Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1919 — GREEN FANCY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GREEN FANCY

By GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON

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CiuiiWiiW WiMidiJCiw*. ba. SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I—Thomas K. Barnaa. wealthy New Yorker, on a walking trip through New England, is caught in a storm miles from hls destination. At a crossroads point he meets a girl tn the same plight While they discuss the situation an automobile, sent to meet the girl, arrives and Barnes Is given a lift to Hart's tavern, while the girl la taken on to her destination, which she tells Barnes Is a place called Green Fancy. CHAPTER IT—At the tavern Barnes falls In with a stranded troupe of "barnstorming” actors, headed by Lyndon Rushcroft, and becomes interested in them. CHAPTER TH—As the storm grows, Barnes finds himself worrying over the safety of the girl, traveling over the mountain roads at what he considers dangerous speed. He learns tnat Green Fancy Is something of a house of mystery. Two mounted men leave the tavern manner which arouses Barnes' curlCHAPTER IV—He meets "Miss Thackeray,” leading lady of the stranded theatrical troupe, who is acting as chambermaid. That night he is aroused by the bringing of a dying man to the tavern, one of the two who had ridden away a short time before. They tell of finding the dead body of the other man. Both had been shot. CHAPTER V—The wounded man, registered at the tavern as Andrew Paul, dies, and Barnes la Informed he must not leave until after the inquest. O’Dowd and De Goto, guests at Green Fancy, visit the tavern, apparently much mystified over the affair. CHAPTER Vl—Barnes advances Rushcroft money sufficient to release the company from its embarrassing position, thereby becoming its official backer. He visits Green Fancy, and in the grounds meets his acquaintance of the night before, finding her a girl of surprising beauty. CHAPTER Vll—She seems not to be desirous of recognizing him, and turns away. •O’Dowd appears and in apparently friendly fashion escorts Barnes (who feels he Is unwelcome) from the grounds. CHAPTER Vlll—Miss Thackeray warns Barnes that a man stopping at the tavern, ostensibly a book agent, had searched his baggage in his absence. O’Dowd comes to thestavern and with Barnes and others goes over the scene of the previous night’s shooting. Barnes is invited to dinner at Green Fancy. CHAPTER IX—His acquaintance of the storm Is introduced as Miss Cameron. The makeup of the bouse party, particularly a man Introduced to him as ’’Loeb,” and the number of menservants about the place, somewhat astonishes Barnes. CHAPTER X—Miss Cameron informs him she Is a prisoner In the house, appealing to him for aid and binding him to secrecy. In conversation with the chauffeur who drives him back to the tavern, Sarnes becomes convinced there is a conspiracy of moment Batching at Green Fancy.

“You were wrong," said Sprouse, as If Barnes had answered in the affirmative. “I am working on my own. You may have observed that I did not accompany the sheriff’s posse today. I was up In Hornville getting the final word from New York that you were on the level. I telephoned to New York. Eleven dollars and slxfy c«a4s. You were under suspicion until I hung up the receiver, I may say.” “Jones has been talking to yon,” said Barnes. “But you said a moment ago that you were up at Green Fancy last night. Not by invitation, I take it” "I Invited myself,” said Sprouse succinctly. “Are you Inclined to favor my proposition?” •*You haven’t made one.” “By suggestion, Mr. Barnes. It Is quite impossible for me to get inside that house. You appear to have the entree. You are working in the dark, guessing at everything. I am guessing at nothing. By combining forces we should bring this thing to a head, and —” “Just a moment. You expect me to abuse the hospitality of —” “I shall have to speak plainly, I see.” He leaned forward, fixing Barnes with a pair of steady, earnest eyes. “Six months ago a certain royal house in Europe was despoiled of Its jewels, Its privy seal, Its most precious state documents and Its charter. They have been traced to the United States. I am here to recover them. That is the foundation of my story, Mr. Barnes. “Without divulging the name of the

OOUM I Will say that Its sytnpauuea have been from the outset friendly to the entente allies —especially with France There are two branches of the ruling family, one In power, the other practically In exile. The state la a small one, but Its Integrity Is of the highest. Its sons and daughters have married Into the royal families of nearly all of the great nations of the continent The present—or I should My, the late raler, for he died on a field of battle not many months ago, had no direct heir. He was young and unmarried. I am not permitted to state with what army he was fighting, nor on which front' he

was killed. It Is only necessary to say that hls little state was gobbled up by the Teutonic allies. The branch of the family mentioned as being In exile lent Its support to the cause of Germany, not for moral reasons but In the hope and with the understanding, I am to believe, that the crown lands "would be the reward. The direct heir to the crown Is a cousin of the late prince. He Is now a prisoner of war In Austria. Other members of the family are held by the Bulgarians as prisoners of war. It Is not stretching the Imagination very far to picture them as already dead and out of the way. At the close of the war, If Germany is victorious, the crown will be placed upon the head of the pretender branch. Are you following me?”

