Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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x ' : LA LARK -^VlERDDITl NICNOLS( 'Gorm/c/rr esr camm/j jc*/aAfi?y jo/aj CHAPTER I. I ^ i nc " I roop?~ Tt was hard luck., said Searles, "that I should spend a year writing play for a woman only to find that she had vanished?jumped off the enrth Into nowhere. This was my highest flight, Singleton, the best writing I ever did, nnd after the vast pains I took with the thing, the only woman I ever saw who could possibly ct It Is unavailable; worse than that, - absolutely undlscoverable I Nobody knows I have this script; I've kept ] quiet about it simply because I'm not going to be forced Into accepting a I star I don't want. I have a feeling about this play that I never had about my other things. The public has been bo kind to my small offerings that | Tm trying to lead 'em on to the best I ' can do; something a little finer and j more Imaginative, with a touch of poetry, If you please. And now " He glared at me as though I were responsible for his troubles. As he , knew I had been flying In the French aviation corps for two years nnd bad Just been invalided home, I didn't think It necessary to establish an alibi. Fate had been kind to Dick N Searles. In college he had written a play or two that demonstrated his talent, nnd after n rigid apprentice- I ship as scene-sblfter nnd assistant producer he had made a killing with "Let George Do It," a farce that earned enough to put him at ease and make possible an upward step Into straight comedy. Even as we talked a capacity house was laughing at his skit, "Who Killed Cock Uobln?" Just around the corner from his lodgings. So his story was not the Invention of a re jecmi playwright to cover the nonappearance of n play which nobody would produce. "Isn't it always a mistake to write a play for a particular star?" I suggested. "Seems to me I've read somewhere that that is among the besetting sins of you playwrights." "Old stuff, my boy; but this isn't one of those cases. The person I had In mind for this play wasn't a star, ' but a beginner, quite unknown. It was when I was in London putting on | "Fairy Gold' that I saw her; she had : a small part in a pantomime, and , pantomime is the severest test of an j actor's powers, you know. A little I later she appeared in 'Honorable Wo- i men,' a capital play that died early, but there again I felt her peculiar charm?it was Just that She was exquisite 1 No one ever captured my ' Imagination as she did. I watched , her night after night I was afraid that when I heard her voice It would break the spell, and I actually shook like a man with an ague when she tripped out on the stage as the Ingenue In 'Honorable Women.' And her laughter! You know how hollow the usual stage mirth is, but that girl's laugh had the Joy of the lark ascend The flavor ? lasts-and the ? electricallyS sealed p package |j brines | WRIGLI 0 to you with all ^ goodness perl 5 |y preserved. 6 Sealed m Tl2ht~ ...... t>Y~ In*!" "By Jove!" I ejaculated, "there's more here than appears. You're lh love with the girl!" "Rubbish," he cried Impatiently. ; | "You'll think I'm talking rot, but this girl was the visualisation of a character I had dreamed of and groped j ' after for yours. That's all; but It's a whole lot, I can tell youl" i "Let us be prnctlcal for a moment, Searles," I urged. "Emperors, presidents, and popular murderers are not more conspicuous than the people of the stage. No girl talented enough to get two engagements, even for small parts, In a tlrst-class London theater could vanish. With your acquaintance In the profession you'd he able to trace her anywhere on earth. By the way, what did the paragon call herself?" "Violet Dewing was her stage name and the only name the managers knew her by. I assumed that, of course, nil I had to do was to finish my play and then have Dalton, who represents me over there, make an appointment to rend It to her; but Dalton worked for three months trying to find her, without success. I wasn't the only person who was Interested in her. Dalton said that half a dozen managers had their eye on her, hut after 'Honorable Women' closed she stepped Into the void. I knew what you're thinking?that the other members of the two companies sh<? appeared with must have had some inkling of her Identity, hut I tell you Dalton and I exhausted the possibilities. It was by accident that she got her chance In the pantomime?some one wouldn't do at the last minute, and they gave Miss Dewing a trial. She was well liked h.v her associates in spite of the fact that she was a hit offish and vanished from their world the minute the curtain fell." "A clever governess out of a Job, satisfying a craving for excitement and playing the mysterious .