Munsey's Magazine, December 1926

# Munsey's Magazine, December 1926

"Double Doubloons" by George F. Worts is a complete novelette blending domestic fantasy with mystery. Peggy McAllister, a city girl seeking country life, discovers an abandoned colonial farm atop a hilltop with scenic vistas, a lake, barns, and tool house—her dream property. While exploring the empty house, she encounters mysterious thuds and clanking chains from the attic, initially fearing ghosts. A red-haired young man emerges, introducing conflict: both intend to purchase the farm. Their dispute over land use—she wants chickens and ducks; he, a Cornell agricultural graduate, plans to raise hogs—escalates into heated argument. When the slightly intoxicated stranger nearly drowns himself in the hilltop lake, Peggy rescues him. He collapses afterward, leaving Peggy uncertain whether he's genuine or supernatural, sensing "distant wings" and "weird, unearthly music" in the air. The narrative leaves unresolved whether this mysterious rival represents natural or otherworldly danger to her plans.