Blacksheep! Blacksheep!

Blacksheep! Blacksheep! Page 5

by Meredith Nicholson

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I

  "In spite of my warnings you continue to follow me!" said Isabel whenthey were established in the supper room.

  "Are we to have another row? I don't believe I can go through with it."

  "No; for rows haven't got us anywhere. And Ruth whispered to me a momentago to be very nice to you. While the gentleman on the other side of meis occupied we might clear up matters a little."

  "It's not in my theory of life to explain things; I tried explainingmyself at Portsmouth and again at Bennington but you were singularlyunsympathetic. Please be generous and tell me why you were skipping overNew England, darting through trains and searching hotel registers andmanifesting uneasiness when policemen appeared. You recommended a lifeof lawlessness to me but I didn't know you meant to go in for that sortof thing yourself."

  "It occurred to me after the Bennington interview that I might have beenunjust, but I was in a humor to suspect every one. When you said you'dshot Putney Congdon you frightened me to death. Of course you didnothing of the kind!"

  "This is wonderful chicken salad," he said, hastily. "I beg you to doit full justice. The people about us mustn't get the idea that we'rediscussing homicide. Now, to answer your question, I _had_ shot Mr.Putney Congdon and in edging away from the scene of my bloodshed I wasguilty of other indiscretions that made me chatter like a maniac when Isaw you. It was such a joke that you should turn up when I was doingjust what you prescribed for me as a cure for my ills. I am quite calmnow, and my health is so good that when the waiter brings those littlepocket rolls this way I shall take a second and perhaps a third."

  "My own nerves had gone to pieces or I shouldn't have flared as I did atPortsmouth and I was even more irresponsible when I saw you in thatparlor car at Bennington."

  "You saw me kiss a girl on the train. Miss Perry, I will not deceive youabout that. She was all but a stranger, and I had assisted her to elope.Her husband was hiding in the baggage car."

  "He would have thrown himself under the wheels if he had witnessed thatardent kissing! I confess that I hadn't done justice to yourfascinations. And you were not her guardian, or anything like that?"

  "Certainly not. She's a dairy maid I married to a diamond thief bymistake. My ignorance of women is complete. Sally Walker's duplicitywasn't necessary to convince me of that but your own conduct completelycrushed my vanity."

  "The crushing has improved you, I think. Please don't think that becauseI am showing you so much tolerance I am wholly satisfied that youweren't trying to thwart my own criminal adventures. When we met atPortsmouth I was trying to meet poor Mrs. Congdon somewhere to helpkidnap her little girl!"

  "Edith--a lovely child," Archie remarked, and picked up the napkin thatslipped from her knees. He enjoyed her surprise. "Please don't scorn theice cream; you will find it very refreshing. As you were saying--"

  "If I hadn't been warned by Ruth that you were to be trusted in thisbusiness I should begin screaming. How did you know the child's name?What do you know about the Congdons?"

  "Volumes! Let my imagination play on your confession. You were trying tofind Mrs. Congdon and whisk the child away to your camp, when I ran intoyou. You had missed connections with the mother and thought I was tryingto embarrass or frustrate you? I had troubles of my own and you couldn'thave done me a greater wrong!"

  "Mrs. Congdon was in a panic, skipping about with the children to avoidher husband; but it was really her father-in-law who was pursuing her.He's a miserly, disagreeable wretch! I came here to meet Ruth, who is anold friend of hers, hoping she might be able to deliver the little girlto me undetected. I met both Mr. and Mrs. Congdon once, several yearsago, at a dinner in Chicago, but I can hardly say that I know them.Ruth's to be the chief councilor of my camp--so interested in my schemethat she insisted on going up there to help me. And Mrs. Congdon thoughtthat would be a fine place to hide her Edith while the family rumpus wason. I was to run with Edith as hard as I could for Heart o' Dreams, mygirls' camp, you know, up in Michigan."

  "How stupid I am! With a word you might have made unnecessary our twoaltercations!"

  "The matter, as you can see, is very delicate, even hazardous. I hadnever been a kidnaper and when you saw me on those two occasions I wasterribly alarmed, not finding Mrs. Congdon where she expected to be. AndI must say that you added nothing to my peace of mind."

  "Please note that I am drinking coffee at midnight! I shouldn't havedared do that before your cheering advice in Washington. We have but amoment more, and I shall give you in tabloid form my adventures todate."

  It was the Isabel of the Washington dinner party who listened. She wasdeeply interested and amused, and at times he had the satisfaction ofreading in her face what he hopefully interpreted as solicitude for hissafety. He confined himself to essentials so rigidly that she protestedconstantly that he was not doing his story justice. Of the Governor hespoke guardedly, finding that Isabel knew nothing about him beyond ashadowy impression she had derived from Ruth that he was a wanderer whohad charmed her fancy.

  "If he hasn't told you of the beginning of their acquaintance, I musthave a care," said Isabel. "He and Ruth met oddly enough in a settlementhouse--I needn't say where it was--where Ruth was a volunteer worker.Your friend turned up there as a tramp and she didn't know at once thathe was masquerading. Afterward he threw himself in her path, mostingeniously, in his proper role of a gentleman, in a summer place whereshe was visiting, and that added to the charm of the mystery. I can seethat he's very unusual. You've told me more than she knows about him,but even that leaves a good deal to be desired. In all the world there'sno girl like Ruth; there must be no question of her happiness!"

  "You needn't be afraid. In spite of his singular ways I'd trust himround the world. We can't stay here longer, I suppose; there's a youngblade at the door looking for you now. Is there any way I can serveyou?"

  "Ruth has explained all that to Mr. Saulsbury by now. She felt sure thathe would help; and, believe me, I have confidence in you."

  "The first thing is to find Edith Congdon and you may trust us for that.I will seize this moment to say," he added quietly, "that you are evenlovelier than I remembered you!"

  "You are very bold, sir! You wouldn't have said that a very little whileago."

  "You complained once that I wasn't bold enough! Now that I come to youred handed and for all you know with stolen silver in my pocket, youcan't complain of my forwardness. I am a rascal of high degree, as youwould have me be. And I now declare myself your most relentless suitor!I trust my frankness pleases you?"

  "Your adventures in rascality have added to your plausibility. I almostbelieve you--but not quite. You seem to be extremely vulnerable tofeminine blandishments. There's Sally, the milkmaid. Remember that I sawyou kiss her with rather more than brotherly warmth. Still, I supposeyou'd earned some reward for your daring."

  "A bluff old man-at-arms ought to be forgiven for pausing in his wildcareer to kiss a pretty lass at the wayside!" he growled.

  His mock-heroic attitude toward his exploits kept her laughing, untilshe said, quite soberly:

  "Please don't think I'm so awfully frivolous, for I really am not. Andto be sitting in a place like this among all these highly proper peopletalking of the dreadful things you've done is simply ridiculous. When Iundertook to hide Edith Congdon from her father I couldn't see thatthere would be anything wrong in it! And yet I would have been akidnaper, I suppose."

  "And you've cheerfully turned the job over to me," he said, finding itnow his turn to be amused. "When you gave me your warrant to destroy allthe kingdoms of the world you forgot that there might be unpleasantconsequences. But I assure you that after a few days you don't caremuch!"

  "It's so deliciously dreadful! And only the other day you were in mortalterror of sudden death."

  "I've forgotten I ever had a nerve. To be sure our littlemisunderstandings nearly broke my heart, but now that you've smiledagain I'm ready for anything. I might say further that in the end I
shall expect my reward. If there are other men who love you they will dowell to keep out of my path. We shall meet somewhere or other soon, Ihope!"

  "From what you say of your friend's faith in the stars there's no useplanning. I shall remain here a day or two in the hope of hearing fromMrs. Congdon. She loves her husband and from what Ruth says he's reallydevoted to her, but the father-in-law is a malicious mischief maker."

  "If I shot the wrong man I shall always deplore the error. I hope youtake into consideration the fact that he might have shot me! He thoughthe had a man at the end of his gun when he popped away at the mirror."

  "I'm ashamed that I find it all so funny. Shooting any one can't reallybe a pleasant performance for a gentleman of your up-bringing; and yetyou speak of it now as though it were only a trifling incident of theday's work. The Marquis of Montrose would certainly be vastly tickled ifhe knew what his little rhyme has done for you."

  "The Marquis isn't in the sketch at all; it's far more important thatyou should approve of me in every particular. You spoke of buriedtreasure at that never-to-be-forgotten dinner at my sister's. I've keptthat in mind as rather a pretty prospect."

  "That cousin of mine is a great nuisance. He's not only bent uponfinding my grandfather's buried money, but he thinks he is in love withme."

  "I have a rival then?" asked Archie, with a sinking of the heart.

