Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1919 — GREEN FANCY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GREEN FANCY

By GEORGE BARR McCUTCHRON

Xrikor «/ "GRAUSTARK." -IHB HOLLOW OF HER HAND," THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK." ETC.

Dodd. Mm 3 ud Ciwy. h«r SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I—Thomas K. „ B*™* wealthy New Yorker, on a walking trip through New England, la caught in a •torm miles from his destination. At a eroaaroads point he meets a girl In tns 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 is taken on to her destination, which she tells Barnes is a place callea Green Fancy. CHAPTER IT—At the tavern Barnes falls in with a stranded troupe of "barn«Jng” actora headed by Lyndon croft, and becomes interested in them. CHAPTER ITT—As the storm grown, Barnes finds himself worrying over the safety of the girl, traveling over the mountain roads at what he considers danKrous speed. He learns tnat Green incy la something of a house of mystery. Two mounted men leave the tavern In a manner which arouses Barnes’ curiosity. CHAPTER 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 Pam, dies, and Barnes is Informed he must not leave until after the Inquest O’Dowd and De Soto, 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. Ha visits Green Fancy, and in the grounds tneets his acquaintance of the night before, finding her a girl of surprising beauty. CHAPTER VH—She seems not to bo desirous of recognizing him, and turns away. *O’Dowd appears and In apparently friendly fashion escorts Barnes (who feels be 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 eomes to the tavern 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 ■torm Is Introduced as Miss Cameron. The makeup of the house party, particularly a man Introduced to him as ’’Loeb.” and the number of menservants about the place, somewhat astonishes Barnes. CHAPTER X—Miss Cameron inform* 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, Barnes becomes convinced there to a conspiracy of moment Hatching at Green Fancy. CHAPTER Xl—At breakfast the supposed book agent introduces himself as Borouse. a government secret agent. Sprouse tells Barnes he is there to watch the party at Green Fancy, describing them as refugees from a country overrun by the Germana He asserts that Miss Cameron” is a relative of the former ruler of the devastated country and that she or "Loeb” have with them the crown jewels, of enormous value, which Sprouse would recover. CHAPTER Xll—Barnes agrees to accompany Sprouse on a nocturnal visit to Green Fancy, Sprouse with the object of securing the jewels, and Barnes with the hope of rescuing ’Miss Cameron. CHAPTER Xin—They enter the grounds tn safety, Sprouse overcoming two men evidently on guard. Reaching the house, Barnes sends up, by means of a fishing rod carried by Sprouse, a note to “Miss Cameron,” informing her of their intention to enter the house. She tries to dissuade them, but Sprouse climbs to her room and goes through It on a quest for the crown jewels and state papers. CHAPTER XlV—Barnes becomes uneasy at Sprouse's long absence and follows him, climbing by means of the ivy attached to the wall. While- talking to "Miss Cameron” a commotion in the house warns them that Sprouse has been detected. Barnes, with "Miss Cameron” clinging to him, makes his escape to the ground. He loses his sense of location and they become lost, finally taking refuge in a small shed. "Miss Cameron** explains how she was decoyed to the house, and was to be married against her will to the man "Loeb,” whom she reveals as a prince of the house to which she belongs. They are surprised in the darkness by O’Dowd. CHAPTER XV—O’Dowd demands the jewels, which he thinks the fugitives have In their possession, .not knowing of Bprouse’s enterprise. Convinced nqjther "Miss Cameron" nor Barnes have them, O’Dowd puts them on the right road to the tavern, where Barnes gives his companion into the care of Miss Thackeray. Next day O’Dowd tells Barnes Sprouse, whom he describes as an expert burg'ar, got away with the treasure, after killing a. guard in the house. O Dowd and Loeb leave Green Fancy.

CHAPTER XVI. The First Wayfarer Visits a Shrine, Confesses, and Takes an Oath. How was he to find the courage to Impart the appalling news to her? He •was now convinced beyond all doubt that the so-called Sprouse had made off with the priceless treasure and that only a miracle could bring about its recovery. He realized to what extent he had been shaped into a tool to be used by the master craftsman. He saw through the whole Machiavellianscheme, and he was also now morally certain that Sprouse wpuld have sacrificed him without the slightest hesitation. In the event that anything went rong with their enterprise, the man • mid have shot him dead and earned • ?. gratitude and commendation of his ■-‘os! He would have been glorified end not crucified by his friends. With a heavy heart he mounted the stairs. At the top he paused to deliberate Would It not be better to keep her in Ignorance? What was to be gained by revealing to her the — But Miss Thackeray was luring him on to destruction. She stood outside the door and beckoned. Then she closed the door from' the outside, and Barnes was

