The Van Buren press., 1898-05-07

lfsns. waving fks sane blaeezborzers5
hana kerehfef,
vas Duzziedt xos Only that, : vas
mad The sanss fsel9ng Of irritation
sta which, bis APPEARANCE On the beat
p Liverpool had inspired ne came back,
I Intensified. The same longing 10 pick
hfm sp between M nHgsr ard thBns5
returned With uncomfortable force
fznferraasteiy-ors perhaps, fart azate-
y f5r hIm ard ne. too Ios1 ight =
hfm IN me hurry ard hustle 81 and
lag.
o. NJ wag . tie hotel kept Eoz-
1erfag Row On earth this remarkable
nsorsel q humanity had gof - NeE
I York ahead 81 Ga He cosld rat have
eonae a. sfowsmsy On err boat. far
! sav him standing on The deek when
ne eft Liverpool. ard I found hia
standing or thu deck abeH We reached
xew York
Il lie conld rot hare esme By another
Ire. FOR he ship in which bad crossed
was the fastest Atlantic liner asoaf.
ard we had made a record voyage
and Yer The fact remained that 7 had
left him IN Liverpool ard that I fond
him II Sew York o. ny arrival
There vas something 7 did not ike
sB1ut if=-somefbiag ancaHay. unnaf-
araL r be had intended crossing ths
I sflaatie. WY cd be n9t come b the
Same steamer as his lady friend Mrs.
+ Jshns0na Where vas TIE neeessifY 70
+ the tearfaI 1eave-fakinz Or the demon
sfrafi8s feunfoH2
{ Then there came into ny mind The
Thought thar this ess no man a. al.
Re vas q w1ll-o'-the-wisp 4 spook- a.
-, 4 gobIinl
E The thing played upon Hay mind as J
+ drove 10 the hotel, anfiI felt impeIled
Is report fhe matter . the police.
f believe { shoald have done this. had nof
tno considerations restrained me- The
+ first was that had 70 time % spare and
+ tse seeoHd vas that vas afraid O
+ making fo8i . myself
f Eventually. 7 concluded that ny man
kin aas5 have solved fhe problem q
aerial navigation, and that he had
f crossed the Atlantic n an afFship.
snd WHEN + remembered bis birdzlike
+ appearance. / vas more than half in
+ eliBed 70 accept this theory a cor
f rect one.
f ] ha3 INST tfne . take 3 good din
nef A. tie Hoffman house, ard then
+ + had 70 bury - 70 the depot p catch
the hfyht express for Chicago. 7 had
F business there which required ny i'm
F mediate attention. There vas 3r.
/. Psekiff In the Windy eity to Nnan I
ksa 4 hitter from a Liverpool merchant
ard whom i was necessary for me 70
80 a the earliest possible moment.
/ ! bad bearded the train and ST look.
ing OFT Of TIE window. when I caught
sight d Hrs johnson coming along the
/ platform Nita TIE Ute.
+ The TRAN aaz just On the point Of
f sfzrffzgs ard. after tbeV had gone
through TIE Earn performance II Eiss-
F ing as ia Liverpool. &rz. johnson got
+ info tie ear. leaving the raanikin stand
Ing On the platform. "a He steamed
CT q the station I saw him waving a
farewell signal 18th the Old biaek-bor-
dered handkerchfsf
We'll. thank Qoodnesz. that's he last
Of him" sais 70 myself as turned IN
to my sleeper. .Fffin9 machine Of no
fling machine. BE cant get ahead OF
the train, even II he did beat the steam
ship
slept soundly. and did not awaken
until reused by the black porter IN the
morning.
"Now may all the powers Of dark
ness seize biml" was my prayer, as, on
reaching Chicago, I saw the little man
standing in the station. waving his
1 blsck-bordered handkerchief TO Mrs.
johnson.
/ There was the identical manikin
whom had left standing on the docks
ut Liverpool eight days ago, and left
again on the railway platform at New
York the night before.
The same black suit, the same black
hat, black tie. black stick; the same
black -bordered handkerchief waving in
the breeze.
II was pulling. II was annoyingl ]
took II MS a personal affront Why
should this iravesty Of mankind pur-
sue me with such pestilent pertinacity?
Could | not go anywhere in this wide
world without meeting that elf-like fig
ure, and having that garb OF unutter-
able woe presented TO my unwilling
eyes2 Were there no means Of putting
n quie'us TO this omnipresent mimicry
Of humanity? ] should 20 crazy, II II
was 10 be my fate to meet him nj every
corner and crossroad in life. This
thing had gone far enough; and was
determined TO put a stop TO H.
] swore that II he were an actual
entity. a real corporal creature. and
not n spook, or a phaniasm Of the mind.
would have him arrested as goon as
! put foot on the ground
But my resolution was somewhat
shaken by a sudden fear which took
possession Of me. began to entertain
doubts ~ to my own sanity.
Was II possible, ! asked myself. that
that singular appearance Of the dwarf
10 Liverpool had 10 impressed itself
upon my mind and worked upon my
imagination during tho enforced idle
ness Of The voyage, that ! was begin
ming 10 conjure mp dwarfs at every turn
and corner and see manikins where
there were no manikins? Who would
believe such a cock-and-bull story. a.
that little man whom | had left be-
hind in Liverpool had got to New York
before me; and then after leaving him
behind 10 New York TINT he had got TO
Chicago ahead Of me2
But the manikinl / had only 20
uroduef him In uronf ~ fttv sarertfon