Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1895-03-14

Ink. and above II Is 1897 from left IN
faded pencil-writing In the left.hand
corner Is curious hieroglyphic like
four crosses In line with their arma
touching. Beside it is written, In very
rough and coarse characters, The sign
Of the four,-Jonathan Small, Mahomet
Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akbar.
No, ! confess that do not see how
this bears upon the matter. Yet II IL
evidently a document Of importance.
II has been kept carefully In q pocket
book; for the one side Is as clean a. the
other"
ut was In his pocketbook that We
found IT,"
"Preserve II carefully, then, Miss
Morstan, for II may prove to be Of use
to us. Ibegin to suspect that this mat
ter may turn out TO be much deeper
and more subtle than at first sup.
posed. must reconsider my IDEAS"
He leaned back in the cab, and I could
sec by his drawn brow and his vacant
eye that he was thinking intently.
Miss Morstan and | chatted in an I'm.
dertone about our present expedition
and It's possible outcome, but our com.
panion maintained his impenetrable re-
serve until the end Of our journey.
twas September evening, and not
yet seven o'clock, but the day had been
a dreary one, and dense drlzzling fog
lay low upon the great city Mud
colored clouds dropped sadly over the
muddy streets. Down the Strand the
lamps were but misty splotchcs Of dr.
fused light which threw q feeble cir.
cular glimmer upon the Shiny pave.
ment The yellow glare from the shop
windows streamed out into the steamy,
vaporous air, and threw murky,
shifting radiance across the crowded
thoroughfare. There was to my mind
something eerie and ghost-like in the
endless procession OF faces which fitted
across these narrow bars Of light-sad
faces and glad haggard and merry.
Like all human kind, they fitted from
the gloom into the light, and 80 back
into the gloom once more. lam not
subject to Impressions, but the dull,
heavy evening, with the strange busi.
ness upon which we were engaged,
combined to make me nervous and de-
pressed. could see from Miss Nor.
STAINS manner that she was suffering |
from the same feeling Holmes alone
could rise superior to petty Influences. |
He held his open notebook upon his
knee, and from time 10 time he jotted
down figures and memoranda IN tho
light Of his pocket lantern.
At the Lyceum theater the crowds
were already thick at the side en-
frances. In front q continuous stream
Of hansoms and four-wheelers were
rattling up, discharging their cargoss
81 sniptsfronted men and beshawled,
bediamonded women We had hardly
reached the third pillar, which was our
rendezvous, before . small, dark, bylsh
man In the dress Of . goodman ~
,osted us.
"Aro you the parties who come with
Miss Morstan9 he asked.
y am Miss Morstan, and these two
gentlemen are my friends" said shs,
He bent pair Of wonderfully pens.
rating and questioning eyes upon 10.
You will excuse me, miss" he ssid,
With certain logged manner, but !
vas to ask you to give me your word
hat neither Of your companions l. .
,olice officer"
Il give you my word on that" she
He gave shrill whistle, on which s
treet Arab led across Q four-whecler
md opened the door. The man who
md addressed US mounted 10 the box,
yhlle we took our places inside. We
Iad hardly done 80 before the driver
whipped up his horse, and we plunged
way alta furious pace through tho
oggy streets
The situation was q curious one. We
we're driving TO an unknown pace, On
n unknown crrand Yet our invita-
ion was either complete hoaS--
ghich was an inconceivable hypothesis
or else we had good reason to think
hat important issues might hang upon
ur journey. Miss Morstan's dcmcanor
ids Us lresointe grd collected as ever. {
endeavorcd to cheer and amuse her
y "reminiscences Of my adventures in
fghanistan; but, TO tell the truth, | {
'as myself SO excited at our situation :
nd SO curious Us to our destination
nal my stories we're slightly involved.
o this day she declares that told her '
ne moving anccdote as TO how a mus 3
ct looked into my tent at the dead Of l
light, and how fred q double bar- !
,lled tiger ppb Of u. A. first had Z
,mc idea as to the difeition IN which t
e were driving; but soon, whit with r
ur pace, the fog, md my own limited
nowledge Of London, | lost my bear c