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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1922)
0 e n THE r.EF: OMAHA, Sl'NPAY. MARCH lf2. gnnnnnnmiiiiiiiiiiintiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiintiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiitiitiii iiiniiiiinriiiiiiiiiiniiMiiittfTiinttiniMiiittitiiuiiiiiMiMitniiiitiiJiiiitititiiniHMiiiMMniitiit iiitiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiitniimimimrg 1 ll 77? WANTED MAN fty Harris Dickson niiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiitiiiiiiiini ttltillUltUIIUIIItltlttltttlllllttlUIMlll tllMltlttlllllllttlllllltlltlllltltllllllHinilllllllltllUllltliMIIIIIMMHUllll IM t II 1 1 1 1 Mil III MIIMIMIIIIIII I III I llllllllllllllllll II lilt 1 1 1 lit 1 1 1 lllll tllllll II t IIMI t II t II 1 1 till I HIIIIKIM Ml9 THE STORY TUl'S FAR ,' appoint titles of Ik .Marm&in, f 1 in Jtmtitpi. are run tur f astntet, y liennuigton, ou ned by M'h Keif meth Stark, and Marmion, ouned by Otn. Hub t.laiton. Their ounert box a long been at feud; first ihrra wat a political quarrel, tlien a littler lautuU inrr boundary, and then a duel, fallowing uhtrh Cm, Clapton fled to Salamanca, I aim America, uuh hit young tun, Stuart. At the Hry opens, Stuart hat returned to the old horn and it being huntetl by de tectirru When I' ml Sat, Anj. Stark't attd senitor, tells of tha drtntivet, Jar. ha a, Mtj. Stark't beautiful diiutbler, and her cretda guest, Mrs, I lorian Hastily, ba coma strangely tutted. It d'-velopt tha full bait been keeping a fr) "h uootls uuh e mynrruiut harteman, uho it in Una with Barbara. I'arbnra hat given him Mrt. Razilly't name MWuuIe at her awn. Adelaide tellt hoso the Solomancon consul hat vitiled her husband on f myttertout mUtion. I aria iai t it it t Marmion hnua to uarn Stuart of the dtteclivet, but bacomrt offended when a dollar it tliroun at him, and declares tha young man is not Stuurt. Tha girls go to tha lona oak In meet the myteriout horteman and find I'ncla A'al napping ba tula a log. II reveal to the in hit tut puivns, Stuart arrivet, announces hit iden tity to llarbara, and ankt her to beeoma hit uia. I'iqued at hit apparent impos ture, Harbara rebuffs him. "L FOl'KTH INSTALLMENT. The Lie. ISTEN, Adelaide. I am not free to tell you everything. My name U Stuart Clayton. That In my planta tion across the lake! Father took me away from hero whan I was a child. I live at El Jucare, Republic of Salaman ca. Central America and must hurry back within the next day or two. Hut I'll return to Mississippi If you'll marry raeT" " What an Inducement! " Will you marry me?" " I? Marry youT It never entered my Bead." "Of course, It hasn't, dour. Hut I must put It into your head, for there's nothing else in mine. You'd believe that If you only knew how dangerous it is for me to tell you that I'm Stuart Clayton, and going back to Salamanca." " Dangerous? Why bo?" Barbara thought Instantly of constables with the nippers, and ached for him to tell her the whole truth. " Because," he answered, simply, " certain people are trying to learn what I have Just told you. You have the right to know who I am and what I am. Now, will you marry me?" ( " What kind of a girl do you take me for?" Barbara had failed to stop him with petty evasions, and now retreated behind another subterfuge. " Do you think I'm to be picked tip, accidentally, by the first man I happen to meet in the woods?" " I know what kind of a girl you are. And II) was no accident, but destiny, which brought me here to look at this lone oak that father used to speak of as our original boundary." " It was not the boundary! " Barbara prang up with belligerent heat, glad to start an argument which offered a little time to collect herself. ' " This oak never was our boundary," she hotly denied. "The court decided that our line runs to the burnt cypress, half a mile farther down the lake." " Your line?" And even before he asked the question Barbara felt herself floundering In deep water. "No, no!" she corrected, "I didn't mean that. I mean the Bennington boundary. This land belongs to Miss Barbara Stark. She told me all about the lawsuit There! I hope you are satisfied." " I've never been dissatisfied," he answered, with a quiet smile. "Boundaries mean nothing to me now. Are you visiting Miss Stark?" " I didn't say I was." " Well," a slight shrug, " suppose we also waive that point." Then the woman within her foresaw what was coming, and Barbara knew the utter futility of trying to prevent. Inexorably he started again at the place where she had broken in upon him. " It was not an accident which led me to this oak. Three times since you have met me here of your own accord. Was that ehance?" " No," she