  "You may call him that," she laughed. "A girl always likes to thinkthere are others."

  "Your camp--you haven't yet told me how to find it?" he said eagerly.

  "It's a girls' camp, you know, and the male species is rigidly excluded.But Ruth will give Mr. Saulsbury full particulars."

  "Crusoe found a footprint in the sand! By the way, did my sister Mayever find a summer cottage?"

  "She found a house at Cape May, which is much more accessible fromWashington than Bailey Harbor. Do you imagine you can ever tell her allyou've just told me?"

  "There are certain confidences permissible between sisters-in-law, soit's really up to you!" he replied glibly. "Don't trouble to answer; theGovernor's waiting for me."

  They walked back to the hotel in the best of humor. As they crossed thelobby the Governor suddenly slapped his pockets and walked to the cigarstand. A tall man in a gray traveling cap was talking earnestly to theclerk, meanwhile spinning a twenty-dollar gold piece on the show case.The Governor purchased some cigarettes and while waiting for changenodded to the stranger, who absently responded and began tapping thecoin with the handle of a penknife.

  "Not many of those things in circulation nowadays," the Governorremarked, thrusting the cigarettes into his pocket. The strangercarelessly inspected the two gentlemen in evening dress and handed thecoin to the Governor.

  "What d'ye think of that?" he asked.

  The Governor turned the gold disk to the light and then flung it sharplyon the wooden end of the counter, where it rang musically. He handed itback with a smile.

  "The real thing, all right! Wish I had a couple of million just likeit."

  "It's a good thing you haven't!" the man remarked with a grin.

  He resumed his talk with the clerk, speaking in a low tone, while theGovernor loitered at the magazine counter. Archie went to the desk fortheir keys and received a bundle of mail for Mr. Saulsbury, who walkedslowly toward him apparently absorbed in the periodical he hadpurchased.

  "It doesn't seem possible we can lose!" he said when they reached theirrooms. "There will be cross-currents yet; but a strong tide has set in,bearing us on."

  He threw the magazine with well-directed aim into a desk in the corner,and meditatively smoothed his hat on his sleeve.

  "That chap was Dobbs, a Government specialist in counterfeiters, andthat twenty-dollar piece had almost the true ring, but not quite. Theman who turned it out showed me the difference only yesterday. Perky?Certainly! He said Eliphalet Congdon had taken a bagful to pass on theunwary. The old boy had changed a lot of them in New England and theGovernment is not ignoring the matter. Eliphalet Congdon presents justsuch a case as we find occasionally where some perfectly soundconservative country banker feels the call of the wild and does a loopof death in high finance."

  "You don't think old man Congdon has been here lately?" asked Archie.

  "Only a day or two ago! I picked that up while I was buying my magazine.Congdon bought some stogies at the cigar stand and changed that twenty.We're all loaded for Eliphalet, Archie. After you told me your kidnapingstory, I telegraphed to Perky for all the possible places where the oldman might be. Perky has ranged the country with him and from his data wecan keep tab on the old boy. Dobbs knows nothing of the kidnaping; it'sthe gold piece that interests him. I overheard enough to know we're onthe right track. Eliphalet Congdon owns a farm in Ohio. Perky spent amonth there boring out gold pieces. What we've got to do, Archie, is tofind the Congdon child and turn her over to your Isabel and my Ruth. Avery pretty job, demanding our best attention."

  He paced the floor for a moment, his hands thrust deep in his trouserspockets, his silk hat tipped rakishly on one side of his head.

  "A strange thing is happening; something the stars gave no hint of.We're being driven by circumstances utterly beyond our control from theside of the lawless to the side of the lawful and benevolent. In spiteof ourselves, you understand!"

  "But we're not leaving here until--"

  "You were about to say that we can't shake the dust of Rochester fromour sandals before we've made our party calls. Alas, no! We shall notcommunicate with our ladies again. First we must justify theirconfidence in us and find the Congdon child. Our wool can only changefrom black to white when we have performed some act of valor in a goodcause. That is clearly indicated by my latest pondering of the zodiacalsigns. Let me say that your Isabel is beyond question a girl worthliving or dying for. I am delighted that she and Ruth speak the languageof those of us who love the life adventurous, children of stars and sun.I shall be up early to make a few discreet inquiries as to the recentvisit of Eliphalet and then I must buy a machine powerful enough tocarry us far and fast. Luckily I brought a bundle of cash for just suchemergencies."

  "But a day's delay can't matter," Archie pleaded. "Every hour matterswhen the woman I love sets a task for me. It's still the open road forus, Archie. Good-night and pleasant dreams!"

  II

  The new car proved to be a racer and the Governor drove it with thespeed of a king's messenger bearing fateful tidings. Occasionally fromsheer weariness he relinquished the wheel to Archie, whose dispositionto respect the posted warnings against lawless haste evoked theGovernor's most contemptuous criticism.

  "We ride for our ladies! Let the constables go hang!"

  Constables were not to Archie's taste but now that they were bent upon adefinite errand and one that promised another meeting with Isabel at theend of the journey he shared the Governor's zest for flight. It was ajoy to be free under the broad blue arch of June. Spring is a playtimefor fledgling fancy but in summer the heart is strong of wing and daresthe heavens. It was Archie who now initiated vocal outbursts, strikingup old glee club catches he hadn't thought of since his college days. Hewas in love. He bawled his scraps of song that the world might know thathe was a lover riding far and hard at the behest of his lady. Histhoughts skipped before him like dancing children. The life he wasleading was not the noblest; he had no illusions on that score; but hewas no longer a loafer waiting in luxurious ease for the curtain to fallupon a dull first act in a tedious drama, but a man of action, quitecapable of holding his own against the world!

  "You've caught the spirit at last! We're the jolliest beggars alive!"exulted the Governor.

  He dropped from the clouds at intervals; proved his possession of apractical mind; received telegrams in towns Archie had never heard ofbefore, and tossed the fragments to the winds.

  "All the machinery, the intricate mechanism of the underworld is at workto assist us! I tell you as little as possible, but I neglect nothing.All communications in cipher, and you can see
that the telegraph clerksthink we are persons of highest importance."

  He dashed off replies unhesitatingly, emphasizing the urgency for theirprompt despatch. Skirting the shores of Erie, he produced from a hollowtree a bundle of mail, wrapped in oil-skin. Soiled envelopes with theaddresses scrawled awkwardly in pencil were reenclosed in brownenvelopes neatly directed in typewriting and bearing the S. S. S. P. inone corner. The humor of his Society for the Segregation of StolenProperty tickled the Governor mightily and when Archie asked what wouldhappen if these packets of mail went astray and fell into the hands ofpost-office inspectors, he displayed one of the notes which consisted ofa dozen unrelated words, decorated with clumsy drawings,--a tree, abridge, a barred window.

  "Only twenty men out of our hundred million could read that! Code of ourmost exclusive circle. The silly wretch has been raiding country banksin the middle west and carried his playfulness too far. He's in jail nowbut not at all worried--merely bored. He'd safely planted his stuffbefore they nabbed him, and he had fixed up his alibi in advance;that's the import of that oblong in the corner, which means that he canshow a white card--a clean bill of health, legally speaking, and isn'tafraid."

  "I suppose he expects you to find the stuff and turn it into non-taxablesecurities," Archie remarked ironically.

  "Precisely the idea! But I may not be able to serve him there. It willgrieve me to leave the boys in the lurch; they've confided in me a longtime."

  The Governor had lapsed into moods of silence frequently since they leftRochester. The imminence of his release from whatever power haddominated him might, Archie thought, have subdued him to this unfamiliarhumor with its attendant long periods of sober reflection. The meetingwith Ruth had worked this change, he believed, no longer marveling atthe fate that had linked their lives and their loves together. But thehints the Governor let fall of an approaching climacteric, a crisis ofsignificance in his affairs, filled Archie with apprehension.

  "Don't be foolish!" exclaimed the Governor, when Archie broached thematter. "Haven't I told you time and again that we shall stand togetherto the end of the trail!"

  This was in a town where they paused for a quick overhauling of the car.At their table in a cafeteria he rioted in figures and expressedsatisfaction with the results.

  "If only the stars continue kind!" he said.

  Nothing was to be gained by pressing inquiries upon a gentleman whoordered his affairs by the zodiac. At Buffalo the Governor made earnestefforts to rent a yacht, without confiding to Archie just what use heexpected to make of it. No yachts being in the market, the Governor setabout hiring a tug, and did in fact lease one for a month from adredging company, paying cash and the wages of the crew in advance, andreserving an option to buy. The _Arthur B. Grover_ was to be sent toCleveland and held there for orders. He might want to negotiate thelakes as far as Duluth, he told the president of the company, who wassurprised and chagrined when the singular Mr. Saulsbury readily accepteda figure that was intended to be prohibitive. The Governor was proud ofthe tug and expatiated upon its good points, which included sleepingquarters for the men and a nook where the captain could tuck himselfaway. He deplored his previous inattention to tugs; he believed more funcould be got from a tug like the _Arthur B. Grover_ than from the beststeam yacht afloat.

