Z 7 Stood Transformed, Wungright, 10140, Ly All rights reserved.) N he eyes of his « ¥ junity Crommelin was such is thay worthy a4 man 18 unre Fas I am, or as neighbor. « for a just i fentious citizen soon have spspected : Are himself: « f oin we hive known se long One would as ours, W nd cons he parish priest as Have sus pected Crommeiin no one knew this better than did Crommelin It was this knowledge in- deed that had eventnally decided him. It was this assurance that had snade for _Lijm transgression pos- sible, Thouglt 'the gestatory period had been "prolonged The temptation had been born full grown and virile; yer of str med visage 'ag to shock and affright fim: ition, however; and the famillarity thus cagendered, had tended, after "a to soften the and so, by de- sibh OnACem oly Conte] ttle, HM, not to make comely, ar least " forbidding features of his impulse grees, in spite of a lingering repulsion, he reached the stage of determination. He would rob Ellery Ktephenson. "~ Enwrapped hy the deep shiadows 4f his little vine pManzap, he sat wirm midsummer wak still and The unrippled river stretched in his door slab of polished purple porphyry, reflecting the pate light of stars. Now and again on black valance of the hedge or amid the Wacker plumes of the codars freflies Mtfuily fickered, Ta his left ! vs hordbr, tn massive - gray agninst blotting out a shire of its lamps, ious summer of leaning forward « i irs regarded it keied Interest of the girt flone, The ulght Which wis (Hke o brestthless shallow breadth before great the privet beyond the hed slihoucite the night sky, rose the ostenta By } th hee his victigy; and Crommell fa his wrred wml rick Tong and tently wita invader, FRNCe, ne in character te was the reverse tions of the ontlaw." 'He was neither brawny nor ile. He had passed his forty- fifth year post, with hair thinning snd paling Into a ty por the qui fmmipent In of all ordinary conece ape fitting frame for high, intelectual brow, grave, near sighted eyes and gentle, kindly, inefliciont mouth, Against the tle of adversity ne had ever madé but feeble buffet. In a small town, humbly p@8pled, he had foul wofully unre ighinerative; and go life had béen a continual pulling which quite met. He himself self de His needs were sifiail, Tis wife, too, was content with 8 miserable Httle, But his content nor considerate, The sum of her petitions was excéeged only by. the Anh this she had come to stand an his profession of the law at ends never was { iced to nial own davghter was nefther sia of her desires for her father as an animate reminder --nay, as animate reboke---of his Inndegnacy. . tor the changed conditions te which his child's un- rest Stephenson, who fd flaunted his 'wealth until comparisons had: become ting contrasts, He blamed tim, too, for the Advanced ussessment on the Cromimelin property--a bringing with it an Increase in taxation beyond restich of Hmited FesOu Aud the exigency of the moment was a detinguent tax bill and a scant four days in which homestead from the auction was due Crommelin blamed rofl tion of his own improved real estate to sive the Uroninehn block. Planning the Deed. bouse whir of a vlock Ta ing its intention to tell the From behind bm within the the rasping thine broke harshly lag the silence. and Crommelin tarted guiliily, with every nerve atiugle, and straTEh ton d abruptly, & fh lean hands clulehing hard i the arms of Wis clmiv. Bot: as in a guick succes ston of strokes the hour of idnight was signalled, he sibied grimly behind the, masking dark, commanded "His resolution, stosd ap, and with a deep breath lifted hin «mall, indecisive chin aud squared his narrow, diveping shoulders, 7 a Another moment and he stepped from the plazzd" to the griveiled walk abd thence to the lawn and moved away under the cedars, a shadow 'beneath shadows, coming eventudlly abreast of the privet hedge. Here he galnod a closer, less interrupted view of the nedr side of the Stephenson dwelling and saw it dick from roof to plinth, Creeping aoug the fringe of turf that divided the grotads from the sandy river heweh, bugging the gloom of Ihe archiig foliage, he mde she that the windows of the imposing Colonial columned front showed no glimmer of fight. At the far corner of the grounds turning fo bis left, he dodged steitithily from shrub to shrub, muti the third glide of the House came blankly ito view. 