Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1896-12-24


OF the moment, murmureti Wild words
in praise of her beauty, while the cab
wheeled swiftly along through a black
ness that was broken eyery now ana
then by the passing fash of q lamp. a
flash that showed him for the second
more distinctly the mouth and eyes
and the smile of his companion. It
was like drive in dream. and Ames
was never afterward able to piece to-
gether the threads of that bewildering
conversation. Suddenly the cab swung
to the left and came to stop. Ames
saw from the expression Of the
woman's face that they had reached
their destination. s.
He leaped out of the cab and as
sisted his companion to alight. She in,
stantly ran up short flight Of steps
and put u key into a latch. AS he
tnrued from watching her movements
he saw that the cab had left them and
was driving rapidly away up the mar
low street in the direction of the
Strand. Ames looked up at the lady.
1T is all right" she said. 1.-The cab is
paid. Come in" Ames glanced around
him. He knew that he was in one of
the little cluster of closely resembling
streets that run in parallel lines from
the embankment of the Strand, but he
could not in the darkness of the night
and the confusion of the moment re-
call the name of the street. He saw
that the door which the woman had
opened was the door Of what looked
like a new and large building of fats.
chambers and offices, and that it stood
near to the embankment OH the right
hand side going toward the Strand.
So much he gathered in a glance, then
he followed his leader UP the steps
and through the door which she held
half open into large and somewhat
dimly lighted hall. on both sides of
which Ames saw the long catalogue of
names printed in gold upon black
grounds which are, as it We're, the fin.
ger posts to these human hives.
The woman closed the door. "Fol.
low me-" she said, and began to lead
the way up long flight of stone stairs.
Ames followed her without a word, but
as he followed her he assured himself,
almost mechanically, that lie was not
unarmed.
The ascent was long, up several
flights of those dimly lighted stone
steps, on which the ascending foot.
steps seemed to echo gloomily. They
passed several stories, each with it's
own family Illuminated corridor radi-
ating away into mysterious space, be-
fore they came to a stop. His guide
turned to the right and walked along
a corridor that seemed to lead toward
the front of the mansion. Presently
She paused at door and turned q han
die; Ames, still following her, found
waite fiat and then in a drawing room
waite flat and then in a darwing room
which seemed to fling upon his con-
seriousness a sense of somewhat savage
wealth as the electric light flooded it
ut the touch Of the woman's hand. =
'Take off your coat" she said, and
then she disappeared through fur
ther door and left him staring curl
ously around him. The room suggest
ed wealth, ease, even luxury, but there
was further suggestion of brutality,
OF the barbarous in it's opulence, which
asserted itself with significance. AS
Philo Ames turned TO take off his coat
and lay it across 4 remote chair his
glance was arrested by one among n
line OF photographs upon the chimney
piece. 1t was the face of a woman
that he had once known the face Of a
woman that the people who talked of
her declared him to have known very
well. Seeing the photograph and re-
membering that friendship, Ames saw
some meaning in his presence in the
adventure. He had said many extrav-
agant things to her; she was woman
whose intimacy tempted to extrava,
gance; it was very probable, indeed,
that he had said some such words to
her as had been repeated to him by
his mysterious hostess. Well, if he
had he would stand by them now, If
only for the old sake's sake, he said
to himself, as he turned from the ia
miliar face and followed the line of the
little gallery of portraits. There were
some Of his hostess, which failed, as
photographs always fail, to renew the