  "We must be ready for anything," he remarked to Archie. "The signs pointto a disturbance of great waters, and there's nothing like beingprepared."

  At Cleveland Archie's last doubt as to his mentor's connection with theunderworld of which he talked so entertainingly was removed. Reachingthe city at midnight the car was left at a garage downtown, their trunksexpressed to Chicago, and they arrived by a devious course at anill-smelling boarding house. Here, the Governor informed him, only thearistocracy of the preying professions were received.

  The arrival of another guest, a tall man of thirty, who had been takinga porch-climbing jaunt through mid-western cities, added to Archie'spleasure. In his clubs he had lent eager ear to the tales of such of hisacquaintances as had slaughtered lions in Africa, or performed fancystunts of mountaineering, and more lately he had listened with awe tothe narratives of scarred veterans of the Foreign Legion; but thisfellow "Gyppy," as the Governor called him, who had mastered the art ofscaling colonial pillars and raiding the second story chambers of thehomes of honest citizens, seemed to Archie hardly less heroic. "Gyppy"recounted his adventures with a kind of sullen humor that Archie foundhighly diverting. He sheepishly confessed that the net reward of afortnight of diligent labor in his specialty was only three hundreddollars. The Governor was very stern with "Gyppy," advising him toabandon porch-climbing as a hazardous and unprofitable vocation. Archiewas dragged from the hardest bed he had ever slept in early the nextmorning.

  "No more scented soap!" cried the Governor. "No more breakfast-in-bed!Here's where we get down to brass tacks and let our whiskers flourish!"He threw a rough suit of clothes on a chair and bade Archie get into itas quickly as possible. "Jam the other suit into your bag and Wigginswill ship it with mine to a point we may or may not touch. We shallleave this thriving city as farm hands eager to step softly upon theyielding clod. We go by trolley a little way, and if you have neversurveyed the verduous Ohio Valley from a careening trolley car you havea joy coming to you. A democratic conveyance; plenty of chances to plantyour feet in baskets of fresh-laid eggs or golden butter! But don'tassume that we shall ride all the way; it's afoot for us, Archie! Weshall be tramps seeking honest labor but awfully choosey about the jobswe take!"

  An ill-fitting suit, with a blue flannel shirt and tattered capcompletely transformed him. He surveyed himself with satisfaction in acracked mirror while urging Archie to greater haste.

  "We'd cut a pretty figure on Fifth Avenue now!" he exclaimed, delightedto see Archie apparelled in a suit rather less pleasing to the eye thanhis own. "We'll roughen up considerably in our travels and by the timewe reach Eliphalet Congdon's broad acres he'll never recognize us asgentlemen he's met before."

  "You don't expect to see the old man, do you?" demanded Archie with asinking of the heart. "I thought we were going to find that little girland hurry with her to Isabel's camp? This tramping stuff will merelycause us to lose time."

  "We're not going to lose any time. I'm as anxious to be on with thebusiness as you are; but we're not going to make a mess of it. I've gotsome ideas I don't dare tell you about; you might get panicky and run!Steady, Archie, and trust the Governor."

  Trusting the Governor had been much easier while they were traveling infast motors or in parlor cars. The trolley with its frequent stops, theproneness of the plain folk to lunch upon bananas and peanuts and castthe skins and shells thereof upon the floor pained Archie greatly.

  The first night they slept in a barn, without leave, begged a breakfastand walked until Archie cried for mercy.

  "What's a blistered foot more or less!" cried the Governor, producingan ointment which he forthwith applied with tenderest solicitude.

  From his ingenuity in foraging and the philosophy with which he acceptedthe day's vicissitudes, Archie judged that his companion was by no meansnew to the road. He showed the greatest familiarity with the region theytraversed, avoiding farmhouses where no generosity could be expected bythe tramping fraternity, leading the way through quiet woods to"swimming holes" where they bathed and solaced their souls. They mustnot get ahead of their schedule, he explained. When Archie, knowingnothing of schedules, timidly asked questions the Governor, feigning notto hear, would deliver long lectures on Ohio history, praising thepioneers of the commonwealth, and enthusiastically reciting the publicservices of her statesmen.

  At the end of the fourth day as they kicked their heels against the pierof a bridge that spanned the Sandusky, watching the stars slip intotheir places in the soft tender sky, the Governor's quick ear detectedthe step of a pedestrian approaching from the west.

  "Unless we've missed a turn somewhere, that's Perky. A punctual chap;this is the exact time and place for our meeting and he
should beartidings of interest in our affairs."

  The man, who was dressed like a farm laborer, responded carelessly tothe Governor's greeting, and swung himself to a seat beside him on theabutment.

  "The young brother knows the wisdom of silence," remarked the Governor,laying his hand on Archie's knee. "It's a pleasure to bring you twotogether. He and I follow the leading of the same star. What news of thelamb in the pasture?"

  As though taking time to accommodate himself to the Governor's manner ofspeech Perky lighted his pipe and flicked the match into the river.

  "The little lamb is not happy. The father is expected tonight. I've gotorders to chop wood while he's on the reservation."

  "The son is not wise to the metal trick and you drop into thebackground?"

  "The true word has been spoken, brother."

  "The son has been long upon the road. What caused him to linger?"

  "A broken arm, so the old man has it; and repairs have been made in ahospital at Portland by the eastern sea."

  The Governor dug his elbow into Archie's ribs. Archie caught a gleam.Putney Congdon had been in a hospital recovering from the bullet woundreceived at Bailey Harbor, but was now arriving at his father's Ohiofarm, where his child, the lamb referred to, was concealed. Putney wasto be kept in ignorance of the lure of the tampered coins that hadbrought Perky into alliance with his father, and Perky was to interesthimself in wood-chopping during the son's visit. In the privacy of thebridge with only an uninterested river for auditor, there seemed to beno reason why these matters should not be discussed openly; but theGovernor evidently enjoyed these veiled communications, though it wasclear that Perky found difficulty in fashioning the responses.

  "Is there work in the fields for willing hands? Shall we find welcome aslaborers keen for the harvest?" asked the Governor.

  "The slave driver weeps for lack of help and the pay is high. You willbe welcome. When the sun makes its shortest shadow tomorrow you willsign papers for the voyage."

  This penetrated to Archie's consciousness as assurance that he and theGovernor would find employment on Eliphalet's farm, where Edith Congdonwas being concealed from her mother, and that the most fortunate time toapply for employment was at noon the next day.

  "The lamb must be carried to more northern pastures. We must guardagainst snares and pitfalls."

  "The old ram is keen but only one eye may be used at a knot-hole. Hesuspects nothing. We have spoken enough?"

  "Longer speech would be a weariness; you may leave us."

  Perky waited for a motor to clatter over the bridge and with a careless"So long!" walked away whistling.

  "A pretty decent chap, that," remarked the Governor, "with a highlydeveloped bump of discretion. A man I hope to see with his feet onhonest earth when I leave the road. There must be no slip, Archie. Theresponsibilities of the next fortnight are enormous. The happiness ofmany people depends upon us. We'll stroll back to that big farm wepassed awhile ago. It's starred in the official guide books of the dustyramblers and the milk and bread and butter there will be excellent. Andthe barn is red, Archie! A red barn is the best of all for sleepingpurposes. An unpainted barn advertises the unthrift of the owner, andthe roof is always leaky. The scent of moldy hay is extremely offensiveto me--suggests rheumatism and pneumonia. And a white barn stares at youinsolently. Whenever I see a white barn I prepare for bad luck. But ared barn, Archie, warms the cockles of your heart. It enfolds you like acanopy of dreams! I wouldn't have the red too glaring;--a certainrustiness of tint is desirable--"

  "Here endeth the lecture," Archie interrupted. "I am starving in a landof milk and honey. Do I understand," he asked as they crossed thebridge, "that tomorrow we're going to find jobs on Eliphalet'splantation and kidnap his granddaughter?"

  "Much as I hate to anticipate, Archie, it's not only little Edith we'regoing to kidnap! We're going to steal the old man too!"

  III

  "I never saw a tramp yet that was worth his breakfast," snarled Grubbs,the foreman of Eliphalet Congdon's farm. "But don't you bums think y'can loaf round here. It's goin' t' be work from now right through tillthe wheat's cut. Jail birds, both on y', I bet. Well, there ain'tnothin' round here to steal. Y' can both sleep in the hands' house backyonder and hop to meals when the bell rings. There's some old hats inthe barn; shed them pies y' got on yer heads and try t' look like honestmen anyhow."

