The Red Lock A Tale of the Flatwoods By DAVID ANDERSON Author of The Blue Moon® a Copyright by The Bobba-Merrill Co, CHAPTER X-—Continued. Dem In the glowing embers another face began to form, slowly—a face hand- some in spite of its forbidding beard, formidable spectacles and drawn, peering eyes. Every act of the eccen- tric preacher-schoolmaster, since the day the Milford stage dropped him in front of the post office, passed be- fore his mind-—every act, as far as known, had been scrupulously circum- spect. Dreaming there by the dead embers of the fire, the woodsman found him- self analyzing the preacher, in his careful way, from shiny boots to high hat. The {ill-health excuse he had never believed, or rather, had set it down to an imaginary allment—the man looked absolutely fit to enter a cross-country relay. He eliminated the elaborate frock coat, stiff neck stock, high hat and spectacles—divested of all oddities and accessories, there re mained a tall and very capable man. Then, there was the ivory-handled six-gun that happened to thud against the bottom of the skiff, and a pair of very deft hands feeling over the stacks of clothes—a circumstance that had to- tally escaped the other members of the seining party. there was the perfect agreement the heel prints on the dusty deck of the con realed houseboat—another circum. stance that he alone knew. If he was a college professor and a minister what was he doing in the Flatwoods? If he was not, still, what was he doing in the Flatwoods? As he pondered, suddenly the dark face that had flared up from the floor of the woods and glowered at him over the log, slid into his mind. Seo close it came upon the heels of his at- tempted analysis of the preacher that the two thoughts fused into one. The connection was startling. It brought him up out of his chair and left him staring through the open cabin door into the night. Was there a connection? be possible that Ken, crime-stained and low-fallen, had sneaked back to the Flatwoods, and the preacher, be ing a college friend, was trying to be friend him—possibly save him? But R80; there was the letter—it was ahso- lutely genuine. The woodsman straightened stretched to rouse himself from the wild spell of the thought, to drag him- self back from the drift of it: felt the revolver at his hip; crossed the floor and stepped out into the yard. The night was unruffled: the woods breathed softly In the pale starlight. Back in the hills a red fox was bark- ing; over In the bottoms a plover whistled his melancholy cally the lonesome wall of a timber wolf drift ed down out of Eagle hollow. But for the true woodsman the night has messages that other ears do not hear. As he stood in the yard sifting the sounds that rode the alr, he sud- denly bent forward and stood keenly listening. The frogs In Eagle run, just below the bridge In front of Uncle Nick's, had abruptly stopped croaking, only to begin again after a moment, while the frogs farther down fell sl- lent—somebody was walking along the bank of the little stream. Somebody ~frogs do mot stop croaking at the tread of cattle or other like animals, It was near midnight. Why should anybody be prowling In so secluded a spot at such an hour? The alert and experienced woodsman could even gauge the speed of the prowler by the successive silences that fell as he moved down the stream. He was go- Ing slowly-—possibly creeping. From the bridge at Uncle Nick's a foot-path led down the east bank of Eagle run and divided a short dis tance below, one fork leading around the base of Black rock to the War- hope homestead, the other on down the stream, through a small pasture lot and into the park-like orchard and grounds of Simon Colin, It was along this fork of the path that the night prowler was apparently stealing. The woodsman hurriedly closed the cabin door, ran across the corner of the fallow yard, and the next moment was creeping cautiously along the fork of the path that led around under the dense shadows at the base of Black rock. The caution of Jack Warhope was seldom at fault. There was always the chance that the wooderaft of the wan he followed was as fine as his own. He paid him the compliment of keeping back from the stream, out of earshot of the frogs, and silently took up the trall, Where the path crossed the fence Into the little park the prowler stopped and stood for some time lis tening intently, It is a law of the woods—fundamen- Besides, of Might It and steps away, 8 stood quiet a as the breath of the night and walted. With a final searching look in every direction, the man by the fence climbed cautiously over and stole down the creek bank Into the little park. Jack crept up te the fence, crawled over and followed. At Whispering spring