The Argosy, Vol. 83 No. 1 — page 72: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

62 letter, telling him where he may find King- ~ sale. Take my word for it, if he got such a letter to-day, he would be at this place to-night.” “He would probably fear a trap,” Jerry remarked, entertaining the proposal spec- ulatively. : “He might fear something of the sort,” admitted the other, “but he would be here nevertheless. He’s a bold man and he has courage, and he would never let slip an opportunity to get even with Kingsale.” “T don’t get the idea,” said Jerry. “I don’t see how such an arrangement could benefit you in any way.” “Tt’s the case of the rabbit again,” ex- plained the older man. “As long as the hound and the fox can be kept at each other, the rabbit can rest in peace. I would like to bring about such an encoun- ter and I would like to be in a place of vantage, like this, to hear at least the echoes of the music. There might be a part for the rabbit to play, you see, when the hound and the fox were done with each other.”’ Jerry smiled. “Which is the hound?” he inquired idly. “T was only generalizing,” Delroy an- swered, “but Kingsale is one of the lowest, most contemptible hounds I ever knew, if you want me to particularize; and there never was a slyer fox than Irving Ex- moor.” “T liked him in the short time that I knew him,” Jerry remarked, “but now I am almost inclined to believe you. Where, by the way, does Foxford come in, in your human zoo?” “Foxford!’’ Delroy answered disgusted- ly, “he is an insect—a crawling parasite!” Hampton pondered gravely. “Well,” he said presently, “TI have given you the information gratuitously; it is yours to do with as you please. Perhaps _ «J know that it would be wiser for me to keep out of the affair—but if you want to send a message to Exmoor—I think I can find a way of getting it to him.” “You'll take it to him yourself!’ Delroy exclaimed eagerly. THE ARGOSY. “No, I won’t do that,” Jerry said em- phatically; “but I’ll see that it goes to the right place.” The older man glanced at the ancient shooting gallery and his eyes gleamed again. “Vl write a message for Exmoor,” he said, ‘and I don’t want to be far from here in case he comes to investigate.” CHAPTER XVIII. “BUTTON, BUTTON,” AN atmosphere of vague gloom per- vaded the Delroy household. Noth- ing had happened to disturb the sylvan quiet of Inwood since the night of the burglary, but Eugenia went out of doors with timid reluctance, and the maid ser- vant refused to go out at all. She kept constant watch at the kitchen window for the gray-bearded man, and on two occasions she aroused the family with false alarms. Milton Delroy returned late in the af- ternoon and informed his daughter that he had spent a part of the morning very pleasantly with Jerry Hampton. ' “A fine chap!” he remarked. ‘They call him a dreamer, an idealist, and all that sort of thing, but he has a head on his shoulders and we’ll hear from him yet. I really wish we might see more of him here, Eugenia.” The girl frowned and tapped the rug with the toe of her slipper. “T can’t understand these glaring incon- sistencies of yours, father,” she remarked. “Tt was only the other day that you were calling Jerry Hampton an insolent upstart. and a dozen other things. You objected violently even to my being seen with him, and now you turn absolutely about and regret that he doesn’t come here oftener.” The father waved his hands deprecat- ingly. “T know, I know,” he returned, “but I really haven’t been myself for a long time. You must forgive me for my erratic no- tions, Eugenia. I was at fault in not COMMICELOOOKS (C@