  They partook of the generous midday meal provided in a big screenedporch adjoining the kitchen. Half a dozen other laborers, regularlyattached to Eliphalet's section of rich land, eyed the newcomers withthe disdain born of their long tenure. Perky was a capital actor; no onewould have imagined that he had ever seen either of the new handsbefore. In the near-by fields the wheat shimmered goldenly in the sun,quivering into the perfection that would bring it under the knife a fewdays later. Help was scarce and the scorn of the foreman was assumed. Hehad every intention of clinging to the latest comers, inexperiencedvagabonds though they might prove, until the pressing need was passed.

  The Governor was set to work with two other men ripping out an old railfence and replacing it with wire. Archie's task was the rather moredisagreeable one of trundling gravel in a wheelbarrow and distributingit in holes staked for his guidance in the road that ran from thehighway gate to the barn. The holes were small; it seemed to Archieabsurd to spend time filling such small cavities; and a wheelbarrowfilled with gravel is heavy. The foreman explained the job and departed,reappearing from time to time for the pleasure of criticizing Archie'swork. When Archie suggested that there would be an economy of time inloading the gravel into a wagon and effecting the distribution by thatmeans the foreman stared at him open-mouthed for a moment, then burstinto ironical laughter.

  "Give _you_ a team to handle--you!"

  The thought of trusting Archie with a team when teams were needed formuch more important matters struck the cynical foreman as a grossimpiety. The humor of the thing was too tremendous to be enjoyed alone;he yelled to a man who was driving by in a motor truck filled with milkcans to stop and hear the joke. Archie's soul burned within him. That aman of education who belonged to the best clubs on the continent shouldbe proclaimed a fool by a hatchet-faced farmer in overalls, before a fatperson on a milk truck was the most crushing of all humiliations. Theforeman jumped on the truck and rode away, and Archie bent his back tothe barrow, resolving that never again would he complain of bumps in aroad now that he knew the heart-breaking and back-breaking labor ofroad-mending.

  On the whole he did a good job; it was remarkable how interested onecould become in so contemptible a task. He tamped the gravel into theholes with the loving care of a dentist filling a tooth, and struck workwith reluctance when the bell sounded for supper.

  The Governor was already on terms of comradeship with his fellowtoilers, and as they splashed in the basins set out on a long plank nearthe kitchen, his quips kept them laughing. Two college boys had justarrived to aid in the harvesting. Farmers are not much given to humorand the young fellows were clearly pleased to find a jester on thepremises. At the supper table the Governor gave his conversationalpowers free rein. This was the only life; he had rested all winter sothat he might enjoy farm life the more. He subjected the collegians to arigid examination in Latin, quizzed them in physics and promised thewhole company a course of lectures on astronomy.

  Perky strolled away in one direction; the Governor in another andArchie, left to his own devices, fumed at this desertion. The two wouldmeet somewhere and plan the next strategic move, Archie surmised, and hewas irritated to find himself denied a place in their councils. Herefused an invitation to sit in at a poker game that was being organizedin the farm hands' house and wandered idly about the premises. Theresidence was a two-story farmhouse, with a broad veranda evidentlyquite recently added. As Archie passed the windows he noted that therooms were handsomely furnished. This was not an establishment where theemployees were admitted to social intercourse with the family of theowner. As Archie stole by, the voices from th
e veranda sounded remote asfrom another world. An aristocrat by birth and training, he found here aconcrete lesson in democracy that disturbed him. The world was not allclub corners and week-end parties. For a few hours at least he wasearning his bread by the sweat of his face--a marvelous experience--andfeeling very lonesome indeed at the end of his day's labor.

  "I don't want to stay with papa; I want to see mama!"

  A child's voice plaintively uttering this as he slunk round the housereminded him of the real nature of his sojourn on Eliphalet Congdon'sacres.

  "Papa's sick; you must be nice to your papa. You must help him to getwell, and then you can see your mama!"

  Through the parlor windows he saw the stolen Edith rebelliouslyconfronting the tall woman who had been a party to the kidnaping inCentral Park.

  Eliphalet Congdon entered the room clutching a newspaper and Archieheard him exclaim angrily:

  "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Edith. Your papa's just come andis sick and tired and your fretting's keeping him awake. Take herupstairs, Sarah, and put her to bed."

  As he surveyed the upper windows he caught a glimpse of a woman in atrained nurse's uniform. Putney Congdon was established on the farm andthough it was nearly three weeks since the fateful night at BaileyHarbor, he was still feeling the effects of his injury. Afraid of beingcaught loitering Archie hurried down to the meadow that stretched awayfrom the house and stumbled into a flock of sheep.

  He left the sheep, rather envying their placid existence, and was on hisway to the laborers' shack when the Governor stepped into his path.

  "Mooning? Perky and I have been smoking our pipes off yonder in thewoods. He's as sore as a boil because Putney's blown in and he's got tomake a feint at honest labor. Perky has a very delicate touch with thetools of his trade and he'd just got his laboratory fixed up in thegarret where he's been doctoring gold pieces to beat the band. He saysold Eliphalet is more and more delighted with his work. The more he'sdelighted the better the sport for us."

  "I don't see where the sport comes in!" said Archie testily, pausing atthe fence of the chicken yard. "It's a long way to that camp in Michiganwhere we've got to take the child; and you needn't think it's going tobe so easy. The old man will be hot after us. Putney's still got a nurselooking after him, but if he's traveled this far he's not going to letgo of the little girl without a fight. You've got to take this thingseriously; a mistake will be fatal and after all I've gone through Idon't just relish making a mess of it."

  "Make a wish!" cried the Governor. "There goes a star sliding merrilytoward the Pacific."

  But a shower of meteors would not have stopped Archie's questions as tothe manner in which Edith Congdon was to be snatched from hergrandfather's farm in Ohio and transferred to the inland seas. Heresented his exclusion from the conference with Perky and said so.

  "My dear boy, suspense is good for the soul; I'm merely cultivating inyou the joy of surprise. The discipline of waiting will sharpen yourwits, which is important, as I mean to honor you with considerableresponsibility and leave you here when I depart, which will be tonightas dewy eve spreads her sparkling robe--"

  "Leave me here! My God, man, I'm not going to be stranded in thiswilderness! You've lost your senses if you think you can shake me nowand leave me to get pinched and do time for your foolishness!"

  "Patience, little brother, and not quite so vociferous! You have a goodnatural voice with strong carrying powers but it shows a sad lack ofcultivation. This much will I impart: tomorrow morning Perky willwhisper to Eliphalet that the Government is wise to the gold piece trickand that they are watched. The old boy will be scared to death--his sonon the place and all that sort of thing, besides the chance of facing ahard-hearted Federal judge for tampering with the Republic's coin. Perkywill throw a scare into him that will stand him on his head and thenhe'll advise him to beat it and the old chap will throw his arms aroundPerky's neck and beg for protection. And Perky, with a reputation fornever deserting a pal, will seize him firmly by the hand and awaythey'll go."

  "_Where_ will they go?" Archie demanded tartly.

  "That would be telling! Let it suffice that they depart in some haste.Next I take the little girl into my care and start for the camp. You,Archie, will remain here to watch Mr. Putney Congdon."

  "I didn't come here with you, did I? They won't suspect me of complicityor anything--oh, no!" moaned Archie.

  "Bless you, my boy, I'm far less stupid than you think. I'm leaving hereat once and the little girl will be carried off with all circumspection.My lines of communication are working splendidly and some of the keenestwits in the underworld are assembling here and there to assist in myvarious enterprises. The part I'm assigning you flatters yourintelligence. You are to watch Putney Congdon and follow him when heleaves."

  "Cut that rubbish and listen to me," said Archie, his voice quaveringwith anger; "you can't play the fool with me in this fashion. You meanto leave me here with a man I shot; and you think I'm going to _follow_him! What if he never goes; what if he stays all summer!"

  "He won't," the Governor answered. "He's going to follow that child ofhis if it leads him to kingdom come. If you want to see your Isabelagain, follow Putney Congdon. You will of course be a model ofdiscretion, but--"

  "Do you mean to say you'll tell him where you're taking his child? If Ididn't know you for a sober man I'd swear you'd been drinking!"

  "Never more sober in my life, Archie. I shall not of course spoil thejoy of the kidnaping by taking Putney into my confidence, but after thechild's well out of the way I shall send him a wire telling him wherehis daughter may be found--a gentle hint, but sufficient to tease hiscuriosity."

  Archie stamped his foot in impotent fury.

  "You're leaving me here on this infernal farm, with a man I shot andnearly murdered! And you'll wire him where you're headed for when youhaven't told me!"

