t
TUG BEE: OMAHA. SUNDAY. FKBRUARV 1I. 1923.
By Henry C. Rowland
1.S0IM.
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p!. th Unt I in Ihr fir.4 tin fittwiwr
praUr ant buolWftm: the iui4 Hoi the pl
1. iauiln Afwr v-iUir a rim
Kv" 4 U la Uiw4 la Ml lr (or the tH.
).rn. end are : BUMtkm by telttnnen
ar ln eitd hr kidnaper. A mn u4 I'H
Uk nfu.e m U' nbia oa the I.tn4. Kf"r.
pMn tnru& fh window, kMiiwi hy.icn.tl
ilb latwhuir. MH klM kr't .hiy-li her out
I It." Phe rnxla tfc.i Ut awn M Km tj!
tnil lh f irl l b;ii. anil tfi.l lli't r ( ont
polnfe. tm a4 it ttu, cliin lh riin
Am. as4 luru to riuiviu.lur on ti.
Drink, In tier noelr orrr hiqi . hurt., trirnil
M o. turn, bun b-IU hnw ha " kiuninl hrr
la "hrltit hff tn I lax" A .liaa I. (Uhlxi. "Tti
txxxittixK" Ihm. Mm, hut li fliui ttw inllnnr
BMiaua M (U Bill Kiwraoa, ralbia ftirv.r
Sn.tr, oil lh "liquor" Hill i. tiulin (ram Ui
l 4 lrt tor bby lebJlsn 1' r punixretl
ilUui.irt.l
ELKVENTH INSTALLMENT.
Utt't Cut lo CmhM.
BILIi atwod At Mm fullmly, then
(lance4 t the crate which was awanh
aa it half Inclined to tt It Ro. II
bad immediately recognized Matt and
rave no lgn of plraaure at tho renewal
of their acquaintance. To Mutt thero was
nothing suprlslng in this considering the fact
that he bad tried so hard to pump tho lad
about the lawbreakers in whose service be
now appeared to be.
" What yer doin' out bore? Bill demanded.
"Just w-sJklnir up and down like SatAn,"
said Matt, "and taking the air, which la frenh
and plentiful out here."
" Where's yer boat? " anked the puzzled boy.
"Coming for me a little later," Matt an.
swered. " Tou se, pill, I came out here
looking for Sylvia Gates and that hundred
thousand of reward."
"Wal, I guess you won't And her," said
the boy. " Folks say she's drownded. and I
reckon they're right," and to Matt's surprise
and sudden esteem for his qualities of heart
be gave a sort of sob. "She she was a
dandy girl, too," said Bill.
" Listen, Bill," said Matt, again obeying the
impulse of th moment, which led him to
relieve ths boy's sincerity of sorrow. " Miss
Sylvia is no more drowned than I am. I've
got a good clew that she butted into the boot
leggers and they nabbed her and carried her
off."
"What bootleggers?" demanded Bill.
"Wby, that gang you're In cahoots with,"
Matt answered. " Tho folks that were living
in the old Putney place."
BUI caught a turn with hi halyard and
surveyed Matt with an astonishment which
aroused in Matt an admiration for his histri
onic qualities.
" What yer mean by sayln' I'm in cahoots
with any durn bootleggers."
" 0, come, Bill," said Matt " I happen to
be on to It. I know all about what you've
got there. I found the line you've run ashore
when I was combing the beach early this
morning at low tide."
"Well, what if ye did? " Bill demanded de
fiantly. " Can't a feller make a little money
on the sido if it t'ain't doin' no hurt to no
body?" "Tou can make all the money on the side
you like. Bill," Matt answered. " In a matter
like this you have my permission to flood the
market and the law be hanged. I never had
any sympathy with such a law anyhow."
" Well," said Bill, " if that's the way ye feel
about it yer all right. Them fellers that
make such laws ain't got no business to make
things any worse fer hard workln' men than
what they be."
" I quite agree with you," said Matt heart
ily, " but since I happen to be on it wouldn't
hurt you any to slip me a couple."
