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Show f chapter 1 TUP lyAN IN I AUFP TFM chapter il II gi-In Which Is Detailed a Trip to 1 I L I VI t I 1 III L V TT L It I L 1 1 A Torn Telegram furnishes a Clue I I nttsourg --.-BY MARY ROBERTS RINEHART - to The Man in Lower Ten Ifl ' vrlshl 103 l,v ,,,e ,3ol),)i5-'A,:1''"l Co. HAPTER I. uft r S f AIcKniulit is gradually tnlkin.tr over Jji TLB criminal end ot the business. I Scr JiM if. and s""e the strange Mi So of the man m. lower. ten, 1. have ii fen a sfiucnmish. luyuii a case I iivV that, where .von can build up a id 'Zutmk of clows that absolutely m- tt Snto three entirely different poo-S poo-S ft only one of whom can be guilty, MS M yoiir faith in circumstantial evi- 'Snce dicsof oyererowdiiiR. never sou itV i -iivfrinc. white-faced wretch in the 85 ricr""lock that .1 do not hark back atS S shuddennc horror (o the strange $ nts on the Pullman -ear Ontario, be-4- f"CCD Washington and Pitt sburg, on rit?a ?5:-i,t ftf Sentember 9 last. ift .r Me hWhl .'ould fell the story a groat fi? inl lfttr t,,an J n,1l."0,,"h h.0 ,,;in - ? npll three consecutive words cor-V cor-V ?.Vv ' But. while he has imagina- ft'SaT01r',,ci8v- , -;tJi .I'Vq, didn't happen to me, anyhow, t k nrotMtcd, when J put it up to him. "ft "Vnd nobodv CHrcs for second-hand iftVill Besides, you want the unyar-ilhcdand unyar-ilhcdand ungarnished truth, and 1 m 1 nil for that., I'm a lawver." (rrtao am althoiiph tlicrc 1,:,vc bccu ba when mv assumption jii that parte par-te fa ''j,r has been disputed. I am uu-1 uu-1 carried, and just old enough to dance s-r ITth the grownup little sisters of the Tf3& i,rh I used to know. J am fond of 'te floors, prefer horses to the afore-' afore-' SifiiownMp little sisters, am without W Merit and completely ruled and ' Treouentlv routed by my housekeeper, Wft 4 elderly widow. att J In fart, of-all the men ol my ne-Ed ne-Ed 6 saintancc, I was probably the most fett neflif, the lcast adventurous, the one fen in ft hundred who would be likely ro without a deviation from tho nor- n olthroiieh the orderly procession of d n t caoii3. summer suits to winter na 'ii'uel!. coif to bridge ,oit was a queer freak ol t lie tie-i tie-i iw of chance to perch on mv unsus-ii unsus-ii ,tstib!e thirty-year-old chest, t ie mo up 1 rib a crime, ticket mo with a Jove - ? iffiir, and stsrt me on that sensa-!Lli sensa-!Lli iaaland not always Tcspectable jour-TfZ jour-TfZ KTtkt ended so surprismcly less than 7 lih weeks later in the firm s private, 5 Iu' &. U had been the most remark -r d! period of mv life. 7 would neither diai Te it tip nor live it atrain uuder any 'j ' c&ttment. mid yet all that 1 lost was ' fee tffcntv yards off my drive! old jltnas really Iclvnipht's turn to lEHi iJjic the next journey. 1 had a tourna 'Idji 'Kitt (licw Chase for Saturday, and , 1 iort yacht cruise planned for Sun-. Sun-. T. Jir, and when a mau has been grind-mti grind-mti 15 rst statute law for a week, ho needs od IH mliution. But McKnijrht becgod otl". i-r;. itsnot the first time hn had shirked . j itut jmnicr in order to run down to itSTf ikisond. and T was surlv about it. diinil s this tune hf had a new excuse. Drotd VI wouldn't lie able to look after r wbaincs if 1 did go." he said, lie Ikiafortof wide-eyed frankness that i iuIm one ashamed to doubt, him. "I'm I iwi carsick crossing the mountains. It'i a fact. Loll'ie. See-sawing over Steaks docs it. Why, crossing the W Httbcnv mountains has the Uulf stream sbnauda beaten to a frazzle." I,i0 1 avc- him up finallv and -went Ikie to pack. He- came later in tho 1lfttEiDg with his machine, the Cannon-ATH. Cannon-ATH. to take me to tho station, and ho HfezM the forped notes in the Bron- InM 11 1 111 Wlt" VOur li'C' 1,0 Eoff 1It((j mc 7'i(Cy nrc jnori. precious t vr,H hi honor. Sew 'them in your chest. jii,iijp Krtfttor. or wherever people keep val- -i.li,?. I never keep an v. I'll not ' -l '.uppv unlM I see Gentleman Audv ; wi: tlic lockstcn. ' ' I-iUt -w" 011 ,n-" c''e;in collars. Izj,. m cienrcttes and struck a 'iPMon tho innhognny bedpost, with v rtl NiEOU'inciit ittWlgWjTO'stla. Pirate'.'" he demanded. We. Ital'- is my housekeeper, Mrs. 