*ole as a part of the udventure. Am I to assume that you've burned your play nnd tlmt tlio incident is closed?" "Oil, I didn't Inirn it; I have a copy I locked in a safety vault, and Dnlton ' left one heavily sealed at a small er- | elusive London hotel where, he found | after much difficulty, the girl had lodged during her two engagements." "You're morbid," I said. "Show me her photograph." He laughed ironically. "Never a chance. Singleton! You haven't yet got the idea that this young woman is out of the ordinary. She refused to be photographed? wrote it Into her two contracts that this was not to be asked. I never saw her off the stage, and I can't give you a description of her that would be of the slightest assistance to the keenest detective alive. In that panto? mime she was a frolic, the clown's daughter, and, although nobody saw it, she was tho whole piece, the elusive jmrde^thjU^couhl^evril^ 1EYS Hcrc*s "w to teeth, < appetite, % \ digestion I I tears by a gesture, a lifting of the 1 brows, a grimace. By utterly differ- * ent methods In 'Honorable Women' she proved her wide range of appeal. 1 Ilers was the one true eharacterlzn- 1 tlon In the piece. When Terry was In ; 1 her prime you remember how we used ^ to say that only one bird sang like 1 that, and from paradise It flew? Well, 1 this bird sings on the same branch! j Her voice was her charm made audi- j 1 hie!" j! "Rave some more 1" I pleaded. | * "You never talked better In your life." | 1 "Don't be an ass," he said sourly. I 1 "Let's forget her and take a squint I at your affairs. Just what do you * mean to do with yourself?" j ? "My shoulder still creaks a little, and ! the doctors advise me to sit around 1 for a while. They offered me some : 1 Jobs In Washington, but desk work j 1 and Inspection duty are too tame after ( ' a couple of years spent In star climb- 1 Ing. 'I'm going up to Barton-on-the- i < Sound and I'll camp In the garage on j I my uncle's place." ] "Your uncle played you a nasty < trick," Interrupted Searles; "getting i married and then adding to the crime i by dying. You couldn't beat that for 1 general spltefulness." i "Do you remember the immortal < Hues: 1 " 'Oh, skip your dear uncle!' , The Bellman exclaimed Am ha angrily tinkled hla bell"? 1 "Oh, I'm not knocking the dead I" he J protested. "Mr. Bashford always ^ 1 MAH LtfXl 1 "Oh, I'm Not Knocking the Dead!" struck me ns n pretty decent, square sort of chap, and not at nil the , familiar grouchy uncle of fiction and the drama. I made notes on him from time to time with a view to building 1 a play around him?the perfect uncle, unobtrusive, never blustering ut his nephmv; translating the avuncular relationship Into something remote and chaste like a distant view of Mount ' Washington In winter. It was Just like him to retire from business on ' his sixtieth birthday and depart for ' the Orient, there to commit the shameless Indiscretion of matrimony." 1 "Like him! It was the greatest Rhock of my life. To the best of my knowledge he never knew any women 1 except the widow of his partner In the ' Importing house. She was about eighty and perfectly safe. He spent twenty years In the T.vrlngham, the 1 dullest nhd most respectable hotel In the world, and his chief recrea- 1 tlon was a leisurely walk In the park ' before going to bed. You could set 4 your clock by him. Pretty thin pick- ' lng for a dramatist, I should think. ' He used to take me to the thenter regularly jcvery other Thursday?It 4 was a date?and his favorite enter- i talnment was vaudeville with black- i face embellishment preferred. But In his shy fashion he was kind and < generous and mighty good to me." "If you hadn't gone to war, but had t kept right at his elbow, the marriage might have been averted," suggested