'There remained now only the rege 10 be Insp. red, but 8% he bad determitid on this'as bly point of en: trance. and as he had yet to make certain prepara- tions for his adventure, be excluded It from his pre- Hminary survey. That the house slept Le entertained no doubt . Fkulkingly, with-norelaxed cfution, he had ¢ffected bis return, and was (dimbing the gentle slope of lis uwh weed grown lawn, relieved alinost 15 ease, when sudfenly' the shock of the unexpected checked him tn gasping affright. The next Instant he wad made aware that the object which had brushed roughly against him' was his own Scotch collle, snd as, still trembling, 'he whisperipgly comm®&udéd the dog to silence he congratulated himself that the incident bad océurred when and where it had. He would pro- vide against repetition by locking Shep in the tool honee, ~~ i ; Thé too] house was at the back, on: the edge of the garden, and thither hie grophgly made bis way, with the dog at his heels, Now that his fright was over the animal's présence heartened him. * But the squalor of the place, dimly liluminated by a lantern; inflicted a fresh wonnd of discontent. The tools were few and old. Some of them were Hrokeén and uselegs. He utah } dieatled lawn mower. The gexthie, its fractured bidde red &1ith rust, sthbbed his a wehvat yp CI evievapee '7 From a jumhlé of dusty sacking. ofd carpet and worn out ¢lothes In ane cormer he betradted a sult of faded. frayed and stained overslls, andl after ge moving 'his coat and walsteont put it on Then adding a Hmp and risty hat that had once been black, and pulling it low on His grizzled hegd. he stood transformed. From a plece of the sacking he cut mask with wo perforitions to serve as eye holes and affixed bits of twine at the side to tie back of hig head. Laying this for the moment at one side, he procecdedt to rip from #n anclent overcbat the lower hall of a capacious sleeve, In which, in turn, he made a three-sided Incision. When the sleeve sec- tion was drawn his effectually darkening It, the incision became a flap to be lifted at will and so shed light (n any desired directlon-- a rude Imitation of the old style dark lantern. o The Masked Man. These preliminaries completed. Crommelin adjugted his mask, with somethigg of a gualm, It seemed to tm the very sign and symbol of the outlawry in which he was about to engage. For jnst a moment hig heart threatened to fail him. He considered post ponémient. In the four days remaining something might happen to make his crime unnecessary. A miracle might be wrought Inthe shape of a. client with a liberal retaining feet And then he remembered that to-morrow and on the 'nights following nis oppor- tunity would be less favorable. To-morrow his wife and daughter would return. To-night, save for the presence of the old colored serving woman, who went to bed earty-and slept sourdiy, lie was at home alone, It he were to act at ail #t must be now. He had no right to trust te accident, to remote possibilities. Stephenson, moreover, deserved a lesson. No man was Justified In parading his riches before the un- fortunate and then tempting them by leaving bis back door habitually unlocked and his treasures unguarded. And this was what Ellery Stephenson had been do- tng. It had become a habit of his, indeed, to boast of the honesty of the community In which he had chosen to make his summer home. "Xo ome thinks of locking their doors down here)" he had repeated again and again. "1 never think of locking mine, and many a time I have had a thou- sand dollars and more in cash in the top drawer of my desk. Indeed, it's very rarely that I haven't sever- al hundred dollars there, Cromellin had heard him one evening, as, walking In his garden beyond the privet hedge, he chatted with guest from town. They had suggested hothing to Crommelin then ex- cept to bestow an added emphasis wpon the term "pompous braggart," which long before he bad found reason to apply to his ostentatious and unsociable neighbor Others in the village had heard Mr Stephenson express himself in much the same man- ner. Some regarded it a complimént. The less con- sclentious considered it a reflection on their codirage if not on thelr sagacity: