Evening star., 1924-09-24
THE OWLS HOUSE
A Thrilling Adventure Story
By Crosbie Garstin
10y NAi oookS odI Sl1ll
Copyright, 1924. by Frederick A Stokes Ca

| curling, bull-like, all over his head.
! sparkling eyes and strong white
! teeth. When he was fifteen she had
put small gold erings in his ears-to
I improve his sight, she said At
twenty he was six feet tall, slim and
springy. moving among the boorish
crowds like a rapier among blud-
geons. His laugh was ready and he
had a pFfncely way with his money.
Women turned their eyes his way,
sighing-and he was not insensiblc.
Rumors of his brothers amorous
, affairs drifted home to Eli from time
TO time. He had cast off the parish
clerks daughter, Tamsin Eva, and
was after a farmers young widow in
st. Levan. Now he had quarreled with
the widow and was TO be seen in Tre-
wellard courting a mine captains
daughter. Again he had put the
miners daughter by. and St Ives gos-
sips were coupling his name with
| that of the wife of a local preacher
and making d great hoity-toity about
| it-and so on. 1t was impossible to
keep track of Orthos activities in the
game of hearts.
He came home one morning limping
| from slight gunshot wound in the
| thigh, ard on another occasion
brought lis horse in nearly gaIloped
/
how either os these things came
about. Though his work on the farm
was negligible, he spent a busy Sum
mer one way and another.
'Pyramus was down by the Sth of
! November. and on the night of the
l4th the ball was opened with a heavy
run of goods. all of which were safe
| ly delivered. From then on till Christ
mas cargo after cargo was slipped
| Stephens day the weather broke up,
the wind hustled round to the south
east and blew great guns, sending the
big seas piling into Monks Cove in
foaming hills. The Cove men drew
their boats we'll up, took down snares
and antique blunderbusses and stag
Gered inland rabbiting.
Eli turned back to his farm work
with delight. but prosaic hard la Dor
had no further attraction for Ortho.
Eli turned back to his farmworl k
with delight, but prosaic hard labor
mad TO further attraction for Ortho.
He put in a couple of days saving
up Windfalls. couple more ferreting
with Bohemia, then he went up to
ChurchtoWn and saw Tamsin Eva again
1T was at a dance in the long room
i OF the Lamb and Flag tavern and
! she was looking her best. dressed in
! blue founced out at the hips, with a
close fitting bodice. She was what is
: known in West Cornwall as a. red
/ Dane; masses of bright auburn hair
/ she had and soft white skin: Ortho,
whose last three little affairs had been
! pronounced brunetteS, turned to her
/ with n refreshened eye. wondering z
! what had made him leave her. She
! was dancing square dance with her
! faithful swain, Tom Trevaskis, when
Ortho entered, circling and curtsey-
! ing happily to the music of four fid !
! dies led by Jiggy Dan
The mine captains daughter glowed
as rosy as a pippin, too rosy; the
| preachers spouse was an olive lady
almost swarthy. Tamsin Eva's slen-
! der neck might have been carved
from miik-ivory and she was tinted
| like a camelia. Ortho's dark eyes
glittered. But it was her hair that
| fascinated him most. The room was
| lit by dips lashed to decorated barrel
hoops suspended from the rafters. and
as Tamsin in her billowy blue dress
! swept and sidled under these the
| candlelight played tricks with her
FURNISHED copper head, flicked red and
| amber lights over and into it
crowned her with living gold. The
! black Penhale felt his heart leap
| she was most lovely, Why on earth
| Deep down he knew; it was because
| for all her physical attraction, she
wearied him utterly. seemed numbed
| in his presence, had not a word 10
| say. That Trewellard wench al least
| had a tongue in her head and the
widow had spirit; he could still al
most feel his cheek tingle where she
| had hit him. But that queenly crown
| of hair! He had an overmasterins
I desire to pull it down and bury his
face in the shining golden torrent
! He would too, ecod, Dull she might
have been. but that was two years
| ago. Shed grown since then. and so
| had he, and learnt a thing or two; a
! score OF women had been at pains to
/ teach him. He hadn't gone far with
! Tamsin previously-she'd been too
damned soft-but he would now.
/ He'd stir her UP. Apparently shallow
women were often deep as the sea,
deep enough TO- drown ones He'd