"It beats the deuce how childer as young as they are can have discovered what a doddering fool their uncle is. Bedad, the smallest of them knows it. The very instant I pretend to be a sensible, provident, middle-aged gentleman he shows me up most shamelessly. "Twas only a couple of months ago that his confounded blandishments wiggled a sixty-five dollar fire engine out of me. He squirted water all over the drawing-room furniture, and I haven"t been allowed to put foot into the house since. My own darlin" sister refused to look at me for a week, and it wouldn"t surprise me in the least if she changed me namesake"s t.i.tle to something less enfuriating than William." A look of distress came into his merry eyes. "By Jove, I"d like nothing better than to ask you in to have a dish of tea,--it"s tea-time, I"m sure,--but I"d no more think of doing it than I"d consider cutting off me head. He doesn"t like strangers. He--"
"My dear fellow, don"t distress yourself," cried Barnes heartily.
"There isn"t the least reason in the world why--"
"You see, the poor old chap asks us up here once or twice a year,--that is to say, De Soto and me,--to keep his sister from filling the house up with men he can"t endure. So long as we occupy the only available rooms, he argues, she can"t stuff them full of objectionables. Twice a year she comes for a month, in the late fall and early spring. He"s very fond of her, and she stands by him like a major."
"Why does he continue to live in this out-of-the-world spot, Mr.
O"Dowd? He is an old man, I take it, and ill."
"You wouldn"t be wondering if you knew the man," said O"Dowd. "He is a scholar, a dreamer, a sufferer. He doesn"t believe in doctors. He says they"re all rascals. They"d keep him alive just for the sake of what they could get out of him. So he"s up here to die in peace, when his time comes, and he hopes it will come soon. He doesn"t want it prolonged by a grasping, greedy doctor man. It"s his kidneys, you know.
He"s not a very old man at that. Not more than sixty-five."
"He certainly has a fanciful streak in him, building a place like that," said Barnes, looking not at the house but into the thicket above. There was no sign of the blue and white and the spun gold that still defied exclusion from his mind"s eye. He had not recovered from the thrall into which the vision of loveliness plunged him. He was still a trifle dazed and distraught.
"Right you are," agreed O"Dowd; "the queerest streak in the world. It"s his notion of simplicity. I wish you could see the inside of the place.
You"d wonder to what exalted heights his ideas of magnificence would carry him if he calls this simplicity. He loves it all, he dotes on it.
It"s the only joy he knows, this bewildering creation of his. For nearly three years he has not been more than a stone"s throw from the walls of that house. I doubt if he"s been as far as the spot where we"re standing now."
"Green Fancy. Is that the name he gave the place or does it spring from--"
""Twas christened by me own sister, Mr. Barnes, the first time she was here, two years ago. I"ll walk with you to the fence beyond if you"ve no objections," said O"Dowd, genially, and linked his arm through that of Barnes.
The latter was at once subtly aware of the fact that he was being deliberately conducted from the grounds. Moreover, he was now convinced that O"Dowd had been close upon his heels from the instant he entered them. There was something uncanny in the feeling that possessed him.
Such espionage as this signified something deep and imperative in the presence not only of O"Dowd but the Jack-in-the-box gardener a few minutes earlier. He had the grim suspicion that he would later on encounter the spectacled De Soto.
His mind was still full of the lovely stranger about whom O"Dowd had so manifestly lied over the telephone.
"I must ask you to apologise to the young lady on whom I blundered a few moments ago, Mr. O"Dowd. She must have been startled. Pray convey to her my solicitude and excuses."
"Consider it done, my dear sir," said the Irishman. "Our most charming and seductive guest," he went on. "Bedad, of the two of you, I"ll stake me head you were startled the most. Coming suddenly upon such rare loveliness is almost equivalent to being struck by a bolt of lightning.
It did something like that to me when I saw her for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I didn"t get over it for the better part of a day,--I can"t say that I really got over it at all. More than one painter of portraits has said that she is the most beautiful woman in the world. I don"t take much stock in portrait painters, but I"m always fair to the lords of creation when their opinions coincide with mine.
Mayhap you have heard of her. She is Miss Cameron of New Orleans, a friend of Mrs. Van d.y.k.e. We have quite an enchanting house-party, Mr.
Barnes, if you consider no more than the feminine side of it.
Unfortunate creatures! To be saddled with such ungainly lummixes as De Soto and me! By the way, have you heard when the coroner is to hold his inquests?"
"Nothing definite. He may wait a week," said Barnes.
"I suppose you"ll stick around until it"s all over," ventured O"Dowd.
Barnes thought he detected a slight harshness in his voice.
"I have quite made up my mind to stay until the mystery is entirely cleared up," he said. "The case is so interesting that I don"t want to miss a shred of it."
"I don"t blame ye," said O"Dowd heartily. "I"d like nothing better meself than to mix up in it, but, Lord love ye, if I turned detective I"d also be turned out of the spare bed-room beyond, and sped on me way with curses. Well, here we are. The next time you plan to pay us a visit, telephone in advance. I may be able to persuade my host that you"re a decent, law-abiding, educated gentleman, and he"ll consent to receive you at Green Fancy. Good day to ye," and he shook hands with the departing trespa.s.ser.
A quarter of a mile below the spot where he parted from O"Dowd, Barnes caught a glimpse of De Soto sauntering among the trees. He smiled to himself. It was just what he had expected.
"Takin" a walk?" was the landlord"s greeting as he mounted the tavern steps at dusk. Putnam Jones"s gaunt figure had been discernible for some time, standing motionless at the top of the steps.