'C KSr3' a v.c,v worth v woman, so l:i-Krani' l:i-Krani' ''d because of a fero-Pap.ir fero-Pap.ir of eyes and what. JUcKnight IgsM a .buccaneering nose. L quietly .vtB!lhe,luor hH. ij HAW Wfp vonr voice down, ITichcy," 'MW- "She is looking for the uven-WWr uven-WWr to sit if il is going to rain. WjP'- my raincoat and an umbrella the hall.' m if. I 2 hVn" laCfid beyond ro-4 ro-4 K! i,1 t,K'111 "iml went to the tW 'ET' ;loi,,t,)01 Uiero Tor sonic time, Ilv lEf,?' toe hlacknesB that repre-B? repre-B? ,v:11 1,1 ,hc ll01lsc lltJxt 'P ;LlI,ni,ILL M.ow-" '"- said, over BHi?' nni closc,1 window and . Ro'"ciliing ; his voice till 3i 'it a? Vf ar ),,,fc llc was wateh-QU wateh-QU Miur h:,U(ls i(ll-v in his pockets. rfcC? 1,cxl door,'? 110 inquired 'IfSn'm,!tv'f,' 1 relumed ab- infers no,cs 1,1 yo,,r i tflSPBrttr ,L !v:,ls '"nx't i"nl. ' A long .Sl'H cn resignation, bap': rertSS. ill .n!,l,,11- wover wants th stIJ ' havc t0 stcal my coat to wt'$&mwnwoAy '" 1,10 ,,L'X,; ,,o,isc m APC11 i'nx.ous to sec where '"rPXitJ'-body right at that if'fiff,,!'10 Ul1' "cverlhe-tfcvt "cverlhe-tfcvt .n 1,I,L,r!5:1 P"HiM them , rt Mr ?i I ."' ("wn at the 'S'Sfc 11,11 Witd,c'1 ,no ,rrfe,lo'" :" 'iK n?ltnvth'.f; ; D;,ned if L like c ie5r, ""I'ortant on Pri- S'Sfe l"kc to sT(fcff!iron '.v lost Sat-Th Sat-Th 1 C0 rT ln,ev- f'o owner ll'rMvi .do -vw would know c nut l? "V- J Hen von' ueVff tSlli ,r Iov i ,:,ek 1,1 H'C dark- es. TiSBi.' c V fi,mp-. T,lw ,,c'-u " to1 I said lmfco.f o?ne w" ,h0lc with r,,'Cca s threatened me 1-13 1; m" lipadv ' W holding out un armful of such traveling inipcdi' nicnis as she deemed essential, -whiic bcsido her, Kuphemia, thc colored housemaid, house-maid, grinned over a white-wrapped box. "Awfully sorry no time back Sun. day, I panted over mv shoulder. Then thc door closed and the ear was moving mov-ing away. rcKn'ight bent forward and stared at the facade of the emptv house next door as we passed. It was black, staring, star-ing, mysterious, as empty buildings arc apt to be. "I'd like to hold a post-mortem on that corpse- of a house." lie said thoughtfully, "Br George. "I've a notion no-tion to get out arid take a look." "'Somebody after thc brass pipes," I scoffed. "House has been emptv for a year." AVith one hand on thc steering wheel Mclvuight held out the other for my cigarette case. "Perhaps." he said; "but 1 don't see what she' would want with brass pipe." 'J A woman!" I laughed outright. "You have been looking loo hard at the picture in ihe back of your watch, that s all. There's an experiment like that: if you stare long enough " But Mclvuight was growing sulkv; he sat looking rigidlv ahead, and he did not sneak until he brought, the Can-nonball Can-nonball to a stop at the station. Hven then it was only a pertunctorv remark, re-mark, lie went through thc gate with inc. and with five- minutes to spare, we lounged and smoked in 1 lie train shed. My mind had slid awav from my surroundings sur-roundings and had waudorcd to a. polo pony that 1 couldn't afford and intended in-tended to buy anyhow. Then Mclvuight shook off his taciturnity. "For heaven's sake! don't look so martyred." he burst out; "l know von 're missing a game tomorrow. But dont bo n patient mother; confound it. .1 havc to go to "Richmond on Sunday. Sun-day. J I want to see a girl." "Oh, don't mind me." I observed politely. "Personally. I wonldn rt change places with vou. What's her name iN'orfhf South?" "West," he snapped. "Dou't Into In-to be funny. And all J. have to say. Blakelcy. is that if you ever fall in !ovo 1 hopo you make an egregious ass of yourself." In view of what followed, this camo rather close to prophecy. The trip west was without incident. I played bridge with a furniture dealer from Grand Knpids, a sales agent for a Pittsburg iron linn and a young professor pro-fessor from an Eastern college. L won three rubbers out of four, finished what cigarettes McKnight had left me, and went to bed about I o'clock, it was growing cooler, and the rain had ceased. Once, toward morning. I wakened with a start, for no apparent reason, and sat bolt upright. 