Show mm HUNTING THE SHOE by H M EGBERT all the way over nicholson cholson Nl had tried to make the acquaintance of the girl in brown but try as hard bard as he could hs he failed to elicit anything more inore than a parting greeting from froin her she was named mary blary martin and he overheard her telling the steward that she ehe was a school teacher and spending her vacation on a tour of 0 the british cities nicholson was malting making a pleasure tour he was one of those fortunate young men who have sufficient income to make work unnecessary not that ho be was an idler lie he meant to take up sociology seriously was in fact on an hlis his way to england at the invitation of a friend to attend some crowd t 3 1 political meetings in the black q country the industrial part of the midlands the girl in brown would not say anything more than good morning and good evening she even seemed to resent Nich nicholsons olsons attempts to force himself upon her the young man thought so by the time the voyage was halt ended he had left her severely alone it was one of the greatest disappointments point ments that he had ever had lie he was not an unduly impressionable young man but the girl in brown had made a profound impression upon his heart there is some inner sense that tells us whether these affairs have in them the possibility of permanence nicholson felt that he could love the girl in brown givert given propinquity tor for tho the development of his passion until he died however love must have responsiveness and by the time he reached oxford he be had only a pleasant mellowed memory of her he put up at the queens hotel his room was on a long corridor and as he entered it ho he heard light footsteps com coming ing along ill tell you in a minute the passage and looked round to see the girl in brown she did not pay the slightest heed to him but without any sign ot of recognition ignition tion tiou entered her room adjacent Nichols nn fin sighed changed his mind about going to bed and went out and promenaded promenades the high lor for nearly an hour boots dazzled by the bestowal of a truly american tip informed nicholson ol of the british custom of putting ones shoes outside the bedroom door to be polished 1 I cleans em sir ho he said eald ill give you an extra shine thank you kindly sir nicholson Nich went to bed and slept like a just man without remorse or care in tact fact he was a little ashamed to discover when he opened his eyes that the sun bun was shining brightly he opened his door outside lay one of his shoes and next to it was a small email and very shapely ladys shoe evidently the property of his next door neighbor his missing shoe was nowhere to be seen nicholson cholson Ki had a spare pair of shoes in his bag and he put them on then he stood staring in perplexity at what lay before his eyes boots must have made a hideous blunder nicholson Nich oleon went vent down to pick a quarrel with him but boots was nowhere to be found and as nicholson munched his breakfast a telegram was put into his bis hand meet me at Con ventry at tour four it ran it was from the friend who was to guide him through the maze of sociological observations that lay before him there was only one train to coventry that day sunday forgotten was the episode of the morning forgotten miss misa martin save that she lay like a subconscious idea at the base of his memory he rushed upstairs to find boots standing before his door with his bla suitcase in his hand its ito all packed sir he be said there no time to lose sir ive called a kiib itch sir what was it he wanted to say to boots boots had already disappeared with the suitcase he was waiting at the cab door he thrust the suitcase inside and gratified by another tip departed depa rUd while the cab dashan frantically ranU cally toward the station sauk sank back against the well ct course boots had 1 alf ed tho the alund r no doubt he aza located the odd shoes returned there then to their places and but had hel Nl cholson asula opened the bag and looked inside there here lay the dreadful evidence oi of his theft mi martina martin high heeled shoe beside his own nicholson cholson Nl gasped well nothing could be done now he resolved to lend end the shoe back that night with a letter ol of apology lie he thrust hla his suitcase across the baggage counter received his check and dashed into the train I 1 his friend was iv waiting alting tor for him at the other end but there was no suit case 1 I checked it said nicholson 1 I 1 thought it would come on the same train you what asked the other checked it answered nicholson cholson Nl displaying a stub 1 I dont know what you mean by checking IV it replied his friend 11 II if you had a guard put your bag into the baggage van it must have come why good heavens man dont you see that you left it at the parcels room its waiting tor for you there no doubt and it will cost you a day until you get it bewildered and disgusted nicholson suffered himself to be dragged ou off to his friends house lie he bought an outfit and determined to return via oxford when he ha concluded his round of visits and in the enthusiasm ol of the nights meeting he almost forgot his troubles the following morning he saw this advertisement in the coventry papers it if the gentleman who took away a ladys shoe from the queens hotel oxford will return aitto it to its owner no questions will be asked address IL II AL leicester reward it if required leicester was nicholsons Nich olsons last stop ping place he resolved to explain by letter and arrange to meet miss mar man tin there meanwhile his friend told him that it would be possible to have the bag forwarded to the station there accordingly nicholson wrote an apologetic letter to the posts poste and then continued his journey four days later he descended at leicester station at the tha post office he found a communication from miss martin miss martin will be glad to see mr nicholson at the temperance hotel provided he brings her shoe with him nicholson found the missing suitcase slung clung it into a cab and hurried to 0 o the hotel miss bliss marttn martta came into the he parlor nicholson was hardly articulate when he saw her they had bad never stood face to face before now miss bliss Max martins face was covered with blushes which followed each other across it with remarkable rapidity 1 I am really very sorry explained nicholson icholson ST it was that tool fool boots fault ault he thought he cursed himself for a donkey under his breath for he could see that miss bliss martin understood quite well what boots had thought but she only said icily will you kindly give me my shoe nicholson opened the suitcase and took ook out the shoe wrapped neatly in paper 1 I am very sorry to have caused you so much trouble he be said you understand der stand it was not my fault dont you ill tell you in a minute miss bliss martin answered kindly wait it is no use attempting to pass me because you will be stopped by the doorkeeper he knows what do you mean nicholson demanded for answer miss bliss martin carefully extracted the shoe from the parcel and to nicholsons Nich olsons surprise began to unscrew the heel the heel came off and out of the hollow interior there tell fell one two three four five hundred dollar bills oh thank heaven she cried 1 I was down to my last dollar ob b h and suddenly miss martin went into something that very closely resembled hysterics and before nicholson knew what he was doing he found himself bending over her and implom ing her to be calm can you ever forgive me she pleaded IV why h y you speak to me on the boat he asked because I 1 was so afraid she answered 1 I knew europe was full ol of confidence men and you you looked at my shoes so hard I 1 put the shoes outside to bluff you because I 1 thought though 1 I thought you would never dream that I 1 would put the shoe with the money in it outside the door and and I 1 thought you had followed me 1 I answered nicholson bold ly but as aa a fellow countryman im going to now to see bee that you dont don get into any more trouble and toi foi other reasons and something in the girls look en cou raged him to believe that she was wai not wholly unwilling copyright 1914 by W G chapman |