North Carolina Newspapers

t GREEN FANCY 9 ! III GEORGE BAM MiCUKJlfcUN Author of "GRAUSTARK "THE irV um i nw rr uro u a Kin "rue- i PRINCE OF, GRAUSTARK." ETC "SHE CAN DO NO WRONG" v Synopsis. Thomas K. Barnes, a wealthy young New Yorker, on a walking trip in; New Eng land near the Canadian border, is fiven a lift in an automobile by a mysterious and attractive girl bound for .u house called Green Fancy. At Hart's tavern Barnes finds a stranded troupe of "barn-storming" actors,, of which Lyndon Rushcroft is the star and "Miss Thackeray" the leading lady. He learns Green . Fancy is a house of mystery. That "night Andrew Roon and his servant, guests at the tavern, are shot near Green Fancy. Barnes comes under suspicion and stays to help clear up the, double murder. . He gets into the Green Fancy grounds ; meets the mysterious girl, who gives him the cut direct,, and is polite ly ejected by O'Dowd, an inter esting adventurer. Enter at the tavern another man of mystery, Sprouse, "book agent." Barnes visits Green Fancy with the sheriff and stays to dinner. En ter still another mysterious per sonage, "Loeb," secretary to Curtis, owner of Green Fancy, who, does not appear because of illness. Barnes again meets "Miss Cameron," the mysterious girl, who Is a ravishing beauty in evening dress. She is a pris oner and secretly appeals to him for help. Sprouse reveals him self as a secret service man. CHAPTER XI Continued. A'The deuce vou sav!" cried Barnes. ' "We will get right down to tacks." said Sprouse. "My government which isn't yours, by the way sent me up here five 'weeks ago on a cer tain undertaking. I am supposed to tfhid out what is hatching up at Green Fancy. Having satisfied myself tha you are not connected with the gang tip there I cheerfully place myself in your hands, Mr. Barnes. You were at Green Fancy last night. So was I. You had ah advantage over me, how ever, for you were on the inside awl I was not." "Confound your impudence! I " "One of my purposes in revealing myself to you, Mr. Barnes, is to warn you to steer clear of that crowd. You may find yourself in exceedingly hoi water later on if you don't. Another purpose, and the real one, is to secure, If possible, your co-operation in beat ing the .game up there. You can help me, and in helping me you may be in strumental in righting one of the gravest wrongs the world has ever known." "Will you be good enough, Mr. Sprouse, to tell me just what you are trying to get at? I know nothing what ever against Mr. "Curtis and his friends. You assume a great deal" "Excuse me, Mr. Barnes. I'll admit that you don't know anylhing against themjbut you suspect a whole lot. To begin with, you suspect that two men were shot to death because they were In wrong with someone at Green Fancy. Now I could tell you who these two men really were and why they were shot. But I sha'n't.do any thing of the sort at least not at pres ent." Barnes was Impressed. , "Perhaps you will condescend to tell me who you are, Mr. Sprouse. l am very much 'In the dark." "I am a special agent but not a spy, -sir-of a government that is friendly to yours. I am known in Washington. My credentials are not to be questioned. At present it would be unwise for me to reveal the name of my government. I dare say if I can afford to trust you, Mr. Barnes, you can afford to trust me. There Is too much at stake for me to take the slightest chance with any man. I am ready to chance you, sir, if you will do the same by me." "Well," began Barnes deliberately, "I guess you -will have to take a chance with me, Mr. Sprouse, for I re fuse to commit myself until I know exactly what you are up to." "In the first place, Mr. Barnes," said Sprouse, salting his eggs, "you have been thinking that I was sent down, from Green Fancy to spy on you. Isn't that so?" I am answering no questions, Mr. "You were wrong," said Sprouse.'