1 had an uneasy feeling feel-ing that some one had been looking at me, the same sensation I had experienced ex-perienced earlier in thc evening at the window. But J could feel the bag wit Ii thc notes, between me and thc window, and with my arm thrown over it for security, i lapsed again into slumber. slum-ber. Later, when I triod to piece o-Igcther o-Igcther the fragments of that journey. L remembered that my coat, which had been folded and placed beyond my restless tossing, had been rescued in I the morning from a heterogeneous jum-I jum-I bio oT blankets, evening papers and cravat, had been shaken ocit with pro-I pro-I fanity and donned with wrnth. At the time, nothing occurred to me but thc ueccsHitv of writing to the Pullman companv and asking them if they ever traveled in their own cars, i even formulated for-mulated sonic of the letter. "If they arc built to scale, why not. take a man of ordinary stature as your unit'i" I wrote mentally. "1 can not fold together like the traveling cup with which 1 drink your abominable water, " J was more cheerful after T had had a cup of cofTce in thc Union station. 1 was too early to attend to business, and I lounged in the restaurant and hid behind Ihe morning papers. As I had expected, they had got hold of i mv visit and its object. On thc first page was a staring announcement, that the forged papers in the Bronson case had been brought to Pittsburg. Underneath, Under-neath, a telegram from Washington stated stat-ed that Lawrence Blakelcy of Blake-lev Blake-lev & McKnight had left for Pittsburg Pitts-burg thc night before, and that, owing ow-ing to Iho approaching trial of the Bronson case and the illness of John Gilmoie. the Pittsburg millionaire, who was the chief witness for tho prosecution, prose-cution, it was supposed that tho visit was intimately concerned with the trial. J looked around apprehensively. There were no reporters yet in sight," and thankful to havc escaped notice I paid for my breakfast and left. At the cabstand 1 chose the least dilapidated dilapi-dated hansom i could find, and giving the driver the address of theGil-more theGil-more residence, in Ihe liasl end, I got in. I was just in lime. As the cab turned and rolled oil", n sliin young man in a straw hat separated himself from a little group of men and hurried towards to-wards us. . . "Jlevl Wait a minute there! ' lie called, breaking into a trot. But the cabby did not hear, or perhaps per-haps did not care to. We jogged com-foriablv com-foriablv along, to my relief, leaving the voung man far behind. I avoid reporters, on principle, having learned long ago that I am an easy mark for a j clever Interviewer. j It was perhaps 9 o clock when I left the station. Our way was along tho boulevard which hugged the side ot one of thc city's great hills. Par below, be-low, to the loft, lav thc railroad tracks anil Ihe sevontv times seven looming stacks of Iho iuills. The white mist of the river, the grays and blacks of the smoke blended into a half-revealing haze, dotted here and there with lire. It was unlovely, tremendous. Whistler might have painted it with its pathos, its majesty, but he would have missed what made it infinitely suggestive the rattle and roar of iron on iion. the rumble of Avheels. Ihe throbbing beat. uaiust tho ears, of fire and heat and brawn welding prosperity. Something of this I voiced to the L'lim old millionaire who was responsible responsi-ble for nt least part, of it. He was propped up i'"'1 1,1 ms '''nsl Cl,fl home, listening to the market reports read by u nuif-e. and he smiled a little lit-tle at mv enthusiasm. . "J can't see much beauty in it. myself," my-self," he said. "But it's, pur badge of prosperity. Tho full dinner pail here means a none that looks like, n Hue Pittsburg without smoke wonldn t be Pittsburg, uuy more than New York prohibition would be .New lork Sit down for a few niinu esMr. Blakcley. Now. Miss Gardner, Wostinghoiisc l-.lcc- trThe muse resinned her reading in a monotonous voice. Sho read literally and without, understanding, using initials in-itials and abbreviations as thev came. But Iho shrewd old man followed her easilv. Once, however, lie stopped '"'Bo is ditto." he said