RICHARD HOFFMANN
COPYRIGHT BY RICHARD HOPHANN
SYNOPSIS *
Following his father's bitter criti
cism of his idle life, and the notifi
cation that he need not expect any
immediate financial assistance, Hal
Ireland, only son of a wealthy bank
er, finds himself practically without
funds but with the promise of a sit
uation in San Francisco, which city
he must reach, from New York,
within a definite time limit. He takes
passage with a cross-country auto
party on a "share expense" basis.
Four of his companions excite his
interest: a young, attractive girl,
Barry Trafford; middle-aged Giles
Kerrigan: Sister Anastasia, a nun:
and an individual whom he instinc
tively dislikes, Martin Crack. Barry’s
reticence annoys him. In Kerrigan
he finds a fellow man-of-the-world,
to whom he takes at once. Hal is
unable to shake off a feeling of
uneasiness. He distrusts Crack, but
finds nis intimacy with Kerrigan
ripening, and he makes a little prog
ress with Barry. Exchanging remi
niscences, she learns Hal Is the son
of the wealthy Frederick Ireland.
CHAPTER IV—Continued
It was near ten o'clock when
they came to Huntington and they
would have been ready to spend
the night there even If, at the first
comer, they had not seen a white
sign proclaim “Tourists" on the
lawn of an old house. The cheer
ful, untidy young woman told Ker
rigan in loud surprise that she had
two double rooms and three singles
and failed to keep entirely calm be
fore the coincidence that these ac
commodations would fit them. With
the luggage down and in, Hal man
aged to divert her mind to thoughts
of where the nearest garage was—
one where he might find a mechanic
and a grease gun.
“I’ll be right back,” Hal said to
Kerrigan. “See that everybody gets
settled and book an early call—
five-thirty, say.”
Hut he wasn’t right back. The
elderly night-man at the garage
found everything pretty dry and
was delighted to have some one to
talk to. Hal got away in just un
der an hour. The rain had stopped;
the air was refreshed, good, almost
cool, and the waning moon rode si
lent over the last hurried shreds of
cloud. Hal found himself pos
sessed of a Juvenile eagerness to
get back to the house—an eager
ness out of all proportion to the
chances of Barry's being up, out
of proportion to the Importance of
any slight scene of challenge and
adroitness that might be between
them if she were.
He tried the door and found It
locked. A dim figure came toward
the net-curtained window, and Hal
had to put down a quick resurgence
of excitement. The door swung tim
idly open nnd the untijjy young
woman’s stage whisper scraped
round Its edge: “They’re In bed. I
waited up for you. I’ll just lock
up and show you where your room
Is. I was telling Daddy how lucky
it was you all could Just fit, some
of you married and all. Daddy’s a
great one for talking. You’ll see
him In the morning. He likes
strangers. Oh, no, but you’re going
so early, aren’t you, you won’t see
him.” And so on halfway up the
stairs, where she suddenly inter
rupted herself to hiss a harsh
“Shhhhh" at Hal.
There was a low light over the
landing. Eyebrows raised, head
nodding, she stabbed her finger sev
eral times at the first door. “Good
night,” she whispered loudly, like a
conspirator.
Hal wished he weren’t so wide
awake; he’d be sorry in the morn
ing. He opened the door gently,
hoping Kerrigan was too deeply
asleep to be disturbed. But the
light from the street lamp, striking
upward on the white celling, re
vealed a broad and unoccupied
double bed against the wall. Good,
thought Hal: I’ll read. He pressed
the door shut with less care, shot
the bolt under his hand, and found
a light switch on the wall at first
stroke. The light clicked on, and
only then he heard a breath quickly
caught behind him In the room. He
turned, and Barry’s blue eyes, with
a gleaming rim of wet around each
lower lid, were wide and anxious on
him.
Alarm—of a curiously profound
and quiet kind—deepened the clarity
of her look as she got up, turning
one hand against her breast to
hide her crumpled handkerchief.
