Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-01-19
CHAPTER II
In Which We Visit Mr.. SIyke, but Do
Not Receive Very Warm Reception.

! In Which We Visit Mr.. SIyke, but Do
Not Receive Very Warm Reception.
1t was not until early Sunday morn
| ing that we were able to leave the
! city. After the days of rain, the ride
along the banks of the Hudson was
very beautiful. At Albany we had
luncheon in one Of the large hotels
| to the accompaniment of an orchestra
booming the popular music of the mo-
ment. BARLEY was so thoroughly I'M
comfortable that he refused to speak.
! 1t was not until we were waiting for
the waiter to return with our change
and he had lighted a cigar that he
became more amiable. He bowed to
some people he knew, then leaned
| toward me and spoke softly so that
those at the next table would not hear
"Pelt, we cannot say just what we
will find up at the lake. l have
thought the affair over carefully, and
! the more I think of it the more puzzled
I am. If Rogers told US all the facts,
| then there are two welldefined con
clusions to be drawn. The first is
that those two men are innocent The
second is that Slyke knew who 1t was
that broke into his house, but had
strong reasons for claiming he could
not recognize them. If his daughter
could swear to the identity of the men
that were arrested he should also
have been able to recognize them. But
he says he did not, and, we are told,
he wanted the case dropped"
He paused as the waiter appeared
with our change, and we went back to
our car.
Saratoga was only a forty-fve mile
drive from Albany. Circle Lake was
| several miles nearer.
I knew very little about the place
except that it was a small lake out
side of Saratoga where there were a
number of large summer estates. Bob
! Currie, who had roomed with BARLEY
at Harvard, had a place there where
he passed the greater part Of the
year.
About an hour and a half out of
Albany, BARLEY said suddenly, point
ing to a small sheet of water in the
distance, That's Circle lake"
We were on the top of large hill
at the moment, and, though the lake
was several miles away, it looked
even smaller than I had expected. 1t
was not more than a mile across, and
was complete circle except where
a small bay broke its circumference.
At the foot of the hill, the road ran
| beside the lake for little way, then
| ascended another hill Just before
this ascent began. Barley left the
main road and followed one that ran
| for nearly mile between leafy trees.
At length he turned his car down a
| long driveway that wound its crooked
way In and out through a grove Of
great trees. When / had begun to
wonder If we should ever escape from
them, we came out upon green lawn
| that stretched for several acres, hav-
ing in it's midst a large rambling
| house, painted the whitest white
| have ever seen. 1t was a cheery-loOk-
| ing house, one made to live in, with
| a great piazza stretching across the
front, and gay-covered chairs that
gave to it a tropical atmosphere. Even
as 1 was thinking how much l liked
| it, man came running down the
steps, three at time, whooping like
a wild Indian and waving his arms
at us.
Truth cOmpels me to say that Currie
was, to put it mildly stout, nor could
anyone call him good looking. His
big red face, now almost purple from
exercise, was a kindly, tolerant one,
| filled with humor; his blue eyes warm
with kindness Down the steps he
came and across the lawn, yelling all
the time:
"John BARLEY, you old sleuth, don't
you dare drive on my new lawn"
With laugh, BARLEY made a wide
circle across the grass before he
stopped. Currie was beside us and on
the step of the car in second, one
arm thrown around Bartley's shoulder
and his red face beaming; but all he
said was, "Well, WELL John -
Bartleys answer was just as short
and had the same deep friendliness.
Then Currie turned and greeted me.
A second later, servant came to
take charge of our things, and we fol-
lowed Currie to the house.
We entered by one Of the largest
living rooms that have ever seen. 1t
stretched almost the entire length of
the building and had two freplaces,
| both Of which were large enough for
a man to stand upright in. Currie led
us up a flight Of stairs to the second