Show mm HUNTING THE SHOE by H M EGBERT all the way over nicholson had bad tried to make the acquaintance ot of the girl in brown but try as hard as ae ho he could he failed to elicit anything more than a parting greeting from her she was named mary martin and he overheard her telling the steward that she was a school teacher and spending her vacation on a tour of the british cities nicholson was making a pleasure tour he was one of 0 those fortunate young men who have sufficient income to make work unnecessary not that he was an idler he meant to take up sociology seriously was in fatt on his way to england at the invitation of 0 a friend to attend some crowd 1 ti I political meetings in the black country tou 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 NIcholson olsons 8 attempts to force himself upon her the young man thought so by the time the voyage was halt half ended he had lett left her severely alone it was one of the greatest disappointments point ments that he had ever had he was not an unduly impressionable young man but the girl in brown had made a profound impression upon his bis heart there is some inner sense that tells us whether these affairs have in them the possibility of permanence nicholson Nic bolson felt that he could love the girl in brown given propinquity for tho the development ot of his passion until he died however love must have responsiveness and by the time he reached oxford he 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 coming along J I 1 ill Tel lYou ln in 11 the pan passage sage and looked round to see the girl in brown she did not pay the slightest heed to him but without any sign of recognition ignition tion entered her room adjacent icholson sighed changed his mind about guing to bed and went out and promenaded promenades the high tor for nearly an hour boots dazzled bythe bestowal of a truly Amerl american can tip informed nicholson of the british custom of putting ones shoes outside the bedroom door to be polished 1 I cleans em sir he bo i said caid ill give you an extra shine shin e thank you kindly sir nicholson 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 was shining brightly he opened his door outside lay one ot or his shoes and next to it was a small email and very shapely ladys shoe evidently the property ot of his next door neighbor his missing shoe was nowhere to be seen seen nicholson cholson Ki had a spare pair of 0 shoes to in ills 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 went 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 hand meet me at Con ventry at four it ran it was from the friend who was to guide him through the maze of sociological observations that lay be tore fore him there was only one train try that day sunday forgotten was tho the episode of 0 the morning forgotten hiss aliss martin save thit that she liy lay likai like a a subconscious idea at the base of 0 his memory he rushed upstairs to find boots standing before his door with his suitcase guit case in his hand its all packed sir he said there no time to lose sir ive called a keb kb k b sir what was it lie be wanted to say bay 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 depa departed rUd while the cab dashan frantically toward the station nicholson sank back against the well ct cf course boots had the no doubt he bd rd located the odd shoes returned them to their places and but had hel nicholson cholson Nl opened the bag and looked I 1 inside there here lay the dreadful evidence of his theft miss martins high heel heeled e d shoo shoe beside his own nicholson cholson Nl gasped well nothing could be done dona now he resolved to lend the shoe back that night with a letter of apology lie he thrust his suitcase across the baggage counter received his check and dashed into the train his friend was waiting for him at the other end but there was no suitcase 1 I checked it said nicholson cholson Nl 1 I 1 thought it would come on the same train you what asked the other checked it answered nicholson Nich displaying a stub 1 I dont know what you mean by checking it replied his friend 11 it II you had a guard put your bag into the baggage van it must have come why good heavens nan man dont you see that you left it at the parcels room its waiting for or you there no doubt and it will cost you a day until you get it bewildered and disgusted nichol son suffered himself to be dragged off to his friends house he bought an outfit and determined to return via oxford when he concluded his round of visits and in the enthusiasm ol of the nights meeting he ha almost forgot liis his troubles tho the following morning he be saw this advertisement in the coventry papers if the gentleman who took away a ladys adys shoe from the queens hotel oxford will return it to its owner no questions will be asked address M al M leicester reward if required leicester was Nich nicholsons olsons last stop ping place he resolved to explain by letter etter and arrange to meet miss mar alan tin there meanwhile his friend told him that it would be possible to have the he bag forwarded to the station there accordingly nicholson wrote na an apologetic letter to the posts poste and then continued his journey four days later he descended at leicester station at the post office he ie found a communication from miss martin miss martin will be glad to see mr nicholson at the temperance hoel tel provided he brings her shoe with him nicholson found the missing suitcase slung it into a cab and hurried to the hotel miss martta martin came into the parlor nicholson was hardly articulate when he saw her they had bad never stood face to face before now miss martins face was covered with lushes blushes chich followed each other across it with remarkable rapidity 1 I am really very sorry explained nicholson cholson Il it was that fool boots fault he thought lie ha cursed himself for a 96 donkey under his breath for he could see that miss martin understood quite well what boots had bad thought but she only said icily will you kindly give me my shoe nicholson opened the suitcase and took out the shoe wrapped neatly in paper 1 I am very sorry to have caused you so much trouble he said you understand der stand it was riot not my fault dont you ill tell you in a minute miss 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 cholson Nl demanded for answer ailse martin carefully extracted the shoe from the parcel and to Nich nicholsons olsons surprise began to unscrew 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 1 was down to my last dollar oh ob h h b and suddenly miss martin went into something that very closely resembled hysterics and before nichol nicholson son knew what he was doing he found himself bending over her and impson ing her to be calm can you ever forgive me she pleaded why 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 I 1 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 a fellow countryman I 1 im m going to now to see that you dont donl 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 not wholly unwilling copyright 1914 by W G chapman |