Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / March 26, 1925, edition 1 / Page 3
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I THE BLUE CIRCLE THE BLUE CIRCLE SYNOPSIS.—Incapacitated men tally by shock, as a result of experiences during the World war, Renshaw makes a proposi tion to David Campbell, wealthy, elderly man of leisure, that for a year he assume responsibility for him (Renshaw)—practically “buy" him. Doctor ^!feLnley, life long friend of Campbell’s, In dorses the proposition, which CampbelL with some natural misgivings, accepts. The ar rangement Is that the young man become an inmate of the Camp bell household, with the nominal duty of secretary. Renshaw meets Verity, Campbell’s grand daughter, and gets the Impres sion that she does not like him. Jenks, the butler, Renshaw also feels, is distinctly hostile. Ren shaw has a feeling that the serv ants are spying on him. Jenks warns him that there are “queer things" going on in the house. He shrugged his shoulders, closed the door, and got back Into bed. Be fore he did so he turned the key In the lock of the door. The whole thing might be a trick of his infernal nerves —though he knew better. But, at least, he would have a stout lock be tween himself and that corridor. CHAPTER II—Continued —5— Something did happen—a very small thing and sot at ail disturbing. It was merely the sudden appearance on the wall facing him of a small blue circle of light. It dy not dance. It did not even move. It merely faced and regarded him, rather like a watch ful eye. He glanced across the room, but without much interest. Of course, he reasoned, there was some w'holly nat ural explanation of the circle. He would forget it. He would give his nerves time to ^nlet-down before he tried to sleep. He would resolutely think of other things—of scenes and episodes of his boyhood. But the ef fort, occasionally successful In the past, did not calm him now. He found himself waiting for something. Deep within him was a conviction, which grew with the moments, that some thing was about to happen. After an hour or two of this he went to bed. Simultaneously the blue circle vanished. But sleet) was slow In coming, perhaps because of that hour of sleep before dinner. The household must be sleeping, he re flected, .for It was now well past mid night. Yet he began to hear sounds In the corridor, odd sounds, not easily explained—probably, yes undoubtedly, those sounds to which Jenks had re ferred. He stiffened and swore softly to him self. The expectation that something would happen, born of Jenks’ warn ing, was filling him with a sick fore boding, was actually bringing out per spiration upon his face. Yes, his face was damp, and through his big body ran a sudden tremor. He ground his teeth In self-disgust; but his brain, still his alert and willing servant, hastened to bolster his dying self-re spect. It was not because he was afraid of anything that might happen to him that he sweated and trembled. That, at least, he could truthfully claim. The worst that could happen to him had occurred two years ago. It was the possible call to action which made him shake; the suggestion that what was going on, whatever It was, might demand Initiative on his part. He lay still and listened. The noises in the corridor were Increasing, and If they were what Jenks had meant he had chosen the right word ior them. They were “odd” poises. That quality In them was whqt had first attracted his attention. They were not footsteps. They were, quite plainly by this time, such sounds as might have been made by the drag ging of a heavy body along the floor, and they were accompanied by what sounded like the breathing of a huge, exhausted animal. Yet an exhausted animal would-hardly be dragging itself along the corridors of Tawno Ker at twenty minutes past twelve o’clock at night. “There’s some queer things going on In the old house, sir. If yoa*hear odd noises during the night. It is best to pay no attention to them." That was Indefinite In Itself, but definite enough as far as he, Renshaw, waS concerned. In different words, but quite as i)Ialniy, Campbell had said the same thing. It was not Ren- shaw’s business to Investigate odd noises at Tawno Ker. On the con trary, it seemed plain that he was ex pected to ignore them. Everything would be explained to him In due time, and In the Interval If Campbell wished his assistance he would ask for It. Renshaw’s