"Wal," answered the reassured Bill, "111
Just do that, mister, if you won't say
nawthln. I got quite a passel here." He
reached for the halyard and started to heave
up the crate, and hia next words In a voice
shrill and heightened by his efforts reached
the listeners in the cave. "Ye see, mister,
this ain't my reg'lar business, but my Uncle
Jasper's laid up with rheumatis, and he don't
like to dlsapint his reg'lar customers. Folks
say it's unlawful, but jest the same some o'
the best' people along the shore trade with
Uncle Jasper regelar."
" Everybody's doing St, so far's I can see.
" I'm not surprised to hear it," said Matt.
Who are some of Uncle Jasper's customers? "
"Wal," said Bill, "your Uncle Jerry has
been one for a long time, and so has Mr.
Gates and the Whites and Parkers, and quite
a lot of others."
Matt recrtved this information with aston
ishment, and from the pitch and timbre of
Bill's voice he judged he was "not the only
one to be astonished. It seemed to him that
he had been imposed upon, and he "w as in
clined to laugh on learning that this eddy
in the wave of crime should have washed the
reputable estates of those whom Bill had
mentioned!,
Then as the crate rose higher Matt rubbed
his eyes and stared, for between the chinks
be could detect the glint of what looked like
small bottles, but these seemed curiously agi
tated. " How many do yer want?" asked Bill.
"How many can you spare?" Matt an
swered. ' '
" 0, a dozen, I reckon they don't go very
fur with folks that's fond of 'em."
"Bill," cried Matt almost in a shriek, as
the horrid truth began to dawn on him as a
back draft of the breeze drifted the littie
sloop almost on the rocks, " what in blazes
have you got in that crate?"
Bill straightened up and stared at him in
surprise. " Why, shorts, o' course," said he.
" Little lobsters under legal size. What yer
think I had? Whales."
Matt's Jaw fell. He sank down weakly and
covered his face with his hands. "O, my
sainted aunt,"- he groaned. "This is the
worst that has happened to me yet."
And it seemed to him that from the dis
tance of about a hundred yards there came a
stifled chortling sound, as of the waves dash
lng into the crannies of the rocks or some
, thing else.
BiU Emerson, having secured his cargo of
unlawful delicacies for the palates of unscru
pulous epicures, started his motor, waved bis
hand to Matt, and headed off into the gather
ing murk. Matt, sitting on the rock with a
broken basket half full of chicken lobsters
at his feet, listened to the distant diapason
of unseemly mirth from the cavern, whence
the others had not dared venture until the
sloop was out of sight.
foalinc that he might as well face their
ridirui tint as Wt. M4tt picked up bit h i
k?t and wandered dejewdly back, ruing
at the mouth of the ahelK-r, b MivM Ham
In sitting po'ur. hi big bands rtamr4 b.
for his knees, rocking backward nd fr.
ward eonvulwd with mirth. Sylvia alsu was
tndgtKiriB bor. whM Nancy, atunding wtth
her bane resting lightly on her blpa, mir.
veyed him wttb the twornful and nnxkinB
mit which Matt already knew too welt.
"Great work, Sherlock," aald alt, "An
other bright and shining illustration of what
you said while ago about the de-tun mn f
the trained obarrvw betm bsllttkd through
fortuitous circumstances."
" My dear Wataon," aaid Malt. " Kindly
tnara your larcasm and hand ma lh co
caine." "Well, anyhow." said Sam, " that helps out
the bill of fare. V can split em and grill
'm en tha coali."
Matt tank down heavily. "Who'd ever
havo gruessed It was lobaters?" said he.
. " I ought to have," said Sam. " The lobster
men havo a trick of saving out thetr shorts
when they haul their pot putting thrm
In one big car and hiding 'cm that way to
fool tho fish inspector. When they get a
good mesa they sell them to their regular
customers Just aa Mil said. It's a bit of a
Jolt, but all the same I'm glad to know Bill
isn't mixed up In this bootlegging business."
" I'm afraid I cannot way as much," said
Matt. " In the depicted condition of my rys
tent I'd trade them all for one good second
mate's drinlS"
" That would not hava done the rest of us
much good," said Nancy, " and I love chicken
lobsters, but, of course, that scarcely would
be expected to Interest you."
"That remark," aaid Malt, "Is aa unkind
as it is unfair. Frnrn tha moment of the
curtain's rising on this fare my principal
effort has been directed toward getting you
what you wanted."
