THE ENCHANTED BARN
copyright I91S, by J. B. Llppincott Co.
CHAPTER I.
Shirley Hollister pushed back
the hair from her hot forehead,
pressed her hands wearily over
tired eyes, then dropped her
fingers again to the typewriter
keys, and flew on with the let
ter she was writing.
There was no one else in the
inner office where she sat. Mr.
Barnard, the senior member of
the firm, whose stenographer
she was, had stepped into the
outer office for a moment with a
telegram which he had just re
ceived. His absence gave Shir
ley a moment’s respite from the
feeling that she must keep
strained up to meet his gaze and
not let trouble show in her eyes,
though a groat lump was chok
ing in her throat and the tears
stung her hot eyelids and insist
ed on blurring her vision now
and then. But it was only for an
instant that she gave way. Her
lingers Hew on with their work,
for this was an important letter,
and Mr. Barnard wanted it to
go in the next mail.
As she wrote, a visiou of her
mother’s white face appeared to
her between the lines, the mother
weak and white, with tears ou
her ehefiks and that despairing
iqok in ncr eyes, iter motuer
hadn’t been able to get up for a
week. It seemed as If the cares
of life were getting almost too
much for her, and the warm
spring days made the little brick
house in the narrow street a stif
ling place to stay. There was only
one small window in her moth
er’s room, opening against a
brick wall, for they had to rent
the front room with its two win
dows.
But, poor as it was, the little
brick house lunj been home; and
now they were not to have that
long. Notice had been served
that, they must vacate in four
♦weeks; for the house, in fact, the
whole row of houses in which it
was situated, had been sold, and
was to he pulled down to make
way for a big apartment house
that; was to be put up.
Where they were going and
what, they were going to do now
was .he great problem that
throbbed on Shirley’s weary
brain night and day, that kept
her from sleeping and eating,
that choked in her throat when
she tried to speak to Mr. Bar
nard, that started from her fever
ish eyes as she looked at the sun
shine or tried to work in the
busy monotony of the office.
They had been in the little
Isause nearly a year, ever since
the father died.' It had taken
01 they could scrape together
H* pay the fuueral expenses, and
now with her salary and the
roomer’s rent and what Qeorce
got as cash boy in a department
store they were just barely able
to get along. There was not* a
cent over for sickness or trouble,
and nothing to move with, even
if they had anywhere to move, or
any time to hunt for a place.
Shirley knew from her experi
ence in hunting for the present
house that it was going to be
next to impossible for them to
ilnd any habitable place for as
little rent as they were now pay
ing, aud how could they pay
more ? She was only a beginner,
and her salary was small. There
were three others in the family
not vet wage earners. The prob
lem was tremendous. Could it
be that Carol, only 14 years old,
must stop school and go to work
somewhere to earn a pittance
also? Carol was slender and
pale, and needed fresh air mid
nourishing food. Carol was too
young to bear burdens yet; be
sides, who would be housekeeper
aud take care of her mother if
Carol had to go to work? It was
different with George; he was a
bov, strong and sturdy; he had
his school in the department
store, aud was getting on well
with his studies. George would
be all right. He belonged to a
baseball team, too, and got plen
ty of chances for exerefce; but
Carol was frail, there was no
denying it. Harley was a bois
terous 9-year old, always on the
street these days when he wasn’t
in school; and who could blame
him? For the narrow dark brick
bouse was no place for a lively
Put the burden and an±
'fly iov him were heavy on his
sister 3 heart, who had taken
•over bodifc^ftll the worries of her
Pouter. there was the
baey, Doris, with her big, pa
thetic eyes, and her round cheeks
and loving ways. Doris, too, had
to be shirt in the dark little house
with the .summer heat coming on,
and no one with time enough or
strength enough to take her to
the park. Doris was only 4. Oh,
it was terrible, terrible! and
Shirley eould do nothing but sit
there and click those keys and
earn her poor little inadequate
salary! Some day, of course, she
would get mo#e—but some day
might be too late!
She shuddered as the terrible
thought flashed through her
mind, then went on with her
work again. She must shake off
this state of mind and give at
tention to her duty, or she would
lose even this opportunity to help
her dear ones.
The door of the outer office
opened, and Mr. Barnard en
tered.
“Miss Hollister,’’ he said hur
riedly, “if you have those letters
ready I will sign them at once.
We have just had word that Mr.
Baker, of the firm, died last
night in Chicago, and 1 must go
at once. The office will be closed
for the rest of the day. You can
let those other matters that I
spoke of go until tomorrow, and
you may have the day off. I
shall not be at the office at the
usual hour tomorrow morning,
but you can come in and look
after the mail. I will leave fur
ther directions with Mr. Clegg.