Her golden hair was as Hal had
hoped: the burnished vigor of It
flowed through full, deliberate
waves to end in a rich thicket of
half-curls, their rioting simply dis
ciplined at the edges of her smooth
ly modeled cheeks. There was new,
mature loveliness in her straight
body—under deei»-green satin, fitted
to her firm waist, spreading to a
full skirt, and tapering above to her
straight shoulders.
The splendor of what he saw.
without moving his look from the
deep alarm of her eyes, seemed to
check the running of his blood In
that silent moment—like the shadow
of shock. And he heard himself
say, very gravely: “I—I’m sorry.
She told me this was my room. She
must have thought . . It wasn't
important enough to finish In the
expectant silence between them,
round them, full In the room.
“It's all right,” said Barry, her
low voice coming with reluctance.
Something made him say, quietly,
respectfully, "I’m sorry you’ve been
crying."
The alarm stayed in her eyes—not
a replenished thing, more like a
solemn moment of It fixed there
over the later business of her erect
head. She might not have heard
him, except that her voice said hur
riedly, “That’s all right, too.”
They stood looking at each other,
and new rounds of silence crept
close Into the room. She was wait
ing for him to go. Hal knew he
must turn and walk out at the door;
and he must do this before the
slow, strong force gathering some
where deep in him showed itself in
his enchanted eyes, before it un
locked his resolution, stirred at his
tongue.
He made his legs move him.
And, slowly, they moved him to her,
her awed watching of his eyes un
changed, the carriage of her glint
ing head fearless. His arms slipped
round her, under her own, and as
he drew her firm, satin warmth to
ward him, her hands went up to his
shoulders and over them. She made
a small sound of weariness; her
eyes closed; her lovely hetffl turned
so that her lips—warm and soft and
sure of grandeur—came under his.
It was probably a long time they
stood there close together, without
speaking, resting almost as part of
each other in the silence that had
grown enormous around them In the
room. Once Harry took her gen
erous lips slowly away and pressed
her golden head on his shoulder;
but when he moved his mouth
along the faintly fragrant smooth
ness of her hair, she turned her
lips up again—confident, grateful,
credulous. Only her eyes, before
they closed, were neither confi
dent nor credulous—still held In
awe, they were, still near in the
fringes of alarm.
In the pregnant hugeness that
blotted away the four walls, Hal
felt an excitement of silent rushing
—not so much that they were being
flung upward alone, as that the
whole silence that marooned them
there was being rushed on through
surely gathered speeds toward some
explosive, brilliant revelation. And
as his will to lose himself in this
enormous and Imminent beauty
flooded toward whole possession of
his senses, one stubborn, small
agent of reason tried more fran
tically to make him do what he had
to do. Get out, get out, get out; it
came around across his attention
again and again, fainter and faint
er, until suddenly it took ridiculous
command and his hands went to
Barry’s straight, firm shoulders.
She looked up at once, and the
alarm was conquered in her cour
ageous eyes. Quietly and as if to
herself, she said, “You’re pretend
ing. And I am. I’m not in love
with you. I’m not falling in love
with you.”
She took a step backward, and
his hands dropped down to hold
hers.
He knew that command of his
reason was for a moment only; the
sudden calm on him now was not
to be trusted, not to be found
again if he let his tongue, his blood,
his whole spirit run out in their hot
importunities.
Their hands slipped apart. He
saw the reluctance of that in her
solemn eyes, and saw that she
watched it in his, too. The sound
of his voice was as If he hadn’t
used it for a long while when, with
a short, hampered turning of his
head, he said, “Good G—d, this Is
no place to talk about anything."
He moved to the door, as if he must
leave the best part of himself be
hind, with her. The only conscious
bravery he could effect now with the
bolt shot back and his hand on the
doorknob, was to look at her again.