laughed, " that was just silly." " Silly?" he repeated, and flushed. If Barbara Stark had been a man she might not have dared to bait this other man who looked so resolute. But from the sud den reddening of his cheek she thought that ridicule would prove a more effective weapon of defense. " Of course it was silly," she taunted hira again, " and not a bit of sport." Barbara felt that she now had the game in her own hands, and was smilingly invul nerable as he took one quick step forward and demanded: " Did you come here to play with me?" " O dear, no. I had nothing else to do, and Imagined it might be fun." Nonchalantly she began drawing on her gauntlet and started to leave; but he stood squarely in her path. "Gcod-by," she said, with the slightest quiver of indecision, for she was testing him to see what she meant. "You are not going." There was no un certainty in his tone. "You shall not go without hearing what I came here to say. If you are visiting Miss Stark, it will be Im possible for me to follow you there." Although many inches shorter than he, Barbara straightened up until she seemed every bit as tall, and announced, " I am ' going." Then they both heard a voice, the guarded, half raised voice of Mrs. Razilla calling out, " Adelaide, dear, we'd better be moving soon. I think the men are coming in." Barbara nodded at Clayton, as if Indorsed by the call of her friend, to whom she an swered, "I'm ready right now." But Clayton stepped directly in front and barred the way as he spoke. " No, stay here, just a moment If I were free Ti -wall for years. But I cannot wait." "Nobody asked you to wait." " That's why I shall tell you now. I want you to marry me, when I come back from Salamanca if I'm lucky in getting away." ' "Then you may not " The half question, the anxious glance be trayed her. Before she realized it, before she could step beyond his reach, he was holding her close, very close, closer than Barbara Stark had ever been to any man. As if she were tossed Into a stormy sea, the girl felt herself fighting, fighting and losing with a sense of triumph at being lost. " Let me go! Let me go! " Both her bands llllltlllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllMlllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ( astounded Florian to find a man at hit very elbow. weere beating against his breast, struggling to push him away. But he was strong, and he exulted in his strength. " This is shame ful!" Barbara whispered. "No, It's glorious, glorious! You will go with me now. I can find a way." The in toxication of new mown hay was in his nos trils, and the madness of possession thrilled his soul. His intensity overpowered Barbara, the will to resist was gone. His lips wero drawing nearer, dizzily nearer to her own. Her senses swam at their touch. She had played with fire and it was scorching her; the hot blood throbbed in her throat and ran tingling through every vein. "O, please, please," she begged. Barbara was begging now. " No, 111 hold you forever. You are mine." Then terror came, and again the frantic beating of her hands against his breast. She would say anything, do anything, lie, cheat, steal, just to get loose. Her brain staggered, and out of frenzy she spoke at random. " O you don't know what you're doing. I'm married! " "You? Married?" His arms dropped as he stepped back. It seemed an age that they confronted each other, an age of bewildered silence, during which he stared at her, trying to understand and trying to repent. Comprehend he could not, neither could he repent. " I never dreamed that you were mar ried." That was all he said. Barbara said nothing at all. It was not the character of Barbara to temporize with a He. The major hated lies and so did she except old Nat's, which were ingenious and delightful. She winced before Clayton, abashed, and hanging her head for shame. She had lied because she was afraid, she who had never known a falsehood or a fear. Barbara felt his eyes fastened upon her as if they searched into the depths of her cowardice and deception. It galled her to imagine his contempt, she, the upstanding Miss Stark, whose pride it waa to be self-reliant and frank as any man. What could he be think ing of her? O, yes that she was humiliated, like any fool of a married woman who made a slip.