The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-11-13

i,iery ne.v- OF my heart and brain WAS fully
aroused and mt work Like flash of light
rug nv whoa and how ] had been robbed
ii was clear 10 me.
"In tho me"n'ime the train which had left
had gone On, and stood IN the gray dawn
alone on the platform. ascertained that the
place was not Bolton, but Warwick; that the
,!alL taken by the woman went by more Cir
cuitous route in the same direction whence |
had started; that il was fast train, Its first
stopping place being large manufacturing
town forty miles back. Immediately resolv'
ed to take the mex. train for that place. On
learning that it would hc two hours before |
could do this, | turned my next thought to
breakfast contrIvlng, in spite Of anxiety, TO
make tolerably substantial meal from the
bountifully spread table of the hotel opposite,
and feeling ten per cent better in conse-
quenCe.
"As arose from the table thought of the
little satChel that the woman had left behind
her either from her haste to escape, or because
she feared to wake me if she removed my
foot Its contents surprised and puzzled me.
! Not on account of their extent and value, how
Iv,ur. Iney consisted oi u dickey, u pair of
socks, black cloth or tie, as it is now called,
an odd glove and handkerchief Not an ar
tice of woman's apparel was in It! There
was no name or anything, with the exception
of the handkerchief, on which were the letters
! f. H. worked in rcd silk. On shaking the
salchel to make sure that there was nothing
more, wad OF crumpled paper dropped out.
l Unrolling it, smoothed it out upon my knee.
! 1t proved to be part OF a letter, that part on
which the address was written in the days be-
fore envelopes wcrc invcr ted. The lower
righthand corner was torn off, leaving the
supcrsCripuOn to read thus:
'FREDK HAIR
Stock
"Thc !aet four letters formed tdc first syllable
of stockport, the town where | resided. On
turning the paper, | found some pcnclled
memoranda, which ran thus Bonnet, veil,
cloak, scarf, gloves
AS recalled the face-heneath the short,
wavy hair, parted in The middle of the fore
head, the arched eyebrows, the intense black
ness Of the eyes, which never once directly
met my own, there flashed upon me the secret
OF the Indcfnable resemblance to some one
had seen, which made 40 particular impress
ion upon me at the time. 1t was just as clear
to me now as twelve hours later. haG been
rOoJed, act 10y wOlnn.i, but Uv man, and
that maa was Fred Haldng. He was in the
habit Of often lOunging in and out OF the store
reading the papers and exchanging the news
md had distant remembrance of his sitting
ny llt sibNt, NllIlIu uct'l lux tl>ttlCe, "utu
M, Cruit.u. IL. .uclg'cpCd thC latter TO me
but thought nothing OF 1t at the time.
"In less than ten minutes was on my way
to Stockport. What my feelings and thoughts
were during ny jCurncy would be difficult to
describe 80 conflicting were their nature. At
one time ! was strong IN the belief that |
should be able to circumvent the villain that
had robbed me OF more than life, and then my
hopes went down to zero. knew that Hard
>. ~ eagerrcss 10 WIN sweet Lrcv Croftop
made him Jealous of the favor with which her
father regarded me, and was convinced that
his object was not simply money, but 10 rum
me in my employers estimation. The result
would be the same, at all events. Unless |
could get back the package farewell all my
bright prospects and The sweetest maid in the
world to me.
at was dusk when reached Stockport, for
which was not sorry | went to the hotel
where Harding boarded He had been out of
town for the last two days so the porter told
me, but has Just got back. Ascertaining the
number proceeded to his room, and the door
being ajar, went IN. Harding was not there,
but the bright light and cheerful fire indicated
that he was not far off, and | sat down and
waited.
II looked scrutinizingly around. On the
mar near me laid The odd glove; the mate
10 Jne one III inc SdtCHtl, us 10 lllu
pairing them. Another link in the chain Of
evidence.
~ had scarcely time to secure this and de
cId" urOn my course of action, when Harding
entered. | have not the power 10 describe his
astonshed and dismayed looks as he saw me. |
Quickly recovering himself he advanced to !
wards me-
Ignoring the outslrechod hand, / said
stCrnly:
"'Mr. Harding, here is the satchel you left
behind you N hat little masquerade you
played Inst might. You acted your part well,
but it's time tN lay off the mask now. In the
satchel is un old glove, the mate Of which |
found upon the chair yonder, and which may
~ Of value t. you. You can have 1t III cX |
change for the package you took from me-
"Takcn entirely by surprise, and a coward
at heart the villain turned deadly pale,
"Will you give me twenty.tour hours to
leave town in?"
Taking a revolver from my pocket | adj !
vanced one step nearer.
Give me that package, and you can have
torty-eight hours: refuse, and you have not
FIVE minutes to i've
at was about his person as | surmiscd and
without another word he gave it to me.
"Oniy waiting 70 make sure that 1t vas the |
same and hadn't been tempered with, sprang
down stairs TWO steps at tme, In my haste 10
catch the train that knew would soon be due. |
twenty minutes later | was on my journey |
again, feeling like Il suddenly freed bird as |
sped along.
BY travelling day and night and ing brief
times for rest and refreshment, | so nearly |
made up the time | had lost AS to be able to
bring my business to a satisfactory conclusion
within the limits assigned me. On my return
| found a good many friends and acquaintance
considerably exercised on the subject of Hard |
ng's sudden and my sterous disappearance. !
kept my own counsel, however, being more
ashamed of the successful game that had been
played with me, than by beng able, by for
tunatc combination of circumstances To check
mate hun in the end.
vt Wns until NOV had hncn LII wifi |