  "Steady, lad; steady! Don't forget that the underworld is a labyrinth ofmystery. I'm utilizing all my power among the brotherhood to pull offthis undertaking. All about us--" he waved his hand--"with theirfunctions duly assigned, are men I can trust and who trust me--some ofthem utter strangers to one another but bound by the same tie. But I'lljust whisper the address in your ear and you'll do well to remember it.Heart o' Dreams Camp, Huddleston, Michigan; post-office, Calderville.When the victim of your ready gun rises from his couch and strikes outfor the northwest you will not lose sight of him. If you do you'llmuddle everything. Your hand baggage has been planted safely with thebaggage master at the railway station at Tiffin, seven miles from wherewe stand, and here's the check for it. Once more you shall renew youracquaintance with scented soap. Observe my instructions strictly,Archie; meet all difficulties with a confident spirit and you willneither stumble nor fall. Good-by and God bless you!"

  The Governor's blessing failed to dispel the gloom that settled upon Mr.Archibald Bennett as he crept through the shed where the laborers werehoused and found his cot. It was a hot humid night, with the chirr ofqueer insects outside mocking with weary iteration the lusty snores ofthe weary farm hands. He might bolt, now that he had Isabel's address,and suffer the Governor to manage in his own fashion the foolhardyenterprises, of which he had spoken so lightly; but to do this would beonly to prove himself a deserter. The business of delivering EdithCongdon into Isabel's hands was his affair as much as the Governor's.And having twice had a taste of Isabel's anger his appetite was sated.To win her applause he must appear before her a heroic figure, but thepart the Governor had assigned him was little calculated to develop hischivalric qualities. He found himself warmly hating Putney Congdon. IfCongdon had only had the decency to die there would not be all thisbother, and in his bitterness he resolved that if he got another chancehe would make an end of him. Soothed by this decision he fell asleep.

  IV

  The morning opened auspiciously with a raking from Grubbs, who, findingthat the Governor had decamped, most ungenerously held Archieresponsible for his departure.

  "I swe
ar every year," he declared, "I'll never hire another tramp andhereafter I'll let the crops rot before I'll have one on the place."

  Archie replied with heat that he knew nothing about the Governor or thereason for his precipitate passing. As the scolding the foreman hadgiven him the day before still rankled, he protested his ignorance ofthe Governor and all his ways with a vigor strengthened much to his ownedification by oaths he had never employed before. The foreman, takenaback by his onslaught, mumbled and then asked humbly as though ashamedof his lack of confidence in his employee: "Well, you two landed heretogether and I thought you might be gettin' ready to play the sametrick. Look here, d'ye know anything about horses?"

  "Well, I've ridden some," Archie answered guardedly, fearing theimposition of some disagreeable task as a punishment for his violentlanguage.

  "Ridden; where th' hell have you rode?"

  Archie's knowledge of horses had been gained by cautious riding in parkbridle paths with a groom, but to confess this would be only to increasethe wrath and arouse the suspicions of the farmer.

  "Oh, I've always been around horses," said Archie. "I guess I can handle'em all right."

  The foreman meditated, gave a hitch to his trousers, inspected Archiefrom head to foot and spat.

  "Humph! I gotta find somebody t' watch the old man's granddaughter ride'er pony, and I guess I'll give you the job if y' got sense enough toset on a horse and keep th' kid from breakin' 'er neck. What y' think o'that! I gotta waste a horse right now when I could use a dozen more, soa grown man can play with a kid! The old man's skipped this morningwithout sayin' whether he'd ever be back again!"

  "Mr. Congdon has left?" asked Archie, with all the innocence he couldmuster.

  "Not only has he gone but he's took a scrub I was usin' as handy man onthe place. You can't beat it! There ought to be a law against city menownin' farms an' makin' farmers do their work."

  Archie thought this sound philosophy and he expressed his agreementheartily.

  "Well, go to the barn and clean up that pony, and clap on a boy's saddleyou'll find there; and there's a sorrel mare in the last stall on theleft you can take. The kid'll be out lookin' fer y', and y' want to takemighty good care of 'er; she's the ole man's pet and he'll kill y' ifanything goes wrong with 'er. Keep 'er out about an hour and bepartickler careful. Between you and me there's somethin' queer about thekid bein' here; row o' some kind between her pa and ma. Her pa's heresick. Guess all them Congdon's got something wrong with 'em!"

  Archie restrained an impulse to affirm the last statement and set offstolidly for the barn. He felt himself a better man for his interviewwith the foreman, who proved to be human and no bad fellow after all.His appointment as groom for the daughter of Putney Congdon was onlyanother ironic turn of fate. The child might remember him as the man whohad rescued her balloon in Central Park, but in his shabby clothes andwith his face disguised by a week's growth of beard this was unlikely. Amore serious matter for concern was the possibility that the Governor orhis agents might attempt to steal her away from him while she was in hiscare. But so far in his stormy pilgrimage he had gained nothing byyielding to apprehensions and he whistled as he rubbed down the pony andgot his own mount ready.

  The child came running into the barn lot followed by the woman who hadbeen a party to her abduction, and danced joyfully toward the pony.

  "Edith mustn't stay out too long; an hour will be enough for the firstday. And please keep close to the gate. You're sure you understandhorses?"

  Archie satisfied her on all points, submitting himself to her criticalgaze without flinching. In his big straw hat he was not even remotelysuggestive of the man who had attempted to frustrate the seizure of thechild in the park. In her ecstatic welcome of the pony Edith hardly gaveArchie a glance. A riding costume had been improvised for her out of aboy scout's suit, and with her curls flying under her broad hat she wasa spirited and appealing figure. The woman followed them down the laneto the road, where she indicated the bounds to be observed during thelesson. The pony was old and fat, and only with much urging could he bebrought to a trot. Archie delivered himself of all the wisdom he couldrecall from the instruction of his riding teacher as to seat andcarriage. The companionship of the child cheered him; and as theypatrolled the road she prattled with youthful volubility. When atraction engine passed towing a threshing machine the sorrel mare showedher mettle in a series of gyrations that all but landed Archie in afence corner.

  Edith, watching him with trepidation, cried out in admiration of hishorsemanship. The woman, satisfied that the groom was really a masterhorseman, sat down on the grass by the gate to read.

  Archie, in his anxiety to save the child from mishap, had given littleattention to the traffic on the road until he awoke to the fact that thesame touring car had passed twice within a short period. It was a smartvehicle with a chauffeur in gray livery whose figure tantalized hismemory. It flashed upon him in a moment that this was either theGovernor's New York chauffeur or some one who bore a strikingresemblance to that person. The Governor had hinted at the summoning ofmany assistants to aid in his undertaking, and it was not at allunlikely that he had drawn upon his New York establishment. But for thechild to be abducted during the progress of the riding lesson might leadto unpleasant consequences and was not at all to Archie's taste.

  The woman's attention was wholly relaxed and she scarcely glanced up ashe passed her. There could be no better opportunity for the seizure, asthe laborers were widely distributed over the farm. A stretch ofwoodland opposite the Congdon gate precluded the possibility ofinterruption from that quarter.

  The gray-clad chauffeur passed again, this time in a more powerful car.He made no sign but Archie caught a glimpse of the Governor busilytalking with a strange man. Convinced now that the Governor's plans wereculminating and that the car was making these circuits of the farm toenable the occupants to get their bearings, Archie awaited anxiously thenext appearance of the machine. When at the end of a quarter of an hourit shot into view he was at the farthest point from the gate indicatedby the woman as the range of Edith's exercise.

  "That girth needs pulling up a little; let's dismount here," saidArchie, drawing up under a tree at the roadside. The woman was deeplypreoccupied with her book and apparently oblivious to the traffic on theroad. Archie pretended to be having trouble with the saddle, as hefilled in the time necessary for the car to reach him. It passed thegate more rapidly than on previous occasions, but slowed down at onceand a familiar voice greeted him.

  "Pardon me, but is this the road to Tiffin? I'm afraid we've beenrunning round in a circle."

  "Straight ahead! And I suggest that you be in a hurry about it!" saidArchie, seeing that the woman had risen and was now moving rapidlytoward them. The Governor stepped jauntily from the running board, withhis hands thrust into the pockets of his duster. There was a twinkle inhis eyes as he noted Archie's trepidation. He glanced toward the womanindifferently, removed his cap and addressed the little girl, who stoodbeside the pony with her hand on the bridle. A second car drew up justbehind the Governor's machine. The woman was calling loudly to Edith tocome to her immediately.

  "Edith--Miss Edith Congdon," said the Governor, smiling. "Your motherwants you very, very much and I've come to take you to her. If you willjump into the car you will see her very soon. We must be in a hurry orthat woman will catch you. You needn't have a fear in the world. Willyou trust me?"