Nancy flushed, seemed about to make some
tart reply, thought better of It, then said in
a voice which struck through Matt with
pleased surpriee: " Well, I think that you've
succeeded pretty well, if that is any comfort
to you."
" It Is," said Matt, and was about to hand
back the olive branch, when Sam, staring
into the gathering darkness with the eye of
a trained mariner, said eharply:
"Here comes another boat."
They followed the direction of his raised
arm and saw a dim, nebulous shape forming
itself in the humid opacity.
" Upon my word!" said Matt, " Ear Harbor
has got nothing on this place for visiting
yachts. I wonder somebody doesn't start a
yacht club." '
"That's our launch," cried Nancy. "Ij
this tomorrow or today?"
" It is never tomorrow," said Matt. " That
word, like your definition of reputation,
represents an abstract quality which we
never quite catch up with."
He rose to his feet, stepped outside, and,
picking up the zinc bucket, beat upon it wit h
a stick of firewood. This tocsin was imme
diately heard by the faithful Murphy, who
waved his sou'wester. A -moment later the
launch came nosing up to the keln covered
rocks, when Murphy, at sight of Sylvia, let
out a jubilant howl.
" Glory be!" cried he. " Praise the saints!
O, chllder, but ye are the livin' wonders!"
And he came scrambling ashore, painter in
hand, and, rushing to where Sylvia stood,
seized her hand, then turned to stare with
wonder at the embarrassed Sam.
"And did he find her, sor?" he cried.
"Murphy," said Sam in a dry voice, "I
sure did. I found her paddling along the
shore in her canoe and took her for a little
sail. We came back here to the cabin, and
then Mr. Holmes rescued her and we had a
fight and burned the cabin down, and Miss
Upton put us both out with the fire extin
guisher." Murphy stared from one to the other of
the smiling faces.
" There does not seem to be much broken,"
he observed. " But ye had all best be gettin'
in the launch and we will hurry back in time
to save the poor squire from goin' oft his
head entirely. O, Misther Sprague," his voice
was reproachful, "'tis the divil and all ye
have raised by this outrageous act."
A few minutes later the swift launch under
the skilled pilotage of Murphy was running
in on the long swell for Uncle Jerry's landing.
Matt and Nancy, thoroughly used up and
suffering from the relaxation of their stren
uous efforts, were silent. As also were Sam
and Sylvia. Scarcely anybody spoke until
they had arrived,, when Sam observed with a
sigh:
"Well, I suppose I'm in to catch the devil,
now, but, by gum, it's well worth it."
"1 thought," said Nancy, "that we were
going to charge it up to Matt's fictitious boot
leggers." Sam shook his head. " That yarn will do
for the press and the world at large, but I'm
going to give Mr. Gates the straight stuff
and take whatever he hands out' to me." .
. "Tou can tell us all about it tomorrow,
then," said Nancy. "I think that Matt and
1 have had enough bloodshed for one day."
" Some day!" murmured Matt. fervently.
On arriving Sam and Sylvia got immedi
ately Into the car and were driven off by
Murphy to whatever fate awaited them. As
Matt and Nancy walked slowly to the house
Matt said in a heavy voice: .
I'm sorry lor Mr. Bluebeard,
I hate tor to cause htm pain,
Bui the hell of a pres there's .ore to be
When they ret home s ain. : . t
"Well,'' said Nancy, "Sam did a. terrible
thing, but I'll stand by my former remark,
that a man who loves a girl enough to risk
her everlasting hatred and a long term in the
penitentiary on the off chance of making her
come to his way of thinking is a man worth
having for a husband. When are you going
to claim the reward?"
" I'm not," said Matt shortly. " Are you? "
Nancy stopped in her tracks and stared at
him. " Of course not," said she. " I never
had any such Idea. .But do you really mean
that you are going to pass up that hundred
thousand dollars because they are both bound
in all honor to pay?" .
. " I pass it up," said Matt. " If we'd rescued
her from the bootleggers we'd be fools not to
claim it, but this job is different."
"How about your Income tax?"
" O, that! " said Matt. " Well. I may haTe
a try for Uncle Jerry's money."
" What money, silly? "
"The premium that goes with you," said
Matt.
" Is that another impulse? " Nancy asked,
pausing at the foot of the veranda steps.