-as if Barnes had answered In the affir mative. "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 fina' word from New York that yqu were pi the, leteL I telephoned to New York ' Bleren dollars and sixty ccte. You were under suspicion until I hung up the receiver, I may say." "Jones has been talking to you," 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 suc cinctly. "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 guess ing 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 recovery them. That is the foundation of my story, Mr. Barnes. "Without divulging the name of the house I will say that its sympathies 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 is a small one, but Its Integrity is of he 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 say, the late ruler, for he died on a field of battle not many months ago, had no direct Tieir. He was young and unmarried. I am not per mitted to state with what army he was fighting, nor on which front he: was killed. It is only necessary to I say that his 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 'n the hope and with the understand ing, I am to believe, that the crown lands would be the reward. The di rect 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 stretch ing the Imagination very far to pic ture 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 pre tender branch. Are you following nie?" "Yes," said Barnes, his nerves tin gling. He was beginning to see a great light! "Almost umJer the noses of the forces left by the Teutonic allies to hold the invaded territory the crown jewels, charter and so forth, hereto fore 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, I am en gaged In the effort to recover them, i "Now we come to the present situ ation. 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 seques tered himself In Canada. Our agents in Europe learned but recently that while he pretends to be loyal 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, witlrout telling you how I have arrived at the conclusion, I am pre pared to state that I believe this man to be at Green Fancy and that in'time the loot to use a harsh word will be delivered to him here. 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 mat ter of fact, his son, who lived in Lon don, had rather extensive business in terests 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 v 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 six weeks ago a former equerry in the royal household arrived In New York. Through him I learned that the daugh ter of the gentleman In whose house he senior Mr. Curtis was a frequent -luest had been in the United States since some time prior to the beginning of the .war. A She was visiting; friends in the States and has been Jimable to return to her own land for reasons that must be obvious. I may as well confess that her father wasfby mar riage, an uncle of thelatefruler, "Since the .invasion and' overthrow of her country by the Teutonic allies she has been endeavorlngiyto raise money here for the purpose of equip ping 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 pres ent 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 eiqse 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 village chapel, when' out of a i clear sky and almost under my very nose tw6 men were mysteriously doneN away with at the very gates of the place. The killing of those Jtwo men changed the aspect complexly. You will certainly agree with me after I have explained to you that! the one known as Andrew Roon was sjio other than the equerry who had otidertaken to find the young woman." i ' I s$ .vs. Barnes drew a long brfath. His mind was made up. He hi 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 certain5 that she was the fair propagandist tjescribed by Sprouse. . . "And the young woman,; what of her? She would, in any case; be held the Canadian line, and why j he mo bilization? I refer to his army i oi l.l.U . .. ' "Heirs' apparent usually have some sort of a bodyguaVdon't they?" , Sprouse was staring thoughtfully at the ceiling;' When" he finally lowered his eyes it was tQ favor Barnes with a deep, Inscrutable smile. "I dare say the first, thing for me to do is to advise the Canadian au thorities; to'keep a sharp lookout along me uuiuc. for examination and " "My dear sir, I may as well teh you now that she is a loyal subject, .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 complete ly. Roon was sent over hert? for the sole purpose of finding her atjd induc ing her to return with him to Paris." "And to take the treasure 'ith her, I supiose," said Barnes dryly. "Naturally." , f$: "Well," began Barnes, introducing v harsh note into his voice, "I should mumnzmi www n "Six Months Ago a Royal House Was Despoiled of Its Crown Jewels; Seal and Charter." e say that if she is guilty of receiving this stolen property she ought to be punished. Jail is the place-for her. Mr. Sprouse." 