Meredith Nicholson

“ I will make you rich! I know where there are mines, richer, far richer than the Don Carlos. I have friends, many of them, who will help. You shall be rich—forty thousand dollars paid in gold to-morrow. Let me go, señor, and I will repay you ten thousand times!"
LANDON walked slowly to the door.
"Thompson, Señor Alba complains that he hasn't had enough to eat; bring him double portions hereafter."
"It will be best for you to meet your father alone," he said to Pepita when he returned to the house. "The school car will carry you to town, and Mrs. Thompson will accompany you." ”

“ One thing was certain—the strange prowler was a woman; yet the caretaker had told him—he remembered it distinctly—that all the students and guests had gone. Whoever she was the visitor seemed to have become confused, and her movements grew bolder. She was now approaching him again, doubtless seeking to retrace her steps. He was bending forward, all his senses alert, when a hand touched his face—a soft palm whose contact caused his cheek to tingle. ”

“ He sniffed the invigorating air happily as a motor bore them out of Biltingham and through the hills. Entering the grounds, they wound through a heavy woodland that yielded to a lawn beyond which lay the school. The acting principal received them, and they proceeded at once to the quad, where all was in readiness for the closing exercises. As Landon stepped upon the platform there was a flutter as the students rose. ”

“ And it is not well for one so innocent to have a murderer for her father."
"Annoying, to say the least, Señor Barada!"
"Moreover" (and Barada chuckled softly) , "it is best to permit others to take vengeance for us upon our enemies. Miguel has foolishly been selling forged bonds in a Peruvian company with which I have no connection. The police are already seeking him, I learned from our consul who met me in New York. The law should have its way—is it not so? By the way, Señor Landon, I remember well your interest in the Don Carlos. ”

“ As the match flamed slowly, he found himself looking once more into the dark eyes that had roused his interest in the quad during the exercises.
"I beg your pardon," he gasped. "Please wait till I turn on the lights."
He struck another match to guide him, snapped the switch, and turned toward her in a flood of light. She was undeniably the same young woman, dressed exactly as she had been when she stepped into the motor at the door. There was only the one difference that the lovely eyes were bright with tears. She stood twisting her hands nervously. ”

“ Miss Barada is here," growled Thompson, rubbing his eyes.
"Ah!" cried Alba, glowering at the woman. "It is as I said." Then, turning upon the caretaker authoritatively: "You will summon her at once, porter. She must resume her journey immediately!"
"Miss Barada has retired and can't be disturbed," Thompson replied, quoting Landon exactly.
"But her father—he will arrive in New York and expect to find his daughter. She must be aroused at once; there is no time to lose!" ”

“ He had told his employers that Barada must be defeated if at all in a test of wits, and his own were well nigh exhausted in his effort to maintain the key of this astonishing conversation.
"I think," Landon remarked in a very fair imitation of Barada's manner, "that I understand what is in your mind, Señor Barada. The knife of a friend is twice dangerous when he becomes an enemy." ”

“ He has been to the gym to look after the gentleman there. He said to tell you there was nothing to report."
PEPITA ran toward him as he appeared at the edge of the lawn. Her dark cheeks were aglow, and she seemed even lovelier than he had thought her as he watched her from the platform among her fellow students.
"Mrs. Thompson thinks it would be altogether proper for us to breakfast together. If you have no objections, señorita—"
"Oh, I told her I would wait for you! It's very stupid eating alone."
"But it is not the way of your people: a young girl and a strange man—not so very old!" ”

“ With a gesture of impatience Alba turned to his companion.
"Maria, the man is a fool. Go above and find Pepita. Tell her she must come with us at once."
He seized Señorita Valderos and was pushing her toward the stairway when Thompson caught him by the collar and flung him back.
"Don't try that! What do I know about you? For all I know you're thieves! I tell you you can't see Miss Barada to-night. Clear right out o' this—"
ALBA slipped out of his coat and made another attempt to reach the stair steps. ”