"Tea," said Matt. "And so is this," and
before the astonished girl could raise a hand
in her defense he caught her in his arms,
tilted up her face, and kissed her as be had
done not many hours before.
" That's to Is4 off another poaibla mUci
of nerves,' sid he, and then, to hia contter
nation, for remedies do not work always In
the earn way, Nancy bunt suddenly Into
t tr, ran up tho atepa und into tho houa.
M.itt did not go immediately Into lb house,
Nnnev's tK-havmr at hia Impulsive carr had
greatly upnet him. Aa uvual, ho bad acted
rn ul4n Impulse and likewise as usual ap-jw-ared
to havo Jumped at a wrong conclu
sion. Ho rmiM not have, tnld precisely what
he had espet'tml to get In return, but this
certainly had not been tears, If felt ashamed
and reiuumpful and considerably puicxl.nl. He
now rrfl'irted that while a man m'glit b
rused tor kissing a girl In desperation to atop
a tit of hysteric, thero was no gentlemanly
JuMiflratlon for so doing when a ho was phya
iatly and nervously exhausted and without
any particular reason except as a sort of
f!im: to an emotional adventure. He laid
hlme!f that even Mm was more justified In
carrying off by force majeur tho girl with
whom he was desperately In lovo than wa
a man In forcibly kissing a girl with wbdm
ho wan not In lovo at all.
As this comparison In brutal violence fil
tered through his tired brain Matt expert
eni'M a. stab of surprise. But was It true
that he was not In love with her at all? Waa
reagent in a cloudy precipltats, and It ho4
him Immrduurly and In every clear oolutioo
jut why he had ht4 Nancy,
" Iteeaus I've fallen aafuUy In lovt with
lie r," ho anawxrtd,
Are you quite sure or that?" May asked.
"Trs," paid Matt. "I Just making
sure of It when you came In,"
May appeared to weigh the value of theae
word. "Well," said she, "I'm fad that
your impuls had a gentlt-aiily mvtlvo."
"Hut it hadn't." Matt Interrupted. "That
came trotting along behind."
" What do you m-n?" May drmended, and
hr eye faiUmcd on Matt's with rather more
than a challenge. There was a good deal of
ai uHHtion about It.
Mail row. "I doubt If I could niak you
understand. May," auiJ he. Not because of
your lark ct Intelligence but because of my
poor ability to explain Just what I feel. Most
of us meUocre writers suffer from that de
fect. Many of ua are able to put the clever
words In the mouth of our ftctitioua char
actcra, but quite unable to say them our
selves. Anyhow, I wouldn't If I could. I've
acted like a cad to Nancy, so you see you
were quite right In your first Idea of me. If
you will kindly excuse me new I'll aay good-
Maff looked up to ee May on tho thrholJ. Sht carried ... a long glait
containing some tori of amber Raid.
it even true that he was not in love with her
an awful lot? But, if so, when had it hap
pened and where and how? From start to
finish of tho bizarre adventure they had
snapped and spat and clawed at each succes
sive clash of wills, like two unfriendly cats
meeting on the top of a narrow fence, and if
Nancy had not missed a trick in scoring him,
so also had he lifted his hackles and
scratched back.
Matt stood for several moments trying to
puzzle it out The rain was pelting down,
but he had got used to rain and did not give
the matter much attention. His reverie was
interrupted by a still, small voice within
him asking for a smoke. It was inconven
ient to smoke out there in the rain, so Matt
"ven,t up the steps and entered the house,
quietly and unostentatiously. He sloughed
off his raincoat, feeling, rather like a snake in
the act of changing its skin, then slipped
back through the house to the library, paus
ing at the door to switch on the lights. There
were too many of them to suit his reflective
mood, so he pulled the chain of reading
lamp on a table in the comer, snapped off the
others, and, seating himself in a big leather
upholstered armchair, lighted a cigaret. A
grandfather's clock in the hall struck the full
Westminster chimes, then solemnly an
nounced that it was midnight
Matt sat and. smoked and pondered. Uncie
Jerry's room was directly above, and Matt's
thoughts were obtruded upon by the .low
murmur of voices, punctuated from time to
time by what his ears might have recognized,
had they been alert, which they were not as
the harsh cackle of Uncle Jerry's laughter.
