The Simple Case of Susan

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 246, 14 October 1908, Page 10

The Simple Case of Susan

QTTES FUTREIJ-E. U

. xvn. ■'_'.' ._- , ;_-_r- J W-ihror was interested. By .Jove, it "was just like a.page out of a Williamson story, _____d"_iqj.7_i--t an: Agnes and _Sgerton Gastle eh»pter.! "Coming down to brass tacks, there's an elopement on," Paul continued, still j staring hard at Mr. Wilbur. "We were j to go to meet the girl at a quarter of seven o'clock. It's now- -about, five m_u~' ■ntes past. seven, and " He - waved •' his bands despairingly. ". "This—tins" —and Mr. Wilbur noddedtawards the other room—"this isn't tke girl then?" ! -"No," Paul replied. "My—er—this ; lady has nothing to do with the affair beyond chaperoning the girl to the place of meeting." He paused. "My car is somewhere in the Park, out of 'commission; I can't go away and leave her here, not knowing what's the matter ■with her; it's twenty minutes past meeting ti___, and the bride-to-be is probably crying her eyes out. Your car is at the door. You can straighten the whole thing out. Will you do it?" And then a huge wave of comprehension swept over Mr. Wilbur. Susan was not eloping! Of course not! She was j merely aiding someone who was. Perhaps this Hack moustached chap was the bridegroom. "Will you do it?" Paul repeated! tersely. ■ Nothing so quickly begets a spirit of! reparation a_ a realization of having wronged ->ne. Suddenly Mr. Wilbur found himself utterly ashamed of his ■ EuspicioßS, and with this shame came an ! irresistible impulse to make amends by j whatever means came to hand. Here ! evidently was an opportunity to oblige j Susan. "11l do it," he said unhesitatingly. "Where a.m I to go?" *" '"'One other thing," Paul continued im- j pressively. "It may be, if the girl is still waiting, there will be an attempt made to follow you. Of course you JFOuld know what to do in that case." "I understand," replied Mr. Wilbur. He drew out a pair of goggles and tied them on, settled his cap, tugged at his gloves and accepted a card which Paul i handed him. There was some crisp in- ! Gtmctions and he went out. Paul stood j Etill until he heard the whirl of the automobile outside as it started away, and j then went in to tell Susan. " j Mr. Wilbur pulled out of Ninety-sixth • Street into Central Park West and wentj dne north with slowly increasing mo- j mentum. The wind brushed his cheeks ! gratefully and fanned a smouldering' enthusiasm into flames. It was the. nearest thing to an adventure that had ever com. his way. And- he was beginning to like it tremendously. The ~un- ! certainty of it all, and the mystery, and - the feeling of responsibility for tho hap-; piness to two unknown hearts! Confound it, it was bully to be doing something! j Fortunately for his peace of mind it did I not occur to him that he had heard SuBan kiss this dark moustached chap, and! avow her love for him—he remembered j only that he_ had misjudged her and that now-he-was .making amends.- '-• - At One | Hundred and Fifth Street a policeman shouted at liim warningly. Mr. Wilbur grinned with the sheer delight of the thing and slithered, on his _way. j He "tamed .East at- One Hundred and j Tenth Street with undiminished speed, j and the North end of Central Park slid j gloomily past on his right. At St. | •Nicholas Avenue he eased up a little and i proceeded more sedately to Fifth Avenue. A few quick, furtve glances all round, j then he turned and ca-me back along j One Hundred and "Tenth - S&eet, very i slowly hugging the curb next to the! Park, until be had covered about half a j iJocl-. There be stopped, i honk, honk!" remarked the i car impatiently. ' Then - "Honk, honk!"! . . __ again; "__oi___, ho__c!" j Mr. Wilbnr peered with eager eyes in- j to the darkness. After a moment a j figure detached Tts'e_t"_ro___.' the, shadows '. —a slender, girlish- ran to : wards the automobile. Mr. Wilbur I leaped out and threw open the door of j the tonneau, incidently straining his eyes to get a glimpse of the girl's face \ a_ he haaid-dTier in. ' His "curiosity was i Tetraked by a heavy veil which enviously enveloped" head . and iace and throat, j But Mx- Wi-bur.: knew intuitively that she -was"" "pretty. " He paused just for a moment to satisfy himself that his machine was shipshape, aad then with a feeling of -exultation took his seat again. A veiled lady! By George it was according to Hoyle! The accident in the Park, the mysterious man, and the veiled lady! The car moved west slowly. He almost i regretted that the only tiling remaining for him now was to deliver the girl to an address in Sixty-fifth Street—the i number. written on the_ card. Anyway, he would claim the right of being' Best \ man at the wedding! j His meditations were interrupted by j the weight of a. light hand on his \ ehoulder. He turned suddenly. "Look!" exclaimed the veiled lady j anxiously. Mr. Wilbur looked. A huge touring . car had bulged suddenly into the street j from Fifth Avenue, and was drawing up j mx. the curb on the Park side. It con- I iained a chauffeur, one other man, and j a. woman in the rear seat. j "Honk, honk, honk!" said the new- j comer. ir Hon._, honk, honk!" And again: "Honk, honk!" j "The signal, by Jove," remarked Mr. Wilbur to himself. "It isn't all over, .after all." And he was positively glad of it. "Honk, bonk, honk!" his car bellowed defiantly. "Honk, honk!" And again: -Honk, honk!" It was a spirit of daredeviltry that prompted the challenge. Instantly the challenge was accepted and the big touring car behind started forward with a jerk. Mr- -W__bar grinned, threw in his high-speed gear, and started. "Honk, honk, honk!" screamed the ear behind. It was moving like the .rind now. "Honk, honk, honk!" taunted the car ahead Speed ordinances are idiotic things, anyway. If you don't believe it ack an autOTnobflist- Mr. Wilbur didn't -think much of them evidently, for he gave his car her head now, and buckled down over the steering wheel. He glanced back once to reassure the veiled lady. .Don't be aJarined," he said exultingly. "Nothing on wheels can catch this car." Straight along One Hundred and Tenth -Street, a sudden swerve to the right, and St. Nicholas Avenue lay •traigirt before him. The other car came on and s .served in after him. Delightfi_ little tbr_Us were chasing up and down Mr. Wilbur's aristocratic spine. He woold keep going uptown «___-! he shook off his - pursuer, then •la*fc_ cut of the way and double bads. - . i :