the night prowler crouched down by the rustic seat, put his hands to his mouth and very cleverly imitated the quavering call of the screech owl. Jack selzed the favorable moment, crept up as near as he deemed prudent and hid in the dense shadow of a clump of shrub- bery. The night was so placid that dur ing the Intervals between the imita- tive calls the low murmur of Whisper- ing spring fell distinct and clear upon the silence. A few steps away the red-roofed cottage bulked large in the gloom, The man had already twice given his call and was about to give it a third time, when the parlor door at the front of the house rather noisily opened, and a man came down off the porch and across the yard. As he walked over the brink of the slight decline where the yard dipped to the creek, he passed in outline for a brief moment against the southern sky. It was the preacher, His glasses were off, the stoop gone from his shoulders and his step showed not a sign of mincing. He was partly dressed, partly in his night clothes—precisely as one who had wakened naturally from sleep and gone into the yard for some trifling purpose or other. There was a light spot at his hip which the watcher under the clump of shrubbery sur- mised to be the ivory handle of the six-gun that had thudded against the bottom of the skiff. He went straight to the spring, took down the dipper and dipped himself a drink, making a deal of noise in the act—even an unnecessary amount of it, as it seemed to the critical ears unider the shrubbery. The drink over, he hung up the dip- per, with another clatter; sauntered past the man crouched by the rustle seat; snatched something that was reached out to him; hid it in the bosom of his shirt; whispered a very hurried word or two; strolled back up the yard; crossed the porch; tered the parlor door and locked it be hind him. The man crouching by the seat half- rose and slipped back the way he had come, the frogs, lent as he came even with them and had passed. Jack tried hard to make him out as he stole by, less than a dozen steps away, but he the effort was in vain. And so they hdd come—and gone. the night. A clean breeze came down out of the cool dells of the serene woods as If to sweep away the taint of thelr presence The woodsman lay a long time lis- tening, and reviewing the astonishing pantomime. Not a sound did he hear. He glanced up at the red-roofed cot- tage. From porch step to gable it lay as peaceful as Its background of placid sky. It was hard to think that at that danger-center of some Intangible web well as he knew his own small eabin “—along the south and fronting the road the seldom used parlor, with on the east; back of these the ting-room, and the old banker's bed- room adjoining it, with the small room containing it on the west distance beyond of these rooms back of it the kitchen, Front entrance to both parlor and sitting-room was from the wide porch, which filled up almost the entire Jog between the parlor and the small room that served as office. Mrs. Curry and Texie both slept up- stairs, the latter over the old banker's bedroom, the former over the office. There were no rooms above the par. lor and spare bedroom, these, with the porch, being a later addition to the original building, With every possible caution Jack slowly crawled up the yard, around back of the house, and under the part. ly open window of the parior bed- room ; lay listening for a guarded mo- ment; them rose, noiseless as the night, and peeped within, On a chair just under the window hung the somber frock coat; on the bed a man breathed even and deep, apparently sleeping as tranquilly as a tired athlete, and extending some the main wall; back CHAPTER XI Knives of the Night. A man strolling carelessly through the woods would be surprised to know how many eyes are on him, how many creatures scrooch In the covers and wait for him to pass. He might even Imagine from the silence that he is alone. The true woodsman knows that he is never alone, that his slightest move is watched by a thousand eyes. The stillness does not deceive him. But let something happen—a stick snap, or some creature break cover in sudden panic—and instantly all is commotion. The still woods wake to the call of voices, the beat of wings, the clatter of scampering feet. In such quiet lay the forest next morning when Jack W that “happened to be hiding under the brush instantly flushed. It seemed as If the flurry of his wings fanned the whole woods allve. A fox squirrel bounced up out of the leaves and skurried away; a chipmunk dived into his den; a palr of blue jays set up their strident screech; a crow left the dead limb of an oak and went floundering along over the treetops squawking the news that the most dangerous