Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-04-05

to mySel1, rs 1 iuNOiuheoAhy Si"uCeO ~
the alarm-signal on the wall opposite.
The lady wrote hastily some words
upon the margin of my paper. which
she then returned.
Tread: .There is man hidden un-
der the seat; are we in danger of an
attack ?"
Much puzzled to know whether my
companion was off her head. or really
frightened with cause, wrote in re-
ply:
..Are you sure? Did you see him
get in?"
mo, / felt him; he clutched at my
foot" was scrubbed hastily beneath
my query.
Surely no would-be highway robber
could be so injudicious as to assail the
ankles of his victims before beginning
a more violent attack. so with patri-
archal, reassuring smile, l inscribed:
Probably it was only dog"
mo; 1 felt his fingers. Shall we not
stop the train? Something must be
doner' she wrote, vigorously under
lining the last words
1t was clearly my duty to investi-
gate the cause of my fair neighbor's
growing alarm, so with astute caution
l asked with marked distinctDess if
the lady objected to tobacco-smcke.
comforting my face the while with
signs that she was to answer in the
negative.
She confessed to a decided prefer
ence for the odor of good cigar.
"Thank you for the permission.
madam; deprived of my smoke, reaA
ly suffer-"
It was such relief to speak after
our solemn interchange of written
sentiments upon the ragged edge of
the Times. that was prepared to give
utterance to any amount of garrulous
platitudes. lighted match, talking
volubly the while, and when it was
blazing. purposely dropped it upon
the floor, exclaiming noisily at my
own awkwardness: ut was my last
match. too. I really must try to save
spark of it to light my cigar"
Istooped to pick up the burnt fragg-
ment, and took one sharp. comprehen-
sive glance beneath the seat. My COM
panion was right-a man croached
and huddled there among the shadows.
His face was turned away. but I saw
his hand clearly, upon the back of
which the letters IS. NJ" were lcgible
through the dirt and CRIME.
At sight of this Misunderstanding
hand my heart began merry dance.
Not from fear-my self-respect obliges
me to protest against this possible i'm
putation-but because we seemed to
have in our clutches the rogue who
had stolen poor Jacks medals. i
might dare to present myself before
Mora, after all. instead of hanging
back like whipped hound.
"Am l not right?" the lady said.
with her eyes this time. instead of with
her pencil.
Eyes" wrote; eve must give the
fellow in charge as soon as possible.
Don't let him know we suspect his
presence"
reflected that our precaution of
writing every thing referring to the
culprit was perhaps needless, as a COM
mon thief from the Riviera would
scarcely be likely to understand En-
glish; still, in such cases, the extreme
of prudence was better than the lack
of it altogether.
The half-hour elapsing between the
discovery of this man and our arrival
ut the next station was fraught with
ill-concealed terror for the sharp-faced
lady. and much repressed excitement
for me. Would the man dash out,
and either attack me or make good his
escape before the train stopped? Far
better for me to be worsted in tussle
with him than to lose him and his
booty forever. could not form a
guess as to his strength. not having
seen more of him than the branded
hand. For the lady's sake, devoutly
hoped We might be spared scrffie.
Presently, to my intense relief, the
train began to slacken its speed, and
the hoarse voice of the guard shouting
the name of the station sounded like
celestial music in my ears. I seized
upon the first official l could find, as
We stopped. and he collecting the de-
sired force. made short work of arrest
ing the man who was stealing his ride.
He was dragged forth with very little
resistance; he saw how useless a fight
would be, and was soon in safe Gus
tody.
To my irexpressible JOY. poor Jacks
medals were found upon the thiefs
person. together with the greater part
OF my aunts property.
The man, a hardened scamp. was
disposed for joking and sarcasm upon
the subject of his own detection.
"Were you mad or asleep when you
betrayed yourself by touching that
lady's foot?" asked.
why, you see. sir" he replied, with
a leer. .those Englishwomen have such
Il