5f Sprouse put down his coffee cup rather suddenly A queer pallor came into his face. , . "You do not understand the situa tion. Haven'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 look ing at it, sir," said Sprouse, after a moment. "She could do no wrong." I Whereupon Barnes reached his hand across the table and laid 'i it on Sprouse's. His eyes were dancing. , "That's just what I want to be sure about," he said. "It was my: ay of rinding out your Intentions coiacernins: her." "What do you mean?" i ; j "Come with me to my room" said Barnes, suppressing his excitement. 1 think I can tell you where she is- and-a great deal more that you ought to know." : i I In the little room upstairs ' he told, the whole story. The little man lis tened without so much as a , single word of interruption or interrogation. Somewhat breathlessly Barnes came to the end. .. . . - -i - - "And now, Mr. Sprouse, what do you make of it all?" he inquired; Sprouse leaned back in his I chair, suddenly relaxing. "I am completely at sea," he said,, and Barnes dcoked at him In surprise. -fe "By Jove, I thought ifc would all be as clear as day to you. Here is your man and also your woman, arid the traveling bag full of- r : ; j "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 ts?l Wh has he established himself . sc close to v CHAPTER XH. The First Wayfarer Accepts an Invi tation. Barnes insisted that the' first thing to be considered was the release of Miss Cameron. "If we can't think of any other way to get her out of this devilish predica ment, Sprouse,; I shall apply to Wash ington for "help.V "An'd be laughed at, my, friend." said the secret agent. "It is not a matter for the government to meddle in at ill." "Well, something has to be done at once," said Barnes doggedly. "She Is depending on me. If you could have seen the light that leaped into her glo rious eyes when I" "Yes, I know. I've heard she is quite a pretty girl. You needn't" "Quite a pretty girl!" exclaimed Barnes. "Why, she Is the loveliest thing that God ever created. She has the face of" "I am beginning to understand O'Dowd's Interest in her, Mr. Barnes. He has probably fallen In love with her with as little difficulty as you have experienced, and almost as expedi tiously. He has seen a little more of her than you, but " "Don't talk nonsense. I'm not in love with her." "Can you speak with equal author ity for?Mr. O'Dowd? He ,'s a very sus ceptible Irishman, I am told." "I don't believe he will get much en couragement from her, Mr. Sprouse," snid Barnes stiffly. "If $he Is as clever as I think she is she wlft Kicourage him tremendous ly. I would w I were In her place. Mr. O'Dowd Is only iumanJ He isn't immune." " catch the' point, Mr. Sprouse," said Barnes, rather gloomily. He did not like to think of the methods that might have to be employed in the sub jugation of Mr. O'Dowd.; "There is a rather important question I'd like to ask. Is she even remotely eligible to her country's throne?" " "Remotely, yes," said Sprouse. "So remotely that she could marry a chap like O'Dowd without giving much thought to future complica tions?" he ventured. : A l "She'd be just as safe In marrying O'Dowd as she would in marrying you," was Sprouse's unsatisfactory re sponse. The man's brow was wrin kled in thought. "See here, Mr. Barnes, I am planning a visit to Green Fancy tonight. How would you like to accompany mo?" "I'd like nothing ' better," said Barnes, with enthusiasm. "Will you agree to obey instruc tions? I can't have you muddling things up, you know." "The grounds are carefully guard ed," said Barnes, after they had dis cussed the project for some time. "Miss Cameron is constantly under the watehful eye of one or more of the crowd." "I know. I passed a couple of thero last night," ,'said Sprouse calmly. "By the way, don't you think it would be very polite of you to Invite the Green Fancy party over here to have an old fashioned country dinner with vou -tonight?" "It would be useless, Mr. Sprouse. They will not come." 