ani A phedsant in the woods. With the heavy shotgun he carried ~~ present from the banker—Jack covered the pheasant as It glanced away until it blended with the dull gray of the trees and faded from sight. He dropped the butt of the gun to the leaves and stood listening to the beat of the swift wings, grow: ing fainter, finally ending abruptly, and he knew again to the brush. “Well, ol" drummer,” he chuckled, speaking half aloud-—a habit the woods teach men-—and throwing the shotgun lightly across his arm, “yu didn’t need t' rush off without s' much as sayin’ good morning. ‘a’ stopped y'u If I'd be'n a-mind to. trigger finger.” Theugh Jack Warhope was consid ered a man of clumsy tongue, he could talk well enough to himself, or to the creatures of the woods. He ble philosophy—a sort Idealism——that times, The woods—the true, the constant the steadfast woods—the first stinct of unspolled men with a heart ache—the vastness, the all clency, the Immense Shekinah of the solitudes. With the gun lying across his arm he stepped cautiously tc where the pheasant had flushed and peered about under the brush bushes, of outcropped romantic #t such Metallic Brocade for Evening Wear Winsome Fabric Reveals Sumptuousness When Worn at Night. The metallic brocades ure extremely smart this season, and they reveal thelr beauty and sumptususness when worn at night, On the other hand, ob- serves a fashion writer in the Cleve land Plain Dealer, if one buys a frock with the Idea of making use of it throughout the spring, one of filmy tulle or chiffon will give excellent serv- lee. Satin Is making its appearance as an evening fabric, white being es- pecially good. And speaking of colors, don’t be afraid to buy an evening frock in some vivid shade such as rose, flume, jade green, gold, Japanese tangerine, am- ber, turquoise blue or silver. in brocades as well as in plain ma- terials. As regards necklines, the bateau line across the front, the back | may be cut in a deep V. The round | neck Is used for dinner gowns, and the | For the more extreme single shoulder strap is often used, the bare or having ornament or floral diagonal effect. these lovely embroidered silken shawls, the one-strap effect being used for the bodice with a diagonal draping line across the figure, Gone Is the huge squash-like colf- fure with which a few seasons ago we used to hide our ears. The fluffy out~ standing bob Is also passe, its place being taken by a close boyish cut which may be waved or worn plain. Even the matron who xtill clings to her uncut locks combs them close about her head In as boyish a manner as possible, Simple little bundeaux may be worn, or the hair is left unadorned, Extremely long earrings sre in vogue, while bracelets and beads may be util. ized In earrying out the color scheme of one's costume, Match your feather fan with a van- ity bag 18 one of the very newest fads, These clever bags come In the guise of harem-clad ladles thelr silken gar- ments being trimmed with black silk net and black ostrich. Thelr net-edged sleeves serve as drawstrings while a one's fan, The colors are jade, or- chid, coral, blue and flame, For street wear the dress-and-wrap costume is a distinet favorite with the most frequently worked out with a cape, long or short, and often with straight rectangular scarfs that | have slits for the hands, Very Smart Cape Dress hinese shawl which Is as well as the Spanish or C 80 pronounced In New York should not make itself felt everywhere. It plays such a prominent part abroad fn matters sartorial that returning extreme minuteness glimpse of weed or blade, every bark leaf, or or lay along the side of a log, began to take shape, his position for a better gray-brown spot was gone. He located It again, and as he crumbling view- fectly harmonizing with the leaves and brush among which she hovered that only the very keenest eye eould have spled her out at all. “Let ‘er alone™ at a safe distance. “Let find ‘er. She'll the fox can't, greatest dread right now.” ‘er think 1} think enough yet to conceal a man walking back the sun from peeping dower through the thick tangle of twigs and coaxing forth flower and grass blade The silver sheath of the hickory buds had al the deileate in to the purple sheen the rent scales. forth thelr new foliage, the tender tips of investing the wak infant still there » light, In readiness to shield the fragile flowers of white wax that were soon to hover beneath their shelter ing folds; and, draped over all, » shimmering silver haze, the gracious bevediction of the skies. The man stopped before a erab apple tree, the buds of which were opened just enough to make one curl ous to see more of the beautiful mystery folded teasingly away within the protecting scales, Already