But these sounds were lost on Matt, who waa
wearisomely reviewing in his mind the differ
ent episodes of which Nancy seemed to be
tne predominant figure.
The clock struck the quarter, then the half
hour, unremarked by Matt He heard an
electric bell tinkling somewhere, and a little
later somebody went up the stairs apparently
with a tray of dishes, for Matt heard the
clink of porcelain. Then there came a rustle
in the room adjoining, and Matt lookedmp to
see May on the threshold. She waa in dress
ing gown and slippers, and looked rather like
a Druid priestess, except that she carried in
her hand not a golden sickle but a long glass
containing some sort of amber colored fluid.
" So here you are," said she.
"I I yes, I think so," Matt admitted,
starting to rise.
"Sit still. Tou look rather used up. Here,
drink this slowly." May offered him the
glass, then seated herself in a desk chair,
facing him.
" What is it? " Matt asked, setting the glass
on the desk.
" Mostly whisky," May answered. " Medici
nal whisky."
" Where have I heard that word before? "
Matt murmured, and took obediently a
draught " It seems to have a curiously fa
miliar taste."
"Why didn't you come upetalrs?" May
asked, fixing him with ber intelligent eyts.
" I was ashamed," Matt confessed.
" Why? What were you ashamed of? "
" Kissing Nancy," said Matt " Didn't she
tell you?"
"No," May answered. . "But then she had
more important things to tell us about Why
did you kiss her? " She leaned forward, and
her searching; look pierced Matt to the very
vitals of his confused intelligence. It seemed
also to dear it, liko a d'cr r- two of the
night, and when you come down tomorrow
I'll be gope." He pushed back his chair and
stood politely waiting for her to go.
May did not budge. Her steady eyes rested
on Matt's face with a sort of pity. " Nancy
is right," said she. "But she is not entirely
right Tou are not quite responsible. Matt
But your irresponsibility is not that of a fool
ish person or a stupid person. It's that of
a child a headstrong little boy." t
Matt bowed. "Thanks for the skilled
psychiatry, May," said he. " But if you don't
mind I'll say good-night and go to bed. Tou
see, I'd like to get an early start tomorrow,
before Murphy is up. So I'll telephone to
Bill Emerson to run over and get me. Hope
I can manage to leave without disturbing
anybody."
May studied htm thoughtfully. " Sit down,
Matt," said she.
" Thank you," Matt answered, and re
mained standing. May rose herself.
" Then it's to be unfriendliness again? " she
asked.
, "Let's not call it that," said Matt. "For
getfulness. Tou see, May, I'm such a forget
ful person myself that all I can honestly ask
is forgetfulness in return. That's easy to do,
and never strains anybody very much."
"Tour uncle wants to 'talk to you," said
May.
" That's establishing a precedent," said
Matt. "Heretofore I've always been the one
to request the audience." He pushed back
the tall glass from which he had taken but
a swallow, then placed a small book care
fully aoross its top. May watched this ma
neuver with a twinkle in her gray eyes.
" What's that idea? " she asked.
" I'm apt to need the rest when Uncle Jerry
gets through talking to me," Matt explained,
" and I must say you mixed me a real one,
May. A sort of stirrup cup, I fancy."
- " That's up to you. Matt," May answered.
"I've never tried to thrust my hospitality
on anybody, but after listening to Nancy's
story I thought it warranted " her eyes
twinkled .Ifven more at the corners, though
her face was perfectly grave "especially
after your disappointment. I'm glad to know
about these lobsters. I had my suspicions
about them. But from your point of view I
suppose that such arbitrary laws are to be
regarded a good deal like the hearts of arbi
trary women made for the fun of breaking,
like clay pigeons."
Matt turned and stared at her, and for the
first time May noticed the contusions and
abrasions of his face. She started to speak,
but Matt checked her.
"Look here, May," he demanded, "just
what are you driving at? If you mean that "
I've been trying to break Nancy's heart then
you're all oft. I've damaged her conjunctives
with the extinguisher and I've taken unpar
donable liberty with her lips that Is, the
second time. But if you think I've been try
ing to flirt with her then you haven't the
sense that I've got and she'll tell you there's
,no worse insult than that."
" So I gathered from her rather incoherent
commentaries on your quality of mind," said
May. "Listen."