You can mail these letters as you
go down.”
Ten minutes later Shirley
stood on the street below in the
warm spring sunshine, and gazed
about her half dazed. It seemed
a travesty on her poor little life
just now to have a holiday and
no way to make it count for the
dear ones at home. How should
she use it, anyway? Should she
go home and help Carol? Or
should she go out and see wheth
er she could find a house some
where that they could possibly
afford to move tot That, of
course, was the sensible thing to
do; yet she had no idea where to
go. But they did not expect her
home at this time of day. Per
haps it was as well tbAt she
should use this time and find
out something without worrying
her mother. At least, she would
have time to think undisturbed.
She grasped her little package
of lunch that she had brought
from home and looked about her
helplessly. In her little thin purse
was the dime she always carried
with her to pay her car fare in
case something happened that
she had to ride either way—
though she seldom rode, even in
a storm. But her mother insist
ed on the dime. She said it was
not safe to go without any money
at all. This dime was her capital
wherewith to hunt a house. Per
haps the day had been given her
by a kind heavenly Father to go
on her search. She would try to
use it to the best of her abilitv.
She lifted her bewildered heart
in a feeble petition for light and
help in her difficult problem, and
then she went and stood on the
corner of the street where many
trolley ears were passing and re
passing. Which one should she
hike, and where should she go?
The 10 cents must cover all her
riding, and she must save halt of
it for her return.
She studied the names on the
cars. “Glenside Road” one read.
What had she heard about that?
Ah! that it was the longest ride
one could take for 5 cents within
the limits of the city’s roads! Her
heart leaped up at the word. It
sounded restful anyway, and
would give her time to think. It
wasn’t likely, if it went near any
gleus, that there would be any
houses within her means on its
way; but possibly it passed some
as it went through the city, and
she could take notice of the
streets and numbers and get out
on her return trip to investigate
if there proved to be anything
promising; or, if it were too fur
away from home for her to walk
back from it, she could come
another time in the evening with
George, some night when he did
not have school. Anyhow, the
ride would rest her ami give her
a chance to think what she ought
to do, and one car was as good
as another for that. Her resolve
was taken, and she stepped out
and signaled it.
There were not many people
in the ear. It was not an hour
when people rode out to the sub
urbs. Two workmen with rolls
of wall paper slung in burlap
bags, a woman and a little girl—
that was all.
(To B* Coo Ha b«I N<wt w'««k)
( THE MARK OF CAIN )
In-.. —
“A clothes chute? You mean
a laundry slide?”
‘‘Yes, sir. I’m told it’s that.
I didn’t know what it was. Only
it was a way out.”
“You jumped?”
! “Well, I sorter slid. 1 threw
down pillers and mattresses
first,, so it is soft.”
“You are a clever hoy.”
I “No, sir, it ain’t that,” and
Fibsy looked embarrassed. “You
see, I got that detective instinck,
an’ T can’t help a-usin’ of it.
You see, it was me what got Miss
Trowbridge to send for Mr.
Stone, and then Judge Hoyt he
tried to head him off.”
I “How?”
! “Well, I jest knew for pos’tive
sure that this case was too big
i fer anybody to sling but Mr.
1 Stone. Well, I got Miss Trow
bridge to send fer him, an’ Judge
Hoyt he told Miss Aviee that
Mr. Stone was outa town. Then
I said I seen him on the street
the day before, an’ we called him
up, an’ he was right there on
the spot, but said he’d had a tel
egram not to come. Well, Judge
Hoyt he sent that telegram. But
the way I got Miss Aviee to do
it in the first place was to get
me Aunt Becky to go to her an’
tell her rim'd had a revelation,
j and fer Miss Aviee to go to a
cittuvuj'aiu. wen, uii »u
' Avice did, an’ that clairvoyant
I she told her to get Mr. Stone.
I You see, the clairvoyant, Mad
1 dum Isis, she’s a friend of me
Aunt Becky, so we three fixed it
up between us, and Miss Avice
I went an’ got Mr. Stone. If I’d
' a-tried any other way, Judge
Hoyt he’d found a way to pre
vent Mr. Stone from coinin’,
’cause he knew he’d do him up.”