present cue was discretion—which certainly did not mean that he was expected to get out of bed and go chasing around In drafty corridors at midnight. Hls reflections having reached the gratifying conclusion to which he had directed them, he threw back the bed- clotlilng and set hls feet oh the floor. All these things being so, the fact re mained that he piust see what was in that corridor. He sprang to the door and threw ft open. But, quick as he was, the thing outside, which had seemed to moTSi so cumbrously and with such ef fort, was quicker. His glance swept the length of the corridor, but this' time there wac not even the flutter •f a *dlaappeuliig garmepl^to reward It The boose was otterly still. Chapter /// We-Wea and Leoni. When Renshaw awoke, the October day was sending its comforting light through his windows. He turned over and blinked drowsily.' Hls first sensa tion was one of physical well-being, new and agreeable. His next was in credulity. He had slept—had actually slept for hours! Hls third, the com panion of memory, was a slow-grow ing, deep-rooted,' and sardonic amuse ment at his own expense. What an ass he had been the night before! In the light that was coyly picking out the pattern of the oriental rug upon the polished floor, hls doubts and forebodings about Tawno Ker scurried out of sight like frightened chickens. He almost doubted that he had had them. There was no question whatever, he told himself, that he had imagined most, if not all, of the oc currences that had disturbed him. That dragging thing on the floor, for example— He sat up, blinked again, and yawned widely. Hls big room was wonderfully cheerful, and part of Its brightness, he now discovered, was due to the coloring that still lingered oh some of the maple trees whose branches almost touched hls windows. He got out of bed, turned on a cold bath, and made hls morning toilet with an increasing sense of acquiescence In the fact of living. As he shaved, hls lips almost puck ered into a smile at the new expres sion of the face that confronted him In hls mirror. At last he had taken In the fact, so hard to grasp the day before, that he had cast from hls It Was Merely the Sudden Appear ance on the Wall Facing Him of a Small Blue Circle of Light. shoulders the Atlas-llke' weight they had been carrying. Hls future, for a year, was assured. He was a being without responsibility. In this en vironment, so Isolated, yet so home like and so peaceful, he could accept hls cure. At the end of the year— for the first time he told this to him self with entire conviction—he would be a well man, and would know he was! And what the deuce was the good of being a well man if one didn't know he was well? He went down to breakfast with a vigor in his steps that was not wholly assumed. At the foot of the staircase he paused, not quite certain whether to turn into' the living room or go on to the dining room. Breakfast might not be ready. JBe had not remem bered, the night before, to ask at what hour It was served. A» he hesitated, the complacent personality of Jenks came toward him from the rear of the hall. Renshaw nodded. , “Good morning, Jenks. What’s the breakfast hour here?" "Breakfast’s on now, sir." Jenks followed Renshaw into the room, where a Voung footman the lat ter had not seen before was arrang ing chaflng dishes on the sideboard. This youth suspended his labors, and In response to an eye-flash from Jenks hastened to draw out a chair for the newcomer. "We follow the English plan, sir," Jenks observed, with a steadfast eye on the movements of hls subordinate. “The members of the family come In when they like and lielp themselves from the hot dishes on the sideboard. But if you don’t find Just what you want, sir, James, here, will fetch It from the kitchen," Renshaw nodded again. “Thanks," he said, and strolled over to the row of silver, dishes whose contents slm- Hhered a!