and there had béen threats made. which Crommelin, he believed them idle or jocose, had nevertheless reprehended. And now, that which then' Lad seemed to him too iu- Iquitous to speak of, even im jest, he wis hhnself & thn wea far down over lantern, use those very words, a though actually about to perform. Hastily, with a distinct effort of will, be took up his miffed lantern. opened the door just wide ehough to permit the exit of his own body, and closed amd latched It on the imprisoned collie. Passing to the rear of the tool house, he took the path through the garden, cut diagonally his withered straw-' berry beds, and, finding a gap in the privet hedge, squeezed through it juto the Stephenson grounds. The Liyely Imagination. There was here a little grove of young plum trees, which fofmied a convenient shield for his approach 'tor ghe 'back of the house. Nevertheless he moved timorously, with rapidly beating heart. Hi project had now become instant, and that which in theory had appeared simple and easy began to loon big with danger and possible failure. . On the edge of the grove he paused and ran his gaze up and down the high, gray wall of the sleeping dwelling. The windows were, without exception, dark, . From all but one the red and white awniugs had Deen raised. This one was on the second Moor, directly above the trellised kitchen porch, and the lowered awning so obscured It that TUrommelin could not tell whether the sash was up or down, Iu his nervous trepidation he could fancy Stepheu- $01, himself sleepless because of the heat, sitting be side this rear seaward window watching through the gloom. What 4f those discerning eyes should pick his figure out of the black? What If. as he grawied up the three porch steps, 4 revolver should fash in quick report and he should drop dead or too wounded to stagger away, and so be discovered and Ms family forever disgraced? = ; He stood a long while looking up at that Window, Once he thought he saw something white wove there and drew back In excess of Tar. Bat after a time bis renson prevalled. He chid himself for cowird: joe, He recalled ounce sgaln the urgency of his feed Heé reviewed the occasions op whith this man, hix ACTOSS THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG. TI TADA RAN * V., OKCTORER 8, 1912 PAGE ELEVEN, By Horace Hazeltine Fi ETT Wi much as a nod tice; hyd heer He pretemder tng his g motor the ocraston 4% TO BONIS, minabout or gul the: of ie that ke had heen and had ver waters ma sn errand Hos floor finully made a whisker, e He left thi ring of yours in mail order husiness by niixing poor seap with poor premiums to the gulling of peor people. The arraignment upon Crommelin cowardice ritant indignation: boldly forward to his reprisals dnd his It reawakened his. acted as a gonnter retaliation; 'He ered awning and all that it might Mide aroused his forgot Brisk! erossed the tennis econrt, swiftly he passed beneath with careful the trel the grape arbor, and unfalteringly, but effort at quiet, mounted the three steps to lised porch, The arrangement ately familiar to him ter, while the cepted the inyitation © through H* kne v there Stephenson di his HE the dining room to- the right, of the lower floors was moder Seve mansion w that the room fts windows nified as "gstody" lay and that overlooked his own premises, Having found the Kitchen locked but wide open, he pansed a his shoes, and then, with the ifted for instant 'anly get bearjngs kitchen to butler's pantry, gained In skirted tiptoe the great round to he turn his passed fro the dini mahogan room, on " . L & table, with its encirclidg chairs, and reached his goal. The Fight in the Dark.' With infinite cantion be bad proceeded thus far measuring each step with band extended - against woliision. with furaiture: pausing each' second wifk alert ear to cael the slightest warning so And tow, with ome foot acrass tite threshold of (he study, he came to & full halt; srrested not by sight or hour ing, but by smell. Thy reek of a smoking kerosene ' . a t length 2 at once desperately alive with the instinct of sulky figure which pressed so aga him ck and forth, each all wildly fmpact; and Cromine to his dange cite bed seif pres fhe t heavily. er-a-moment the t ved 1 meliu's compen feet, which, ved his, equllibripre. is