gently, "not dAs the inii'Bf droned along. J found I I MARY ROBERTS RINEHART, Author of ' "The Man in Lower Ten. " l he first chapters of which are primed herewith, and "The iircular Stair-ease," Stair-ease," was born in Pittsburg, on the North side, not so very mauv vears ago. The fact is noteworthy, as she is Pittsburg's first writer of popular fiction. When she was onlv 1.1 years old she wrote a few of the evening short stories for Pittsburg newspapers. But she cannot be said to have really boiin her literary career until four 5"cars ago. It was while Mrs. liinehnrt was recovering from diphtheria that her trained nurse called her attention atten-tion to an advertisement, in one of the. popular magazines asking for poems of n certain type. She wrote three, and all were accepted. A few months later her first magazine story appeared in Seribner's. Sinco then her name has made a frequent appearance in the table of contents of Success. Seribner's. The Delineator. Munscy's, Lippin-colt's, Lippin-colt's, 'Ihe American, etc. Mrs. Binehart nas also done dramatic work, producing a plav in New York two years ago and closing the theater by injunction when the star began to mutilato the piece. A new play from her pen, it is reported, has just been accepted for production by Wagenhals & Kemper. myself looking curiouslv at a photograph photo-graph in a silver frame on thc bedside bed-side table. It was the picture of a girl in white, with her hands clasped loosely before her. Against the dajrk background her figure stood out. slim and young. Perhaps it. was the rather grim environment, possibly it was my mood, but although as a general thing photographs of young girls make no ui)cal to inc. this one did. I found in v eyes straying back to it. By a little finesse I even made out the name written across the corner. "Alison." Mr. Gilmore lay back among his illows and listened to the nurse's listless list-less voice. But he was watching me from under his heavy eyebrows, for when the reading was over, anil wc were alone, he indicated the picture with a gesture. "T keep it there to remind myself that I am an old man." he said. "That is my grand-daughter. Alison Wesl." I expressed the customary polite surprise, sur-prise, at which, finding me responsive, lie told inc his age with a chuckle of pride. More surprise, this time genuine. genu-ine. From that wc went to what he ate for hreakfasl and did not cat for luncheon, and then lo his reserve power, which at sixty-five becomes a matter for thought. And so. in a wide circle, cir-cle, back to where we started, the picture. pic-ture. " Father was a rnsenl. " John Gilmore said, picking up the frame. "Thc happiest hap-piest day of my life was when I knew he was safely (lead in bed and not hanged. If (he child had looked like li i in . I well, she doesn't. She's a Gilmore. Gil-more. every inch. Supposed to look like me. " "Very not iccablv.' ' 1 agreed soberly. T had produced the nolcs bv that time, and replacing thc picture Mr. Gilmore Gil-more gathered his spectacles from beside be-side it. tie went over the four notes methodically, cramming each carefully and putting it down before ho picked mi the next. Then he leaned back and took off his glasses. "Thev 're not so bnd." hr said thought full v. "Not so bad. Bui. .1 never saw them before. That's my unofficial signature I am inclined to think" he wns speaking partly to himself him-self "to think that he has got hold of a lnller of mine, prohablv to Ali- son Bronson was u friend of her rnp- 1 scallion of a father." I took Mr. Gilmore s deposition and put it into mv traveling bat' with Ihe forced notes. When J saw them again, tilmost three weeks later, they were unrecognizable, a mass of charred paper pa-per on a copper ash-tray, in tho interval in-terval other and bigger things had happened: hap-pened: the Bronson forgery case had shrunk beside tho greater and more imminent im-minent mystcrv of the mau in lower ion. And' Alison West had come into the story and into my life. CHAPTER II. A Tom Telegram. I lunched alone at rhe Gilmore house, and wont back to the city at onco. The siui had lifted the mists, and a fresh