>6ve sfMrlt-lampa. Ht lifted the lid of each' In turn, finding a cereal In one, scrambled eggs and ba con In another, and kidneys In a third. He helped himself to eggs and bacon and returned to the table, where James poured hls coffee, lifted the cover of the muffin dish, and set a plate of orange marmalade within convenient reach. ■ i‘ “Anything eise, sir?" “Nothing,'thanks. I’ll help myself.” James faded away as unobtrusively as a mist before the sun. Hls manner and service had been perfect. But, notwithstanding Renshaw’s seeming absorption In hls breakfasL the secre tary had been conscious of one things not once, while James remained In the room, had the footman removed hls eyes from him. They were young eyes—round and clear and rather boy ish. They were discreet eyes, which dropped humbly before a superior and which coiild not meet directly the all- seelng gaze of Jenks. But they were observant eyes, nevertheless, and un doubtedly they had taken in every de tail of the new man’s dress, manner, and general appearance. Even as the reflection came to Ren- sliaw, the explanation came with it. Some one, probably Annie, Judging by the flutter of tl^t telltale garment, had returned after the first alarm and listened at the side door of the living room when he, Renshaw, had made hls unusual proposition. That person had overheard hls entire conversation with Campbell, and had grasped the terms under which Renshaw had been taken om Those terms were, sufflclenta ly novel to intrigue any mind, and the gossip they afforded must be nothing short of a heaven-sent blessing to a group of servants In a country house that was miles from anywhere. 'He drank'the last of hls coffee. Hls appetite had Improved with his spirits, and he had e^ten a surprising amount of eggs and bacon. Evidently the Campbells breakfasted late. It was half after eight when he left the dining room, and none of the family had yet appeared. Me went out for a stroll in the grounds. There were suggestions of a big estate here—^ wide, unexplored spaces at the right and left and In the rear. He followed some of them—to flower-gardens whose sweet alyssum and ’ dying chrysanthemums were their sole re maining blooms, to vegetable-gardens near the rear of the house^ and, finally, to the discovery of a sfecret walled garden far off at the left, whose en trance was down a flight of stone steps. He descended the steps with a sen sation of expectancy. He liked secret gardens. They had been a fad of hls In that remote period when he had been a living man. He was In the depths of it, bending over an old sun dial and trying to make out Its almost obliterated Inscription, when a small hand crept confidingly Into hls. He started, then flushed and stared half- resentfully, half-curlously, at the own er of the hand. It was a very tiny owner, almost a baby. It could not have been much more than thirty months old. It wore a blue “bunny suit” of coat, trousers, cap and leggings, and the cap was drawn so far over Its face and ears that only a pair of wide gray eyes, a dot of a nose, and a button of a montji were visible. As Renshaw stared, the mouth widened Into a smile that re vealed two deep dimples. “Hello!” exclaimed Renshaw, In natural' surprise. "Do’ mor’lng!" The conversation languished, and the lady, unembarrassed by the fact, filled the pause by lifting her feet and swinging on the gentleman's hand. Renshaw stiffened to meet the strain, and then, after some hesitation, enter ing the spirit of the game, exerted hls strength and lifted her high above the ground. She yelped In ecstasy, and he put her down. With arms stretched and violently waving, danced on the path before him. “ ’Den.” ^ H^^ did It again, this time lifting her higher. “We-wee dump," she remarked at last. He did not understand. She pointed to the sun-dial and entered upon a brisk pantomime, which he regarded with an Interest deep but unintelligent. She waved both arms Increasingly, al most with violence. She bounded Into the air like a rubber ball. She whirled In dizzy clreles. She appeared to tie herself Into knots. And as she did these things she repeated over and over in passionate accents her original refrain: “We-wee dump!" Elizabeth Jordan (© by The Century Co.) "COLD AS STONE" SYNOPSIS.—Incapacitated men tally by shock, as a result of experiences during the World war, Renshaw makes a proposi tion to David Campbell, wealthy, elderly man of leisure, that for a year he assume responsibility for him (Renshaw)—practically “buy" him. Doctor Stanley, life long friend of Campbell's, In dorses the proposition, which Campbell, with some natural misgivings, accepts. The ar rangement Is that the young man J)ecome an Inmate of the Camp bell household, with the nominal duty of secretary. Renshaw meets Verity, Campbell's grand daughter, and gets the Impres sion that she does not like him. Jenks, the butler, Renshaw also feels. Is distinctly hostile. Ren shaw has a feeling that the serv ants are spying on him. Jenks warns him that there are “queer things" going on In the house. That night he Is disturbed by the appearance on the wall of hls room of a small blue circle of light. Mysterious noises In the corridor outside hls door cause him to Investigate, but he discovers nothing unusual. up- 8he blpthlng alarming, of couroa, about tho Bluo Circio, but what on oarth doea It moan? • (TO BE CONTINUED.) In the Great Race Anyone who can catch up can keep up; anyone who can keep up can forge ahead.