Newspapers / The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, … / Jan. 13, 1928, edition 1 / Page 3
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INTRODUCTION Archibald Bennett, wealth}' bachelor, travels con stantly in the interest of his health. He meets Isa bel Perry, who recommends a life of crime, adven ture, romance and excitement as a cure for his nerves. Archie goes to Bailey Harbor to investigate a summer house for his sister. A heavy storm for ces him to spend the night there. During the night he. is awakened by footsteps and in an encounter with the intruder, who sees Archie’s figure reflect ed in the mirror and shoots. Archie fires in return, wounding the intruder, who makes his escape. Archie plans flights to evade publicity. He starts cross-country afoot—now read on: ARCHIE MEETS“THE GOVERNOR” The first glimmer of dawn was breaking ov^r a gray world, when a curious whistle, a long pipe and then a short quick one, in the roadside a little way ahead brought Archie to a halt. He drew his gun from his overcoat pocket and stood perfectly quiet. In a few seconds the whistle was repeated, and Archie, grown suddenly bold, checked an impulse to fly and imitated it. A man rose from behind a stone wall on the right and walked toward him. “That you, Hoky?” he called sharply, peering through the mist. Seeing that he was not Hoky but a strang er with a, pistol, he sprang forward and wrenched the gun from Archie’s hand. Stop squealing! Bad enough for you to fool me with that whistle without pulling a gun. Now you get right over there by the fence where I’m pointing and we’ll consider matters a little.” “I was just walking to Portsmouth,” be gan Archie in a blithe tone he hoped would prove convincing. His captor laughed ironi cally. “Now you listen to me! You’ve been up to something, so don’t tell me that you’re tak ing a little before breakfast stroll to Ports mouth to work up an appetite. In the first place, have you seen a man about your size alpng the road anywhere?” '“Not a soul!” declared Archie solemnly. -■“Mighty queer Hoky doesn’t turn up! I warned the beggar against these sea-side villas; they’re all outfitted with fancy burg lar alarms that make a deuce of a row when you step on the wire. It rings a gong loud enough to wake the dead and then some chap jumps out of bed and turns on all the lights in the house and very likely open up with a gun before you can 3ay Jerusalem. But Hoky thought he knew better.” Archie clutched at the stone fence against which his captor had pushed'lhim and his bfeath came in long gasps. .“You mean,” he faltered, “that you fear your friend has been shot!” t X licit, Illy XICcll Dll, 1D> CAclCtl^ WUUt UUU" bles me!” >;“Archie’s tongue clung to the roof of his jrjouth as he tried to murmur*his sympathy ftfr the stranger’s sorrow. The thought that he was probably‘-talking to the accomplice of the man he had shot was terrifying; the stranger seemed enormously fond of Hoky and if he knew that he had within his grasp the person who was responsible for Hoky’s failure to return from his visit to Bailey Harbor he would very likely make haste to avenge his friend’s death. It seemed to Archie that the gods were playing strange tricks upon him indeed. The man’s speech wsis not the argot he had assumed from his reading of crook stories to be common ut terance of the underworld. There was something attractive in the fellow. He car ried himself jauntily, and his cleanshaven, rounded face and fine gray eyes would not haVe suggested his connection with burgla ry! He was an engaging sort of person, and Archie decided suddenly that the man might be of serVice to him. He was in pressing need of a change of clothes, but he was in no condition to proceed to Portsmouth to redeem his suitcase; an impression that was confirmed unexpectedly by his captor. /‘You will pardon my candor, but you cer taihly look like the devil. Let me introduce mjUself to you as the Governor. Among the powers that prey that is my proud cogno men, not to say alias. Now please be frank, what mischief brings you here at this hour?’ Archie gave' serious thought to his | answer. If he could convince this person that he was a crook he would be less likely to »suspect that he had been instrument of Hoky’s undoing. “I’ve got to make a getaway and be in a hurry about it,” declared Archie in a confi dential air. “A little trouble of some sort, eh? It rather occurred to me that you were ml promenading for mere pleasure,” replied the Governor. “A fashionable defaulter, per haps? No? Then let it go at murder, tbo 1 i confess you don’t look as tho you would have a stomach for homicide.” “I came damned near getting pinched!” asserted Archie stoutly. “The cops back there in that town gave me a hard run for it. I was just crawling through the window of a drug store when here comes a chap, ; tiptoeing through the alley, and I bolted for the tall timber as hard as I could spring. The fire bell rang, and the whole town woke up. There’ll be a whole army looking for me; and if your friend Iloky’s been killed they’ll be keen to pinch me as another mem br