'T am perfectly aware of that, but it won't do any harm to ask them, will it?" Barnes chuckled. "I see. Establish ing myself as an innocent bystander, eh?" "Get O'Dowd on the telephone and ask him if they can come," said Sprouse. "But there is Jones to consider. The telephone, is in his office. What will he think" "Jones is all right," said Sprouse briefly. "Come along. You can call up from my room." He grinned slyly. "Such a thing as tapping the wire, you know." Sprouse had installed a telephone is. his room, carrying a wire upstair from an attachment made in the cel lar of the Tavern. He closed the dooi to his little room on the top floor. Barnes and Sprouse make an exciting midnight visit to Green Fancy. (TO DE CONTINUED.) The Great Test Splf-rnntml k we are alone, say New Success Maga zine. But the moment our lives are thrown in with others then comes the struggle. To maintain our equanimity, to restrain the sharp retort, the impa tient exclamation, to. get along smooth ly with disagreeable people, without friction or jarring-thls is the great life test. This is what builds charac ter, what tests manhood or woman hood, what makes the Ideal employee Burning Truth. Said the facetious feller : ' "These golf fanatics get a lot of satisfaction out of reducln their stroke fronT last season, but: the real joy of life come from bein' able to reduce the numbtf or tons of coal frota the winter to fore." , (Conducted by National Council of the Boy Scouts of America.) SCOUT TRAILING SAVES LIFE 'The training which Is being impart ed to youngsters in scout khaki is of the sort that may be r brought into play at any hour or minute in the dally routine of boy life. Scout Morgan Coyteof Troop No. 1 and Scout George Petri e of Troop No. 3, both, of Itidgefield Park, j.f pitched their tent near New Bridge along the Hackensack river. Having satisfied their appetites the scouts "turned in" for the night. Scout Coyte on awakening saw opposite his face a small, thick bundle, a ceil. Very quickly he realized that it was a venomous snake of the copperhead variety, and instinctively he thrust his arm upward to protect his head and neck. He had not done so too quickly, how ever, for the reptile had sprung for- ward, burying its fangs deep into the protecting arm, withdrawing as quick ly and wriggling off Into the shrub bery along the river bank. Young Coyte awakened his com panion and they improvised a tourn iquet from his handkerchief and a small stick. Realizing that the wound was not flowing freely enough he cut Into and around the bite until it bled profusely. Emptying the contents of a cart ridge into the break in his flesh, he applied flame to the powder and with stood the temporary pain. It was lat er determined that he had success fully offset the possibility of a fatal result through his commendable pres ence of mind. He had burnt all trace of poison completely from his arm and in a few days was again back at his job, none the worse for his experience. mpeoved MODEST SCOUT'S BRAVE ACT. Scout Frederick Nelson of Dubuque, Iowa, aged 15, Is deserving of a place on the highest honor roll of Scoutdom and efforts are being made to have his name placed there. Frederick, who was visiting at Fair field, Iowa, one day heard the screams of a child coming from the direction of the river where he had been swim ming. Without hesitation, he plunged in again and rescued little Bernice Derry, aged 9, who hud been bathing and got beyond her depth. The child had gom down for thi? third time, but the scout dived, brought her to the surface and then, assisted by a couple of other lads, brought her to shore and resuscitated her. , The" first that was known in Dii bnque of the lad's briive deed was a letter to the scout executive from the girl's mother, praising the boy and suggesting that the scout council re ward him. It Is thought he will be given a medal. SONG OF THE BOY SCOUTS. Did you call, O fair Coll mbia, Did you call us in youv need? Far and wide the summons sounded, "We are here your wish to heed. Use us. gentle mother, uue us. In the way that you think best; Nothing makes our hearts feel lighter Than to serve at your behest. Fathers, brothers, uncles, grandsirea Paid in full their debt to you; , Tell us, loving mother, tell us, What is there a boy can do? He can't go to fight your battles O'er the wide seas' whitening foam But he'll grow and be a soldier And protect you here at home. You still need the. heart that's loyal, You still need the helping hand, Here we come, a million brothers, I All united In one band. We can guard the precious banner That our