—Boston Transcript Lack af Opportunity Woman Wltneoa—did not asoaolt her, but 1 would have dona m If 1 ctpid have gpt at*her" CHAPTER III—Continued —6— “And all the poor child wants.” said a voice in critical accents, “is to be put on that sun-dial so she can Jump down,” Renshaw turned so .suddenly that he almost upset the Infant, who at that Instant appeared to be engaged in a final impersonation of a whirling der vish. She interrupted this to hurl her self upon the neck of the newcom,er, who fell on her knees just in time to receive the embrace. “Is that all she wants?” Renshaw regarded d:he pair. Miss Campbell, In a short tweed walking-skirt, a scarlet blazer and a tam-o’-shanter to match it, was even lovelier in this perfect setting of her secret garden than she had been in the glory of her warpaint the night before. “What else did you think she 'Wanted?” Verity lifted the baby and stood her on the flat top of the sun-dial. “I got a general Impression that It included the earth and neighboring planets—” He broke off with a gasp. The young .person on the sun-dial had flung her- jjelf Into space. As far as he was con- cemerl, she would have remained there till she hit the solid earth, for he was stunned by the suddenness of the thing; but the arms of Miss Campbell opened with accustomed precision, and the intrepid infant landed in them with a force that almost knocked the girl over backward. i “Great heavens!” cried Renshaw, as he caught and steadied the victim. “Are you hurt?” Verity detacbbd herself with dignity from the grasp of his hand on her arm. “Of course not. That’s part of the game," she patiently explained. “You don’t know much about children, do you ?” “She’s a peach,” Renshaw admitted, and wondered at himself. It was so long since he had felt that anything human was a peach. “Who is she?” “Tell the gentleman who yon are.” V’erlty, again on her knees, was ad dressing tbe acrobat, and Incidentally, .by holding her close, discouraging any further flights till she could catch her breath, “We-wee," declared the baby. “Dump." “Now you know." The girl smiled, not at the young man, but at the child. Her words to him were tossed over her shoulder as indifferently as she might toss crumbs to a bird. “Is that her dame?" “She thinks It is, so it will do.” “Dump,’’ remarked We-wee with much firmness. "No, darling. We-wee has Jumped enough for one day.” The modulations of Verity’s voice as she spoke were wonderfully tender and caressing. Her next words, however, were addressed to him, and It seemed Impossible that they were uttered by the same voice. They fell on the raw surfaces of hls self-consciousness like broken Icicles. “My grandfather asked me to give yon a message. If I happened to meet you In the grounds,” she said. “He has gone to his study, and he will be glad to see you there at your conven ience.” Renshaw thanked her, bnt her eyes drifted past him as detachedly as if be were a pebble In her path. He felt a new uprnsh of resentment. It was clear that she despised him, and no doubt It was as natural ns it was But she needn’t show ll: so plainly! She was as hard as nails, this girl, and as cold as stone. She was the type of girl he had ahvays dis liked—self-sufficient, Icy and intol erant. Hls eyes, as he looked at her, offered a full equivalent for the expression hers had held the night before. He raised hls cap In a salute that Includ ed both ladies, and strode down the path and up the garden steps with the swing and lightness he had practiced of late. There was some reflection of these In hls spirits The encounter with the fosclhatlng little beggar In the bunny salt had added to bis tiew sense of well-being. The wsy she bad taken to him was rather nice. He forgot tba beautiful Mlaa Oaaip- Mil as abaotatal^aA If sha a— study in Tawno Ker his new master awaited him. together with hls first in timation of what hls duties were to be. His steps slowed