Mower County transcript., 1900-12-05

mysterious occupant of room 4. and to
satisfy it she walked slowly up and
down the corridor, her hands behind
her, passing and repassing the open door
of her own room and noticing that ever
and anon the conductor cast suspicious
eye in her direction. The door of room
A was partly open, but the shaded lamp
in the ceiling left the interior in dark
ness. There waA ncwno trace Of the in-
toxicatiDg gas in the corridor. and "a
she passed room A she noticed that 4
fresh breeze was blowing through the
half open doorway; therefore the win
dow must be up. Once as she paesed her
own door she saw the conductor engaged
in a task which would keep him from
looking into the corridor for at least q
minute. and in that interval she set her.
doubts at rest by putting her head
swiftly into room A and as swiftly
Withdrawing it. The man had been lift
ed on to his sofa and lay with his face
toward the wall, hie head on pillow.
The dispatch box rested on corner of
the sofa, where doubtless he had left it.
He was breathing heavily, like a man in
q drunken sleep, but the air of the room
was sweet and fresh, and he would
doubtless recover. Jennie still paced up
and down thinking deeply over what
had happened, At first. when she had
secured the important document, she
had made up her mind to return it to
the messenger. but further, pondering
induced her to change her mind. The
messenger had been robbed by the Rus
sian police. He would tell his superiors
exactly what had happened. and yet the
letter would reach it's destination as
speedily as if he had brought it himself
AS if he had never been robbed.
Knowing the purpose which Mr.. Hard
wick had in his mind, Jennie saw that
the letter now was Of tenfold more value
to him than it would have been had she
taken it from the messenger. i: It was
evident that the British embassy, or the
messenger himself. had suspicious that
an attempt was to be made to obtain
the document; otherwise room G of the
sleeping car would not have been
changed for room A at the, very last
moment AS it was the editor could cay
to the official: 1.-THE Russian police rob-
bed your messenger in spite Of all the
precautions that could be taken. and
my emissary cozened the Russians. So,
you see, I have accomplished what the
whole power,of the British government
was powsrless to effect; therefore it
win be wisdom on your partsto come to
terms with me-" ~ Fs.:--:ss.S q
''Your room is ready for you. said
the conductor IN French. ss..s.,. ..s,sss
She had presence OF mind enough not
to comprehend his phrase until, with .
motion Of his hand, he explained his
meaning. She entered her compartment
and closed the door. ~.,,~.- ~
Having decided what disposal to make
of the important document, there now
~-ose i. her rnai.d tho diequiotahs prob
zlem whether or not it would be allowed
TO remain with her, She cogitateu
sthe situation, and tried to work outs
mental arithmetic ct it. Trains were i,
frequent on the Russian railways, an
she had no means Of estimating when
the burly rufian who had planned and
executed the robbery would get back to
st. Petersburg, There was no doubt
that he had not the right to open the
letter and read its contents; that privi-
lege rested with some higher official in
st. Petersburg. The two men bad got
off at the Arst stopping place. 1t was
quite possible that they would not reach
the capital until next morning, when
the Berlin express would be well on its
way to the frontier. Once over the
frontier she would be safe, but the mo-
ment it was found that the envelope
merely contained a copy of an English
newspaper, what might not happen
Would the Russian authorities dare tele-
graph to the frontier to have her search
ed, or would the big official who had