Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-31


struggle with me he had lost his mask. One
glance was sufficient to impress that face
and figure indelibly upon my mind. He
was tall, well built and well dressed. His
features were clear cut and refined, in short,
he looked like gentleman. Light hair,
parted in the middle, waved away from his
forehead. His ewes were clear and blue,
his mouth was shaded by blonde mus
tache
threw on a loose gown and lighted the
gas. The room was in confusion from the
recent struggle. 1 caught a glimpse of my
white face in the glass and started as if I
had seen a ghost, sc strange and unfamiliar
was the reflection. In less time than it
takes to record the fact, I heard sharp
| knock at the door.
''Come in, I cried.
The clerk and three other men appeared
upon the threshold. IS well as my excite
| nent wonld allow, / told the story of what
| occurred. L did not hurry nv tale, and be-
| fore / had come to the escape of the robber
| 1 had given him plenty of time to have
! gained his freedom. When they heard of
his quiet departure down the corridor men
were sent after him; but a side door was
! found unfastened, and through that he had,
| doubtless, passed to the street.
An examination of my apartment dis
closed the fact that several of my wraps were
| under the bed, forming a comfortable rest
ing place 1t then dawned upon me that at
some hour during the evening he had en-
tered my room and concealed himself be-
meath my bed. The noise that had first
awakened me- and that had seemed to me
a wire striking against the window, must
have been the cTeaking of the springs
of my own bed, set in motion by some un-
wary movement of the robber as he was
preparing TO leave his hiding place. 1t was
not pleasant to think that during my read
ing and preparations for the night my room
was shared by an unknown and unseen COM
panion! Toward morning the house settled
down again to quiet ana rest, and utterly
exhausted by the terrible scene through
which had passed, sank into deep sleep,
from which did not wake till noon.
awoke with a dull remembrance that
something was wrong. Slowly the facts of
last night came back to me with vivid dis
tinctness l hesitated about telegraphing
to Tom, and at last decided only to write.
He could do nothing; for even should / see
nv midnight visitor again-a most improb-
able suppositicn-I had sworn to make no
effort to bring him to justice. A trophy
from the field of battle-a black mask-re-
mrined in my hands, hardly fair exchange
for S200i
AsI was about to go out L stopped to
dropped near the foot of the bed. To my
astonishment, 1 found a turquoise on the
floor 1t was a small stone, but of
very peculiar shape, being triangular.
Where could it have come from? 1t GER
tainly was not mine, for l did not own a
turquoise. The idea flashed upon my mind
that the robber had lost it when he fell
against the foot of the bed. If that weret
the case, had valuable clew.
At nv request the reporters were not
notified of my loss, for did not care to
figure in the papers as the heroine of such
a midnight melodrama. told the proprie-
tor of the hotel that 1 infinitely preferred to
lose the money rather than TO gain such un-
enViable notoriety. He was quite willing to
accept my decision, for any publicity given
to the robbery might have injured his
house. I felt sure that Tom would approve
of my course, and when his answer to my.
full description of the events of that night
reached me, 9 couple of days later, he said
that she could not be thankful enough that
nv adventure had been kept out of the
papers.
On Monday evening had promised to 60
to reception at Mrs. Robert Chapman
Powell's; she is a charming woman, with
an extended reputation as a literateuT. She
has a lovely house, where, on Monday
evenings, she is always at home to her
friends One finds representatives of al
most every set in New York in her rooms
Artists, actors, musicians, authors, dilet-
tanti and bohemians mix on neutral ground
with members of the ultTa-fashionable
Four Hundred. 1t is ALWAYS pleasure for
me to go to Mrs. Powell's, for if there be
lion of anv importance, or a star of real
magnitude in town, L am sure to find the
celebrity whom the world is running wild
over comfortably enscOnsced under this
bright little womans wing. / arrived at 9
o'clock, and found the rooms already COM
fortablY filled. I settled myself in the en-
brasure of a bay window with an old friend
and from this position 1 had an admirable
view Of the assemblage. Ny friend was
pointing ont the people of note, when sud-
denly l felt the blood leaving nv face as
drew back within the shadow of the curtain.
''Who is that man?'' asked, hastily inter-
rupting my friend ''I mean the blonde man
who has just come in and is speaking to Mrs.
Powell.
e'Oh. that is Jack Grant,
f'And who is Jack Grant?'' 1 asked, mas
tering nv excitement; for unless my eyes
were playing me false the questionable hero
Of my recent adventure was before me-
There were the same clear-cut features, the
same fair hair and mustache, the same fine
physique Each line had been i'm
time before that it seemed impossible L
could be mistaken. "Jack, I" 1 added, ''be-
cause there is something strangely familiar
about his face. "
Gle is an Englishman, answered my
friend. 81 do not know much about him.
He came over last autumn and made many
friends upon the steamer. He has charm
ing manners, and has become popular in So
ciety. Everybody likes Jack Grant, and he
has been invited everywhere this winter.
believe he is well connected on the other
side: don't quite know to whom, however.
Grant is rot otseg0tistical, and almost never
talks about himself If you have not met
him, shall not ask Mrs. Powell to bring
him 10 you? he is really one of the most
attractive men in the rooms. "
''Nes,' replied, ''I should like much to
meet him. VIII you arrange it, please, if
possible, that he may be presented to me,
without hearing my name?"
''Certainlv,'' nv friend replied, as he left
me. He was accustomed to what he called
'my idiosyncrasies, so 1 knew he would
think nothing of what might seem to an
other strange request.
Left to myself, l wondered whether an ex-
traOrdinary, clever likeness might not be |
playing me false had heard of counter
felt presentments; indeed, had not seen |
Irving in ''The Lyons Mail?" After all, 1 |
was prepared, and if L were not mistaken,
he would be taken off his guard. l had |
much in my favor, for l am good amateur |
actress, and had time now to prepare nv |
part. Ny thoughts we're broken in upon |
by an artist, who had discovered my retreat. |
While we were havinga pleasant chat about |
the studies, l saw Mrs. Powell, leaning on Mr.. |
Grants arm, steering her toward my corner |