She stood there with her chin
raised a little, as if she had just
shaken back the full, glinting rich
ness of her hair—her hands behind
her back—one knee bent so that
there was a suggestion of her
straight leg in the sheen of the
satin. The courage of her eyes,
watching bitn, was solemn, deep,
and darkly clear; but that very
courage added to her air of loneli
ness. The unshielded light was
merciless upon the Ill-chosen, worn
furnishings around her in the room.
And she stood there—straight, be
yond common loveliness — and
watched him leaving her us If she
were sending him away.
“Good night," he said, and It
sounded utterly casual.
Her frank lips, which already he
couldn’t believe had been under his,
moved over a “Good night” which
he didn't hear. He swung the door
open and went out, down Into the
dark house, past hope of sleep for
the confusion into which his
thoughts and feelings and desires
had been so abruptly tumbled.
CHAPTER V
Friday.
SLEEP trapped him as that con
fusion had—without warning.
And he woke with a start that near
ly slid him o(T the horsehair sofa.
Fresh sunlight blazed into his face
through the fern-hung bow-window,
and he wasn't sure where he was
at all, only that he was wide awake
and tilled with a fine, sourceless joy
for the day and for something that
had happened. He lay happily for
a moment while the circumstances
of his being here found themselves
in his head.
First remembering the transport
of Barry’s sheer loveliness in Ills
arms, he stretched himself luxuri
ously, a hath of rich content tin
gling through Ills body. He snapped
off his stretching suddenly to look
at his watch, hut his wide smile re
malned. Think of feeling so well
at quarter past five.
But what the dickens had been
all the trouble last night? All that
momentous entanglement with chiv
alry and speeehlessness, just be
cause the break had come before
he had expected it? He had done
a very sound thing; he had saved
himself from a premature enthusi
asm that would have mixed up the
rest of the trip a good deal; hut
there was nothing so very mo
mentous about it. It was enough
for one evening to see her defenses
go down; her trust of him. taken
Kerrigan's Look Was Amused and
Curious. “Like the Bottom of a
Stove."
slowly, would be more certain. Five
more days coming, at least; It
would have been very disappointing
to forget the job of chastisement he
had to do—go off the deep end at
the first drop of the hat that way.
Yet there he’d been so off his guard
us to make emotional difficulties
about leaving her room, as barely
to hold himself from charging In
against thut remark of hers about
not loving him. And outside her
room, even, the sudden, restive
creaking of an old house In the
dark had. . .
He got to his feet and breathed
deeply, as If the contained, dusty
air of the room were that of a
mountain pasture In spring. Some
where In the upper regions an alarm
clock went off into Its persistent
rattle, and there was distant, occa
sional bumping to stir the slumber
of the house. When he came back
to the hall he found Kerrigan fum
bling at the chains and bolts of the
great front door.
‘‘Well, sir—of all people.” said
Kerrigan, his ruddy, well scrubbed
face held by quiet concern. "A
good morning to you. Thought you
were lost—probably been locked
out.”
“I got in late.” said Hal, feeling
his blandness penetrated by that
brown, scholarly look. “She showed
me the wrong room • so I slept In
there.”
“You slept In there?" Kerrigan
said curiously.
“Yes," said Hal quickly. “Why?"
“Then that can't be tin* room the
trains run through." said Kerrigan,
gratified. “Must be the kitchen.
Didn’t you hear ’em?”
“No,” said Hal, laughing.
“Let me tell you if every traln’t
charged through here was hauling
pay loads, stocks are a buy at any
price. Had, sir. they were on five
minute headway all night and on
their way somewhere, only trouble,
they wasted a lot of steam whis
tling for the pantry door. If I slept
here once more I could get a dis
patcher’s job on the division. I
only missed the number on one
train: that was because I was
scared his backwash was going to
suck the bedclothes off me. And
you slept." A twinkle grew behind
the false moroseness of tne nrown
eyes. "Whose room did she try to
stick you in?”
"I don’t know,’’ said Hal. "Didn’t
wait to find out.”