  The child hesitated, and Archie, enraged at the deliberation with whichthe Governor was managing the abduction, really leaving it to the childwhether she should go or not, saw the look of fear she bent upon theapproaching woman--a look that yielded to wonder and amazement and hopeas she jumped nimbly into the machine.

  "We must be in a hurry or that woman will catch you"]

  At the same moment two men sprang out of the second car and rushed atArchie. One of them flung a carriage robe over his head and twisted itround his throat, then they gathered him up, head and heels, and tossedhim over the f
ence. The thing could not have been managed more neatly ifit had been rehearsed. The Governor leaned over the fence and gazingupon Archie, wriggling in a patch of briars, unconcernedly recited:

  "'She who comes to me and pleadeth In the lovely name of Edith Shall not fail of what was wanted; Edith means the blessed, therefore All that she may wish or care for, Shall, when best for her, be granted!'"

  The two cars were enveloped in a cloud of dust when Archie, tearing theblanket from his head, rose to confront the screaming woman. Twice hehad seen the child stolen, and the first occasion had not been withoutits drama, but the Governor had made of the second the sheerest farce.The woman berated him roughly for his stupidity while he attempted toexplain.

  "The man who talked to the little girl knew her--called her by name.They've probably just gone for a ride."

  This only increased the woman's indignation and he roused himself toplacate her.

  "I had better run to the house and telephone to the Tiffin police," hesuggested.

  To his infinite surprise she declared in alarm that this must not bedone; she would go herself and tell the child's father what had occurredand let him deal with the matter. This was wholly beyond hiscomprehension and to conceal his emotions he fell back heavily upon hisrole of the country bumpkin, complaining of imaginary injuries andvowing that he would have the law on the men who assaulted him. Thewoman glanced carefully about, as though to make sure they had not beenobserved and then set off for the house. She took several steps and thenturned to say:

  "Don't talk about this--do you understand? You're not to say a wordabout it. I'll see Mr. Putney Congdon and tell him just how ithappened."

  "But if the police should ask me--"

  "Don't be a fool! The police are not going to know about this. Thosewere Mr. Putney Congdon's orders in case anything like this happened.And you needn't talk to the other hands about it either. I'll fix theforeman; all you've got to do is to keep your mouth shut."

  Her assumption that Mr. Putney Congdon would not be greatly aroused bythe abduction of his daughter was anything but clarifying. Archiereturned the pony to the barn and was sitting in the door brooding uponthe prevailing madness of the human race when Grubbs found him.

  "Well, it certainly beats hell!" the man remarked, wiping his brow withthe back of his hand.

  "There's a good deal in what you say," Archie mournfully assented. "Iwant you to know that it wasn't my fault. Those fellows--there wereabout six of 'em--jumped on me and tried to choke me to death and thenpitched me over the fence and it was all over in half a second. Iapologize if that's what you expect."

  "I don't expect a damned thing! That fool woman said I wasn't to pesteryou about it as you wasn't to blame, which makes me sore, for at thefirst jump I was goin' to call the sheriff and turn y' over. But fromwhat she says we're not to say a word--not a word, mind y'! Y' can'tbeat it!"

  "I certainly shan't attempt to beat it," replied Archie sadly. "I'd liketo catch a March hare just to tell him that some human beings are a lotcrazier than he is. We haven't done justice to the intellectual powersof the rabbit."

  The foreman blinked but the remark penetrated and he burst into a loudguffaw. That a child should be picked up in the road and carried awaywas startling enough but that nothing was to be done about it was soegregious that words failed to do justice to it. It was only eleveno'clock and he told Archie that he might spend an hour at the woodpile,even guiding him to that unromantic spot and initiating him into theuses of saw and ax.

  V

  Three days in the harvest field brought Archie to a new respect for hisdaily bread. He found joy in the discovery that he had strength to throwinto the scale against man's necessities. He was taking a holiday fromlife itself; and he was content to bide his time until the vacationended. He was passing through an ordeal and if he emerged alive he wouldbe a wiser and better man. He planned a life with Isabel that should bespent wholly in the open. Cities should never know him again. Isabellived now so vividly in his mind that trifles he had not thought of intheir meetings became of tremendous importance; foolish things, lover'sfatuities. There was a certain grave deliberation of speech, moredeliberate when the sentence was to end in laughter; this he knew to beadorable. There was the tiniest little scar, almost imperceptible, overone of her temples; it was the right one, he remembered. An injury inchildhood, perhaps; he grieved over it as though he had seen the cruelwound inflicted. And she had a way of laying her hand against her cheekthat touched him deeply as he thought of it. Her hands were the mostwonderful he had ever seen; useful, capable hands, slim and long.

  When he thought of the castigation she had given him in those dark dayswhen they so miserably misunderstood each other, it helped to rememberher hands; they were hands that could be only the accompaniment of akind and generous heart. There was the troublesome cousin who loved her;but he consoled himself with the reflection that she would not havementioned the man if she had really cared for him; and yet this might beonly a blind. He would have an eye to that cousin. The buried treasurehe hadn't taken very seriously. In spite of all the remarkable thingsthat had happened to him he still had moments of incredulity, and in themidst of an Ohio wheatfield, with the click and clatter of the reapersin his ears and the dry scent of the wheat in his nostrils, to dream ofburied gold was transcendent folly.

  Gossip from the farmhouse reached him at the back door and he was alertfor any sign that Putney Congdon meditated leaving. Eliphalet had notreturned; he judged that Perky, probably inspired by the Governor, hadfrightened the old man into taking a long journey. The woman who hadcared for Edith had left; he got that direct from Grubbs, who poured outconfidences freely as they smoked together after the twilight supper.

  "Say, I guess I sized you up all wrong. You don't act like a bum at all;I guess you and me might rent a farm round here somewhere and make somemoney out of it next year. You're the first hobo I ever saw who could doa day's work without cryin'."

  The queer ways of the Congdons had not been referred to between themuntil the third evening, when they took counsel of their tobacco apartfrom the other men, sprawling on the grass in a friendly intimacy thatArchie found flattering. A plain, hard-fisted farmer liked him andshowed a preference for his society; the thing was unbelievable.

  "I get it through the kitchen that the old man's son's goin' to clearout tonight. Orders was sent to have a machine ready to take him to townat eleven o'clock. Guess there was nothing the matter with him nohow--y'know what these rich young fellas are, and they say the old man's wortha mint. The idea of a big grown man havin' a nurse take care of himmakes me sick. I ain't seen that fella since he came. Telegram phonedout this evenin' made 'im jump out o' bed, they say, and he's off forsomewhere tonight. Sees a chance to make a lot of money most likely."

  Archie cautiously changed the subject, but he was already planning hisdeparture. The Governor had bidden him follow Congdon and here were hismarching orders. The prospect of playing the spy upon Congdon had grownno less disagreeable since the Governor had told him that this was to behis next duty. The only thing that reconciled him to the unattractivetask was the assurance that Congdon would set out at once for Heart o'Dreams Camp, where Isabel presumably was now established. To botherhimself further with the Congdons was not to his liking; he had ceasedwishing that he had killed Putney; he wished now that the whole familywere at the other side of the world where they wouldn't so persistentlyinterfere with his affairs.

  Grubbs complained bitterly because upon him fell the duty of gettingPutney into town to catch a west-bound train at midnight.

  "You'd think we run a taxi joint here! Where am I goin' to get a night'srest, I'd like to know!"

  With the seven-mile tramp to town before him Archie was unable tosympathize with Grubbs' longing for slumber. He left the foremantinkering the machine in which Putney was to be borne to the station,changed his hat for his cap and stole out of the sleeping quarters tothe road.

  The thought that
he was on his way to Isabel lightened his step, and hetrudged along with frequent invocations of the stars. He carried nothingin his pockets but the sealed address the Governor's sister had givenhim; the verse in Isabel's writing, and a roll of bills the Governor hadpressed upon him when they parted.

  Reaching town, he found himself with an hour to spare. He got his bagfrom the station and bought a ticket. There was only one upperavailable, said the agent with the usual optimistic suggestion of ticketagents that something better might be found when the train came in. Hespent half an hour at a hotel cleaning up and changing to the clothinghe had discarded at Cleveland.

  ... Grubbs carried Putney's luggage across the platform with doggedstride, passing Archie without a sign of recognition. He was followed bya tall man in a gray suit whose left arm was supported by a sling.Grubbs took hasty leave and the two travelers were left alone.

  "A warm night," Congdon remarked.

  Archie agreed to this, a trifle huskily. Congdon was not a bad lookingfellow; his tone and manner, and his face, as revealed by the platformlights, encouraged the belief that he was a gentleman.

  "No red caps here, I suppose," said Congdon with a glance toward thestation.

