Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1892-05-06

less one spoke to him, and even thel
his answers were rambling and dis
| iointed. In u word, he was neve,
the same man after that morning
when he first saw the scarf-pin. And
I could see that the poor little wife
understood it all as little as I did.
But / had not yetheard the last o.
my pin, eve for that morning. Gus
tav, my paragon Of . steward, hat
just taken away a plate from before
me, and was putting down another,
| when al he bent close to my ear, ]
thought | heard him whisper. not in
his usual o~bstaQRions tones, but rs one
having authority: Take of that
cross now. We've all seen YOU"
l turned hastily, but he vas gone.
Then / looked at Charters, who, how.
ever, had evidently heard nothing.
So. the plot thickens, l thought; this
begins to be interesting. And, as
soon as I could escape from the table,
l went to my cabin, and changed the
pin for another.
To say that l was puzzled would be
far too mild an expression. / was
utterly nonplused. Here we're two
men, both complete strangers to each
other AMI to me, who had not only
recognized my scarf pin but to whom,
In addition, it bore some special
meaning, and for one, at least, a
meaning OF fear and ill-omen. Then,
ii | had heard Gustav rightly, there
were others on board who had seen
and recognized me by mean Of the
pin, and who 10Y ordered me to re-
move it, further Identification being
needless. Who could they be? And
when, IL at all, would they make
themselves known to me?
For the answer to this question I
had to wait, and you can imagine
how miserable the waiting must have
been-for q whole week. And then
there came only half a revelation. 1
loon deck, forward, gazing down up
ing space OF the deck below, which
was appropriated to the Storage
passengers. Suddenly I heard a low
I" Hist!" beneath me, and q scrap Of
paper, rolled into o ball, fell at my
feet: Picking it up and opening 1t, I
read:
mot down here. He must be in
the cabin. Keep your eyes OPEN
And in the lower left-hand corner
OF the paper l saw, pricked out with
a pin, the form OF a Maltese cross,
the pin.holes corresponding in num-
Der with tho stones and corals in my
mysterious scarf pin.
OF course it was hopeless to think
OF looking for the sender OF this
strange missive, nor did / make any
attempt to do SO. I felt, however,
that l should receive more Of these
communications, and, as you will see,
I was right.
The saloon-deck OF the Circassienne
was separated from the ''intermedi-
ate'' deck only by q rope stretched
across, and while the intermediate
passengers were careful, as q rule,
not to trespass beyond this barrier,
we of the saloon often walked and
talked with them on their side of the
rope, where the deck, being almost
clear OF membranes, really made a
finer promenade than our own.
Sauntering up and down on this part
OF the deck n evening about ~
o'clock. l was accosted by q man
whom ! had observed with some Gu
riosity more than once. He was
dressed as a clergyman Of the Church
tf England, and was tall and slight,
with a thin, ascetic face; but there
was a certain sharp fox-like look
about his eyes that produced in ne
an instant aversion to him. This
mar now came up to me, and bend
ing down, said, in a sharp whisper:
Hes not travelling intermediate ;
look out for him among your lot"
And then, half drawing off one OF
his gloves, he pointed to his hand, on
which l could see, by the light from
the smoke-room door standing open
behind us. diamond ring-its stones
set in the form OF o diminutive NAL
tese cross.
Before I could answer he was
gone.
An examination Of the way-bill
which I made Immediately after this
interview, did not help me mach.
The Rev. Erastus Leigh, bound from
Sydney to Cheltenham, via Marseilles
and London, might be anybody.
And the mystery was as far from so.
luton as ever.
The rest OF the voyage was I'm.
eventful: il, indeed, any period OF
time could be called uneyentful
which was passed in continual sus.
pense, in waiting for some impending
event, which seemed to hang like
Damocles' sword above my head,
and still delaying its fall.
We were but one day out from
Marseilles. and all had gone we'll SC
far. when, in dressing for dinner, /
happened to notice that the diamond
scarf-pln was missing from my bag.
/ at once rang for Gustav, and asked
him whether he knew anything OF it
To my surprise he looked carefully
up and down the passage, without
speaking, then entered my cabin,
and shut and bolted the door.
Listen" he said and there was
an ~insolent familiarity in his voice
"You don't want that pin no Longer
and YOU might make mischief il 70,
had it. When I've done this day.
work, you'll find the pin; anyways
you shall have it back before 20,
leave the ship.