summer wind had clearod awav the smoke pall. The boulevard was full of cais flying countryward for the Saturday hnlf-holiday, toward golf and tennis green fields and babbling girls, 'l rittcd mv teoth and thought of McKnight Mc-Knight at liichniond. visiting the lady with the geographical name. And then, for the fir?t time I associated John Gilmore 's granddaughter with the "West" that Mclvuight had irritably flung at me. I lill carried my tra cling bag. for rcKiiight's vision at the window of ihe empty house had not been without effect. ef-fect. I did not transfer the notes lo my pocket, and, if I had. il would not havc altered the situation later. Only the other day Mclvuight put this very thing up to me. "I warned you," he reminded me. "I told you there were queer things coming, and to be on your guard. You ought to have taken 'your revolver." "It would havc been of exactly as much use as a bucket of snow in Africa," 1 retorted. "If 1 had never closed my eyes, or if T had kept my finger on thc trigger of a six-shooter (which is novclesqtio for revolver), Iho result would havo been the same. And the next time you want a little excitement ex-citement with every variety of thrill thrown in. I can put you by way of it. You begin by getting the wrong berth in a Pullman ear. and end " "Oh. 1 know how it ends." ho finished fin-ished shortly. " Bon 'I 3-011 suppose the whole thing's written on 1113 spinal marrow?" But I am wandering again. That is tho difficulty with the unprofessional story-teller: he yaws back and forth and can't keep in tho wind; ho drops his characters overboard when he hasn't any further use for them and drowns them; he forgets tho coffee put and tho frying pan and all the other small essentials, and, if he carries a love affair, he mutters a fervent "Allah bo praised" when he lands them, drenched drench-ed with ail ventures, at Ihe matrimonial dock at thc end of tho final chapter. chap-ter. I put in a thoroughly unsatisfactory afternoon. Time dragged eternally. I dropped in at a summer vaudeville, and bought some lies at a haberdasher's. I was bored but unexpectunl ; J had no premonition of what was lo come. Nothing unusual had ever happened lo me:, friends of mine had sometimes sailed the high seas of adventure or skirted thc coasts of chance, but all of tho shipwrecks had occurred after a woman passenger had been taken on. "Krgo, " I had always said "no women!" wo-men!" I repealed it to myself that evening almost savagely, " when 1 found mv thoughts straying back to the picture of John Gilmore 's granddaughter. 1 even argued us 1 ale my solitary dinner at a downtown res-I res-I taurant. I "Haven t you troubles enough," T reflected, "without looking for moro? Hasn't Bad News gone lame, with a matinee race booked for next week' Otherwise aren't you comfortable? Tsn't; your house hi order? Bo yon want to sell a 110113' in order to havo the library done over in mission or the drawing room in gold? Do .vou want soiuobod.y to count the emptv cigarette cig-arette boxes lying around overv 'morning?" 'morn-ing?" Lay il (0 the long idle afternoon, to tho new environment, to anything 3'0U like, bill I began lo think that perhaps I did. 1 was confoundedly lonel.y. For the first time in my life its even course began lo waver: the needle registered warning marks on the matrimonial seismograph, lines vague enough, but lines. My alligator bag lay al my feet, still' locked. While I waited for ni.y coffee I leaned back and surveyed the people incuriously. There were t lie usual coules intent on each other: my now state of mind made me regard them with lolerance. But at thc next table, where a, man and woman dined together, to-gether, a different atmosphere prevailed. prevail-ed. My attention was first caught bv the woman's face She had been speaking speak-ing earnestly across the table, her profile fumed lo me. T had noticed casually her earnest manner, her somber som-ber clothes, and thc grcnt mass of odd, bronze-colored hair on her neck. But suddenly she glanced toward nic and the utter hopelessness almost tragedy of her expression struck me with a shock. She half closed her eves and