  "I fancy not," Archie replied. "I'll be glad to help you with yourbags."

  "Oh, thank you! I have a game shoulder,--nearly well now, but it givesme a twinge occasionally. The train's on time, I believe."

  A blast from the locomotive and a humming of the rails woke the stationto life. Archie grabbed the larger of Congdon's bags and led the waytoward a voice bawling "Chicago sleeper." Congdon showed his ticket forlower three and climbed in; Archie remaining behind to negotiate forspace.

  "Nothing left but uppers; you can take upper three."

  He found Congdon in the aisle disposing of his effects.

  "I've got the upper half of the section," said Archie, "But I promisenot to be a nuisance to you."

  "That will be all right. I asked for a stateroom but you can never getwhat you want at these way stations. I'm going to smoke for a while."

  Archie threw his suitcase into the upper berth and clung to thecurtains as the train started with a jerk. Here was a situation soutterly confounding that his spirit sank under the weight of it. He wasnot only traveling with a man he had shot; he was obliged to sleep overhim. The propinquity made it possible to finish the business begun atBailey Harbor and be done with him. He felt the perspiration tricklingdown his cheeks. The possibilities of the next few hours were hideous;what if he were unable to resist an impulse to give Putney Congdon hisquietus; what if--

  He staggered toward the smoking compartment and found it unoccupied savefor Congdon, who had planted himself in a chair and was trying to lighta cigarette. Archie sank upon the leather divan and struck and held amatch for him.

  Congdon thanked him with a nod and remarked that the weather wasfavoring the farmers.

  Archie, satisfied that the rather melancholy blue eyes had found in himnothing familiar or suggestive of their earlier and tragic meeting,heartily commended the weather as excellent for the crops. Congdon gavea hitch to his shoulder occasionally and flinched when a sudden jerk ofthe car threw him against the window frame. The glint of pain in hiseyes sent a wave of remorse through Archie's soul. Congdon bore hisaffliction manfully. There was about him nothing even remotelysuggestive of Eliphalet Congdon's grotesque figure or excited, choppyspeech. He had suffered and perhaps his wound was not alone responsiblefor his pallor or the hurt look in his eyes. As Congdon played nervouslywith his watch chain, he inspected Archie with quick furtive glances.

  "I'm all banged up--nerves shot to pieces," he said abruptly, turninghis gaze intently upon Archie.

  "That's rough. Used to be troubled a good deal myself."

  The sound of his own voice and the consciousness that the victim of hisbullet was reaching out to him for sympathy brought back his courage. Hewould be very kind to Putney Congdon. Even apart from the disabledshoulder there was a pathos in the man. Archie felt that in happiermoments he could become very fond of Putney Congdon. He looked like achap it would be pleasant to sit with at a table for two in a quiet clubcorner.

  "Chicago?" Congdon asked. It seemed to Archie that he threw into thequestion a hope that they were to be fellow travelers to the end of thejourney. Here was something, a turn of the screw, that even the Governorcould not have foreseen.

  The conductor came for their tickets and Archie took advantage of theinterruption to ponder the ethics and the etiquette of his predicament;but there was no precedent in all history for such a synchronization oftwo gentlemen who had recently engaged in a midnight duel. Archie wasappalled by the consciousness that he and Congdon were really hitting itoff.

  The tickets surrendered, Congdon drew out his watch, said that he hadbeen sleeping badly and hated to go to bed. He sat erect and tried toreach his coat pocket. His face twitched with the pain of the effort.

  "I had a bottle of dope I'm supposed to take to help me sleep; must haveleft it in my bag. Will you poke the button, please?"

  "Can't I get it for you?" asked Archie.

  "You are very kind. It's the small satchel--a lot of stuff in it allmixed up. A bottle about as long as your hand."

  Opening the bag in Congdon's berth Archie's hand fell upon a photographthat lay on top. The face swam before his eyes and he pitched forward inhis agitation, bumping his head viciously against the window. It was aphotograph of Isabel Perry, an Isabel somewhat younger than the girl heknew, but Isabel--indubitably Isabel! Another dive into the bag'srecesses brought up the photograph of Edith Congdon that had beensnatched from the frame in the Bailey Harbor cottage. This wasexplicable enough, but the likeness of Isabel in Congdon's satchel wasutterly inexplicable and astounding. He groped for the bottle and creptback to the smoking compartment.

  "That's right; thanks. One teaspoonful in water if you don't mind. Thisis really quite unpardonable. You are very good to bother with me; I'dcounted on the porter's help. Had a trained nurse for a while but youcan't go traveling over the country with a nurse, and the woman hadbegun to bore me to death. I'd rather die than have doctors and nursestrailing me about."

  "They're odious," Archie assented. "There! Now have a cigarette to killthe taste."

  "Good idea! One more and I'll turn in."

  A cigarette is the most insignificant of peace offerings, and yet Archieexperienced a pleasurable thrill as Putney Congdon accepted one from hiscase. They were very good cigarettes, of a brand with which Archie hadsupplied himself generously at Tiffin and Congdon expressed his approvalof them.

  Congdon, the custodian of a photograph of Isabel Perry, demanded a morecareful inspection, and Archie studied him with renewed interest. Isabelhad in no way indicated that she knew Congdon; it was Mrs. Congdon thatshe was trying to serve, and Isabel was hardly a girl to bestow herphotograph upon a married man. Congdon had no business with thephotograph and Archie bitterly resented its presence in the man'sluggage.

  He jumped when Congdon announced that he was ready to turn in, followedhim to the berth, and helped him to undress, even touching the woundedshoulder.

  "That little scratch there's coming along all right now, but the bone'ssore; suppose I'll feel weather changes as old chaps do who haverheumatism."

  "Whistle if you need anything in the night," said Archie, and allowedthe porter to push him into the upper berth, the first he had everoccupied. Wakened now and then by unusual jars, he heard nothing ofCongdon. He stifled a desire to steal Isabel's photograph and in timeslept the sleep of exhaustion.

  When they were roused by the porter he helped Congdon into his clothes,chose a clean shirt for him and laughingly offered to shave him.

  Congdon regarded him quizzically.

  "You're a mighty good fellow! It's about time I was introducing myself.My name is Congdon. I live in New York; just taking a little trip for myhealth; going up into the lakes."

  "Comly's my name. No particular plans myself. Just knocking about abit."

&
nbsp; By the time Archie had made his toilet they were running into theChicago station.

  "Suppose we have breakfast in the station restaurant?" Congdonsuggested. "If I go up to the University Club I'm likely to run intosomebody who'll want me to do things. And I'm not up to it; really I'mnot."

  "I understand perfectly," said Archie.

  "And see here, old man; I don't want to force myself on you, but you'vebeen awfully decent to me. Don't be alarmed, but to tell you the honesttruth my nerves are in such a state that I'm afraid to be alone. If apoor neurasthenic won't bore you too much I wish you'd let me tag youtill my train leaves tonight. I promise not to be a nuisance and if itbecomes unbearable, just chuck me!"

  They not only breakfasted together, but after motoring through the parksthey spent an hour at the art institute and then Archie acted as host atluncheon. The fear of being accosted by an acquaintance made himnervous, and his anxiety seemed to be shared by Congdon, who chose aneating place unfrequented by travelers. By this time Archie was fullycommitted to the further journey into Michigan and contributed his halfto the purchase of a stateroom for the trip.

  "I'm using you; you can see that I'm using you, making a valet of you,dragging you into the wilderness!" exclaimed Congdon. "But I always wasa selfish whelp."

  He made the confession with a grim smile, and an impatient sweep of hisfree arm as though brushing himself out of existence.

  Archie's intimate friends were few; men thought him difficult, or lookedupon him as an invalid to be left to his own devices; and yet he feltthat he had known Putney Congdon for years.

  On a bench in Grant Park Congdon swung himself into a confidentialattitude.

  "Life's the devil's own business," he said with a deep sigh. "I've gotto a place where I don't care what happens--everything black anywhere Ilook. I've been trying for the past four or five years to do things GodAlmighty never intended me to do. I was happily married; two beautifulchildren; none finer,--but I'll shorten up the story so you can see whata monkey fate has made of me. My father's a crank, a genius in his way,but decidedly eccentric. My mother died when I was a youngster and as Iwas an only child father tried all sorts of schemes of educating me,whimsical notions, one after another. The result was I've never got alook in anywhere; unfitted for everything. After I married he stilltried to hold the rein on me, wanted to put me into businesses I hatedand kept meddling with my domestic affairs. All this made me weak andirresolute. I have a mechanical turn--not a strong bent but the onlything that ever tugged at me very hard. Almost made some importantinventions, but only almost. About the time I'd get a good start fatherwould shoot me off into something else, and if I refused he'd cut off myallowance. Never set me up for myself; keeps me dependent on his bounty.Humiliating; positively humiliating!"