down, and'the lines of hls fate, already relaxed, smoothed out still more. Into the empty fore ground of hls life a definite figure stepped, not the figure of hls m.nster, nor the figure of that master’s grand daughter, but an adorable little figure in a blue bunny suit—the child who, in the new life he was taking up, was hls first frlend- He found Campbell In the latter’s study—a comfortable workroom oppo site the dining room, at the rear of the wide central hall. The old man greeted hlnoplrosantly, but with a suggestion of constraint. Faced by the need of putting hls new acquisition to work, he was increasing ly conscious of the difficulties and em barrassments that might attend that effort. His subconscious resentment against Stanley had grown. Hls old friend, he had reasoned, had let him in for a lot of trouble and iiilglity lit tle, if any, comfort. But Renshaw’s appearance was reas suring. He was normal, steady-eyed, ready for dut.v. Hls quiet greeting and hls strong clasp of the liand that Campbell mechanically extended brought additional comfort. The old man, always susceptible to the at mosphere of others, and as varying as a weather-cock In hls own moods, felt a weight drop from hls shoulders. “I hope I haven’t dragged you into the house too soon,” he said, more nat urally ; “but there are some pressing letters here—" “I’m glad of that, sir. The more the better. Shall I take this desk?’’ “Can you use a typewriter?” “Yes, sir.” “That’s good. All right, then. Sit down there for the present. We’ll' fix up something else later. There’s a lit tle room off this, here at the side, that r may turmrver to yoiP^” Campbell checked himself. Under the influence of this chap’s splendid figure, handsome face and quiet man ner he was going too fast. He must "And All the Poor Child Wants,” Said a Voice In Critical Accents, “Is to Be Put. on That Sun-Dial So She Can Jump Down." not forget that yesterday he had mo mentarily thought the fellow a mad man. Renshaw, hls dark eyes on the other’s face, read hls thouglits, and felt again the sense of sardonic appre ciation that was hls nearest approach to humor. He sat down in a business like way, opened the right-hand drawer of the desk, and, finding it full of sta tionery, helped himself to pencils, a notebook and u generous supply of typewriter sheets. Campbell leaned back in hls chair, put the tips of Ids fingers together In an attitude that . Renshaw soon learned was character istic, and appeared to reflect. Subse quently the new secretary discovered that this attitude usually preceded one of Campbell’s half-dozen dally “cat naps” or hls most energetic mental ef forts. The trtmble was that one was never sure whjM manifestation wouhl follow it. “You don’t take shorthand notes, do you?” Campbell inquired at last. “No, sir. It’s only by a happy- chance that I can run a typewriter. I learned It lately to—to kill time.” "You’ll kill a great deal of time with It here," Campbell prophesied, with a care-free chuckle. "I am rather glad you don’t know shorthand,” he con fessed. “I nm_ not up to much dicta tion. I will tell you what to say, and you will put It In your own words.” “Very well, sir." Campbell, hls ©yes still on ,hl8 thin old Angers, abruptly began hls task. “Write to. Stanley and tell him to come down for this week-end. It Is time the old fraud looked me over. I believe he Is afraid I may live longer than he does, so he has d^lded to let me die of neglect. Ask him If that theory Is correct. “Tell S. B. litiller hls plumbing Is a disgrace to hls profession. If we have any more taouble with those bathrooms I’m going to sue him. Tell the Rev erend H. B. ShepparB that I will con tribute a thousand dollars toward hls project if he can get each of nine other men to gtva the same amount. 1 know he can, but tlia effort will keep hiiif busy for a week or twi M rU hava aooie paacw. Tell jMMaaaIJ>«i” * '"** hoy anything from tkem, ter discovered that they am ‘ hot I like to compare tlietr> ||^ with the prices of their coaapattta^ “Tell H. C. Cohen 1 want Maa1 come down early m Jammy end Hi me with my income-tax stateaaeaB^ want it off my mind. Be dUWMn hundred dollars and be oozea eO talks, bnt he saved me at least thousand last year by showing rights, though my native land ly taking all I’ve got. Tell Wmi Shipman his proposition does not I terest me at present. It would aot l terest any Intelligent human being any time, but well let him find tkl out. , I -I “Tell George Bolton I will contrfbsii five thousand dollars to the Prlncettl fund, and advise him to get after son of the rest as vigorously as he Is cbm Ing me up. Three of my classmates at still alive, but he appears to tbllk they’re deail. Tell him Stanley's aor alive than I am. Tell Brown A Rot son to send a man down with sam^ac and I hope theyll show more discrtl. tion -about it than they did last spring .