way, how that, So contend- for breath, rdva in waxed pped and s unable to 1 AC the sessed the shoeloss force k each wed 1 panting ng for sup nly turned, and simul torward by his halance, top- ive himself the trgonist, ' > In a mad effor ard the body ard the re wood, and impulse of , for security, he never quite how he gained His wits feled th I+ ne the butler's pantry and the Kitchen beyond. So contending they moved in a tircle, each panting iy tregth, each striving for the supegme insen it = . refurned fo order, really. only when he was oul again under the starry Sky in the still air of the summer night, ronuing jo storkinged fest across the tose cropped. rolled turf of the tennis court to the sanctusry of the little grove of yenug plum trees, bis shoes and hix lantern left behing him, Ws under faken efime tHe. his pursult and detection itil a terrifying possibility ' fie pitted here to look Baek. ~He had small donht that the house lad been aroused by ihe encounter, . by the scuffing, the overtiened chair, the heavy fall af the muster ; A Tormented Mind. He expected to ack Hight, to hear cries of alarm: but the darkness and stlende st prevailed, unpene- trated and anmarred. And at this be was seized, With ga fresh torment, as memory A again that re sounding thud of skull against unytelding foor, What ir 8 henson should have been Kilied hy the tefore God the responsibility would be Could he hope for immunity from mans discov would trace him, perhaps, by his shoes, bout the dantern would be fitted to the other half in the old overcoat in the tool homse, Therefore he must hide overcoat or. bury it He mist. too, blot out his shoe prints in the soft soll of the strawberry beds. And both of these precau tisms must be-token at once ; He hastened forward, harassed, hysterioally astie with impatience. Irritably he snate hed off his mask, which must be disposed of, tec, . Perspiration was m every pore of his face anid neck, but it heeded He squéezed roughly through the Tee and started across the garden, on ay to jhe togl house the frantic halt half of the imprisoned collie arrested him new apprehension He knew that excited canine note too well 16 mistake Its meaning. There was some one within the gromnds besides himself. Swift as he fancied he had been, his suspecting purs, suers had been swifter, They had headed him off, They had found him absent, which would be almost equal to conviction in itself . . Agitatedly he hegan to divest himsif of bis over To he discovered so clad at such an hour wonld other clreumstances The now among the withered » had started to remove (he y. the white of his' steks, ing pale aga the dark, proved to him the idleness of his attempted deception. The combina tion of these socks, with the discarded shoes, which must eventually be discovered, was too damningly condemnatory to he galnsaid. And so, once MOreE, he stood, quakingly ine peering through the sombrons jeht for a glimpse of the moving shadows which he knew must be there And all the while the dog's dfstressed whining bark continged without cessation, Discretion bade hin disseifible, and obediently he dropped to his knees, determined mse in the dark of the garden patch by lying prone upon it once more the unforeseen perversely be- for one knee, coming in contact with the 1 edge of a forgotten hoe, wrung from Lim against his will' a ery of pain as be sprang. back to the upright At the same moment a man's figure emerged from the dimness of the lane, less than a dozen yards away, and a volce rang out In guestion "That, you, Mr, Cromm pe Denlaliin the circumstan less. [Hiding was now out of the question. tremar he commanded his volee, "yds," he answered. "What do you want?' 