Kerrtgan watched him an extra
instant, then dismissed the last of
his concern. “How’s your body?"
he said.
“Fine,” said llal. “C.osh—well,
fine, as I said. How’s yours?”
Kerrigan’s look was amused and
curious. “Like the bottom of a
stove."
“And how’s that?"
“Grate,” said Kerrigan. "Come
on, let's go out and have a snort
of the ay em.”
Hal was up on the widow’s walk
stowing luggage when Burry came
out the door—refreshed, immacu
late, fully awake. She didn’t look
for him nor show any trace of con
sciousness that he might be there,
and llal smiled to himself as he
drew an end of the lashing round
the rail.
He stayed on the roof purposely
until she should get In. She came
toward the car without looking up;
and when she was close under him
nt vhe door, lie said, ’’-Hello there,"
In low pleasure. She glanced at
him then, as if she had to see him
before she knew who laid spoken.
“Hello," she said pleasantly, echoed
nothing hut the same pleasant hello
Then she got In.
Even as his smile widened, Hal’s
memory hurried hack to last night
to make certain there was nothing
he’d overlooked. It was she who’d
made It so serious, her eyes held
In alarm, her head carried as it
there were something to be brave
about. Well, said Hal to himself
ignoring a certain inconclusion
about it; I can pretend nothing's
happened, too; hut you can’t make
it a fact by pretending, my beauty.
He was about to vault down from
the roof when something drew his
eyes to the high stoop. Crack stood
there, drowsing in his amiable half
dream of something satisfactory
and private as he hoped for Hal’s
look.
"Morning," said Hal, and swung
himself to the ground.
"Mornin’," said Crack quietly.
“Sleep good?”
“Fine, thanks," said Hal. "You?"
"Fine, thanks,” said Crack.
Listen, d—n It, llal charged him
self; there's no special meaning In
that tone of his; it’s Just his way
of saying things, “flood,” he said
aloud, without looking at Crack. If
the man did know already by his
own devices that Hal hadn’t slept
in a bed, what was there In It to
amuse him so shyly?
*••»•••
They had run nlong some twenty
smooth miles when Barry’s voice
came low, slow, sure, and llal lis
tened to the measures of It without
especially heeding the words. She
said, “That 'sign said ten miles to
Logansport; that might be the very
place for breakfast."
Hal thought of her as he had left
her last night, head up, hands be
hind her back, one satin leg a little
bent; and he remembered suddenly
that she had been crying when he
came In. The memory pricked him
—like the quick recollection of a
promised kindness which it is too
late to perform.
They drew up before the shining
white-tile lunchroom toward which
Mrs. Pulsipher had thrown a yelp
of hungry approval, and Hal slid
out to stand by the door. Burry
leaned forward to get up, und Doc
tor Caligari, held In the crook of
her arm, was brought closer to
Crack for a moment than he seemed
to like; he bared his teeth over an
ugly, rising growl. “Doc!’ she said
In quick censure. Hal took the dog
from her. And when he met her
eyes, they had In them the hurried
end of last night’s solemn alarm.
D—n It, I don’t want her to take
back what she said, Hal told him
self Inside his closed mouth; I don’t
want her to be In love with me. All
I want is . . .
Crack gave an uncomfortable
laugh as he got out, and a faint
blush deepened his old-fashioned
youthfulness. “I guess that pup
don’t like me so very well," he said
He smiled shyly at Hal, as if half
hoping for some other explanation
from him; but then his eyes drifted
lazily away again, undisappointed.
The morning lay hot and long
over the flat croplands of Indiana
and Illinois. Itasputin ran like an
aristocrat, granting an aristocrat
the privilege of metallic song in the
gearbox and a disinclination to com
pete with low-price upstarts at a
change of traflic light. And before
Mrs. Pulsipher could come to the
fidgeting preliminaries of lunch
hunger, they were crossing the 1111
nois river into Peoria.
