The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-03-28

guess the IulH-JldL we nave Ildut a
masonic secret of 1.-THE two separate
diagrams are valueless without your pa
pers; your papers reveal nothing with
out Nos. : and 13."
l bowed in submission. But / vas, all
the same, disappointed, as | said, and
trifie mortified
Herr Wilhelm saw it and cheered me
up.
"All right. Lutz. my boy" he said. 81
feel just like you-nothing 1 should en-
JOY more than a rush over to London.
carrying the whole documents, and pre-
pared for a fight with any one who tried
10 get hold of them. But Herr GeThardt
here is. cooler-blooded than we are"
The elder man smiled.
I don't doubt your readiness to fight
nor Ludwig's either. But it would be
by no such honestly brutal means as
open robbery that we should be out
witted. Make friends readily with one
while travelling. LutZ, yet avoid the APP
pearance of keeping W urself aloof. You
understand"
Perfectly I said. II shall sleep well
t. night so as TO be prepared to keep
awake throughout the journey"
The papers were then carefully packed
up. Those consigned to my care were
to be carried in a certain light, black
handbag with very good lock, which
had often before been my travelling COM
panion
And the following evening I started by
the express train agreed upon. So, at
least, have always believed. but have
never been able to bring forward a wit
ness to ths>fact of my train at the start
being the right one. as no one came with
me to see me off. For it was thought
best that l should depart in as I'M
obtrusive a manner as possible, as, even
/ in a large town such as ours, the MEM
bers and employees of an old and i'm
portant house like the Moritzes' were
we'll known.
1 took my ticket then, registering no
luggage. as I had none but what / easily
carried In my hand. as well as the bag
1t was already dusk, if not dark, and
there was not much hustle in the station
nor apparently many passengers.
took my place in an empty Second-class
compartment and sat there quietly till
the train should start. y few minutes
before il did so another man got in.
was somewhat annoyed at this as in
my circumstances nothing Was mere
undesirable than travelling alone with
one other. Had there been a crowded
! compartment, or one with three or four
passengers. I would have chosen it; but
at the moment / got in the carriages
We're all either empty o. with but one or
two occupants. Now, / said to myself
| should have done better to wait till
nearer the time OF departure, and then
chosen my place.
l turned to reconnoitre my companion,
but | could not see his face clearly, as
he was half leaning out Of the window.
Was he doing so on purpose / said to
myself for naturally 1 was in
suspicious mood And as the thought
struck me / half started up. determined
to choose another compartment. Sud
denly a peculiar sound made itself heard
Ny companion was coughing. He drew
his head in. covering his face with his
hand. as he cOugned again You never
| heard such curious cough. 1t was more
like a hen clucking than anything l can
think Of Once. twice, he coughed; then,
as if he had been waiting for the slight
spasm TO pass, he sprang up, looked
eagerly out of the window again, and
opening the door jumped out, with some
exclamation. as if he had just caught
sight of friend.
And in another moment or twO-he
could barely have had time to get in
elsewhere-much to my satisfaction, the
train moved off.
Now" thought l. Il can make my
self comfortable for some hours. We do
not stop till NJ; il will be o'clock by
then. II no one gets on there L am safe
TO go through till tomorrow alone; then
there will only be - junction and
clear run TO Calais"
l unstrapped my rug and lit cigar
of course. ! had chosen a smOking-car-
riage-and delighted at having got rid
of my clucking companion, the time
. passed pleasantly till we pulled up at
NJ. The delay there was not great,
and. to my enormous satisfaction, no one
! molested my solitude. Evidently the ex-
press to Calais was not in very great de-
mand that night. l now felt so secure
that, Notwithstanding my intention of
7 keeping awake all night, my innermost
consciousness had not, l suppose, quite
resigned itself to the necessity, for not
more than an hour or so after leaving
NJ, possibly sooner, / fell fast asleep.
1t seemed to me that l had slept heav-
er.r. nh L I l,oI IA
Guilty in remembering where 1 was. Only
by slow degrees did 1 realize that I was
not in my comfortable bed at home but
/ in chilly, ill-lighted railway carriage.
Chilly-yes, that it waS-very chilly; but
as my faculties returned 1 remembered
my precious bag. and forgot all else in
momentary terror that it had been taken
from me. No; there it waS-my elbow
had been pressed against il as 1 slept
But how was this? The train was not
in motion. We were standing in a sta
ton; a dingy. deSerted-looking place
with no cheerful noise or hustle; only
one or two pOrters slowly moving about.
with a sort Of sleepy. might duty" surly
air. 1t could not be the junction? 1
looked at my watch. Barely midnight
OF course. not at the junction We were
not due there till O'Clock in the morn
ing or so.
What, then, were we doing here. and
what was 'here2" Had there been an
accident-some unforeseen necessity for
| stopping? At that moment a curious
sound, from some yards distance only il
| seemed to come, caught my ear. 1t was
| the croaking, cackling cough!-the cough
| OF my momentary fellow-passenger
| toward whom L had felt an instinct
| i've aversion. | looked out Of the win
| dow-there was a refreshment room lust
| opposite, dimly lighted. like everything
| else, and in the doorway, as if Just enter
] ing, was figure which / felt pretty sure
was that of the man with the cough
''Bahr L said to myself II must not
be fanciful. 1 dare say the fellows an
right. He is evidently in the same hole
as myself What, in heavens name, are
we waiting here for?'
/ sprang out Of the carriage, nearly
tumbling over porter slowly passing
along.
How long are we to stay here?" I
| cried When do we start again for
-%' and | named the junction
For -?' he repeated in the queer
est German L ever heard-was ii Ger
man, or did I discover his meaning by
some preternatural cleverness of my
! own? There is no train for - for
four or five hours, not till --'' and he
named the time; and leaning forward
lazily, he took out my larger bag and
my rug, depositing them on the plat
form. He did not seem the least sur
prised at finding me there-I might have
been there for a week, it seemed to
me.
mo train for five hours? Are you
| mad?' L said.