- That's what he thought; of course he did. She dared not raise her eyes; such a man would despise her if he knew she feared him, and could only take care of herself by hiding behind a craven lie. But suppose she told the truth? .What might he not do? No matter. She deserved 1C "I icOI look up! I toiH tell him!" She nerved herself again and again before the strength came. Miss Stark's face had gone utterly white when, with clenched hands and steady lips, her resolute chin arose. Brave enough she met his eye, but her tongue stumbled as she tried to say: "I I I cannot leave here without There she stuck fast. " Without what? " he Inquired very gently. "Without telling you " Along the road beyond the greenery there came a scurry of hoofs as two horses burst through the canebrake, and, terror stricken, Mrs. Raxilly flung the bridle of the gray to Barbara. "O, Bar " she caught herself "O, Adelaide! Adelaide! Quick! Florian is here." In presence of the panicky wife Barbara could not confess. A man might understand for men always pardon the follies com mitted on their account but another woman would laugh, especially one whom Barbara had jibed for being bullied by a husband. " Hurry! Hurry! I'm so frightened! " The Creole trembled while her horse went dancing on all fours, and Barbara's gray began to prance. She had no time to set herself straight, no time for anything except to mount and ride. Mrs. Kazilly was already crashing through the cane ,when Barbara sprang upon the log, leaped into her saddle, and followed. "I must tell you something," she waved back and called to Clayton. Then she was gone. Barbara's gray horse reared and dashed ofi behind Mrs. Razilly on the black, while Clay ton stood immovable with eyes fixed upon a closing gap in the gfeenway through which the two had disappeared. Not until their hoofbeats had almost died away did he rouse himself to follow her, step by step, and me chanically as if he had not yet collected all his faculties.1 He pushed through the dense growth and saw their horses speeding across the fields on a course which held the cane brake between themselves and Lake Mar mion, for Mrs. Razilly was anxious to avoid detection. Again and again the woman on the black glanced over her shoulder, then raced the faster. But the other never turned her head, not even as she plunged into the farther woods and vanished. No disaster could bo more complete. Many times, in his rough life among the Sala manca mountains, Clayton had seemed just on the point of grasping his heart's desire, only to find himself fettered to a rock whilst his dream slipped through his fingers. Three times he had staked his last penny and his last ounce of energy upon some hazardous game and lost, irretrievably lost then buckled his belt the tighter and smiled upon a world which still invited him to conquest But here was a loss which forbade all efforts to retrieve. For one moment the old combative gleam flashed into Clayton's eyes as he considered his swifter sorrel. He darted to the oak and was reaching for his bridle when he checked himself. No, he could never pursue the wife of another man. His dream was ended and the book was closed. Yet she had called back to him that there might be something more. What could she mean? Nothing that really mattered. Nothing mattered now except the dishonor of seeking her. At that he smiled. Honor or shame, hers had been no unwilling kiss, nor the cold, dead touch that gave him no re sponse. Their souls had mingled at the meet ing of their lips, and in that moment of mad ness she had been completely his. The woman had been won and lost, leaving him more utterly alone than Clayton had ever felt In the isolated arroyas of Central America. Even there he could find comrades who filled his needs, for there he craved no other. But here, almost upon the acre where he was born, the universe seemed stripped of human companionship and peopled only by his dreams. Around him lay the silence, and he resented a sound which marred it, a pad dle rasping against a boat Somebody was coming. It fretted Clayton to be disturbed, but there were powerful reasons why he must not be taken unawares. So he parted the cane be hind him and watched a man who stepped ashore and stooped to draw his boat a little higher up the bank. The stranger might be a secret service operative, and desirable to avoid. But this now seemed impossible, for the sorrel stood openly beneath the oak, and must be soon discovered. Besides this, Clay ton had ridden from home unarmed, and was helpless unless he got close enough to grap ple with the other if he drew. Keeping hid. Clayton scrutinized the newcomer, and caught his visible start as he straightened up to gaze sharply at the sorrel, then to look around as if searching for somebody. Plainly he was not a planter of the neigh borhood. His dress seemed that of a city sport correct fishing togs and white cork helmet. Now Clayton recognized him for the third fisherman who had come with Major Stark and Dr. Humphreys. At this Clayton also gave a start,, and experienced the same unrest that the other man displayed. Per haps this might be "Florian," of