drew a long breath, then she turned again to the man across tho table Neither one was eating. He sat low in his chair, his chin on his chest, ugb' folds of thick flesh protruding over his collar. Uo was probably fifty, bald, grotesque, sullen, and yet not without a suggestion of power. But he hail been drinking: as looked, he raised an unsteady hand and summoned a waiter with a wine list. Tho young woman bent across the table and spoke again quickly. She had unconsciously raised her voice Not beautiful, in her earnestness and stress she rather interested me. "I had an idlo inclination to adviso tho. waiter to remove tho bottled temptation from the table. 1 wonder what would hae happened if T had? Suppose Harrington Harring-ton had not been intoxicated when he entered the Pullman car Ontario thai night! For the.v were about to make a jour xicy, I. gathered, and the ypung woman wished to go alone I drank three cups of coffee, which accounted for my wakefulness later, and shamelessly watched Ihe tableau befnro me The woman's protest ovidonth went for nothing: across Ihe lablo thc man grunted monosyllabic replies and grew more and more lowering and sullen. Once, during a brief unexpected pianissimo pian-issimo in the music, her voice came to me shnrply: "if I could only see him in lime!" she was saying. "Oh, it's terrible!" In spite, of my interest I would havo forgotten thc whole incident at once erased it from my mind as one docs the inessentials and clutlcrings of memory, mem-ory, had I not met them again, later that, evening, in thc Pennsylvania station. sta-tion. The situation between them had not visibly altered: the samo dogged j determination showed in tho. man's face, but the .voung woman daughter daugh-ter or wife? J wondered had drawn down her veil and T. could only suspect what white misery Iny boncalh. 1 bought m.y berth after wailing in a lino of some eight or ten poople. When, step by step. I had almost reached reach-ed the window, a tall woman whom I had not noticed beforo spoke to me from my elbow. Sho had a ticket and money in her hand. "Will you try to gel me a lower when .vou buy yours?" sho asked. "1 have traveled for three nights in uppers. up-pers. ' ' 1 consented, of course: bc-ond thai I hardl.y noticed the woman. I had a vague impression of height and a certain cer-tain amount of statelincss. but the crowd was pushing behind me, and I some one was standing on my foot. I ( got two lowers easilv, and, turning J with the change and berths, held out J tho tickets. J "Which will you havc?" T asked. "Lower eleven or lower ten?" "It makes no difference." she said. "Thank you very much indeed." J At random 1 gave her lower eleven. 1 and called a porter to help her with C her luggage I followed them leisure- J, ly to the train shed, and len minutes ; more saw us under way. J I looked into mv car. but it pre- V sented the peculiarly nnatlractive ap- V. penrance common to sleepers. The berths were made up; the center aisle was a path between walls of diiigx-, breeze-repelling curl a ins. while the two seats at each end of the car were piled high .with suitcases and umbrellas. umbrel-las. 'J he perspiring porter was trying try-ing to be six places at once: somebody has said that Pullman porters are black so they won't show the dirt, but they certainly show the heat. Nine-fifteen was an outrageous hour to go fo bed, especially since I alee) little or not 1 at all on the train, so I made my way to the smoker and passed the time until nearly eleven with cigarettes and a magazine The car was very close. It was a warm night, and before turning in I stood a short time in the vestibule. The train had been stopping at frequent fre-quent intervals, and. finding the brake-man brake-man there, I asked the trouble It seemed that there, was .1 hot-box hot-box on the next car, and that not only wcre wc late but we were delaj'iug the second section, just, behind. I" was beginning Jo feel pleasantly drows3, and the air was growing cooler as we got into tho mountains. I said good night, to the brakeman and weut back to my berth. To my surprise lower ten wns alrcad.v occupied a suitcase suit-case