Searles. "lie did leave you something, didn't he?" "Fifty thousand rash and the right to use the garage at the Barton farm. Calling It a farm Is a Joke; It's rocks mostly. He bought the house to have a place to store Ills prints and Jap ceramics. He hated motoring except In taxis up and down town, and when I urged him to set up a machine, he told he to go abend and buy one and build the garage. Told me I'd better fix up the studio In the garage and have It as . place to work In. Ills will provides that I may lodge In the garage for life." "The estate footed a million, as I remember, so I can't praise bis generosity. But the widow, your unknown NOT SICK ASDJOT WELL lo The Peculiar Situation Described, tinah * I. a_ i* j aa zinUN iron ionic is rounn neipiur. It o'ten happens that ihe organs of your body do not function properly, for soine reasc n or other. There is nothing really wrong, and you are not sick. But certainly you are not well, either. If you are in such a condition, read what Mr. Wm, M. Bass, Rt. 1,Crossville, Ala., did, and try Ziron Iron Tonic, as he did. Mr. Bass says: "I am nearly always pretty wel! and strong and do not need tnucn medicine excepting for headaches. But, recently, when 1 nad not been feeling very well for a while, I kaaw I needed some sort of medicine to make me all right. 1 took Ziron and It made me strong and well again." Ziron puts Iron Into the blood, and, by doing this, may prevent a serious attack of Illness,whicn you are liable to "catch" at any time if your system la weakened or your condition below par. Ziron has well proven its value as a tonic. Try It when you feel the least bit out of sorts, not quite aa good as usual, tired and weary. Your druggist tells Ziron on a moneyback guarantee. gH w \bur Blood Needs IIROM1 auntie, the bo8 y-anatclw who annex- ~ sd the old boy?what of her?" "I've asked the trust company people whether she's in sight anywhere, and they assure me that she la not on these shores. Torrence, the third rice president?you know Torry; he was in the class aheud of as at college, the man who never smiles? Torry said she acknowledged the last remittance three months ago from Bangkok?wherever that Is. I suppose the old girl's resumed her tour of the world looking for another retired merchant to add to her list." "Very likely. To what nation, tribe, or human group does this predatory person belong?" "I'll tell you all I know. Just as I was sailing from France I got a letter From Uncle Bash stating In a most businesslike fashion that he was about to be married to a lady he had met on the trip out to Japan. The lire event was to occur at the American embassy the following day. From which I Judged that my presence at the ceremony was neither expected aor desired. Oddly enough, months afterward, I picked up an English paper In a French Inn that contained an announcement of the marriage In the usual advertisement form. The lady was succinctly described as Mrs. Mice Wellington Cornford, widow of the late Archibald Reynolds Cornford, Pepperharrow road, Hants. All Torrence knows of the subsequent pro- | feedings is what he got In ofTlelal re- , ports of Uncle Bash's death from the consul-general at Tokyo. Whether ' the widow expects to come to Amer- i lea ultimately or will keep moving j fh?Ylllfh tho OHonf marwlnw huoho?>/lo I and burying them Is a dnrk mystery, j If she hould turn up. the house nt Barton Is hers, of course, hut with her roving disposition I fancy my aunt Alice wouldn't like the plneo. The .Tap stulT Is worth a hit of money, and If the lady Is keen for such things and not a mere adventuress she niny take It Into her head one of these days to come over and Inspect the loot." "I can see the vampire," said Searlos musingly, "landing at the Grand Central with enough handluggage to till a freight-car; a hlg, raw-honed crenture, with a horse face and a horrible mess as to clothes. You will he there to meet her, deferential, anxious to plense. You will pilot her up to the const of Barton, tip the servants heavily to keep them from murdering her, and twiddle your thumbs In your garage as you await her further pleasure. By the way, are those ancient frenks still on | the place?those broken-down hotel ! employees who were your uncle's sole experiment In