\fter all, I am a country gentlemm and not a moving-picture advertise ment for their Arm;* Got that?” Renshaw sold he had, and took ad vantage of the momentary pause to wipe his brow. .\n early suspicion that his new job was to be aometbing of a sinecure had perished and was not reborn. It became clear that the old man’s correspondence was much in ar rears. He gave Instructions for letter after letter with increasing rest and rapidity. At the end of two hours of steady note-giving his voice lost Its aa- suraace 'and took on a suggestion of the languor of a phonograph that Is running down. “How many letters have I given you?” he asked. Ren.sliaw fumbled vaguely among the mass of notes before him. “Not more than seven or eight hun dred, I should say." Campbell cackled. “I deplore this modern tendency to exaggeration. You’ve got Just enough wnrk for a husky young man Tn dn comfortably before lunch. Go to iL I will leave you In possession of tbe study. But first telegraph the offlew of the Scandinavian line and reserve an outside stateroom on the Frederick, sailing November twenty-second, for— for—” he hesitated an instant only— “for Madame H-v-o-e-s-l-e-f,’’ be ended slowly, spelling out the name. “That will be all this morning. If time hanga too heavily on your hands I may give you some more this afternoon." He rose from his chair, stiffly as'was his habit, stood still an Instant to _ his old legs^tlme to accustom tbei^ selves to the effort of walking, and ^ then went toward the door. There; : with fingers already on the knob, be - paused. “Mr. Renshaw,” he began, and stopped. Renshaw, who had risen when he did, waited In silence. Canipbell took a step as if to cross back to him, and Renshaw saved him the Journey by joining him at the door. The old man's manner had completely changed. ■ His brisk assurance was gone. He looked and evidently felt uficomfort- ably self-conscious. “Mr. Renshaw,” he began again, “our household, as I have already told you, is in some respects—ah—a. little unusual at present. Possibly Doctor Stanley—ah—prepared you for thu fact—’’ “Both Doctor Stanley and you your self. sir, mentioned It,” the secretary reminded him. “Just so. Well—ah—the point is that, as the matter concerns others. I am not able to go into details about It for the moment, mncli as 1 dislike any atmosphere of secrecy. So I must count on your discretion to—ah—" It was clear that for once David Canipbell. so fluent np till now. was at a loss for words. Renshaw helped him out. “To Ignore anything I don’t under stand?” he suggested. “That’s the idea, isn’t it?” The face of Campbell brightened, but hls eyes did not meet the young man’s. It was clear that the mystery of the household, whatever It might be, was distasteful to the master of the household. It also seemed clear that hls predominating feeling about it was one of annoyance and not one of anxiety or strain. “ExacflT,” he said, with an air of relief. “Please ignore It." “You may be sure that I shaU do so^ as far as I can. And, in any event I shall ask no questions. Bnt—Mr. Campbell—" It was Rrashaw who was self-conscious now. Hls face had taken on the deep, unbecoming flush hls new master had already seen there. “There’s one point on which I should like your Instructions. Xm I to understand that 1 am not to report to you anything nnusnal I may see or —or hear? May I assume that you know about It?” Campbell’s self-consciousness 'gava place to an expression of surprise; mlngl^ with doubt. “Do you mean that you have already heard or seen anything nnusual?" he quickly asked. * Evitfantly there la aamethind myatertoua going an In tha aid houoa. WhaPa tho tnio Inward* noaa? (TO BE CXJNTINUWX) Toadk PoUticimme A school to leach poUtlciaas a fnl trade" has boon oataMlshed In Lui^ doa. The ohjoct of tb* r- !>'J
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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March 26, 1925, edition 1
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