whom the black horse lady had shown such terror. And if he were In fact the husband of Ade laide, Clayton could not fight with him; neither could he suffer himself to be killed when so much depended upon his escape. With the casual air of a gentleman who strolls for pleasure, Mr. Florian Razilly ap proached the sorrel. It was not a Benning ton horse, which absolved Mrs. Razilly. But Florian saw only one horse, while he had distinctly heard the tramping of several. Were they going or coming? And where was the sorrel's rider? Then it disquieted Mr. Razilly to imagine that while he in spected the sorrel, the sorrel's rider might also be inspecting him and Clayton observed Razilly's quick little jerk of his head when this notion struck him. Then Razilly turned, and had he been more of a woodsman he need not have looked twice for a break in the shrubbery through which horses and men, and women, too, had recently passed. Not ten feet away the wary Clayton eyed him, so as to keep within arm's reach whenever Razilly broke into the open. The Creole plunged through the thicket, shielding his face from the scratching of briars, and when he emerged beside the plantation rood it astounded him to find a man at his very elbow. "O!" he exclaimed, and his tone ac quitted him of being a detective, for secret service agents take things coolly as they come. He tried to steady himself, but could not conceal his excitement when face to face with Stuart Clayton. The gov ernment was searching fpur states for this man, and he, Florian Razilly, bad located him young, tall, Spanish looking, mustache and goatee, and the dress? It fitted the description and could be no other. To effect a capture Razilly must now dissimulate and throw the fugitive off guard. So he forced a smile and said: " I beg your par don, sir, but I expected some friends to ride this way." " I am not acquainted with your friends," the other man replied, almost touching Razlily'a shoulder and moving nearer as the Creole edged away. "14 I not hmr poral" lUstily n'U an btn4 Inquiry, uibly, thm mymlt." Tm U-IU-a?" JUllly trtH again. " Wno r lhay.l - "I do nut knu " Clayton spoke the truth. eri4 with uvta finality as dUrourM4 quMtluns. "KWtfv ni. I was ml'io," Rastlly poiiciv4 pmruMly, "1 I a thousand Union fur my intrusion," Tho he bowt tilmsotr away Bn4 blundered backar4a lUruugh the uni i A frw nacotiit after Mr. KlorUn ruallty lil tumbled Into till boat and ahovad (iff, Clayton hurried to the Uke front and aaw him Mddlinf hard In the direction of the ether (Uharmen, a itiatatam whkh FkNrtan adopt! for fear of alarming the fugitive, llm run survelm admirably, for wbin lh cr4 glade was all hie own again Clay Ion for.i hi nervous visitor and Uined against the gnat oak to braid over wliat had happened, rive minutes ago be waa living, planning, human, virile. It Beemed strange how completely a man may die, yet remain live. Tomorrow through thouaandi of va cant tomorrowt h would never ride to thii glade, never hitch his sorrel to that limb, never sit again brilde her on their log. The glade, the limb, the log would still be hrre. yet the woman would come no more. Que r ly enough, bis most Intangible and prUU nt memory w-.a of new mown bay, which munt forever link luoif with that delirious In ttant when he had crushed her to him. The woman' bodily prewnce had departed while the Imponderable aura ot her soul yet lin gered and abided. Not fifty feet away another man came sneaking toward the gUtde. Like an In qulsitlve alligator Uncle Nat's dugout poked Us black snout from the willows and headed for the landing. Sut Uncle Nat wasn't studying about new mown hay, nor pestering hi head over Imponderable auras. He was hot and tired, and grumbling at the white folks who kept butting In to wake him up. If he badnt been so grouchy Nat would never have got tangled in the brushwood and made such a splash. Instantly alert, Clayton drew his sorrel out of sight and watched from behind the Lone Oak until he aaw a pair of white eyes rolling this way and that, for wl!y old Nat did not propose to go blindfolded Into another am buscade. Nothing threatened him from the lake. So Nat figured that everybody was gone. The sun had dropped a bit; it was even shadier and cooler in the glade, and Nat felt powerful sleepy. M Now, dun," be muttered as he regained the log, "reckin I kin have some peace." Then he stuck up both ears like a fright cned rabbit, squatted and stared, for a hollow voice spoke unto him, saying: " No peace for old Nat" "Who who who dat?" The Negro whirled and started to run, when Clayton stepped from behind the oak and came forward, laughing. "Don't run. Uncle Nat," he called. "I want to talk with you." "Talk wid me? Meanln' me?" Casting