Cowardice 
Court 
By 
GEORGE BARR MCUTCHEON 
Copyright. 1906. Dodd Mead & Co. 
[CONTINUED. ] 
“You ran?’ She accepted the watch 
with surprise and unbelief. 
“Here is the line. Miss Drake,” he 
evaded. ‘Consider yourself ignomin- 
fously ejected Have I been unneces- 
sarily rough and expeditious?” 
“You have had a long and tiresome 
walk,” she said, settling herself for a 
merry clip “Please don’t step on our 
side.” He released the bridle rein and 
doffed his hat 
“7 shall bring my horse tomorrow,” 
he remarked significantly 
“TI may bring the duke,” she said 
sweetly 
“In that case I shall have to bring 
an extra man to lead his horse It 
won’t matter.” 
“So this rock is the dividing line?’ 
“Yes; you are on the safe side now 
—and so am |, for that matter. The 
line is here,” and he drew a broad line 
in the dust from one side of the road 
to the other ‘My orders are that you 
are not to ride across that line at your 
peril.” 
“And you are not to cross it either at 
your peril” 
“Do you dare me?” with an eager 
step forward. 
“Goodby ” 
“Goodby! I say, are you sure you 
can find the Renwood cottage?’ he 
ealled after her The answer came 
back through the clatter of hoofs, ac- 
companied by a smile that seduced his 
self possession 
“] shall find it in time.” 
For a !ong time he stood watching 
her as she raced down the road, 
“At my peril,” he mused, shaking his 
head with a queer smile. ‘By George, 
that’s fair warning enough She’s 
beautiful * 
At dinner that night the Hon Pene- 
lope restored the watch to her broth- 
er, much to his embarrassment, for he 
had told the duke it was being repair- 
ed in town 
“Tt wasn't this watch that | meant, 
old chap.” he announced irreverently to 
the duke, quite red in the face ‘‘Where 
did you find it, Pen? She caught the 
plea in his eye and responded loyally. 
“You dropped it, | daresay, in pur- 
suing Mr Shaw.” 
The positive radiance which followed 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
aismiay 10 Yis watery eyes convincea 
her beyond al! doubt that her brother’s 
encounter with the tall Mr Shaw was 
not quite creditable to Bazelhurst arms. 
She listened with pensive indifference 
to the oft repeated story of how he 
had routed the ‘insufferable cad,” en- 
couraged by the support of champagne 
and the solicited approval of two eye 
witnesses She could not repress the 
mixed feelings of scorn. shame and 
pity, as she surveyed the array of men 
who so mercilessly flayed the healthy, 
fair faced young man with a gentle 
strength 
The house party had been augmented 
during the day by the arrival of a half 
& dozen men and women from the city, 
brain fagged, listless and smart. The 
big cottage now was full, the com- 
pany complete for three weeks at least. 
She looked ahead, this fresh, vigorous 
young Englishwoman, and wondered 
how she was to endure the staleness of 
life. 
There was some relief in the thought 
that the men would make love to the 
good looking young married women— 
at least part of the time—and—but it 
depressed her in turn to think of the 
leftover husbands who would make 
love to her. 
“Why is it that Evelyn doesn’t have 
real men here—like this Mr. Shaw?” 
she found herself wondering vaguely 
as the night wore on. 
CHAPTER III. 
In Which a Dog Trespasses, 
JENELOPE was a perverse and 
calculating young person She 
was her own mistress and 
# privileged to ride as often as 
she pleased, but it seemed rather odd— 
although splendidly decorous—that she 
did not venture upon Mr. Shaw’s es- 
tate for more than a week after her 
first encounter with the feudal baron. 
If she found a peculiarly feminine gat- 
isfaction in speculating on his disap- 
pointment, it is not to be wondered at. 
Womanly insight told her that Ran- 
dolph Shaw rode forth each day and 
watched with bhawklike vigilance for 
the promised trespasser In her imag- 
ination she could almost hear him 
curse the luck that was helping her to 
evade the patrol. 
One morning after a rain she rode 
with the duke to the spot where Shaw 
had drawn his line in the road. She 
felt a thrill of something she could not 
define on discovering that the wet soil 
on the opposite side of the line was 
disfigured by a mass of fresh hoof 
prints. She rejoiced to find that his 
vigil was incessant and worthy of the 
respect it imposed. The desire to visit 
the haunted house was growing more 
and more irresistible, but she turned 
it aside with all the relentless per- 
verseness of a woman who feels it 
worth while to procrastinate. 
Truth to tell, Randolph Shaw was go- 
ing hollow eyed and faint in his 
ceaseless, racking watch for trespass- 
erg. 
“Here is the line, Miss Drake.” 
Penelope laughed aloud as she gazea 
upon the tangle of hoof prints. The 
duke looked as surprised as it was 
possible for him to look after the wear 
of the past night. 
“Hang it all, Penelope,” he said. “I 
didn’t say anything, don’t you know.” 
“I was just thinking,” she said hasti- 
ly, “what fun it would be for us to ex- 
plore the haunted house.” 
“Oh, I say, Pen, that’s going out of 
the way for a little fun, isn’t it? My 
word, it’s a filthy old house with rats 
and mice and all that—no place for a 
ghost, much less a nice little human 
being like you. They’re all like that.” 
“I think you are afraid to go,” said 
she. 
“Afraid of ghosts? Pshaw!’ sniffed 
the duke, sticking out his chest. 
“Yes, Shaw; that’s whom you’re 
afraid of.” 
“Now, see here, Pen, you shouldn’t 
say that. Shaw’s a d—, a cad. See 
what Cecil did to him. Remember 
that? Well, pooh! What would | do 
to him?’ Penelope looked him over 
critically 
“T’ll admit that you’re larger and 
younger than Cecil,” she confessed 
grudgingly “But they say Mr. Shaw 
is a giant killer.” The duke dropped 
his monocle and guffawed loudly. 
“Good!"" he cried in the ecstasy of 
pride. His worn, dissipated face light- 
ed up with unwonted interest. “TI say, 
Pen, that’s the nicest thing you’ve said 
to me in a week You’ve been so 
deuced cold of late. I don’t under- 
stand. I’m not such a bad lot, you 
knaw.”' 
LE LLL LC eer 