projected from beneath, a pair of shoes stood on the floor, and from behind be-hind the curtains came thc heavy, unmistakable un-mistakable breathing of deep sleep. I hunted out the porter and together we investigated. "Are you asleep, sir?" asked the porter, por-ter, leaning over deferentially. No answer an-swer forthcoming, he opened the curtains cur-tains and looked in. Yes. the intruder was asleep vcrv much asleep and an overwhelming odor of whisky proclaimed proclaim-ed that he would probably remain asleep until morning. J was irritated. Thc car was full, and J. was not disposed dis-posed to lake an upper in order to allow al-low this drunken interloper to sleep comfortably in my berth. "You'll have to get out of this," I said, shaking him angrily. But lie merely mere-ly grunted and turned over. As he did so. saw his features for the first time It was tho quarrelsome man of the restaurant. I. was less disposed than ever to relinquish re-linquish my claim, but the porter, after a little qiiiet investigation, offered a solution of thc difficulty. "There's no one in lower nine." he suggested, nulling null-ing open thc curtains just across. "lt.?s likely nine's his berth, and he's made a mistake, owing to his condition. You 'd better lake nine, sir." I did, with a firm resolution thai! if niue's rightful owner turned up later 1 should be just as unwakable as the man opposite I undressed leisurely. ! making sure of the safety of the forged j notes, and placing my grip as before between myself window. I Being a man of systematic Jiabils. I j arranged my clothes carcfull.v. putting liny shoes out for the porter to polish, land stowing mv collar and scarf in the little hammock swung for thc purpose pur-pose At last, with my pillows so arranged that I could see out comfortably, and with thc unhvgienic-looking h'lankel turned back 1 have always a distrust of those much-used affairs T prepared to wait gradually for sleep. But slcci) did not visit ine. The train came to frequent, grating stops, and f surmised the hot-box agaiu. I am not a nervous man, but there was something chilling in the thought of the second section pounding along behind us. Once, as I was dozing, our locomotive loco-motive whistled a shrill warning "You keep back where .vou belong." it screamed to my drowsy ears, and from somewhere behind came a chastened "All-rii-ht-T-will." L grew moro and more wideawake. At Cresson 1 got up on mv elbow and blinked out at the station lights. Some nassenjiers boarded the train there and T heard a woman's low tones, a Southern South-ern voice, rich and full. Then quiet again. Even' nerve was tense time missed, perhaps ten minutes, possibh-half possibh-half an hour. Then, without the slightest slight-est warning, as the train rounded a curve, a heavy bod- was thrown into mv berth. The incident, trivial as it seemed, was startling in its suddenncs, for although my curs were pniufully strained and awake, I had heard no step outside The next instant the curtain hung limp again; lill without sound, my disturber had slipped awav ilHffll' ll into the L'loom and darkness. J11 a IS Si Kit I 1 frenzy of wakefulness. I sat up. drew Sllnlh IH 011 a pair of slippers and fumbled for iliiW H m.y bathrobe. ffljEilRi 1 From a berth across, probably lower imllES 1 leu, came that particularly aggravating iflwBtFl! Il snore which begins light'lv, delicately, IBsSfl'lllI IH faintly soprano, goes down the scale iRHiifH H a note with even- breath, and. after 8911' I; 1 keeping the listener tenso with cxpec- gItlffljBsl ll tatiou, ends with an explosion that ISlilnEfit IH tears the very air. 1 was more and Slinili IH more irritable; J sat on the edge of MmIdEi H the berth and hoped the suorer would linlfP!! H choke to death, IBii'ii)l?l IH He had considerable vitality, how- ISSlS'lfillll IH ever; he withstood one 5hoclc after an- 8 jllff! IH other and survived to start ugnin with ISKUffl'jlill H new vigor. In desperation i found sumo Sllftllilltfl 1 cigarettes and one match, piled mv llfillhrj IH blankets over my grip, and drawing the limn ill ll curtains together as though the berth SSwll 11 H were mill occupied, I made