of the gang.” The Governor listened patiently. “An amateur, I take it?” he remarked. “Hell, no,” grumbled Archie scornfully. But I always play the game alone; I never had pny use for pals. They g^t in the way.” “Wrong my boy; wrong! A good partner like me is essential. As for myself I rarely venture to expose myself in these little af fairs ; but 1 advise and counsel the breth ren. You haven’t the judgment of a month old infant. A stormy night always makes honest householders wakeful. Y’our attempt, my son, speaks for courage, but not for dis cretion. You should always ask me about such things.” “I’m sorry,” replied Archie meekly, “that I didn’t run into you sooner.” t “The loss is mine!” cried the Governor heartily. “But let us be practical. We must make a long jump, son, for the coast will ring with this, particularly if Hoky is lying cold at the undertaker’s.” “When Hoky persisted in his illchoseri enterprise I lifted a little roadster that I’ve tucked away down here in a peaceful lane. Thought I’d be all ready to give the old boy a long pull for freedom when he came bacH, but—!” Sure enough the roadster was there, and the Governor became suddenly a man of ac j tion. Kneeling down he detatched a New New York license tag from the machine drew from his pocket a Maine tag and at ' tached it, humming meanwhile. “The rural police havn’t learned this sim ! pie device,” he explained, as he sent the dis carded tag skimming into a corn field. He jumped in and bade Archie take the seat beside him. The car was soon bumping mer rily over a rough road that wound through a pine wood. They followed a grass-grown trail that ended abruptly at an abandoned lumber camp. * “We’ll shoot the car around behind thai pyramid of sawdust and walk a bit tc stretch our legs,” the Governor informed Archie. There was no trace of a path when he struck off into the woods, but he strode along with the easy confidence of one who i> sure of his destination. They brought u] presently beside a brook and in a moment more reached a log hut planted on the edg of the high bank. “What do you think of that; Sir Archi bald?” inquired' the Governor carelessly Then, as Archie paused, he added, “Ob your name” Perfectly easy! Archibald Ben nett was neatly sewed in your coat pocket by your tailor as I observed when I rubbec my hands over your waistcoat to see if you wore a bade,” “I got these duds out of a suitcase 1 sneaked—and that's no name of mine" Archie explained hurriedly, still anxious to convince the Gov ernor that he was a thief. “Very careless of you. not to rip out the label. Men have been hanged on slighter evidence. But Archibald is not a name to sneeze at, and I rather like Archie, so Archie I shall continue to call you. Now, we’ll see what we can do Ito shake up a breakfast.” I He drew out a key and opened the door of the hut. J “Not a bad place, Archie. I stumbled upon it a couple of years | ago quite by accident and use it I occasionally.” He opened a cup ! board revealing a quantity of pro : visions, and they prepared their breakfast. CHAPTER IV ! “My friend,” said the Governor, i soberly as they rose from the table, 'we have dipped our hands in the | same dish and broken bread to gether. I don’t mind saying that j you’re a likable chap. I'll be a good pal to you and I ask you to be straight with me. Are we friends or—” He put out his hand and Archie grasped it. “All right, Archie—for such you shall be to the end of the chapter, whether you lied about it or not. And now let’s deal with practical affairs. I’m going to spend the afternoon on that stolen machine. I’ll paint *er white to symbolize our purity. There’s an assortment of clothes the boys left from time to time. You can pick ‘erni over while I’m working on the car.” In doffing the clothng he had acquired honestly and substituting stolen raiment, it was almost as though Archie were changing his character as well. He wondered what Isabel would say if she knew that he had already slipped the leash that bound him to convention land performed even more reckless deeds than she had prescribed for I “Well, I must say you’re a cred [it to our gents’ clothing depart j ment!” remarked the Governor I upon his return. “W|hat do you | make of this? Found it in the (car.” j He extended a crumpled tele gram which read: Bailey Harbor, Me. June 11, 1917. rutney Gongdon, Thackeray Club, N. Y. i I am offering the house for rent, j Shall take every precaution to protect my children from your I brutality. A. B. G. Archie felt the hut whirling around him. What he held was be yond question the reply of Mrs. Congdon to her husband's telegram that fj&f been left lying on the rfinner*^ible. And if Congdon had left New York for Bailey Harbor immediately to put into effect his threat to abduct his child, it might have been Congdon he had shot —not Hoky. The Governor's ceaseless flow of talk fortunately diverted his thoughts to more cheerful chan nels, and he obeyed with alacrity ja hint that he prepare luncheon, j After this had been consumed the Governor suggested a game of vhess, produced a set of ivory chessmen from a cupboard and