That.-was'his purpose; and, incidenfcly., it was one of the few times in his life ! that he had a definite purpose. And -so the cars raced on. sworn at j by- pedestrians, shouted at by policemen, barked at by little dogs, until - Central Park was lost in the darkness ; j behind and they were both swallowed ' up in the wilds of Harlem. ■ While telephone, telegraph, special 'j messengers and" two private detectives were busily ransacking New York City ior Mr. Stasawood, he was sitting in the drawing-room of his country place at , Tarry-town, om a Chippendale settle, with ! his feet o:i a Louis XIV. chair, telling Mortimer how to hang a picture. The place hadn't been opened for the season, the 'phones had not been connected, , therefore, it was the most unlikely place for Mr. Stan wood to he. ■ "A little more to the right, Mortimer," , he directed. "Yes, sir." And just then Hollis came in. Please, sir, Mr. Wilbur is here," Hollis announced, "and is very anxions to see you immediately." "Dan Wilbur?" "inquired Mr. Stanwood. "Ask him in." And a moment later Dan Wilbur appeared. Beneath a coating of dust Mr. Staiiwood was able to recognise him, and he rose in surprise. I "What's the matter, Dan?" he inquir- ) cd. "Sit down." _ • "T haven't a moment," Mr. Wilbur apologized. "I didn't 'know you were up -here. I came by on a chance of being < I able to borrow a car from your garage. < ! I knew you kept one or two up here. , j May I have it. - , : "Certainly," replied Mr. Stanwood. , j "B_?t what's the matter? What's the ( excitement?" j ' "My machine broke down a couple of - hundred yards .back here," Mr. Wilbur i j explained hastily. "I must have another ; at once im order to—to get back to New . York. It's a matter of vital import- , ance." He paused thoughtfully. "There's another car behind, chasing mc." "Chasing you?" repeated Mr. Stan- | wood. I "Hollis, run around to the garage and 1 bring that sixty horse-power machine to . j the door." Then to Mr. Wilbur: "Who's j .' chasing you? And why?" • I Mr. Wilbur nervously removed his ] j goggles and tied them on again. "Well, as a matter of fact," he con- • ( fessed. "I'm mixed up in an elopement, i and " I "Elopement?" interrupted Mr. Stan- : j wood in amazement. "Elopement ?" i "Oh, I'm not eloping," Mr. Wilbur hastened to explain. "I'm helping a chap who was to meet the girl and take . her to the place to be married. Im-1 ! mediately after I picked her up this j i other car appeared in pursuit, and we've | \ been racing all over Westchester ever j. ' since. My idea, of course, was to dodge j them and get back to New York, then . '. j just as I lost sight of them my car I J broke down. I hid the girl out in the j ' woods a couple of hundred yards back | i here until I could come here and bor- j row a car. That's all. She's waiting, ] scared to death, I -suppose, nut there ! in the woods.- and" I don't happen to i know how far back the pursuing car is." j He stopped breathlessly; there was a i twinkle in Mr. Stanwood's eyes. ; "If you're violating no confidence, ! who's the girl?" he asked. j Mr. Wilbur stared at him blankly. ! "I don't know," he confessed. "I don't ! even know who the man is. I don't ] know anything about it, except that I'm ' in honour bound to shake off that other i car .and get her down to Sixty-fifth j Street in a hurry." ; Mr. Stanwood laughed outright. j "Why, confound it, you've stirred up ] a genuine adventure, haven't you?" he Ij.chuckled. He clapped Mr. Wilbur on I the shoulder and led him- towards the i J front door. '"I didn't think it -was in i you, Dan/ he added. . j " 'Tis kind of queer, isn't it ?" Mr. ] . Wilbur said "I rather liked it at first— . i something different, you know. But I 11 couldn't