my way to MUw, Ml H the vestibule of thc car. IS1'!' ill ll 1 was not clad for dress parade lo ill li fir IH it because the male is so restricted to flll'lliiltr H gloom in his evcry-day attiro that he allffl1 1 blossoms into gaudy colors in his pa s'Jtt'li'lsh H jamas and dressing gowns? It would IliiHiftj 1 take a Turk to feci at home before eJiMhIM H an audience in my red and .yellow bath Mffill ill 1 robe, a Christmas remembrance from mS'uli W H Mrs. Klopton. with slippers to match. Slim' S'i'M 1 So, naturnllv, when T saw a Jfcm- mWwi Will 1 ininc figure on I'm- ulatforni. mv first Sifflll 1 instinct was to dodge Tho woman, iw lift 1 however, was quicker than f;.he gave liin'l 1 1 1 me a startled glance, wheeled and dis- I I' 1 II 1 appeared, with a flash of two bronze- 3111 I f ll colored braids, into the next car. 21111' 0 ll Cigarette box in one hand, match Sf'iP pil ll in tho other. I loaned against thc un- Snlrlll fAU 1 certain frame of the door and gazed olllilll fir 1 after her vanished figure The moun- I jSiL hi' ll tain air flapped my bathrobe around my illSl r 1 bare ankles, my one match burned to illiS P Il the end and went out, and still I ijjjiji II v H stared. For I had seen on hnr cxprcs- imW' t, sivc face a haunting look that was hor- iiisy .1 , ror, nothing less. Heaven know?, 1 K ll am not psychological. Emotions have- 111 ill'!' Il to be written largo before J can rc;fd ill' rr' ll them. But a woman in trouble always MFi . j i t IH appeals to me, and this woman wns more fiili. i f 1 1 than that. She was in deadly fear. fltf' i Pp 1 If 1 had not been afraid of being 1 ! k i ridiculous, I' would 'have followed her. )lMv! iliii' H But I fancied that thc apparition of nhl ":?jj fl.;'.l a man in a red and yellow bathrobe, fljij-, ltjj' IH with an unkempt thatch of hair, walk- lilil'u' IH iug up fo her and assuring her that lUilfiiiM ll he would protect her would probably Islllis K$ ll put her into hysterics. J had done that; IPlli? ' IH once before when burglars had tried ullili'P'l ll to break into the house and had startled wlift) M IH 1I1 c parlor maid into bed for a week. 3311! ' idl' So 1 tried to assure myself that I yjjli ,jj S(f'l had imagined the lady's distress or lNrT "ll 1 caused it; perhaps and to dismiss her jfMt lu''' 1 from m.y mind. Perhaps she wns mere- IHifil ly anxious about the unpleasant gen i Jafff j a-ll1, tlcman of the restaurant. ,1 thought 3liHi' ' ' Stli smugly that. I could have told her lljM'ilM IH all about him: that ho was sleeping , Hal ' I f: jp, IH the sleep of thc just and thc iuloxi Oil HJl1 IH catcd in a berth that ought, by all that Glfl 'jiEl! was fair and right, to havc been mine. 'Jiff MP1 ll and that if I were tied to a man who , Crtjf r 1 M snored like that I should havc him an il2tl acsthctized and his soft palate put Iffif i i'li i IH where it would never again llap like a Iml i ifr 1 loose sail in the wind. ilfli lt 1 Wo passed Harrisburg as I stood m N S there it was starlight, and the great. j.1 fj f' crests of thc Allegbenics hnd given wav Ii ff ', to low hills. At intervals we passed lii'Mli'Tri smudges of grav white, no doubt in gjj 'ii - da.vtimc comfortable farms, which Me lijj l W,. Knight ?ays is a good way of putting m i in ffl it. the farms bcinir a lot more comfort- ffl g'l jj tfi uhlo th:in the nconlo on them. fflRiK mtl H I was growing drows3-; the woman Sn'tEnlij' with the bronze hnir and the horri- Mv Mr (led face was fading in retrospect. It Flmi" i was colder, too, and I turned with a Itnif. 1 '' IH shiver to go in. Iftjlltal 1 " dl As T did so, a bit of paper fluttered mRM' ' flH into thc air and settled on my slcove. Mtu'm 'W ll like a butterfly on a porgoous red and M '. vcllow blossom. I. picked it up curi- M'ial l''i ously and glanced nt it. It was part W&lffl 1 H of :i telegram that had been torn into II j'"' There "were only parts of four words It ff J on the scra, but it left me puzzled and Siflji ' V thoughtful. Tt read. " owcr ten. car Uu?!' , h scve ." " Lower len, car seven." was PtniiiL mv berth the one I had bought anil HOnii 1 found preempted. wsim" I I'1 i (Continued Next Sunday.) Bffll- ' |