alone with the cousin of kings and queens and princes. “I feared you -had deserted me,” she said, holding out her hand to him as he strode across the room. “I saw no occasion to disturb your rest,” he mumbled. , "I have been peeping,” she said, looking at him searchlngly. “Where Is Mr. Loeb going, Mr. Barnes T” “O’Dowd says he Is to bk gone for a few days on business,” he equivocated. “He will not return,” she said quietly. “He Is a coward at heart Oh, I know him well," she went on, acorn In her voice. “Was I wrong In not trying to atop him?" he asked. She pondered this for a moment “No," she said, but he caught the dubious note In her voice. “It Is Just as well, perhaps, that he should disappear. His flight today spares—but we are more Interested In the man Sprouse. Has he returned?” “No, Miss Cameron,” said he ruefully. And then, without a single reservation, he laid bare the story of Sprouse’s defection. When he Inquired if she had heard of the man known as Chester Nalsmlth, she confirmed Ills

worst fear by describing him as the guard who watched beneath her window. He was known to her as a thief of International fame.

“You were no match for Chester Nalsmlth. Do not look so glum. The’ shrewdest police officers In Europe have never been able to cope with him. Why should you despair?” He sprang to his feet. “By gad, be hasn’t got away with It yet,” he grated. “I will run this scoundrel down If I have to devote the remainder of my life to the task.” She sighed. “Alas, I fear that I shall have to tell you a little more about this wonderful man you know as Sprouse. Six months ago the friends and supporters of the legitimate successor to my country’s throne consummated a plan whereby the crown jewels and certain documents of state were surreptitiously removed from the palace vaults. Instead of depositing the treasure in Paris, It was sent to this country in charge of a group of men whose fealty could not be questioned. The iiyin you know as Loeb Is in reality my cousin. I have known him all my life. He is the youngest brother of the pretender to the throne, and a cousin of the prince who is held prisoner by the Austrians. This prince has a brother also, and It was to him that I was supposed to deliver the jewels. I traveled from New York, but not alone as you may suspect I was carefully protected from the time I left my hotel there until — well, until I arrived In Boston. “While there I received a secret message from friends In Canada directing me to go to Spanish Falls, where I would be met and conducted by Prince Sebastian hknself to the place called Green Fancy, which was near the Canadian border. A safe escort would be provided for us, and we would be on British soli within a few hours after our meeting. It is only necessary to add that when I arrived at Green Fancy I met Prince Ugo—and understood! I had carefully covered my tracks after leaving Boston. My real friends were, and still are, completely in the dark as to my movements, so skilfully was the trick managed. “And now for Chester Nalsmlth. It was he who, acting for the misguided loyalists and recommended by certaih young aristocrats who by virtue of their own dissipations had come to know him as a man of infinite resourcefulness and daring, planned and carried out the pillaging of the palace vaults. Almost under the noses of the foreign guards he succeeded In obtaining the jewels. No doubt he could have made off with them at that time, but he shrewdly preferred to have them brought to America by some one else. It would have been Impossible for him to dispose of them in Europe. You see how cunning he Is? “He was no doubt thwarted In his design to waylay me on the road from Spanish Falls by a singular occurrence In this tavern. He was attacked In his room here, overpowered, bound and gagged by two men. He knew the men. They were thieves as clever and aS merciless as himself. They too were watching for me. I do not know how these men learned of my intention to come to Green Fancy.” “They came to the Tavern four br

five days before your arrival ’at Green Fancy,” Barnes interrupted. “Sprouse told me that they were secret service men from abroad and that he was working with them. My theory is this, and I think It Is justified by events: The men were really secret agents, sent here to watch the movements of the gang up there. They came upon Sprouse and recognised him. On the day mentioned they overpowered him and forced him to reveal certain facts connected with affairs at Green Fancy. Possibly he led them to believe that you were one of the conspirators. They waited for your arrival and then risked the hazardous trip to Green Fancy. They were discovered and shot” “I believe you are right,” she cried. “Then we have accounted for Mr. Sprouse, and I am no longer Interested in the unraveling o#the mystery surrounding the deaths of Roon and Paul,” said Barnes. “There is nothing to keep me here any longer, Miss Cameron. I suggest that you allow me to escort you at once to your friends, wherever they—” She was opposed to this plan. While there was still a chance that Sprouse might be apprehended In the neighborhood, or the possibility of his being caught by the relentless pursuers, she declined to leave. “Then, I shall also stay,” said he promptly, and was repaid by the tremulous smile she gave him. He was helplessly in love with this beautiful cousin of kings and queens. And when he thought of kings and queens he realized that beyond all question his love was hopeless. (TO BE CONTINUED.)

Me Was Known to Her to a Thief of International Fame.