"Yes,” said Barnes, his nerves tingling. He was beginning to see a great light. "Almost under the noses of the forces left by the Teutonic allies to hold the Invaded territory the crown jewels, charter and so forth, heretofore mentioned, as they say in legal parlance, were surreptitiously removed from the palace and spirited away by persons loyal to the ruling branch of the family. As I have stated, lam engaged In the effort to recover them. “Now we come to the present situation. Some months ago a member of the aforesaid royal house arrived In this country by way of Japan. He Is a distant cousin of the crown, and in a way remotely looked upon as the heir apparent. Later on he sequestered himself In Canada. O6r agents in Europe learned but recently that while he pretends to be Igyal to the ruling house he Is actually scheming against it. I have been ordered to run him to earth, for there Is every reason to believe that the men who secured the treasure have been duped Into regarding him as the avowed champion of the crown. Now, Mr. Barnes, without telling you how I have arrived at the conclusion, I am prepared to state that I believe this man to be at Green Fancy, and that in time the 100t —to use a harsh word —will be delivered to him there. I am here to get it, one way or another, when that comes to pass.” “What led you to, suspect that he is at Green Fancy, Mr. Sprouse?” “History. It Is known that this Mr. Curtis has spent a great deal of time In the country alluded to. As a matter of fact, his son, who lived in London, had rather extensive business interests there. This son was killed in the Balkan war several years ago. It Is said that the man I am looking for was a friend of young Curtis, who married a Miss O’Dowd in London — the Honorable Miss O’Dowd, daughter ■of an Irish peer and sister of the chap you have met at Green Fancy. About I six weeks ago a former equerry in the royal household arrived in New York. Through him I learned that the daughter of the gentleman In whose house the senior Mr. Curtis was a frequent guest had been In the United States since some time prior to the beginning of the war. She was visiting friends In the States and has been unable to return to her own laqd, for reasons that must be obvious. I may as well confess that her father was, by marriage, an uncle of the late ruler. “Since the Invasion and overthrow of her country by the Teutonic allies she has been endeavoring to raise money here for the purpose of equipping and supporting the remnants of the small army that fought so valiantly in defense of the crown. These men, a few thousand only, are at present interned in a neutral country. I leave you to guess what will happen if she succeeds in supplying them with arms and ammunition. Her work is being carried on with the greatest se-

crecy. To bring the story to a close, I was Instructed to keep close watch on the man O’Dowd. I traced him to this place. I was on the point of reporting to my superiors that he was In no way associated with the much-sought-after crown-cousin, and that Green Fancy was as free from taint as the rlllsge chspel, when out of a clear sky snd almost under my very nose two men were mysteriously done away with at the very gates of the place. The killing of those two men changed the aspect completely. You will certainly agree with me after I have explained to you that the one known aa Andrew Roon was no other than the equerry who had undertake to find the—young woman.” Barnes drew a long breath. HlB mind was made up. He had decided to pool Issues with the secret agent, but not until he was convinced that the result of their co-operation would In no way Inflict a hardship upon the young woman who had appealed to him for help. He was certain that she was the fair propagandist described by Sprouse. “And the young woman, what of her? She would, In any case, be held for examination and —”

"My dear sir, I may as well tell you now that she is a loyal and, far from being in bad grace at court, is an object of extreme solicitude to the ambassador. From what I can gather she has disappeared completely. Roon was sent over here for the sole purpose of finding her and inducing her to return with him to Paris.” “And to take the treasure with her, I suppose,” said Barnes dryly. “Naturally.” “Well,” began Barnes, Introducing a harsh note into hls “I should say that If she Is guilty of receiving this stolen property she ought to be punished. Jail Is the place for her, Mr. Sprouse.” Sprouse put down hls coffee cup rather suddenly. 4 Queer pallor came into his face. “You do not understand the situation. Hayen’t I made it plain to you that she Is Innocent of any Intent to do wrong?” “You have said so, Mr. Sprouse, but your Idea of wrong and mine may not jibe.” “There cannot be two ways of looking at It, sir,” said Sprouse, after a moment “She could do no wrong.” Whereupon Barnes reached hls hand across the table and laid it on Sprouse’s. Hls eyes were dancing. “That’s just what I want to be sure about,” he said. “It was my way of finding out your Intentions concerning her.” “What do yon mean?” “Come with me to my room,” said Barnes, suppressing hls excitement “I think I can tell yon where she is—and a great deal more that you ought to know.” In the little robm upstairs he told the whole story. The little man listened without so much as a single word of Interruption or Interrogation. Somewhat breathlessly Barnes came to the end. “And now, Mr. Sprouse, what do yon make of It all?” he Inquired. Sprouse leaned back in hls chair, suddenly relaxing. “I am completely at sea,” he said, and Barnes looked at him in surprise. “By Jove, I thought It would all be as clear as day to you. Here Is your man and also your woman, and the traveling bag full of—” “Right you are,” Interrupted Sprouse. “That Is all simple enough. But, my dear Barnes, can you tell me what Mr. Secretary Loeb’s real name Is? Why has he established himself so close to the ‘Canadian line, and why the mobilization? I refer to his army of huskies.” “Heirs apparent usually have some sort of a bodyguard, don’t they?” - Sprouse was staring thoughtfully at the celling. When he finally lowered his eyes It was to favor Barnes with a deep, inscrutable smile. “I dare say the first thing for me to do is to advise the Canadian authorities to keep a sharp lookout along the border.” (TO BE CONTINUED.)

“Six Months Ago a Royal House Was Despoiled of Its Crown Jewels, Seal and Charter.”