Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-03-26

passage had been unlocked, no doubt,
for Hassan's entrance with supper, and
It was by this way that we went out.
! Not a CLEAN of light had walked the
sky from its sleep, though had count
ed on steely band in the east to give
me not only a vague idea Of the direc-
ton in which the house faced, but to
| show me its characteristics, which
| had missed at midnight.
1t was still, however, that darkest
| hour before the dawn" of which poets
sing, and as Hassan had, for reasons
Of his masters or his own, brought no
lantern, we had again to feel our way
down the gravelled path to the door in
the wall
l tried to make some excuse for lin
gering, that might spy out some fea-
ture which would help guide me to the
| place, in case circumstances rendered
it important that l should recognize
the house once more. But between Mr..
Smith and his devoted servitor I was
hurried on, so that pause for inspec-
ton was impossible, and guessed why
it was that my host had been SO ear
nestly bent upon escorting me.
Outside the garden gate was the han
! som, and by its lights I could see that
a box of good size had been placed on
| top. Within was the bag which MI.
J Smith had mentioned, a handsome ar
ticle Of alligator skin, which attested
his generosity at parting. Thanking
| him, l looked back, as the cab was
/ driven rapidly away, but already the
! door in the wall was closed, and, Hash
| ing around the corner at break-neck
pace as before, the house, and the
events which had taken place within
| it, seemed to be blOtted out by the
night, as though they had never exist
| ed save in my own imaginings.
Again 1 endeavored to form some
| idea Of the direction in which l had
/ been taken, but, preposterous as my
failure appeared in my own eyes, 1
| had arrived within short distance CT
Euston before l realized that the neigh
Dorhood was not unfamiliar to me.
AS Mr.. Smith had prophesied, 1 had
not long to wait for the early train
in which l was to be a passenger. l
had only comfortable time to buy my
| ticket and see the label put upon my
! box (Which was a new one, of an
| American pattern, with rounded top)
when my sleepy fellow travellers be-
gan taking their places in the car
riages.
| observed that communicating
man in knickerbockers, who got into
a second-class compartment next mine,
eyed me sharply, then turned away as
if with sudden loss of interest; and /
asked myself if the system of espion-
age in the past which Mr.. Smith had
admitted was to be carried into the
future.
At all events, I could not help con-
Meeting the man in the knickerbockers,
directly or indirectly, with the mission
which I had pledged myself to carry
out. He might be a detective set to
watch that I followed my directions to
the letter. In which case the errand
was on assumed even greater import
ance than before, and became more
pulling, since, if Mr.. Smith had a
man in his service competent to report
nv movements. why was he not equal
ly competent to accomplish them HIM
self, without paying me to become
cat's-paw?
Or, if not a person engaged to spy
upon me, it might be that, in some way
which I did not yet understand, we
two were to work together, playing
consciously or unconsciously into each
others hands when we reached our
destination.
The train fairly started, I began to
piece together the loose links in the
chain of mystery, and to make bold
guesses at my own connection with
them.
What could there possibly be in the
errand upon which / was embarked
worth the bride of five hundred pounds;
or-supposing 1 should be cheated Of
the second half promised me in Edin-
burgh-even the sum of two hundred
and fifty, with travelling expenses in
addition?
The whole affair, as described to
me in advance by Mr. Smith, seemed
absurdly simple on the surface, yet I
ransached my brains in vain to decide
what there might be underneath. 1t
occurred to me finally that the most
feasible solution of the riddle might be
found in the small jewel-case which
Mr.. Smith had handed me at the last
moment, asking me to keep 1t in my
pocket until I was ready to put it in
charge of the manager at the Elsinore
Hotel.
Although the man had assured me
that no robbery was contemplated,