'Jot a telegram for you," 'the volee flung back. "Couldn find a soul about the house: but seeing your door was open thought you must be near by The Telegram, ! Crommelin, partly reassured, joined (he messenge? fu the lane, "Telegram!" be exclaimed. "Telegram at ¢his time of night?' Instantly his thought was of his absent wife and daughter, his own danger for the time for gotten. The man who had brought it he recognized and he told 'him he might sign his owh book. 1t was too dark for him to see to write. "All right," was the reply. "I'll make # guess at the time, Mnst be about twelve thirty ain't it Crommelin, striding off In his anxious haste ascertain the contents of the IMtle envelope in his hand, was scarcely conscious of either remark or question; but later both recurred to him in all their goin" significance, as fixing the moment at which he was met coming from the direction of the scene of the assault A lawrer himself, he realized fully the fmportanee of such evidence What a fool he had been to fancy that because of a past blameless record, a past honorable and unquestioned standiog, suspivion's finger would be turned aside! It was as if cunning a Wh! alignant Nemesis had first tempted him and then trapped him. At every turning he had left belilnd him, lke the "hares" Iu a paper hase, the marks of his trail In his little, plainly furnished 'sitting room, alone now with his threatened safety, his jeoparded ltberty, he opened telegram In his shaking fingers, the last ottering props of his courage broke aud mbled, asd he fell prey to. an overwhelmingly poignant anguish of spirit. It was not only that he had tried and failed, not only that he had yielded io inevitable disgrace, but that instant of his undoing, been hey I'he ball sieeve the pouring went 3 m his toes, bark, with alls end added weight tot jacket of faded jean strawherry vines, a breeches, when, cho {0 lose little he reallzed, was lise With a tn sone " temptation to meet the it had now, at the very proved unnecessary For the message which had Yo alarmed him had been a hand reaching out to iift him "Oonsin James dled suddenly this afternoon," I: read. "They say you are his principal legates Cousin James! He was worth a hundred thousand if he was worth a cent. Poor Cousin Jhmes, who rided himself so much on his family! h, well! He would be sparbd knowledge of his kinsman's degrads- tion. Why was he who bad given him the seal ring with the Crommelin €rins, The seal ring which he wore on The Missing Ring. ¢ his musing abruptly t for, ittle finger for reverential view of the ring whlch he had worn And then, In sliding hand od And there extending his girt, Crommhelin saw that the habitually for a score of years wax gone a flash, he rempmbered the ing which had run from sleeve to wrist, and from wriss y fingers: and from which he had finally jerked him- self free, with gs torture f at very finger joint He his feet n began 1k the worn rpat could be delaying them? asked meelf Back and wih walked with bowed ad until he grew Then sit down again and wal dragged thelr slow trains of ming walted walted cou stantly expectant The dawn, paintin t eo rose to ® rad What on he he Weary ne hours he [he and still wd gz. gray hiz window panes, found him waiting 3 eyed The sun burned through the gla n flames from the crimsoned east, and. slebpless, he tarried, When the clack struck eight he went into the dining room and sat atfable, but he did uot eat Ashe sat there the knock sounded on the door--the knock he had waited for so long mn He rose as one joyed over a suspense ended, passed plong the narrow hall, turned the key and then the knob, and flung the door wide. He was stili io his shirt sleeves, otill In his white stockinged feet. But what he saw made him think he had fylen asleep and dreamed Ellery Stephenson, fresh shaven, smartly garbed,. stood before him, smil'=g it seemed to him, a little embarrassed y. - "1 hope 1 haven't disturbed you, Mr, Cromimelin"™ he began. "You'll pardon my calling at such an hour, but I'm off for town on the §:20 train, and | wanted indeed, 1 felt I must see you before | weal. You see, I've never attempted to intrude upon. you before, That's my way. | realize my own shortcomings. I'm a self-made man, and---well, I kuow how it is with Jou old family people who count ancesiry above vu gar raomey. I couldn't help feeling I'd rather you'd spesk first. Ro, as 1 say, Lve kept to my side of the fence. But It seems there was a thief around hers last night who rotibied you first and then (ried it on me He didn't get anything at my place. though, 1 su ed him. We had a ilitle scuffle, and this is really a good Joke, Mr. Crommelin. He left this ring of yours in my hand 1 recognized I at once, trom . the cut of the Crommelin arms in that boek of 'Conpt Families' which I think a relgtive of yours pa Mr. James Crommelin, wasn't 87" white "8 "og