not
conceivable that an Ordinary-or even
an ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 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 chauffeur!
"But l thought you said that Mr..
Curtis chauffeur was moon-faced
and"
"He is, bedad," broke in Mr..
O'DOwd, c~huckling. "That's what de-
ceived me entirely, and no wonder. 1t
wasn't Peter ut all, but the r%apscallion
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"
swell, I'm tremendously relieved
said Barnes slowly.
sand SO am l." said O'Dowd with
conviction. II have seen the heroine
Of our busted romance. She's u good.
looking girl. I'm not surprised that
she kept her veil down. If you were
to leave 1t to me, though, I'd say
that it's a sin to carry discretion SO
far us all that. You see what ! mean,
don't you?" His rich laugh came over
the wire.
perfectly. Thank you for letting
me know. Ny mind Is at rest. Good.
by" As he hung up the receiver he
said to himself, you are a most af-
fable, convincing chap, Mr.. O'DOwd,
but l 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-
bcrs. They were, no doubt, honest
men, He would have said that they
were thieves bent on burglarlzing
| Green Fancy were 1t 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,
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 the
| slightest interest in his movements up
to the instant he encountered the
young woma ut the crossroads. His
busy brain suddenly suffered the shock
of q distinct conclusion. Was she u
fellow conspirator? Was she the In
side worker at Green Fancy In u well.
laid plan to rifle the placer
Could It be possible that she was
| tho confedrrnte Of these painstnkinp