"Going over the ground of last night"s affair," responded Barnes, pausing. "Any word from the sheriff and his party?"
"Nope. The blamed fools are still up there turnin" over all the loose stones they c"n find," said Jones sarcastically. "Did you get a glimpse of Green Fancy?"
Barnes nodded. "I strolled a little distance into the woods," he said briefly.
"I wouldn"t do it again," said Jones. "Strangers ain"t welcome. I might have told you as much if I"d thought you were going up that way. Mr.
Curtis notified me a long while ago to warn my guests not to set foot on his grounds, under penalty of the law."
"Well, I escaped without injury," laughed Barnes. "No one took a shot at me."
As he entered the door he was acutely aware of an intense stare levelled at him from behind by the landlord of Hart"s Tavern. Half way up the stairway he stopped short, and with difficulty repressed the exclamation that rose to his lips.
He had recalled a significant incident of the night before. Almost immediately after the departure of Roon and Paul from the Tavern, Putnam Jones had made his way to the telephone behind the desk, and had called for a number in a loud, brisk voice, but the subsequent conversation was carried on in subdued tones, attended by haste and occasional furtive glances in the direction of the tap-room.
Upon reaching his room, Barnes permitted the suppressed emotion to escape his lips in the shape of a soft whistle, which if it could have been translated into words would have said: "By Gad, why haven"t I thought of it before? He sent out the warning that Roon and Paul were on the way! And I"d like to bet my last dollar that some one at Green Fancy had the other end of the wire."
Mr. Rushcroft stalked majestically into his room while he was shaving, without taking the trouble to knock at the door, and in his most impressive manner announced that if there was another hostelry within reasonable distance he would move himself, his luggage and his entire company out of Putnam Jones"s incomprehensible house.
"Why, sir," he declared, "the man is not only a knave but a fool. He flatly declines the prodigious offer I have made for the corner rooms at the end of the corridor. In fact, he refuses to transfer my daughter and me from our present quarters into what might be called the royal suite if one were disposed to be facetious. The confounded blockhead insists on seeing the colour of my money in advance." He sat down on the edge of the bed, dejectedly. "My daughter, perversity personified, takes the extraordinary stand that the wretch is right. She agrees with him. She has even gone so far as to say, to my face, that beggars cannot be choosers, although I must give her credit for not using the expression in the scoundrel"s presence. "Pon my soul, Barnes, I have never been so sorely tried in all my life. Emma,--I should say, Mercedes,--denounces me to my face. She says I am a wastrel, a profligate,--(there I have her, however, for she failed to consult the dictionary before applying the word to me),--an ingrate, and a lot of other things I fail to recall in my dismay. She contends that I have no right to do what I please with my own money. Indeed, she goes so far as to say that I haven"t any money at all. I have tried to explain to her the very simple principles upon which all financial transactions are based, but she remains as obtuse as Cleopatra"s Needle. Her ignorance would be pitiful if she wasn"t so d.a.m.ned obstinate about it. And to cap the climax, she had the insolence to ask me to show her a dollar in real money. By gad, sir, she"s as unreasonable as Putnam Jones himself."
Barnes gallantly came to the daughter"s defense. He was more than pleased by the father"s revelations. They proved her to be possessed of fine feelings and a genuine sense of appreciation.
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Rushcroft, I think she is quite right," he said flatly. "It isn"t a bad idea to practice economy."
"My dear sir," said Rushcroft peevishly, "where would I be now in my profession if I had practiced economy at the expense of progress?"
"I don"t know," confessed Barnes, much too promptly.
"I can tell you, sir. I would be nowhere at all. I would not be the possessor of a name that is known from one end of this land to the other, a name that guarantees to the public the most elaborate productions known to--"
"Pardon me," interrupted the other; "it doesn"t get you anywhere with Putnam Jones, and that is the issue at present. The government puts the portrait of George Washington on one of its greenbacks but his face and name wouldn"t be worth the tenth of a penny if the United States went bankrupt. As it is, however, if you were to go downstairs and proffer one of those bills to Putnam Jones he would make his most elaborate bow and put you into the best room in the house. George Washington has backing that even Mr. Jones cannot despise. So, you see, your daughter is right. Your name and face is yet to be stamped on a government bank note, Mr. Rushcroft, and until that time comes you are no better off than I or any of the rest of the unfortunates who, being still alive, have to eat for a living."
"You speak in parables," said Mr. Rushcroft, arising. "Am I to a.s.sume that you wish to withdraw your offer to lend me--"
"Not at all," said Barnes. "My desire to stake you to the comforts and dignity your station deserves remains unchanged. If you will bear with me until I have finished shaving I will go with you to Mr. Jones and show him the colour of your money."
Mr. Rushcroft grinned shamelessly. "My daughter was right when she said another thing to me," he observed, sitting down once more.
"She appears to be more or less infallible."
"A woman in a million," said the star. "She said that I wouldn"t make a hit with you if I attempted to put on too much side. I perceive that she was right,--as usual."
"Absolutely," said Barnes, with decision.
"So I"ll cut it out," remarked Rushcroft quaintly. "I will be everlastingly grateful to you, Mr. Barnes, if you"ll fix things up with Jones. G.o.d knows when or whether I can ever reimburse you, but as I am not really a dead-beat the time will certainly come when I may begin paying in installments. Do we understand each other?"
"We do," said Barnes, and started downstairs with him.
Half an hour later Barnes succeeded in striking a bargain with Putnam Jones. He got the two rooms at the end of the hall at half price, insisting that it was customary for every hotel to give actors a substantial reduction in rates.