Harry saw the sign on a cafe
teria in a side street, “Air Cooled
and Conditioned." And there was a
chorus of grateful exclamation and
a struggling into Jackets as the al
most-chilled draft swept up the
stairway. I>own in the bright
bustle of tlie cafeteria Itself, Sister
Anastasia suddenly sneezed, then
looked at Harry with a pretty ex
pression halfway between amuse
ment and apology. Harry’s hand
went to her arm, her clear face
lighted with quick, humorous sym
pathy. Kerrigan took the dead ciga
rette from his lips and, with an air !
of awkward courtliness upon his
bulk, sold to her, “We’ll all catch
the Russian grippe in here. Sister,
allow me to take you somewhere
else."
(TO UK CONTINUED)
GOLDEN
i PHANTOMS
fascinating
Tales of
Lost Mines
w
by
fditHa L. Watson
C»NU.
DUTCH-IRISH MYSTERY
Fort collins. colo., was
really a fort In early days, and
the soldiers of that era were much
like those of today—Intensely Inter
ested in the curious happenings that
came to their attention.
So when an Irishman and a
Dutchman came to Fort Collins with
a load of gold and proceeded to go
on a lively spree, the soldiers no
ticed It, and when this was repeat
ed several times they began to wish
that they knew the source of all
this wealth. They even went so far
as to hire an Indian to follow the
pair on their next trip out.
One day the partners set out up
the Cache-la Poudre, and their red
shadow lurked behind Just out of
sight. The Indian had made one
mistake—he had not figured on a
long Journey, hence had not taken
much in the way of provisions with
him. After three days, the smell
from his quarry’s camptlre grew to
be entirely too tantalising; the In
dian took time out to hunt a deer
and prepare a square meal for him
self, and while lie was following
this new trail a deep snow fell, blot
ting out all signs of the two miners.
On a later visit to Fort Collins,
the odd pair Invested in a burro to
carry their packs, and a little later
they disposed of the small beast and
bought an ox. Apparently, business
was good. Then, one day, they
came in on foot, tired and disgust
ed, and said that a bear had killed
the ox.
It was during this visit that the
Irish and Dutch temperaments be
gan to pall on each other. They
fought and the Dutchman went
down, and died as a result of his
wounds.
Now was a splendid chance for
the soldiers to satisfy their curios
ity, and they grasped It eagerly.
The Irishman was a murderer, and
must be punished—unless he might
be persuaded to tell the secret
source of the gold. With a rope
around his neck, lie was harangued
by the men In uniform.
Perhaps the prisoner felt that hu
could out-bluff his captors. No, he
shouted, he would tell nothing! He
would die rather than let them know
the source of his gold!
“Let’s hang him a little, boys—
give him the feel of the rope. May
be that will loosen his tongue," was
the suggestion, and the unfortunate
Irishman was hoisted Into the air.
“Now let him down,” and the rope
was slackened. Rut the experi
ment failed; excitement, fear, ami
rough handling had proved too
much, and the Irishman was dead.
Billy Melius left Nebraska in
188!) and went to Fort Collins to
haul lumber for a sawmill on the
Cache la Poudre. He often stopped
at a mining camp, halfway on his
route, called Manhattan. One Sat
urday night he heard that some
tourists were anxious about their
son, who had ridden away on his
pony nnd had not come back.
Melins Joined in an unsuccessful
search, but the lad showed up next
day, and he had a strange story to
tell.
lie had become confused the aft
ernoon before, he suid, and when
his pony started to follow an old
trail near nightfall, he was glad
enough to give the animal Its head.
The trail led to a deserted cabin,
where the bones of an ox lay be
fore the door, and some specimens
of ore sat on a shelf Inside,
Mellns was interested. This must
be the lost mine that the Irishman
and the Dutchman had worked. He
found an old prospector, a half
crazy soul whose mind had gone
wandering out Into the mountains,
and the two set out to find the
cabin, guided by the boy’s story.