soon proved himself a skillful player. At the end of two hours the Governor declared that they must ake a nap before setting out and urned into one of the berths. He was soon snoring. Archie kicked ‘bout, restlessly for a time, but fin ally, slept—only to wander through i wild phantasmagoria of crime. “To gain or lose it all," he was stammering as he opened his eyes. 13ut it was not Isabel he was ad Iressing, but his confederate, blandly smiling. “The boy quotes poetry!" ex claimed the Governor. "Archie, /ou’ve come in answer to my prayers! Together we shall drink of the fount of Castalia. We shall chum with Apollo and the Muses I^ine! But the gods call us else where! We’ll snatch a bite and be off! And we’ve got a job all wait ing for us. One of the brotherhood has commissioned me to dig up sonic boodle he’s planted over in New Hampshire. You may recall the incident. Red Leary, a rare boy, held up an express messen ger and sauntered off with fifty thousand dollars in new bank notes fresh from the Treasury. Do you follow me “He hid it somewhre and wants your help in recovering it” "Right the first time! That cash is tucked away in the cellar of a ichurch and by this time tomorrow night we’ll have it all ready for old Red and check the item from cur tablets.” "But the numbers of those notes are in every bank in the country; the police are only waiting for the bills to get into circulation to pounce on the- thief.” | “I am more and more delighted with you, my son! That point had given me no little worry. But something will turn up; there will be a way out of the difficulty. Chuck your old duds into the creek and close the windows. Wo‘11 hit the long trail.” Out of the woods and once more on a smooth highway the stolen car sped like a frightened ghost through the starry night. The Governor drove with the assurance of a man who knows what he’s about. Occasionally the Governor lifted his. voice in songs of unim peachable literary and musical quality that rang sonorously above the hum of the engine. They struck a stretch of road under repair and slowing up the Governor remarked carelessly as he picked his way through a line of red lanterns: "Speaking of women, my dear Archie, do you share the joy of the lyric poets in the species? It oc curs to me that you have prob ably had many affairs. I’m thirty four but I’ve loved only one wom an. And strange as it may seem, she’s a bishop’s daughter.” This confidence made it incum bent upon Archie to make some sort of reply. The Governor would probably be disappointed in him if he confessecf the meag’erness of mm experiences. “Well, I’m in the same boat,” he answered glibly. “There’s only one girt for me!” This reference to Is abel Perry, remote and guarded asTi,t was, ho defended .only on the ground that it was necessary in some way to meet the Governor half-way in his confidences. And it was no lie that he sincerely be lieved that he loved her. No other girl had ever roused him so much, or given him so good reason for [standing off and taking a look at himself. He wondered what she would say if she could see him with a criminal beside him, joy riding in a stolen car. His thoughts of her had left him far afield when the Governor re marked ruminatively: “Do you manage, to see her? That’s the devil of it in my case! The lady’s forbidden to recognize me in any way and her father is For colds, grip and flu take Relieves the congestion, prevents complications, and hastens recovery. Plant Bed Fertilizers We are receiving the following well known brands of guano for plant beds Car Obers, special plant bed goods. Car V.C.C. Co. special plant bed goods Car Swift’s special plant bed goods DON’T TAKE A CHANCE! See me also on what Nitrate Soda you will need. The price is cheap but the market looks higher. Floyd C. Price Pine Level, N. C. , COTTON : FERTILIZERS : COAL a tart old party and keeps, sharp watch of her. I can’t see her and the regular mails are closed to us. Nevertheless we have an arrange ment by which if she ever needs me or thinks I can serve her in any way she’s to leave a note in a certain place. It’s her own idea and very pretty.” As dawn broke the whistle and rumble of a train caused the Gov ernor to stop the car and dive into his pockets for time tables of which he carried a large supply. He scanned one. and hummed his satisfaction. “We’ll get rid of this machine right now as there’s a station over there a little way where we can pick up a local right into Ports mouth. He stopped, opened a gate and ran the car through a barn yard and into an empty shed, “New for a brisk walk!” They crossed the railroad and were soon buying tickets from a sleepy sta tion master. They ajighte<l at Portsmouth without mishap, and Archie wired his sister that the Congdon house would not do. Then he redeemed his suitcase in the check room and joined the Gover nor. They drove to the hotel, where they commanded the best service of the inn. The Governor register ed elaborately as Reginald Hebei Saulsbury and wrote Archie down as Ashton Comly, indicating the residence of both as New York. At the breakfast table, the Gov