“ Then my father had to go to England, and that made it possible for him to meet me in New York on his way home. Señor Alba had been here to see me just once—once," she repeated spitefully. "He wished me to marry him and remain in your country. It is not the way of my people, as you understand, Señor Landon. My dear father would be very angry—"
THE anger of Juan Maria Barada at any such proceeding on his daughter's part was so poorly indicated by Pepita's gentle tone that Landon with difficulty concealed his mirth. ”

“ The friend we both admire has been employing himself happily in the gymnasium; exercise is wholesome, as you know, señor."
There was no accounting for Barada. Landon's respect for him increased. Instead of the noise and bluster he had expected, the Peruvian was conducting himself with a restraint that was as baffling as it was amusing.
When they were halfway to the gym Landon saw Thompson running toward them.
"He's gone; the prisoner has escaped;" blurted the gardener. ”

“ If he asks for Miss Barada, you will say to him that she is here and that she will remain until her father arrives. If he acts ugly, I'll get in the game. I take full responsibility for the whole business. This is a lonely place: I suppose we might kill a man and bury him without anybody's being the wiser. But we'll hope it won't come to that," he ended cheerfully and went to the telephone to dictate his telegrams.
HE WAS reading in the library hall when at two o'clock the rapid approach of a motor aroused him. ”

“ Thompson shook his head slowly.
"Very sorry; but it's my orders. I can't waken Miss Barada. She is asleep in my wife's care."
"I tell you it's all a mistake!" cried Alba angrily. "The señorita only returned to wait for us; we are her father's friends. This lady is well known to the school authorities. We must lose no time in returning to New York."
"My wife said Miss Barada would sleep very late; you'll have to come back in the morning!' said Thompson as Landon had coached him. ”

“ It was incredible that he knew anyone in that company. All the girls he had ever known were long beyond school age. There was something unreal in his vague impression that among all those strangers there was some one he had seen before. ”

“ Barada's a big power down there—political, commercial, and social. An amusing devil in his way, quite capable of inviting you to dinner and after feeding you full of good food passing the wink to have a knife inserted in vulnerable portions of your anatomy as you leave his doorstep smoking one of his cigars—a special article that costs him two dollars apiece. Nothing's too good for his enemies! ”

“ Landon replied hastily. "You know I'm not up to much just yet; suppose we let social matters wait a little."
"Certainly; I merely want you to know that you needn't be a hermit unless you want to."
He bade the last of the teachers good-by and lounged about the handsome library where Thompson, the gardener, who had been installed as caretaker during the vacation, came to report that the house was cleared.
"Mr. Phipps said you hadn't been feeling well, sir. I hope we can make you quite comfortable here. You will find your rooms very cool on the hot days. ”

“ He bade the driver bear the lady to Biltingham as expeditiously as possible and stood in the court until the tail lights of the machine disappeared. When he returned to the library Alba lay on the floor with his hands tied under him and a wad of cloth firmly fixed in his mouth. Landon walked to the foot of the stairway and listened. Evidently Pepita and her guardian slept peacefully.
"We got out of that very comfortably, Thompson; thanks to you. These fellows are very quick with the knife." ”

“ He bought a ticket and checked his battered luggage to Biltingham, Mass., with an agreeable sense that he was putting the Don Carlos far behind him.
"I HOPE you won't buck at the suggestion, Landon," said Phipps, the attorney for Miss Thornton's estate, "but the acting principal thought it would be a good idea for you to say something—just a word or two—at the commencement."
"Make a speech!" Landon groaned. It would be bad enough to sit on the platform and submit himself to the inspection of the commencement day audience without attempting an address. Speeches were not in his line. ”

“ The rest of the day he studied time-tables, pondered the calendar, and sent telegrams. On the second day the limited bore him eastward.
THE gentlemen of the syndicate that had employed Landon to superintend a copper property in Peru to which they held a dubious title were politely attentive to his verbal report of his experiences. They had many other interests, and if they lost the Don Carlos they would still be able to eat thrice daily. Landon was disposed to take a humorous view of his two years' exile. ”