They listened. From overhead came faintly
the muffled sounds of what seemed to be a
duet of cachhinatlons in which Matt was able
to distinguish Uncle Jerry's gusts of mirth,
less cackles now than explosive coughs, and
what sounded like appeals for divine or other
aid. Mingled with these spasmodic croaktngs
were ringing peals of laughter in a clear and
musical note which might hae proved conta
gious to miwit Itftriiers. but hl'h turned
Matt ci'I'l. Its h4 heard llxm before, ome
hour earlier In the day,
" Tou had better run up, May." said Matt.
"Plw'a atarting to throw grMlier fit of be
tertea," "iMn't worry," May annwered, "At least,
don't worry about Nancy. Phe doesn't give
way to uncontrolled laughter very often, but
w h'ti she dnet, ehe do."
Therecamta thumping on the floor ahoe.
May '. and Matt, a little tardy about hi
politeness, wit startled to find hie head
drawn suddenly hark and two strong, small
handa holding it by the ears, aa one ho'da en
Alreddlo pup when desiring to examine Us
eye.
"Wliai'a Ihls?" asked Matt. "Are you
cuing to give me chloroform and put me out
of my mlry?"
" I'm going to give you a kin," said Hay,
nd did o. It S) tfd aa a further stimulant
on Matt.
"That's right," said he; "avenge your el
ten And y iu can keep on avenging her Juat
as long as ynu like."
"Tou are quite a dear. Matt," May ob
served, " when one begins to find you out."
"Thanks, May," said Matt, " but if anybody
ever starts In to find me out I'll be hard to
find."
" Nancy hia found you out," said May.
"Quite o," Matt admitted. "That's the
reason I Intend to beat it on the milk train.
But you can tell her from me"
Again came the thumping from overhead,
this time lmperloua. May ignored It. She
had been a trained nurse.
" Well, what ahall I tell Nancy?" she asked.
"Tell her I think eho'a a wonder, and I'm
sorry--no, glad I kissed her, and that I'm
clearing out in such a hurry because, I'm
afraid that if I stuck around I'd have to kiss
her every time I looked at her, and besides
the wear and tear of that on her I might get
shot or poisoned or something. Tell her that
I've found out that I love her nearly to
death," Matt took another gulp of his medic
inal stimulant. " Tell her I love her plumb to
death, and when you've told her all that "
He paused, for the thumping overhead bad
become more vociferous.
" I'm afraid your uncle has been telling her
about the people In the old Putney place."
Matt fixed her with burning eyes, for they
were beginning to burn again.
" What about them?" he asked.
May sank back Into the chair from which
she had just risen. She started to speak,
then leaned forward and covered her eyes
with her hand. Her shoulders began to
shake. Matt, watching her, first In anger,
then in quriosity, and finally in appreciation,
found his mind straying from the defense of
his dignity ij an Intense anxiety about May,
and the fear that the loss of self-control
might be a family falling of the Upton sisters.
" Stop," he cried. " Don't you get going it,
too."
May wiped her eyes and leaned back, look
ing at Matt down the slant of her soft cheeks.
She was astonishingly pretty, he thought,
and for the first time it struck him that per
haps not May but Uncle Jerry had got by far
the best of the bargain.
"I'll stop," said May. "'ancy and I are
quite a lot alike in some respects. We never
' were gigglers, like a good many girls. Be
sides, our life drama has held a good many
more sobs than laughs for the last several
years, and once in a while we try to catch
up."
" Nancy began to cry when I kissed her,"
Matt said.
"Pure nerves," said May. "Being pretty
well tuckered out and too tired to put up a
fight, she cried. It's sometimes done."
Malt cocked his head. ""Well, she seems
to be catching up again," said he. "What
about those people in the old Putney place?
Have they been nabbed?"
May nodded. " Tes," said she, "at Sara
toga Springs. The head of the household is
Don Manuel Diego Jesus -Maria Gonzales.
If there's any part of the Argentine Republic
he doesn't own then there must have been
gome oversight on the part of his real estate
agent He is here in America on some sort
of trade reciprocity business. The young
man you saw was his secretary." She began
to shake again. " The extinguisher "
"Go on," said Matt savagely. "I suppose
it blinded him, and I hope It did."