Sure enough, the cabin was there
as he had said, and a dim trail—
evidently the trail to the mine—led
buck up the canyon. The old pros
pector lost all sanity at the sight.
He rushed up the path, and Melina
hurried after, In time to see him
dash into a tunnel and almost Im
mediately dash out again, followed
by a bear! The crazy prospector
was wild with rage. In his fury, he
leaped at Mellns, and it was all the
younger man could do to protect
himself and get the old fellow back
to camp. After that Melius made
no more trips in search of treasure.
* * *
Previous to this time there had
been a large number of murders on
the old Overland trail. Men return
ing from California, bringing sacks
of gold “to show the folks back
East,” had been waylaid and killed,
and their valuables taken. The
criminals had never been caught.
Hut, with the death of the quar
relsome partners, the depredations
ceased. Some one who had a mind
for adding two and two, began to
Investigate, and this is what he
learned:
There never was a mine. The
! boy and his pony, and Hilly Mellns
and his crazy prospector, either told
fables or were part of the legend
themselves. For the source of the
Dutch-Irlsh gold was in no Colora
do ore, but In the pockets of the
murdered travelers.
WHY FIRST DAY
IS LORD’S DAY
Gradually Supplanted the
Jewish Sabbath.
Adoption of Sunday ns the Chris
tian Sabbath was gradual. The wor.1
Sunday, which occurs nowhere In
the Bible, Is derived from Anglo
Saxon sunnandneg, day of the sun,
the first day of the week having
been dedicated to the sun hy the
pagans. The fourth commandment
—“Remember tlie Sabbath day, to
keep It holy”—referred to the ancient
Jewish Sabbath, which was the
seventh day of the week. That the
New Testament writers clearly dis
tinguished between the Sabbath and
the first day of the week Is shown
by several passages In which the first
day Is mentioned ns following the
Sabbath. Although Jesus himself
observed the Sabbath, St. Paul seems
to have placed observance of this
day among the customs not obliga
tory on Christians, lie says In Colns
slnns 2:10: “Let no man therefore
Judge yon In meat, or In drink, or In
respect of an holy day, or of the new
moon, or of the Sabbath days." This
passage has been taken to Indicate
that the question of the Christian's
relation to the Jewish Sabhath was
raised at an early date, although It
is not certain that the passage refers
to the weekly Sabbath. From the
heglnnlL., many Christians com
memorated the first day of the week
as Resurrection day, the day on
which Jesus rose from the dead.
"Lord’s day" first occurs In Revela
tion 1:10. I Corinthians 10:2 seems
to Imply some sort of observ
ance of the first day of the week.
There *s evidence that the first day
was originally intended as a substi
tute for (lie Jewish Sabhath, hut It
seems that most of the early Chris
tians observed both the Sabbath and
the Lord's day, and this was the
tendency ns long as the Christians
were composed chlelly of former ad
herents of Judaism. In the First
century St. Ignatius wrote that
Christians no longer observed tha
Sabbath, but the Lord's day Instead,
and St. Justin, In the Second century,
was probably the first Christian
writer to refer to the Lord's day as
Sunday. As centuries passed and the
church grew In strength the major
ity of Christians paid less attention
to the Sabhath ami more attention
to the Lord's day until In time the
Lord's day or Sunday supplanted the
Sabbath In their eyes.—Indianapolis
News.
Inventions
People think that invention 19
labor-saving. It isn’t at all; It’s labor,
creating.—Charles P. Kettering.
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507 Be sure you got
NEUTRALIZE
Excess Acids
—by chewing one or
more Milnesia Wafers
You can obtain a full size 20c package
of Milnesia Wafers containing twelve
full adult doses by furnishing us with
the name of your local druggist if he
does not happen to carry Milnesia
Wafers in stock, by enclosing 10c in
coin or postage stamps. Address
SELECT PRODUCTS, INC.
4402 23rd St^ Lone Island City. N.Y.
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