brothers died to save, And a son's unselfish devotion We can give as heroes gave. Josephine M. Fabricaitt, In New York Herald. SCOUTS MUST NOT APE ARMY. National headauart rs warn the boy scouts that under the national de fense act it is unlawful for scouts or scout officials to wear any part of the army uniform, insignia oi equip ment that is not definitely listed as the official uniform, insignia or equip ment of the Boy Scouts of America. The violation of this act is punishable by a heavy fine and imprisonment. The authorities have explained that by wearing any of the f ollowing things a scout is violating th army reorgan ization law under which he has the right to wear his boy Scout uniform: Army hat cords, collar insignia, in cluding U. S. letters ; crossed sabers, crossed rifles, etc.; caps congress gives us permission to wear only the campaign hats; Sam Brown belts these-are worn only by officers over seas. " ' ..... SCOUTS WEIGH FLIES KILLED. Rules regarding the "swat the fly" campaign which boy scouts and girls of school age are conducting in Joplln, Mo., have been Issued by J. Silas Gravell e, scout executive. Hereafter flies are to be taken to the office of Lieut. IL S. Sayers at the chamber of commerce and weighed, the amount be ting accredited for one of .the prizes offered-,.Vr-.J'v; During the school week, count was kept of the files swatted, but no check tng tip of the victims made, v &y rev Bible ,n "LEnS!Uh PARABLES 0 GOLDEN TeVti Kingdom of GoV Se Matt. R;33 03 and his H PRIMARY ran f the kingdom E TplCn SENIOR om. AND j. - - IHTi. or the kinS(if,rw b . The Parable of (v. 31, 32). Tr..th'n?- all, mention in this parabi; 1. ItS linimK,... begins as thP ieast of " " l" LIU HIP PPOf The -kin .n and humble ciroumsta eu unlettered flflrisoi-f rni. "u" u" Prophet yl cernins: him tw . . nH spised' "rejected; off" and v 2. Its vigorous lnS nothing.- small ho gone forth so that there 3 '""u equal in greatn, of Christ eiiflom. 3. Its lodging canaeit Ihe birds which find the tree do not represent . of men who find &ttv.J in the church. The birds no part ot the tree, whiut becomes a part of the trJ ts sueujjui ana irmtfulnesi?J are something foreign to ftJ are Duruensorae and in. They come to find shelter pluck off the tender buds, upon the ripened fruit. , their lodging in the tree fe J blighting. In Christ's kA (v. 19) he ?aid that the-fir. sent the wicked ones. He make the lodgers here aajt makes Christ's interpretation The same Greek word is ; cases, and the circumstance same. II. The Parable of thtl Meal (v. 33). Three things mainly occip; tention here : the meal, flu and the leaven. L The meal. Meal has i some and nutritious effect used in one of the sweet-sat'; Ings which was typical of M 2 :l-3 R. V.) ; it was food priests (Lev. 6:15-17 R.V.); had Sarah to kiwd a cat three measures of meal toft . messengers of the Lord (Ga Solomon's royal table was with meal (I Kings 4:2);: fed upon a cake made of Kings 4:41) ; Elislia used Eft antidote for the poison nf ces the pot (II Kings 4:3841). '2. The woman. In so? find false doctrine being ts: woman (Rev. 2:'J0). Da: doctrine is forbidden to Tim: 2:12). In I Tim. 4:w 2:17. 18: II Tetsr 2:U thP nrostnsv will be rnrougn iuiw a.'- runts nf God's people. then, of the parable is flat doctrine, the menl i?inJ children dom (II Peter 2:2, 1 Tin. ?:i1tt -.,-vrvnnted by w'f 7 or, ic n tvoe of me w spnsp. The churcn Hnptrine. ana id i ffn.fC nrp spen 0Q fv& o rrv,a lpnrpn. In U. J.iiv v " j a tme of e'"1 u th0 Old Testament LHlUUftlJ l ... i. i ,nd unvarT'" a COIllluuai ... . t ro.i' Lev. -llh evil a- - ..irf .t.-.. TflnS 51. conceivable tna- !1 l,n(rO WitlWUt irariiv dian,, i and exnlanation, a evil to a good sense, tA ,nri sn unchanging ,i,,iconri voars. (- seit manes it-... - ... leaven in Its lia' 4 n not- Fi-r-S: Gal. 5:S.. Is ;he only jnterp, harmonize ' tion of the nrsi "' patent to all prove , church today is ' , leaven of formau . sreau ul - . j ceritv and truth-tne Ml. The Parable o. ure (v. 44). , $tV IV. The Parable f man Seeking Pearis - V. (v. 47-50). dot eeKiny , t() The Pable of stud? jfnilpd three parahle see : the deration - fl Calm and the morrow dent rerv u'-.iWI in the reStfj are especially en & fhAir hand .$t Is good, that t5ieKel)le. l, t,nt needetn. niiu i" - lA u.iina Mir Divine. neuii" vine health is for le and the other Veev ;