philanthropy?" "Torrence assures roe they are all very much there." Senrles yielded himself to laughter. "An Englishwoman with lofty Ideas of domestic service would certainly enjoy a romp with that crew." "Oh, they are in the same class with me," I explained. "The place can't be sold till I die, and while I live they're to be harbored?about thirty c>f them?clothed and victualed." "I think there's a farce in the idea, And I may try it one of these days," be said, scribbling in his note-book. "A refuge for broken-down chambermaids, venerable bell-hops grown gray In the service, and the head waiter who amassed a fortune in tips and then toyed with the market once too often and lost his ill-gotten gains. What was the head waiter's name who presided with such stutellness In the dining-room of the Tyrlngham?" "That's Antolne, who married the issffetant housekeeper at the Tyrlngbnm. He's the butler and has ehnrgc of the place. When I get settled I'll ask you up and you can study the bunch at leisure." "Splendid! I'll be up in a couole of weeks. I'm going to Ohio tomorrow for a family reunion and a look At the loved spots my infancy knew." I "You're lucky to have home-folks sven In Ohio," I remarked enviously. "Well, there's always your tllstant luntle cruising the seven seas In pursuit of husbands. Nobody with in aunt to his credit can pretend to >e alone In the world. Aunts must ank just a little below mothers In iie heavenly kingdom. When I was i boy out In Ohio there were two treat occasions every year in my Ife?one when I went to visit a jrand old aunt""I had In the country, iie other when she visited us, arrlvng with a wagonload of jam, Jelly, mlt-rlsing bread, pound-cake, and )ther unpurchnsahle manna." "Ptrr I ?>r I'll call the food censor," [ pleaded, picking up my hat. "Send ne your copy of 'Lady Oeranlum,' j and I'll tell you whether It's a classic | or not." " 'Lady l.nrkspnr.'" lie corrected ( with a shudder. "You shall lime It by trusted messenger tomorrow." ! I wired Antolne that I would reach ! Ihirton-on-tlie-Sound the following J day. This was September, 11(17. As the train rolled along the | familiar shore toward Marten I shook | oil' the depression occasioned by my enforced retirement from the irr?ni . struggle overseas. I had done under the French tlog all that It was possl- | hie for me to do; and there was some consolation In the fact thai hy reason of my two years on the bnttle-llne I was Just so much ahead of the friends 1 met In New York who were answering the call to the colors and had their experience of war before them. The tranquil life that had heen recommended hy the doctors was not only possible at Itarton, hut It was the only life that could he lived there. ' My leisure I meant to employ In beginning n novel that had heen tensing me ' ever since I sailed for home. Of my uncle Hash I had only the happiest and most grateful memories. Quite naturally It hod occurred to me at times, and my friends had encouraged the Idea, that my uncle would die some day and leave me Ids money. There was no particular reason why he should do so, as he hod never manifested any unusual affection for me and I had certainly never done anything for him. Antotne was at the Harton station with the touring-car Uncle Hash hod bought to establish communication with the village. Flvnn. the big Irishman who had heen the doorman at the Tyrlngham for years and retired because of rheumatism acquired from Ion* exposure to the elements at the hostelry's portals, was at the wheel. Antolne greeted roe with that air of lofty condescension tempered with a sincere kindliness that had made him a prince among head-waiters. As 1 shook hands with him his lips quivered and tears came to his eyes. I bade Antolne Join me In the bnek aeat that he might the more easily bring me up to dnte as to affairs on the estate. y "It must be n little slo^sgglp here after the years you lived HT" town," I suggested, "hut of course you're all old friends." "Well, yes; all friends," he acquiesced. hut with so little enthusiasm that I looked at him quickly. He pretended to be absorbed In the flying landscape at the moment. Flynn, 1 noticed, was giving ear to our conversation from the wheel. "It wns sad, very sad, Mr. Rashford passing nwny so far from home, sir. It