lose that car behind mc to save !! mc. There must be a thousand dollars | in fines piled up against my machine. • Every policeman I passed shouted at roe . j and took my number." [ "Not getting tired of it, Dan?" Mr. Stanwood rebuked. "And you haven't de;.j livered the girl yet? Think of the | anxious hearts that are awaiting her. I Say, Dan," he went on suddenly, "let mc j get in, won't you? I haven't had any I real excitement for ten years. Let mc | go along with you? I'm going to town, j anyway." Mr. Wilbur considered it thoughtfully. "I can't see any objection," he said at last. -The girl won't mind, I don't suppose. I'm going to cut for the city as soon as I get the car. Come along.'" ; The churning of Mr. Stanwood's auto- ' j mobile came to them faintly _ _i out- | side. The millionaire swooped y, p hat ; and coat and rushed out. following Mr. j Wilbur. They routed out Hollis and ; tumbled into the front seat, side by j side. In his own automobile Mr. Stan- ! wood instantly assumed command. i "Now Jet's get the girl," he directed j tersely, "and then, Dan, my boy, we'll ! show 'em jrist how good we are. We j two are equal to an army, eh?" ; He poked Mr. Wilbur jovially in the i ribs, and chuckled. Why, this was more I fun than he'd ever had before in all his life! j "Of course, if that other automobile doe_n't come along it's simple enough now," Mr. Wilbur explained, as he put on power. "Let her come," boasted Mr. Stanwood. "We'll rum the ]eg 3 off her." Under Mr. Wilbur's dexterous manipulation the car twisted and squirmed out into the road again, and went snooping along through the darkness. After a minute or so the lights of his own ear, stationary beside the road, rose out of the gloom, and he stopped beside it. "Honk, bonk, honk!" observed the new car blatantly. "Honk, honk!" And again: "Honk, honk!" There was a crackling of twigs in the underbrush to the left, and the veiled lady appeared timidly, silhouetted against the light. Mr. Stanwood gallantly leaped out. For an instant the veiled lady hesitated as Mr. Stanford approached—hesitated as if she were contemplating flight. "It's all right—l'm here," Mr. Wilbur called out. "Here we are—right here," Mr. Stan- ! I wood instructed. "Got a little new blood in- the game, that's all," and he handed her into the tonneau. "Now, don't worry for a moment, little lady," , ie added paternally. ""We'll pull you « through all right. 'All the -world loves , a lover,' yon know. Ha! Ha! Ha! We , won*t keep Mm waiting a minute longer than -we can possibly help." The veiled lady __h____- \pei_ timidly into the farthest corner before this goodnatured outburst of -_a_nra_.ee. *od still :

chuckling, Mr. Stanwood clambered in beside Mr. Wfltwr again. Mr. Wilbur was listening intently; and Mr. Stanwood also listened. Faintly there came to them the chug-hug-chug of a rapid-ly-moving ear, and as they all looked hack her dazzling lights flashed into sight around a curve in the roadway. "There she comes!" announced Mr. Sbanwood delightedly. "Here we go," announced Mr. Wilbur grimly. "Now, my boy," remarked Mr. Stanwood placidly, "let's show 'em how faa-t a real automobile can run." Mr. Wilbur pulled her wide open and the machine fairly jumped out of her tracks. Mr. Stanwood's hat went skimming off into the night, like a rifleshot, and he only laughed. "Honk, honk, honk!" bleated the pursuing car. "Honk, honk, honk!" Mr. Stan.rood bleated back at it. The wind was sweeping up in their faces, tho keen night air was stinging colour into their cheeks, and Mr. Stanwood's hatless white head looked like a venerable porcupine. He settled back comfortably, enjoying every instant of it. while the darkened world went reeling past. (To be continued daily.)