ernor scanned a local paper and with a chirrup passed it to Archie, pointing to a double-column head line, which read, “A Carnival of Burglary in Maine.” Archie’s eyes fell upon the bizarre photo graph of a dead man with which the page was illustrated, and he choked on a fragment of grape fruit as he read the inscription: “Dead Thief, Identity Unknown.” “That’s poor old Iloky all right,” murmured the Governor, buttering a piece of toast reflectively. “As you seem to be entranced with the literary style of our Bailey Har bor correspondent, I shall take the liberty of helping you to a fried egg.” However, Archie’s appetite was pretty effectually .spoiled by this paragraph: “An odd circumstance, more5 or less remotely connected -with‘the killing of the burglar in the fash ionable colony, still remains tp be Famous Blight proot Pine Apple Pear Trees,,,.,., Crepe Myrtles in all colors. J. \ran Lindley Nursery Co. N. H. Barber, Local Rep. Four Oaks, N. C. YELLOtV^ PENCIL -a WITH THE REP BAND HaveYmir \IScribblingj 'Analyzed \\ Lou.se axicc, world famous graphologic •.an positively read your talents, virtue •..rd faults in the drawings, words an ' hat nets that you scribble when “lc io thought’*. Send your “scribblings” or signatur ir analyaia. Enclose the picture of tin Mikai •cad. n-tfrom a box of -Mikado pencils, nr -e:i cent:;. Address Louise Rice, care of CAGLE PENCIL CO.. NEW YORK CITY UNDERWOOD & CO. J. D. UNDERWOOD, Mgr. Undertakers and Embalmers Ambulance Service Day & Night Day Phone 1C2 Night, 89-W E. Market St., Smithfield, N, C, explaind. Officer Yerkes shortly be fore two o’clock, the hour at whcih the thief was shot in Mr. Cum mings’ home, saw a man hurryine through Water Street. He bore the appearance of a gentlemen and the officer did not accost him thinking him a yachtsman from one of the boats in the harbor whe had been visiting friends ashor? The man walked oddly, pausing now and then as though in pain and was carrying his right hant upon his left shoulder. This morn ing drops of blood were found or the boardwalk crossed by the stranger, and it is believed thai this was another of the burglar gang who was wounded in a strug gle somewhere in the interior anc was seeking the help of his con federate, presumably the man shot in the Cummings house.” As the paper fell from Archie’s hand the Governor took it up. .“You seem agitated, Archie! Yoi must learn to conceal your feel ings!” He read the paragraph ami glanced quickly-at Archie. “Your wrok, possibly?” mur mured the- Governor. “Compost pose yourself. Pm afraid you lied to me abdirt - the drug store. No!” he held up. his hand warningly— “tell me nothing! But if we've got a murder behind us we shall cer tainly be most circumspect in our movements. You interest me more and more, "Archie. I congratulate 9 you on yob? splendid lierve.” ^ | Archie’s nerve was nothing he could admire'himself, but a second cup of coffee put warmth into his ‘vitals and he recovered sufficiently to pay the breakfast check. If it was Oongdon he!had-shot there : wasi s$ill>r)t_he hope, encouraged by the newspaper, that the wounded man, was ip no h^ste to report his injury tp ’tlie police. But Archie found little comfort in the thought that somewhere in the world there iwas a man'he had sfiot and per haps fatally wounded. He must conceal his anxious con cern from the Governor; for more than ever he must rely upon his |strange friend for assistance in escaping from the consequences of the duel in the Congdon cottage. (To be continued next Tuesday) STREET AND LAWN TREES *ruit and Nut Trees. .Street and landscape work a specialy. Got our prices before you buy. J. VAN LINDLEY NURSEY CO. N. H. & W. H. BARBOUR. Agt,. Fear Oaks, N. C. THE EVER READY WARDROBE When one of your dresses be comes soiled beyond use do not hang it in your wardrobe and forget about its condition and be disappointed the next time you wish to wear it. Phone to our dry cleaning establishment and we will call for it, make it as pood looking as when new, and return it to you. Then put it away in your ever ready warfFrobe. > THE 15 E T T E R (’ II A I N S T O R E Real Economy Through Quality PICNIC SHOULDERS lb. . ASPARAGUS TIPS Hillsdale Square can Empire State STRINGLESS DEANS 18c 23c CANS 50c Colonial or Mission SLICED PEAC HES, No. 1 can FOR 27c H&H Canned GRAPEFRUIT Libby’s Sliced PINEAPPLE 27c 18c D.P. Extra Sifted TINY PEAS 2] I Large No. 2 can 4 A 1 Mixed Veget’blesXiU 2 ' VAN CAMPS TOMATO SOUP can. 8c Colonial Chocolates, lb. QQa Fanning WWV Pickles, jar . 25c TEN PENNY I)UY GINGER ALE lc refund for bottles returned, lv t*1' 10c 1>. P. Oatmeal ;j for.25c Post Bran, pkg.-12c Nucoa Nut Margarine, lb.. 25c PALM OLIVE SOAP ;i Cakes... 22c D. P. COFFEE The World’s Best Drink 47c,b Our Pride BREAD 21 Ounces of Quality . 10c Karo Syrup 4A1a No. loan 1^2t Finest Creamery BUTTER Cut from tub rrc lb. JD Cold Medal Pancake or Buckwheat Flour ....... 10c r •a
The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.)
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Jan. 13, 1928, edition 1
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