“This is a remarkable tale—•”
“But true in every particular,”
averred Fleming Stone. “This
boy has done fine work and de
serves great credit. The final
proof, I think, of the guilty of
Judge Hoyt iff the fact that the
cane found in his room exactly
fits a round mark found in the
soil at the scene of the crime and
' cut from the earth, and candid
ly preserved by McGuire. Also,
a shoe button found there cor
responds with the buttons on
shoes found in Judge Hoyt's*'
dressing room. And it seems to
me the most logical conclusion is
put upon the dying words of
Rowland Trowbridge when we
conclude that he meant he was
killed by a cane, thus describing
the weapon. Judge Hoyt also is
conversant with the Latin names
of the specimens of natural his
tory which Mr. Trowbridge was
in the habit of collecting, and it
was he, of course, who telephoned
aboukthc set trap and the Scaph
inotus. And, as his motive was
to win the hand of Miss Trow
bridge by means of a forged
clause in her uncle’s will, we can
have no further doubts. ’ ’
xou nave done max’velous
work, Mr. Stone,” said the judge
on ti>e bench. “And you say this
young lad helped you?”
“No, your honor, I helped him.
He noticed clues and points about
the case at once. But he could
persuade uo one to take him seri
ously, and finally Judge Hoyt,
for reasons of his own, sent the
boy to a lucrative position out
of town.”
There were many details to be
attendod to, much business to he
transacted, and many proofs to
be looked up. But first of all the
name of Kane Landon was
cleared and the prisoner set free.
Leslie Hoyt was arrested and
held for trial.
As Avice passed him on her
way out of the court room he de
tained her to say: “You kuow
why I did it! I’ve told you I
would do anything for you! I’m
not sorry; I’m only sorry I
failed I” His eyes showed a hard
glitter, and Avice shrank away,
as if from a maniac, which in
deed he looked.
“Brave up, Miss Avice,” whis
pered Fibsy, who saw the girl
pale and tremble. “ You orta be
so glad Mr. Landon is out you’d
forget Judge Hoyt!”
“Yes, brave up, darling,” addr
ed Landon, overhearing. l>At
last I can love you with a clear
coxxscience. If I had known that
clause about your marriage was
not uncle’s wish, how different
it would have been! But I could
not ask you for yourself if by
that you lost your fortune!”
“Why wouldn’t you straight
forwardly tell me you were in
nocent, Kane!” aaked Avice as
they rode home together.
“I couldn’t, dear. I know I
was foolish, but the fact of your
doubting me even enough to ask
me, made roc so furious I could
not breathe! Didn’t you know I
couldn’t kill Uncle Rowly?”
‘‘I did know it, truly I did,
Kane; but I was crazy; I wasn’t
myself all those dreadful days!”
‘‘And you won’t be now, if
you stay here 1 I’m going to mar
ry you all up, and take you far
away on a long trip, right now,
before we hear anything more
about Leslie Hoyt and his wick
edness!”
i u iuvt* to go jiway, n.nut?,
but I can’t be married in such
a hurry. Let’s go on a trip,
and take Mrs. Black for chap
erone, and then get married
when I say so 1’’
This plan didn’t suit Landon
so well as his own, but he was
coerced into submission by the
love of his liege lady, and the
trip was planned.
Fibsy was greatly honored
and praised. But the peculiar
character of the boy made him
oblivious to compliments.
“I don’t care about bookays,
Miss Avice,” he said earnestly
when she praised him; “just to
have saved Mr. Landon an’ you
is enough. An’ to knock the
spots out o’ Judge Hoyt! But
it’s the game that gets me. The
whole detective business! I’m
goin’ to be a big one, like Mr.
Stone. Gee! Miss Avice, did you
catch on to how he ran Judge
noyt down the minute I gave
him the steerf That’s the trick!
Oh, he’s a hummer, F. Stone is!
An’ he’s goin’ to let me work
with him, sometimes!”
nut l say, ne went on sud
denly, ‘1 what about that guy as
telephoned and called Mr. Trow
bridge ‘Uncle’!”
“It wasn’t I,” said Landon.
“I called up uncle that after
noon, but couldn’t get him.”
“Then I know,” said Avice.
“It was Judge Hoyt. You see,”
and she blushed as she looked
at Landon, “he was so sure he
would marry me he frequently
said ‘uncle’ to my uncle. And
Uncle liowly sometimes called
him ‘nephew’. They used to do
it to tease me.”
“Your uncle really wanted
you to marry him, then!” and
Landon looked anxious.
“Yes, he did. But not to the
extent of putting it in his will!
Uncle often said to me that as
I didn’t seem to care for any
one else I might as well marry
Leslie. ’ ’
“And now, you do care for
somebody else!”
Landon had forgotten the
presence of the boy. But Avice
had not, and she looked around.
“Sure, Miss Avice,” said Fib
sy politely as if in response to
her spoken word, and he slid
swiftly from the rdom.
