Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-06-30

u1u mCt u1lu Olltu az VAC IdCE COURSE,
billlard.rooms, and in other places more
or less respectable. Now he was chang
ing a cheque for some petty amount, and
was evidently astonished by the immens,
sity of the order had presented. left
the bank with my pocket-book full of
notes, and found that had lost the train.
The next would be the night express so
/ strolled into billiard-room A man is
just as safe with a fortune in his pocket
as if pennlless, that he is wise enough
to hold his tongue. There was some
clever playing going on, and I stood
watching the players till some one chal-
lenged me to have a game. If have
one special vanity it is science with the
cue. | accepted. and as did so strange
telling which had growing upon me,
took a sudden turn which startled me-
MYchallenger was the man whom I
had noticed at the bankers. There was
nothing strange in the fact Of his being in
the room, one Of his favorite resorts, but
/ was possessed by the vague shadow Of L
single idea. I had read somewhere Of a
man being followed and plundered in
train, and somehow ] associated the sory
with the man before me. It was the first
time | had ever paid any particular atten-
The more looked at him the less I liked
him. He was handsome, gentlemanly,
with a fair form and elegant figure, full
of suppleness and strength. His manner
was singularly unassuming, his tace frank
and genial, but by looking closely at him
you could see something sinister looking
in the depth and softness Of his eyes.
l never liked stranger to be affable
and prepossessing, and my friend was the
very pink of affability and grace.
We played for an hour with alternating
success; he was an amusing companion,
we'll informed, and had travelled, but I
was shy of conversation. left him, and
still having some time to spare, went to
see friend in the Temple
When at the expiration of some thirty
or forty minutes, / emerged into Fleet
street, almost the first person on whom
my gaze fell was my late antagonist at
billiards.
thought there was something more
than mere coincidence in this second
meeting since we stood together at the
bankers. He was in a cigar store op,
posite.
Not hundred yards from the Temple
gate stood man whom I recognized
with very welcome feeling. It was
George Vixen, the detective.
He was fasnionably dressed, and looked
an aristocrat Of the first water, went up
and greeting him as I should an old
familiar friend, held out nv hand and
said:
S Come and drink q glass of wine with
me; have something TO say"
He shook hands in the most natural
way possible. took his arm, and we
entered the public bar Of an adjacent
hotel.
I told him my suspicious, told him of
the sum in my possession, and of the
journey / had to perform by rail.
! saw that, watching through the glass
of the door, he was taking a mental pho
tograph of the two men.
They mean business said Vixen,
quietly, shut / shall be with you We
must part at the door, or they will see
that we have scented the game.''
And you," / said, show will you act"
u shall travel to Liverpool by the
night express d
He lett me. had no fear now-know-
ing him to be clever and determined
flow
Taking casual glance across tn road
I saw my man with his companion. I
was quite evident that tn ey were track
ing me though / lost sight, of them befor
reaching st. Paul's.
strolled along the churchyard, wan
dering nearly to 1slington, then wen
through the city again before made for
the station; my acquaintance Of the bill
/ kept full on the alert.
/ took my ticket, lingering almost to
the moment of starting before I entered
the carriage, but my man did not appear.
Two men were in the co apartment with
me. could not see the face of one, and
the other was a stranger.
The bell rang. The guard had Just
time to put a bewildered old gentleman
in by my side. and we were off.
The man, whose face had not seen,
turned toward me.
/ could hardly repress an exclamation.
there was no mlstaklng that frank,
genial countenance, nor the lurking devil
in those eyes, whose softness was so sin
lister.
He had me, then, at last. Vixen had
broken his promise, and l was left to
travel that perilous journey alone, with
the man who had followed me so skill
fully, another who might have been his
confederate, and an old gentleman who
after grumbling out his indignation
against railway servants and locomotive
travelling in general, was fast asleep in
the corner.
That the intentions Of my billiard play
er were bad were manifest by the fact
of his having assumed false mustache
and beard. They added to the beauty Of
his face, but left to his eyes, that sleepy,
cruel glitter that is characteristic Of the
Asiatic-
He spoke to me, remarked the oddly
Of our being travelling companions, and
grew pleasantly familiar. I answered
him, not wishing to appear churlish or
afraid, knowing that could trust some
thing to my own strength, should the
worst come.
We had made the last stoppage, and
were rolling swiftly through the gloom,