  "I can imagine so," Archie agreed. He had now got the explanation of theblue prints in the Bailey Harbor house and found himself deeplyinterested in Congdon's recital.

  "Well, sir, I was about to offer myself as exhibit _A_ on a slab in thenearest morgue," Congdon continued, "when I met a young woman who_seemed_ to understand me, and right there's where I made the greatestmistake of my life. It was last spring when that happened. Talk aboutplausibility, Comly! The word never had any meaning until that girl camealong. She made a fool of me; that's the short of it. I took her intodinner at the house of some friends right here in Chicago--I lived hereabout a month trying to learn a patent medicine business father had goneinto. The thing was a fake; a ghastly imposition on the public. Suchthings have a weird fascination for father; it's simply an obsession,for he doesn't need the money."

  He was wandering into a description of various other dubious businessesthat had attracted Eliphalet Congdon when Archie, nervously twisting afolded newspaper, brought him back to the girl who had played somischievous a part in his life.

  "Oh yes! Well, I was ready to jump at anything and she diagnosed my casewith marvelous penetration. Really, Comly, it was staggering! She saidI faced life with the soul of a coward; she'd got an inkling, I suppose,of my father's freakishness and injustice; and she told me I lackedassurance and initiative. Suggested that I go armed and shoot any onewho stepped on my toes. All this with a laugh, of course; butnevertheless I felt that she really meant it. She said a man can doanything he really determines to do; it's up to him. She recited a pieceof verse to the effect that a man fears his fate too much if he won'tput his life to the test. I was fool enough to believe it. I tried tofollow her advice. It ended in my having a row with my father that beatall the other rows I ever had with him and he turned against mywife--said she was trying to estrange us. And when I ran away to escapefrom the nasty mess he sent her telegrams in my name threatening tokidnap the children and he did in fact kidnap my little daughter.Snatched her away from her mother and carried her out to one of hisfarms in Ohio. But my wife's a great woman, Comly; one of the dearest,bravest women in the world. She's played a clever trick on the oldgentleman and got the child back again and I'm damned glad of it. I gota message that the little girl's up in Michigan, so that's really whereI'm headed for. I don't dare believe that _she_ sent me the message, butI hope to God she did. That's the way things have gone with me eversince I listened to that girl. Everything all upside down. She's asiren; a dangerous character; I ought to have known better!"

  "She's beautiful, I suppose," Archie ventured, fanning himself with hishat.

  "Devilishly handsome!" Congdon exclaimed.

  Archie had suffered a blow but he was meeting it bravely. Havingbelieved that Isabel had given him this same advice quite spontaneously,it was with a shock that he realized that she had offered it in similarterms to Congdon. There was no question as to the identity of the girlwho had bidden Congdon plant his back to the wall and defy the world; noone but Isabel would ever have done that.

  "And this young woman," Archie asked after a long glance at the lake,"pardon me if I ask whether she affected you in a sentimental way? Didyou well, er--"

  "If you mean am I in love with her," began Congdon, "I believe I can sayhonestly that it hardly amounts to that. And yet she made a curiousimpression on me. You know how it is, Comly! A man may love his wifewith all his heart and soul and he may mean to be awfully square withher; and yet there may be a face or a voice now and then that will,well, you know, make him wobble a little. I did think about that girl alot; it was damned funny how I thought of her. She'd pop up in my mindwhen I had absolutely willed that I would never think of her again. Andyet the more I resolved to get her out of my mind the more stubbornlyshe'd keep coming into my thoughts.

  "I suppose in a way it was my pride; I hated to think that a girl aspretty and clever and attractive as she is thought me a contemptible,slinking coward. We all want to be heroes to women; it's one of thedamned weaknesses of our sex, Comly. I'd ceased to be a hero to my wife,who's the gentlest and most long suffering woman alive, but this otherwoman rather gave me hope that I might qualify for the finals in _her_eyes. Now, Comly, I see that you're a steady-going fellow; never thrownoff your balance; not a chap to be made a fool of by a girl who amusesherself at your expense at a dinner party. I wish you'd tell me franklyjust what you think of this?"

  "I'd say," replied Archie, attempting to meet this demand with aphilosophic air, "I'd say that the girl probably played the game onevery man she thought she could impose on. Merely a part of her socialtechnique; a stunt, so to speak, which she'd found would make us weakmales sit up and take notice. If I were you I'd clean forget the wholebusiness; on the other hand there's the suspicion that you appealed toher strongly, a girlish fancy, perhaps, and she thought you were thesort of fellow that would be hit harder if she roused you to action. Itell you, Congdon, women are curious creatures. Just when you thinkyou've got your hand on a pretty bird she flutters away and singsmerrily in another part of the wood."

  "Right!" ejaculated Congdon. "By George, that expresses it exactly!"

  "About your child, up there in Michigan," said Archie, pleased that hewas scoring as a man o
f wisdom, "it's wholly possible that your wifesent you the wire as an approach to a reconciliation."

  "Oh, Lord, no! You don't know my wife, Comly. You see I got answers tothe telegrams father sent her in my name and she hit right back at me!Don't you believe that she's coaxing me to come back to her. And here'sthe message I got out there in Ohio that caused me to jump for thetrain."

  He produced from his pocket a crumpled telegram which read:

  Your daughter is in safe hands at Huddleston, Michigan. Proceed to that point with serenity and contemplate the stars with a tranquil spirit.

  This was so clearly the Governor's work that Archie found it difficultto refrain from laughing.

  "My wife," Congdon continued, "would never send a message like that; youmay be sure of it. You may think it queer that I set off, when I was illand not feeling up to the trip, on the strength of a message like that.But ever since that girl told me I oughtn't to hesitate when I heard thebugle I can't resist the temptation to act on the spur of the moment.I'm a fool, I suppose. Tell me I'm a fool, Comly."

  "I shall do nothing of the kind. There's always the chance that the girlhad sized you up right and gave you sound advice. Don't answer if youdon't want to, but have you really done anything, anything you wouldn'thave done if that girl hadn't told you to step on the world a littleharder?"

  Congdon's free hand worked convulsively; he bent closer to Archie andwhispered:

  "I've killed a man!"

  "You murdered a man!" Archie gasped.

  "Not a question about it, my dear fellow! It was up at my house on theMaine shore. After father had driven my wife away I went there to lookat the ruins of my home. A sentimental pilgrimage, feeling that I'd madea mess of everything and mighty blue. I was mooning through the housewhen I ran into a burglar. The scoundrel had gone to bed in the guestroom. I was scared to death when I opened the door and spotted him but Ithought of that girl's advice and pulled my gun and shot him. Couldn'thave missed the fellow across a bedroom. As I ran down the stairway hetook a shot at me; that's what's the matter with my shoulder. I got upto Portland and a doctor I know there fixed me up and kept the thingdark. I passed at the hospital as the victim of a pistol woundaccidentally inflicted."

  "Well, I'd say you're out of it easy. Of course you didn't kill him orhe wouldn't have been able to wound you. I congratulate you on yourescape!"

  "Thanks, Comly; but you see he didn't die immediately, but crawled offand breathed his life out in some lonely place. It's horrible! Of coursehe was a thief and had no business in the house; but as I sit here onthis park bench I'm a murderer! I never got beyond the headlines in thePortland papers; simply couldn't bear it and haven't dared look at anewspaper since. I shot a poor devil who had quite as much right to liveas I have. The thing will hang over me till I die! I don't know just whyI am confiding in you, but something tells me that you can look at thething straight. If you say I ought to go to Maine and surrender myselfand tell what I know about the shooting of that man I'll do it."

  "Most certainly not!" cried Archie with mournful recollection of his ownspeculations on the same point in the hours when he believed that hehimself was responsible for Hoky's death. The emotional strain of thetalk was telling on him. He had never expected to hear from Congdon'slips the story of their duel at Bailey Harbor. Congdon had no idea thathe had fired not at a man but at a reflection in a mirror; and it was aquestion whether common decency didn't demand that he set Congdonstraight. Congdon in all likelihood wouldn't believe him. Nobody wouldbelieve such a story! And certainly if he should tell all he knew of theCongdons and Isabel, and wind up by acknowledging that it was he who hadbeen in the Bailey Harbor house on the night of the shooting, Congdonwould probably be so frightened that he would run away in terror to seekpolice protection.

  Congdon, unaware of his companion's perturbation, rose and suggested awalk to freshen them up before train time.

  "I thank God I fell in with you," he said with feeling. "Just talking toyou has helped me a whole lot!"

  Archie, his guilt heavy upon him, walked up Michigan Avenue beside theman he had shot.

 

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