Litchfield enquirer., 1881-02-03
THE SEER.
A TALR.-BY RUDOLPH LANDAU.

| ute6 at xortOn--an uulnpoftanL St0tlOQ where
 passengers are rarely set down or taken aup.I | In general. the engine merely, repews it's sup-
 ply of water, and the train proceeds on it's
 way. .5o% jo3 %31 'AS
 We were seven ill the saEie carriage one
 fercely hot day in July, and we had been i grumbling, ever since we left Boulogne, at
 the parsImony of the company which. in order
 10 avoid adding q carriage. had thus crowded
 us. when suddenly, It Verton, just ss the
 train was moving of, the door of odr carriage
 was hastily opened, and van eighth -and most
 unwelcome- fellow traveller. q, made his ap- pearance.
 i occupied a corner near the door by which | he entered On my right an Englishman was
 sleeping soundly; and in front of him was the
 only vacant seat It was filled with rugs,
 umbrellas. and other articles which we had all
 thrown there. Next to this unoccupied place.
 and opposite to me, sat young man of about | twenty-five as to whose nationality had en-
 tertained some doubts, until he drew from his | pocket cigarette-case, in solid silver, filled
 with Russian paayros He selected one uf
 these, squeezed It gently between his fingers,
 and lighted itlbv feaHs of long match at-
 tached to the case. He then inhaled the
 smoke with deep breath, and afterwards ex-
 haled it, with peculiar look of enjoyment,
 through his fine and well-eut nostrils j-- # I.' I
 abie travelling suit. seemed out of health. HIS manners were those of a gentleman He
 was very tall and thin, and. from the olive | hue of his complexion. he might have been
 mistaken for Spaniard or Brazilian. The 1 long, slender fingers of his well shaped hand
 seemed endowed with strange 1exiblity, and
 were constantly stroking the long onioustache
 which covered his upper lip His siiial, reg
 ular, well-set teeth were of dazzling white
 less. His dark brown hair was short and
 very thick; It grew low down upon the fore
 head and the back of the neck, covering the
 narrow, elongated cranum, as with dark
 fur cap. The youthful mouth with it's full | ruddy lips betrayed nervous temperament, | kind, weak, and irresolute nature and serv- | ed to render attractive a cOuntenance which l otherwise might have appeared uninteresting, | and even, to certain degree, repellant. But | the most striking feature in the face of my
 ois-a -Dis was his eyes, which were round, ! black, set wide apart. and of exceeding | brightness They were restless to an almost wearying degree-wandering from one object | to another, though from time to time they l would be riyeted on one or other of his fellow travellers with curious pertinacity. had, in
 my turn. been subjected to this strange exam 1 inatIon, and had been disagreeably impressed | by it. 2 It was a suspicious. disqnieting, in- l quisitorial look, and one felt strongly tempted
 to reply to it.by direct question 1: ''Do you
 know me? Why do you look at me thus | What are you seeking to discover ?"-This l uncomfortable stare of the young Russian
 seemed the more strange from it's. heing in complete contradiction with his otherwise po-
 lite aud even courteous manners. It was
 searching look, taking no account of those on whom it rested-a bold look, which I ani
 tempted to compare to that of police detec- | tive who, being in quest of malefactor is
 inclined to- suspect that every newcomer is l the man he wants.
 The other end of the carriage was occupied l by four Frenchmen who seemed to know each | other, and who discussed the topics of the 1 day 5-ti.F s'2-f' i''t l'-'- ''i'''-' All-with the exception of the Euglishman,
 who continued to sleep imperturbably-gla ed responsibility at the intruder; but he seem ed to take little heed of our ill hninor .'If
 you please, " he said sharply, pointing to the heap of things which encountered the vacant | seat; upon which, each of us, with more or
 less good grace, hastened to select the articles
 which belonged to him.. and slowed them away, either in the net or under the seat3 One 1 railway rug, however, remained-lts owner,
 the Englishman, heinz fast asleep The new ! conner waited an instant; then he luncererr1o- | nious1y bundled it up, and kicked it under the | seat. could not help wondering at the free | and easy way in which he treated another
 mans property The train started at once,
 and then l examined attentively our new fel- | low-traveller.
 His appearance was coarse and repulsive-7 | the appearance of a rough, low-lived man in his Sunday clothes His linen, was rumpled | and soiled with precipitation his clothes and boots were il-nade and covered with dust His age may have been about thirty and le l showed every sign of great bodily strength Fla ahf,rk oly i. .l.. with round, massive shoulders, thick red | hands, swollen with the heat. and fiat hard
 nails; muscular wrists, and short. clumsy legs
 A man with straw-coloured hair, cut short and
 brushed forward on the temples, brshy whis-
 kers and no moustache; the sunburnt com plexion of one who has led an out door life :: low forehead, thick nose, wide mouth with | thin tight lips, and prominent jaw bright, sharp, wicked eyes, which glanced stealthily | and yet defantly around. Such was the new
 conner. 'i. '~'" : 4@a} <i~3''''''7 He was no sooner seated than he tooka rap- id survey of his ,fellow-trayellers. It
 was apparently satisfactory, for he pulled out of his pocket large coloured cheek handker chief, and breathing loudly, he wiped the
 moisture from his brow. I therf noticed that
 the first and second fingers of his right hand
 were bound up with a fine cainbric-apparent
 y a woman's pocket handkerchief. In the
 palm of the hand there was large stain of clotted blood. Those two fingers had evident
 ly received wound After few minutes he loosened his long black neck-tie, and drew a deep breath like one who has gone through
 some violent bodily exerclse, and is about to | seek repose Throwing off his round black | hat with 8 jerk, he stretched out his legs,
 placed his two bands on his thighs, and, with his head bent forward ands his eyes staring straight before him, remained apparently plunged in deep thought -4f, .5.1. The young Russian had not failed to bestow ! on the new arrival that scrutinlzing look with which, short time before, he had examined
 ne This man seemed to interest him in a peculiar degree; for, whereas single glance
 had salfficed for me- he now turned round to- wards his left-hand neighbour, and looked st him with strange fixedness, as though he sought to engrave those vulgar and repulsive features on his memory. oa oaF s@S'58as 9ssi. The man who was the object of this per sistent scrutiny was not aware of it for some tune: he was too absorbed in his own refiec- tions to notice what was going on around
 him. But suddenly, as the train slaekened speed on nearing Abbeville, he raised his head to look out, and his eyes met those of the Rus sian. This latter seemed painfully eu.bar-
 rassed, while the new conner. with an angry frown, and an infiamed countenance turned
 upon him, and said roughly
 Why are you locking at me Do you
 know me What do you want with me r =. could not but consider these questions as quite justifable; for had been on the point,
 shert time before. of putting them to my op- posite neighbour. The tone in which he re- piled. however, impressed me favourably.< Il beg your pardon" he said. in a gentle and deprecating voice. Believe me, l had no intentionof annoying you.'s gsal ;i aa The man from Verton muttereds something
 between his teeth. He then got mp, and with
 scarcely audible By your leave" leaned for
 ward between the Russian and myself to look out towards the station we were rapidly ap i. preaching After d moment he sat down again; but the train had scarcely stopped when he jumpted out oi the carriage. and { with his right hand thrust into the side-poeket of his coat, where he seemed to he holding sO,nethinS he lookad ;n,raf;o,tf,, .;ht.SS