some bees, ploneers of thelr tribe, fussed about the aromatic clusters of peep ing color, gathering statistics on the season's honey crop. A breeze stirred the trees, as If the woods were taking a deeper breath. Jack lifted his shodldérs and filled his lungs with the nectar-laden | air. Warmed by the exuberance of life that rustied and quiversd and thrilled around him there gushed up i primal closeness to nature. He dropped the butt of the gun to the leaves, leaned lightly upon It and stood listening to the dull droning ef the bees, (TO BE CONTINUED.) Prayer of the Tree. . Upon a tree In Portugal a traveler | read this appeal: Ye who pass by and would raise your hand against me, harken ere you | harm me. I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights, from the summer sun. And my fruits are refreshing drafts, 1 am the beam that holds your house. the board of your table. the bed you lie on, the timber that bullds de- the sh Influence both In modes and signs for the coming spring. In East entire frocks are fashioned Features of This Dress ha A OE a For the dance, this charming jade evening dress, trimmed charmingly with silver lace, should be the pride of any young woman, Showing a winsome cape dress, In which “pompom™ fabric, is done in a most interesting The Three-Piece Suit The question of how to appear to advantage upon all daytime occasions is answered by the three-plece sult Extremely simple and smart In line a decidedly elaborate aspect when the Underneath is either a really beautiful one-plece frock or a These blouses, by the way, have never been more exquisite, There instance, a ravishingly lovely affair of pale silver cloth, sleeveless and with a rounded neckline. Hands and Nails May Be Kept in Condition If a Httle sympathetic care and at- tention are given to the hands and nalls at the end of a few months their condition will show a grest improve ment. Cracked and split nalls are often a sign of Ill health. A nightly applica- tion of cold cream, however, often helps to overcome this condition. The hands should be immersed In warm, soapy water for a few moments, Then with a soft plece of old linen or silk press back the cuticle of each nall, separately. For 16 minutes soak tips of the fingers In soapy water. After taking care of the cuticle apply the polish, paste or powder. Powder should be moistened with cologne before apply- | Ing. Next, take a plece of coarse linen cloth and before the polish has a chance to dry rub the nalls well, Then finish by about a ten minutes’ rubbing | with a chamols buffer. This will give a brillant polish, ¥ Lemon julece will give the nails the | much desired transparency besides be- ' ing an good preventive for growing cuti- cle, Lemon juice also ix a splendid skin smooth. It i= as cleansing as gonp and water. When household or sther duties make the hunds rough and iry lemon julce should be used Instead J soap and water, Late Fashion Notes of loomed brocades, filmed with rainbow gauze, Sardinian filet, hitherto used princi. pally In fine luncheon sets, Is seen upon afternoon frocks. This use for it Is part of the wide vogue for laces of every kind. Wooden jewelry is seen now and or Russian designs. This wood Is smooth as satin, highly polished and carved into remarkable designs. Choker necklaces of huge pearls are a renalssance of the choker neck or naments so fashionable last season. folls for the black velvet frock. Egyptian allover embroidery is now seen on swanky little short-conted suits designed for winter resort wear. In some cases quaint little Egyptian faces peer out In the midst of lotus buds and anclent religious symbols, Uncut emgralds In dull gold setting of an old-fashioned and heavy design were the jewels worn by one marvel ously gowned woman at the opera. Her dress was of self-velvet In a shade that matched the misted green of her Jewels, There is a fad for rather small taf. feta wrist bags to be earried to the opera. These perighably dainty things in faint rose, lavender and pearly white are just large enough to hold fan, opera glasses, handkerchief and powder box. They are long and nar Skin Troubles] we Soothed = With Cuticura LN ul 9%, Y dun Toe — “THE BEST WAY T0 GET YOUR IRON HYSICIANS have prescribed Gude’s Pepto-Mangan for 30 years because of its supply of iron. They found that it was readily absorbed, did not irritate the stom- ach and quickly toned and strength- ened the system. At your drug- gist's, in both liquid and tablets. Free Trial Tablets 72 oor poomeit the health-building value of Gude's Pepto-Mangan, write today for generous Trial Package of Tablets. Send Bo money -— just name and address to M. J. Breitenbach Co, §3 Warren St, N. ¥. 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