one scared glance behind him, he wondered if he could reach his dugout. He did not crave a second Interview with this man whom he had been denouncing as poor white trash, common M pig tracks. But when he glanced back at the other's face Nat saw something which he had never noticed while on the porch at Marmion. He hesitated, un certain and bewildered, eying the man who moved towards him, and held out a hand with the hearty greeting: "Shake, Uncle Nat, shake! How's my good old friend?" "Fine, Mister Stuart, fine." Nat's voice trembled as he wiped both palms on the seat of his breeches. He shook hands, first one then the other, then both, grinning and say ing: "Lordee, Mister Stuart Lordee! I sho is tickled to see you." " Yes, Uncle Nat," Clayton continued, with the same laugh of little Mister Stuart; so it did not surprise Nat to hear him say, " Gee! this feels like old times. Lemme ride in your dugout? Lemme ride? " " Sholy, Mister Stuart; come 'long, come 'long. No." Nat darted to the water's edge and glanced at the fishermen. "No, you bptter not start from major's side. Ride roun' on yo' own side de lake, den I'll cross over an' pick you up." " Not this trip, old friend." The grown-up boy shook his head with a sad kind of smile that Uncle Nat had never seen before. Long and curiously the Negro gazed upon him, up and down, from the wide brimmed hat to the leggings, finally coming back to consider the tiny black mustache. These personal addi tions were new, but the smile and the eyes, they were the same. "Mister Stuart," he spoke in a haze of bewilderment " Mister Stuart, you sho is got me bumfoozled. One time I claim dls ain't you; den agin I say dis is you." " Well," Clayton demanded with a chuckle that left no lingering doubt " What do you claim now? " "Hit's just like dis, Mister Stuart; over yonder at de big house I didn't take no real good look; an' I say to myse'f, jesso, 'Nat dat nacherly can't be little Mister Stuart But now," after a most critical dissection, " now dis is you, cause you favors yo' pa more'n you favors yo' own sef." " Like my father, ami!" "Egzactly, Mister Stuart, egzactly. You's Jes de breathin' image o' yo' pa. Pears like I -kin shet my eyes right now an hear de ole gen'l talkin'." Having made absolutely sure ot his man, Nat scouted to the edge of the lake and re connoltered the approaching boats, which came on slowly, but were still far enough away to give him time. Then he hurried back and said: "Lisaen, Mister Stuart llssen. I laid off to tell you dls news when you fust come out on de gallery; but I plumb forgot 'cause you was so busy, an' lef, in seen a rush. Now lissen good. Jes alter dinner two white men come pas' our house in a automobile an' 'quired 'bout you mighty p'ticular." " Who were they? " "Dunno, sun, strangers to me, an' ack like folks from up norf." "What did they want?" " Dey was cravln' to see you, suh; powerful sot on seoin' you. Claimed dey was friends o' your'n. I p'tnted 'em de big road to Mar mion, but dat didn't suit Peered like nothin' wouldn't pacify dem white folks cept fer me to come on ahead an' fin out ef you was to , home." As Clayton listened he knew precisely what sort of men they were, not from any description given by the Negro, but from hit general manner In alluding to them, especial ly the dubiousness with which he regarded their boast of friendship. " Dey claimed to be pals o your'n I think dey said pals ' aa' wanted to drap In." "To pull pit a surprUe thirty?" KgiarUy. suit, MUfUy. An' kteh yoei unbeknownst. Mm try was o'a oe fflrntta," - Xrm, jea - From the quk-t way In whkh Mr. tiluart received It. Nat f-erat that his Uie hod f4lin It', and Inquired, " Ixn yoa o poet in' Vinf " Yra." Clayton admlttrd. I rathrr l.k4 f'-r a vUit from the gontry." "Suttlnly. auttlnly. Kf dey'g romln ta vUnt you, dy mmr" be all right" Which was worth prtviiMily twenty dollara to Nat, " I Ji aa writ go back an kite 'em de nwa; an' ttll 'rm jrou'i tonkin' frr 'vm." Jufit ai wnll." Claytun muttered al-wntly. It waa many a King yr strife Uncle Na tlmnM Hiark had rot the ehan to In-" up hi tongue with Utile MUtcr Stuart Clay Ion. Now It wagged like the bell Clapper oa a frolicsome calf, going over avery drtall ot In interview with t'oxyjaw and fatf" hut kt-pt raufllKd concerning the live dollara already collected, and twenty more that waa due him. Yet he toid of his engagement la ou et .them under the magnolia with a tip aa to the whereabouts of their wanted man. Clayton listened attentively, but not with llml earn rnpt absorption which the child had alwaye given to Uncle Nat accounts of Hrer I'miautn a adventurea. f Dmetlmea Clay ton didn't 'm to hear, and the Negro n tlced thai he was kinder wool