was a great shock. And be had looked forward for years to a quiet life abroad." Antolne's speech wns that of a well-trnlnod Kngllsh upper servant, ami I Imagined thnt In his youth he had tnken some Kngllsh butler as his model. He used to pretend that he knew French very Imperfectly, and I wns surprised when he now addressed me quite fluently In thnt Inngunge. "You hnve been with the armies of dear France," he remarked. "The war is very dreadful. My parents were of Verdun; It grieves me to know of the suffering In the land of my people." As I ronllofl *n French I sow Flynn straighten him- i self at the wheel with nn tmpntlent fling of his head. Antolne Indicated , him with a contemptuous nod: "Mar- I ried Elsie, the Gertnnn woman who I worked In the linen-room at the Tyrlngham! This had caused some trouble, and there Is n pantry girl, Gretchen, who was III for a long time before the master left, and he sent her here for the country air. She Is a little devil with her dear Fatherland." 1 laughed at the old fellow's gravity and earnestness. That the war should he making itself felt on the quiet acres at Rarton-on-tho-Sound was absurd. , I was pondering the recrudescence of race hatreds due to the upheaval In Europe when he startled me by a tntement uttered close to my ear: "There have been Inquiries for the widow; these have caused me much anxiety. It seems that there are persons anxious to see her. There hnve \ been Inquiries, oiie?two?three | times." "Probably some of her American friends unxtous to pay their respects, i or some of the neighbors making calls of courtesy," I suggested. "A foreign gentleman who nets very queerly," Antolne persisted. My uncle's widow was a vague, uitknown being whom I had never expected to cross my horizons. If she niedjjated a descent upon Barton-onDODSON TELLS THE HORROR OR CALOMEL You Don't Need to Sicken, Grippe, or Salivate Yourself to Start Liver Your're bilious, sluggish, constipated. You feel headachy, your stomach may be sour, your breath bad, your skin sallow and you believe you need vile, dangerous calomel to start liver and bowels. Here's my guarantee! Ask your druggist for a bottle of Dodson's Liver Tone and take a spoonful tonight. If it doesn't start your liver and straighten you right up better than calomel and without griping or making you sick I want you to go back to the store and get your moeny. Take calomel today and tomorrow you will feel weak and nauseated. Don't lose a day. Take a spoonful of harmless, vegetable Dodson's Liver Tone tonight and wake up feeling splendid. It is perfectly harmless, so give it to your children any time. It can't salivate. 55 RTMI IpOR^J I |jg AT] I jam Put Sla Our Country is needs every pounc readv to pay han< Jrag?Hf[f Southern farmer h rdKarWy * &nd at the same ti) T^^Wlpf -y Intelligent fer essary now than e yieiu jig utmost. mmllSMA11 quantifies of fertil I 'ert^'zers constitu The MORRK II An^ysrj and hasten fruitfi n|0 materials enter i Wflya give univej sat -.aZI y the-Sound. the trust company wcuFd ^ certainly have had aome hint of her appronch. but Torrence clearly hn<1 had no tidings of her beyond her last communication from llutigkok. Still. It was wholly possible that a globetrotting widow would have friends In many pnrts of the world, and I could see nothing disturbing In the fact that Inquiries had been made for her. I said ns much. Antolne'a answer was another shrug and a Jerk of his head 3 toward Flynn, ns though even the em- _ ployment of an alien tongue might not conceal our conversation from the big Irishman. When we bad reached the farm and were running through the grounds Antolne spoke again. "We thought we would put yon up at the house. Mr. Singleton, and not In the garage," he said Inquiringly. 