" O, no," said May. " That was before you
put the ammonia in it. The secretary was
stopping on to close up the place and turn it ,
over to the agent because the damp air gave
Sefior Gonzales rheumatism. The boxes you
saw brought ashore were private stores from
their yacht." She leaned forward, resting
her beautifully rounded forearms on the
table, dropped her forehead on them, and her
shoulders moved quickly up and down.
" Try to get your second wind and start on
another lap, May," said Matt. " Ail of this
is terribly jolly hearing for me, just as when
Bill Emerson told me the booze was lobsters.
I think I'll change my mind about this drink
hoarding." He removed a copy of " Songs of
Men " from the tall glass and took another
soul searching swallow. " I'm feeling strong
er now. Why did they slide the launch down
out of the boathouse?"
" She belonged to the yacht," said May,
" and they had sent her up here to have some
thing to run about in if so desired. The
steam yacht is about the size of the Levia
than. The old Don had already left for Sara
toga in an ambulance car and the other two
were following him up with restoratives and
sterilized plovers' eggs and pickled snails'
tongues and things and champagne."
. " I see," said Matt. " So they were boot
leggers after all. The last and final whack
at impulse and the extinguisher. Tou
make it easier for me to understand why that
sleek pup of a secretary was so pert. Folks
say they were all uppish. And you give mc
a positive stab of pure unadulterated joy
when I think of how I sprayed him. I gup
pose that in the retirement of its burrow
under the rocks br'er skunk must have many
a quiet efyuckle of the sort"
There came again the rapping overhead,
this time violent enough to admit of no fur
ther ignoring.
" Tou'd better go up," said May, " before
your uncle kicks the ceiling down."
"It shows what you've done for him.
May," said Matt "A few month ago he
could not have endangered the plaster.
I'll go up and gee him, and then organize my
retreat"
May looked at him steadily. " Why the re
treat?" she asked.
"I've been a soldier. May," said Matt,
"end my military experience has taught me
that there is- nothing dishonorable about a
well ordered retreat when two things have
happened, the first being when you've car
ried on to the beat of your ability and mud
dled through somehow, and the second when
your efforts have brought you nothing but
ahame and disgrace through left call It for
tuitous riivuiiiitancea, rcai'ting on a mind
which U wift but none too sound."
" What make you think your mind ii none
too eouml?''
"Nancy, principally," aaid Matt, "and
Nancy Is right, tvery roia'lunion to which
my brlllUnt mind eanled mo Ince the be
ginning nf this fiasco hae proved wrong. I
aecuaed a worthy and tlistinguiahed for
eigner of being a crook, and I accused some
nonexistent bootleggers of carrying away a
girl, and 1 accused me lioneH IVrtugueae
fishermen of trying to carry off Nancy, and
I aectiMd Kill Emerson of being a bootlegger,
and If my silly old extinguisher hadn't got
plugged there a no telling what might havo
happened. Wum I know what it feel like
to get a slug i f that stuff It the eyei, and
the paxMona are apt to be routed by such a
calamity. Hut, to go farther back, and what
t much more Important, I accused you of
being a digntiig young woman and your
liter of being In the tame buat."
"I think that's been wiped off the elate.
Matt." raid My.
"Well, that'a berue you're generous.
P.ut there' something cite which no time
nor acourtng ten wipe off my alate because it
l.n't merely written there but etched. I
don't think I should ever be able, after all
that'a happened, to get up Impudence enough
to te'1 Nancy how much I lov her, and
I'm not going to ask you to deliver any such
message."
" I shall, though." said May.
"Well, then, don't until rvo put the aame
splrltuJ and geographical aeparation be
tween ua that I proposo to do between my
self and a few others whom I should be
ashamed to face Mr. Gates and Donovan
and Uncle Jerry."
"Why Uncle Jerry? asked May.
" Because he happena to be my maternal
uncle, and, therefore, the stlijma of having
an Idiot nephew might be expected to score
him a bit. But, so -far as Nancy la con
cerned, she saw through me from the start
had my number, In the argot cf the day and
she never found any reason to change her
Idea. Sitting hero just now before you came
in I found occasion to change mine of her,
and I'm giving you the benefit of the result.
