The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-06-14

---------------------- guessing who and what each ofskem vas. at what piers would they disembork, what theY would do when they got ashore At the Tunnel Pier we stopped and fcw got cut. No one got aboard at that pier but man, who walked afs and sat near the wheel had by this time made up my mind where each ofmy fellow-passengers would part company with mel may add in but one case did l guess corectly-and I tuned ny axaen- lion next to the newcomer. He VI . man of about fogty years of age, pe1haps tri6e younger, with deep olive com- plexion. He wore a flossy black coat buttOned closely about him and trousers also of some dark material. His hair was coarse and loag-I cannot exactlr re- member whether t was brown or black and he wore beard and a mustache.
 His nose vas remarkably long and straight Taking casual glance at his
 profile, you vould probably have pro- nounced him . eood-iookine man. His
 round felt hat completely covered his
 forehead. A foreigner, concluded at
 once. Then began to speculate as to
 his nationality. fancied he might be a
 Spaniard or an Italian, but a nc.e care
 ful inspection of his features made me
 come to the conclusion that he was a
 Greek. He happened to turn his face in
 my direction, an 1 the strange expression
 of cunning and maligni.y which any one
 could observe in his eyes made me quite
 uneasy. Every time the steamboat
 stopped he seemed as if he were about to
 rise to his feet. He appeared to take no
 notice of any one on board. Embold-
 ened by this latter fact, I stood up and commenced to walk up and down the deck. was strangely anxious to obtain a closer view of this man. had almost made up my mind that he was a Greek merchant, and probably on the way to one of the docks lower down the river. As passed quite close to him, abou, my third or fourth turn up and down the deck, he happened to lift his hand for the purpose of removing his hat
 "Now, have often told you. Bob. p continued Manton, who observed a smile playing around the corners of Bompas' mouth, that possess one faculty which you say is simply an absurd conceit of mine."
 About peoples hands. Yes, of course it is"
 We'll, in this case I had no reason whatever to suppose my Greek fellow passenger-let me call him a Greek had anything to do with the sea, vet the moment looked at his hands knew he was sailor by profession"
 Perhaps you were mistaken?''
 No-for scarcely had l made up my mind that he was a sailor than, looking at his uPlifted hand, saw an anchor tattooed on his wrist"
 That IS certainly an extremely incon- elusive proof the man was a sailor-but go on. won't interrupt you again.
 After carefully examining with my eyes the dark mans hands, came to another conclusion, namely, that he had just returned from long sea voyage, and was probably not more than a few days in port"
 Did these conclusions of yours-par- don me for interrupting u-afterward. receive what would look upon as proper ?"
 "Yes. think so, at all events"
 Then am compelled to admit you possess more wonderful powers of obser- vation than l have yet given you ere dit for. Well?"
 At Greenwich Pier the Greek was one of the first to land. He walked cuicklv away, and lost sight of him ere reach ed the gates. l walked into the park. and striking to the left, toiled up the slope at the eastern side of the Obser- vatory. Then wandered about seeking for lonely spot There were compara- lively few people in the park, so soon found place at the end ofa long avenue of leafiess trees which seemsd to be in- vested with the charm of absolute soli- tude l was about to sit down when attracted my attention. As you may remember there had been heavy storm the previous night, and some large trees had been blown down in the | park. About hundred yards of one of these trees lay, and behind it saw some i thing stirring. approached as silently as possible little closer to the tree, and | on tip toe, saw the body of | man. He must have been sitting down, | and one of his arms was in active motion. | It was the Greek ; his back was toward | me; but what he was doing could not guess. had no wish to meet the man i again, particularly in such lonely spot, and l retraced my steps quietly and silently. do not think he had heard or | seen me, for he never turned around. | walked to the Observatory and sat down on the seat that winds its way round that building. felt strangely uncomfortable. tried to convince myself that the man was simply eating frugal meal and en- toying the fresh breeze which swept through the park. For about half an hour sat musing, trying to banish the foreigner from my mind, but to no pur- pose. Suddenly he stood before me. | was reclining on the seat, pipe in mouth. An old man and a child were seated a little distance from me, and people were now and again passing me, walking around the pathway, so the Greek, sup posed, took no especial notice of me. He stood for . moment in front of me, and lhen 1t occurred to me that l had been mistaken, that the man now before me, whose profile was turned slightly in my direction, could not be my late fellow- passenger iA the steamboat. This man