1' "r>.M at all. Antolne." I answered quickly. "We must stick cloae to th* I law Id such matter*" "Very good. sir. Stop nt the garage fly 1111." To the casual observer the garage was a charming two-story house following the general lines of the plaster and timber residence, from which It was separated by a strip of woodland and a formal garden. The garage ^ and quarters for the chauffeur were ^ at one end and at the other wore ? xi down-stnirs living room, with n broad pi fireplace, am! three chambers above J* so planned as to afTon! a charming view of the Sound, whose shore curved ac In deeply at this point. On the chauffeur's side was a small kitchen from which I had been served with my meals when I lodged there. "The house Is In order. You will have your meals at the residence, I suppose, sir," Antoine suggested. I debated this n moment and when he hinted that dinner could he more conveniently served there than in my own quarters, I said that for the present the I'lynns might give me breakfast and luncheon Jit the garage, but tluit 1 would ditie jit the house. ; It was li\e o'clock when I reached the garage, and Antoine left me after opening my Icigs. with the suggestion ' that I could umnmn Zimmerman, a former valet of the Tyringluitn. for any service I might require. I knew Zimmerman very well and s:iid I ( would call him when occasion required. "II?' Is of that race," said Antoine plaintively In the French which now seemed to come readily enough to his Hps. "Knee? Botheration! You musn't , trouble yourself about race questions I out here. Antoine. Zimmerman Is a good old chap, who's probably forgotten the very name of the German town he was horn In." "They do not forget," Antoine re- r piled with emphasis. "There has an been much discussion?much " on "Forget It, Antoine! I supposed un you were all living here like a happy (Continued on next page) fr bo lei Is Your Subscription Paid Up?jte FARMS R Several good Farms for s Rent. See us DOUGLASS RE> VV. J. DOUGLASS, President. D. H. DOUGLASS, BROKERAGE an I represent only the best con Oats, and Feed, Meat, Lard and 1 and Stains; Lubricating and Motor stones. Insurance that insures?Life, If in need of any of the goods you money to see me on the road otlice every Saturday and Monday me. Yours for Service, S. J- SEi RUBY, l. ST. LOUIS KANSAS CITY St OKLAHC Fertilizer f 1 MANUFACTURERS OF * HE AND TANKAGE FfRl OME OFFICE BRANCH OFFICFS LANTA WILMINGTON MOMUOMLR> irlrAr A rrar 1VIAV/A * AVI V^O I.\J J calling for bigger yields of all crop I of farm products the South can fi lsome prices for them. Never bf ad such a golden opportunity to ser me build his own fortune. tilization of every acre in cultivatior ver before, because each acre shou This cannot be done unless the pro izers are used. Low producing acre; te an inexcusable ana unpatriotic wi 5 BRANDS resist leaching, prevc j1 maturity of the crop. Only the nto their manufacture. That's i rsal satisfaction. FOR SALE BY R. B. LANEY, CHer.w BENNETT BROS., W.de.boro, N. C. T.L.AUSTIN A CO., Marthvill*. N.C. W.' C. SUTTON, P.geUnd ,S. C. DpjDHHDpiK BiIEllllii -I --? * 'ANTED TO SELL?Improved E?rr ly Portorico, Nancyhall and Triumph Potato plants, Government ,| inspected, $2.50 per 1,000. Cab? bage plant* and Tomato plants, $.50 per 1,000. All varieties shipped daily. Ask for prices. Large quantities. Post paid shipments add 50c. 1,000. DORRIS- KINSEY PLANT CO., p 17 Valdosta, Ga. Abri.ina i v.. , i ? t l# . l . p .. Name "Bayer" is on Genuine Aspirin?say Bayer Insist on "Bayer Tablets of Aspirin" i a "Bayer package," containing proper tections for Headache, Colds, Pain, euralgia, Lumbago, and Rheumatism, ame "Bayer" means genuine Aspirin escribed by physicians for nineteen hub. Handy tin boxes of 12 tablets st few cents. Aspirin is trade fuark Bayer Manufacture of Monoaceticidester of Salicylicacid. LIFT CORNS OR CALLUSES OFF * I Doesn't hurt! Lift any corn or callus off with fingers *'*' ^1 T r A m Don't suner: A tiny bottle of 'eezone costs but a few cents at y drug store. Apply a few drops the corns, calluses and "hard skin" bottom of feet, then lift them off. When Freezone removes corns om the toes or calluses from the ttom of feet, the skin beneath is ft pink and healthy and never sore, nder or irritated. )R SALE >ale. Also some for ; for terms. \L ESTATE Co. C. C. DOUGLASS, Vice.-I'res. Secy.-Treas. d fNSUSANCE tpanies and soil Flour, Corn, dog Products, Paints, Grease Oils; Monuments and TombHealth and Accident. ..... mentioned above it will save or in my office. I am in the when in Ruby, ("all and see LLERS S.C. D.OMAHA I 2EBs- H Work * s. The world j jrnish, and is xYl^LTy 'fore has the ve his country i is more neeId be made to vsKJIm!^ per class and 'frffvifMLyi s and inferior ?nt shedding, s best class of ^^^11|