gathering, even before Mr. Stuart Interrupted bun. " No. Uncle Nat Walt, wait I cant be annoyed by those officers until I get some thing else off my mind. Then you may tail them that I am here." " SutUnly, suh, enmctly." With the Ytaloa cif twenty dollars dangling before blm, Nat's eyes grew luminous. " Dere's jes one mo thing. Mister Stuart I s'plcloned dem mea at fut an lowed dey mought be comln ta 'rest some nigger off yo' place, 'cause I seen a pulr of nippers In da car." "Nippers? Tea, naturally." Kven this suggestion did not seem to rtk Mr. Stuart It appeared like he quit think, lng about nippers right away, for a wholly different expression flickered Into his eyes ai be motioned Nat to a seat beside hlra on the log and asked: "Uncle Nat did you happen to see two ladles out riding this afternoon? " " No, suh, never saw none, excualn' deta two what Iff our house." " One on a gray horse and one on a black? " be questioned briefly, "Yas, auh. Dat black's de major's Glen coe. out o' Sassy Bess, by Lawd Bennington. He's a pow'ful high stepper. An' do gray " "Never mind the horses. Did you know the ladies?" " Bleegcd to know 'cm, suh, when I waits on dem ladies ev'y day. One of 'cm Is Miss Barbara Stark, de major's daughter. Don't you 'member when she was a teeny little chile, an' you come over dere one time, an' " "But the othor lady, the other?" " She's Miss Adelaide " "Miss Adelaide?" Clayton bounded op from the log and blood went rushing through his veins again. He felt the strength return to his arms. Old Nat also felt the power of bis arm when Clayton grappled both his shoulders and repeated. " Did you say Miss Adelaide ' ? ' During his long absence from the States Clayton had forgot that household Negroea usually address a matron by her christian name. Old Nat had forgot nothing; neither could he remember anything while Mister Stuart kept shaking him so rapid. Nat's teeth knocked together like castanets as he looked up and answered: "Miss Adelaide leastwise dat's what aha calls her own se'f." "Then she's a young lady?" ' Not so pow'ful ole; her an' Miss Barbara'g nigh 'bout de same age." " But she she's not married? "O, yas, suh. 'Cose she got a h unban', uh, an' by rights I oughter call her Mrs. Razzle. But dat name comes so onhandy." " Mrs. Razzle? " " Yas, suh, dat's her husban' in de white hat what lef dis landin' jes befo' I come. Dey's stay in' at our house." " Razzle? Razzle? " Clayton repeated. "Yas, suh. Sho Is a funny name?" "Very funny." But there was no hilarity in Clayton's at titude as he sank again upon the log and ap peared to be studying so hard that old Nat dared not speak another word. Presently, and without glancing up, he inquired: " Uncle Nat, you will see those ladles when you go home? " " Shoiy, suh; dey'll be settln' right dere on our gallery." After a long silence and much pondering Mr. Stuart seemed to get his head sot, then turned and asked: " Will you do something for me? " "Do somethin' fer you? Lordee, Mister Stuart, it's already did." " I thought I could rely on you Just to carry a note," " Dere, now! " Old Nat laughed and slapped his thigh. "Ain't dat yo' pa' all over agin. In his sparkln' days? When de gen'l was young he used to be all de time sayin', ' Nat I wants you to tote a note.' I was de chief note toter fer yo' pa an' Major Stark whilst dey was co'tin' de ladles. Dey coted plenty ladies. Huh! I knowed enuff to hang 'em bofe." His good old days were coming back, and Nat gabbled on delightedly while Clayton searched his pockets for paper and found nothing except an envelope. The sound of nearer voices floated across the water, so Clayton stepped to the bank where he saw two boats apparently headed for this landing. . " Uncle Nat" he pointed, " are they coming in here?" "No, suh; Mister Razzle's flxln' to go home." " Razzle? Razzle? " Clayton kept trying to remember. " Uncle Nat, what is that name? " "Jes Razzle, nigh as I kin git it Mister Flory Razzle, what runs a bank in NTaw leens." " Oh!" Clayton exclaimed. " Razilly? Fto rian Razilly?" " Yas, suh. Dat's how devmajor speaks it" This gave Clayton something else to con sider. The banking firm of Gaumont A Ra zilly were financial agents for the Dictator of Salamanca. Razilly's awkward presence might not be a mere coincidence, which made it all the more imperative for Clayton to es cape this night This complicated the mat ter, but did not change his decision to see Adelaide. " Uncle Nat," he urged, " get your dugout ready to travel." "Ready, suh; all steamed up." Hastily splitting open the envelope, Clay ton began to write on the Inside, and no sea soned veteran of Intrigue would have set down such words In black and white. (ContlnunJ Nut Sunday. Copyright: im. wOJ