And then Avice answered
Kane Landon’s question.
-THE END
First “Topper" Caused Riot.
From the North China Herald.
John Hetherlngton was a prosperous
haberdasher in the Strand, London, but
his career had not been noteworthy un
til he conceived the idea that the time
was ripe to introduce a novelty in
headgear, and accordingly, January 15,
1797, crossed his threshold wearing the
first silk hat.
In American frontier days it seemed
to be quite impossibie~for a cowboy to
see a silk hat without fooling an irre
sistible Impulse to shoot at it, and
something of the same spirit must have
existed in London two centuries ago. for
no sooner had the first silk hat appeared
than trouble started. An excited throng
gathered about the owner, and the
crowd soon Increased to such a danger
ous extent that the authorities had to
interfere. The next morning the dar
ing haberdasher was brought before the
lord mayor, charged with "walking
down a public highway wearing upon
his head a tali structure having a shin
ing luster calculated to alarm timid
people."
Witnesses gave evidence that women
had fainted, that children had gone into
hysterics, and that one had sustained
a broken arm through the vioienco of
the mob. Hetherlngton asserted his
rights as an Englishmen to wear such
clothing as he saw lit, but the lord
mayor took another view of the matter
and ordered the defendant to find sure
ties in the sum of 59.000 for his future
good behavior.
Practiced by Ear,
President Cleveland had in his early
days a lawyer friend who was extremely
lazy. He made tt a practice to come
over to Cleveland's office and get the
benefit of Cleveland's knowledge of the
law In all-his important cases. Finally
Mr. Cleveland got tired of this and told
his friend plainly that he was welcome
to come over and use his library at his
pleasure.
"There are my books," said he. "but
I cannot work out your cases for you."
His friend retorted: "See here, Grover
Cleveland. I want you to understand
that 1 don't read law. I practice It and
I practice entirely by ear. and you and
your books can go to thunder."
Un-Japanece
From the Indianapolis Newa
Japan's Yap note was almost too
frank to be Japanese and too definite
to be diplomatic.
ft
I
“AFTER EVERY MEAL**
Mint leaf, peppermint or toe* *1
clous Juicy fruit, either
flavor Is a treat for your
sweet tooth.
y
I And ad are equally good for
you. Teefb. appetite and II
digestion all benefit. II
Your nerves will say "tbanft II
you.** your vim will respond. II
WRK»L£Y*£ is liked fcrwbaf |
It does as well as for Its BIG
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The Flavor Lasts ||
WERE OTHERS IN THE FIELD
School Superintendent Learned That
He Was Not Alone In Hie
Devotion to Fair Or*
The superintendent of schools in a
small Indiana town recently persuaded
the school board to revoke Its ruling
to employ only single women aa teach
ers In the school. At the first school
at which he called he tried tr» joke
the young teachers. “Now you'll all
be getting married.” he laughed.
“Have any of you been getting any
proposals since the ruling was
passed?”
Accidentally his eyes happened to
meet those of the young teacher In
whom every one knew he was inter
ested. She thought the question was
addressed to her and blushlngly an
swered, “Just three others besides
yours.”
Amid the roars of the other teach
ers the young superintendent made his
exit from that building. But never
since that day has he mentioned the
new ruling.—Indianapolis News.
Steady Stream.
A Brazilian living In New York has
invented a machine to cast piston
rings at a rate of 18,000 to 20,000 a
clay by whirling molten metal Into
shape by centrifugal force.
DIFFERENT IN THEIR MAKEUP
Boys Together, John Burroughs and
Jay Gould Were as Wide Apart
aa the Poles.
One poignant recollection John Bur
roughs had of Joy Oould as boy and
man, he spoke of In tbla way: "I was
large and strong, while Jay was small
and slippery. A boy taught us to
wrestle, but Jay would break his hold
and land on top. ] would say: ‘Jay,
that Isn’t fair,’ hut ho would only
laugh. Not wanting to be thrown, he
resorted to tricks, and because I was
indulgent, would wrestle with no one
else. He went away to an academy
and, when he returned, hts father had
sold his land and bought a village tin
shop. Jay got in with a man and mads
maps. By and by he left that part
of the c-jnntry andL our Mves being
no longer parallel, 1 never spoke to
him after that, although I saw him
twice.
“One day white 1 was custodian of
a vault at the national treasury In
Washington I heard a familiar vole*
Looking up from my desk, I saw Jay
Gould, dark and thin and wiry as ever,
and even then one of the richest men
In the United States. He hadn’t ob
served me, and I said nothing."
Fame Is an undertaker,
r=^s==
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