She has courage, resolution, high grade In
telligence, and about everything to make a
man respect and love her."
"Don't you think," May asked, " It would
be rather a sporting thing to wait lopg
enough to tell her that yourself?"
"No," said Matt, "I don't think so.
There's a lot of difference between being
sporty and being merely cheeky. I'll go up
now and say good-night to Uncle Jerry, and
then I'll take a nap and get up and out of
here before anybody's about. Goodnight,
May, and thanks awfully for your sym
pathy." He rose, took the hand which May offered
him, and brushed it lightly with his lips. He
failed to notice the gusli of tears In May's
eyes, because his own were hot and smart
ing. Then, as he reached the foot of the
stairs, a harsh, strident voice came down
from above.
"Tell that fl Matt to come up here,"
called Uncle Jerry.
The summons had the tonic effect which
Matt most needed at that moment.
" Coming, Uncle Jerry," he called cheer
fully, and went up with alacrity. Uncle
Jerry, looking rather like a Capuchin monk
in his dressing gown, was standing In th
doorward of his room, his big frame bulking
up to fill it At sight of Matt he turned and
went back Inside with a brief gesture for
Matt to follow.
Matt entered and stood respectfully at at
tention. "Sit down," said Uncle Jerry, and sur
veyed him with a curious expression which
was not entirely satirical.
"Hardly worth while holding a post-mortem.
Uncle," Matt replied.
"O, I don't fcnow," Uncle Jerry answered;
they're more warranted than post-obits."
"O, speaking about those things. Uncle,"
said Matt, " here's your change." He reached
In his pocket and took out the roll of bills.
' " I only had to spend fifty dollars twenty to
pay for a wallop on the jaw of a Portuguese
fisherman and twenty more for the mate to
it between the eyes."
" Well, that's getting off easy," said Uncle
Jerry. "I once had to pay fifty times that
for something of the same sort How about
the other ten?"
e " I paid that for a dozen chicken lobsters,"
said Matt. " They came a little high, but Bill
JGmerson told me it waa what you gave him."
"Well," said Uncle Jerry, "don't bother
about the change; and you needn't worry
about your income tax. Tou see, Matt. I've
rather changed my idea about you, and, after
ail, we're blood kin."
Matt laid the roll of bills on the table.
"Thanks, awfully, Uncle Jerry," he said,
" but I've rather changed my opinion about
avuncular graft. There's nothing owing me
for this job."
"There is, though, Matt," said Uncie
Jerry. "Sylvia Gates is my goddaughter.
Tou may not have seen the papers, but I
stuck on another ten thousand to that re
ward. Now Nancy tells me you don't intend
lo collect from Hy Gates or Griscom, and I
think you're right, considering the fact that
Sam Sprague meant to bring her back. But
if you hadn't mixed it up with Sam she'd
have married that lollop of a Griscom, and I
never could stand the fellow. Besides, for
the sake of the family credit, I don't care
to have a" nephew of mine dragged through
tho courts for debt,"
"Thanks, uncle," said Matt, "but I'd
really like to earn it."
"Well, then," taid Uncle Jerry. "'Tou;
say you need to finance this extinguisher.
We'll go ahead with that. From all I learn
it seems to be a pretty safe bet. Now go
and get a bite, and go to bed. I was feeling
pretty bad a couple of hours ago, but the
laugh I've had has put me right again."
"Well, uncle," said Matt, "if laughing at
a fool is your medicine, then I'm sure the
doctor, but I'll be off tomorrow morning
early, because it's the sort of medicine 1
don't care much about distributing all
through the region," and with a cheerful
good-night Matt went to his room.
When Matt awoke, he was startled to find
it nearly noon. He was also considerably
surprised to find himself feeling so very fit.
Ringing for the butler to ask for coffee and
eggs, the old man-servant informed him that
Murphy was waiting his orders, but that his
aunt and undo had gone out for a apin in
the small car, Mr. Taylor driving.
"Where's Miss Nancy?" Matt asked.
" Somewhere about the grounds, air," the
butler answered, and Matt wondered a littie
at the peculiar expression ef his face.
".Well, I'll be off in half an hour," said
Matt. "Tell Murphy to bring around the
car. please."
Continued Neil Sunday.
(Copyright W.t: by Hary C. Rowland)
