Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1901-01-26
CHAPTER V.
THE FLIGHT BY NIGHT.

As Il great, high-paneled door swung
open upon narrow side street a strange.
clean scent mingled of chloride of lime
and carbolic acid rushed out upon the
night air. \ wayfarer. Fastening home
belated from his office. turned to see
whence il came He had seen that door
a hundred times. but he had never known
that il led into the great Central hospi-
tai. whose front occupied a hundred
yards of the thOrOughfare from which
this lane branched off. He saw one of
the sisters of the hospital carrying a
Swathed bundle come quickly into the
open street. A cab stood in front of the
entrance. He noted that she opened the
door of a ''grOwler." and said word to
the cape-swathed driver. who took no no.
tice-then she beckoned to some other
person still in the shadow of the great
doorway. So much he saw as he stood a
moment on his heel. Had he stood a
moment longer he had been on the high
Scotland Yard, and Scotland Yard was
interested in young women leaving town
that night. But he saw a tall man whom
he knew as the house surgeon of the Gem
eral hospital, and he said to himself:
They are sending off nurse to a pri-
vate case" From sheer force of habit
he turned once more as he reached the
corner. and noted that the cab turned
towards Waterloo bridge.
The Paris night MALI he said to him
self. Some half-pay admiral sick across
the channel" for he was a man accus-
toned to rapid inference. SO filing the
circumstance in his memory as another
leaf in the shifting chronicle of the world.
he dismissed the matter, and went on.
iingling his latchkey along with two cop
pers in his pocket, and wondering if his
little girl would be off to bed. He had
been hoping all day that she would not.
But the GROWER speedily turned north
ward again. through the sullen spaces of
Lincoln's inn. and held steadily north to-
wards the Euston road. As the cab
passed under the massive arches. a man
standing in the shadow signaled to an
other further in, who instantly went up
and politely opened the door. The por-
tiers were polite thai night to solitary fe-
males at the Euston station.
Where for. ma am" asked the man.
"Blackport Convalescent. with pass from
Central hospital" said the sister. giving
him Il slip of blue paper from a side peck
ct in the ready way of the. experienced
traveller. Quite right, ma am, change
at Preston. Shall label your luggageE
Il have no luggage said the woman.
alighting. but you can label me if you
like" The man glanced at the pretty
lay sister. and he was human.
NO use doing that" ne said You
know your way about. so he put her
into a carriage and marked it En-
gagged" Now you'll not be disturbed.
No. thank You all the same" said the
humanized amateur por,er. 1T is n
pleasure to do anything. Do you live at
the Central alwaySE'
But the lay sister only smiled as the
carriage moved out from the platform.
So all the night the train FLASHED and
Snorted on its way. flashed past rows of
lights in the darkness again. undulated
like a understanding eel on the long
down grades. painted and gasped on the
heavy up-grades like a great beast driven
beyond its powers. And alone in the
corner the lay sister Of the Central hos
pital sat, and held her charge to her
breast, answering the infrequent demand
for tickets with the same blue oblOng
which had been 80 sufficient win the
man who first opened the cab. She was
now white and still. and her lips moved
as though She were speaking. hut she
only shifted her babe occasionally and
fed it out Of a new feeding-b0ttle. Then
she faced the whiring dark again 9nd
looked out with the same hopeless. set
look duly counting the telegraph poles
as their dark shadows clded by. and as
the door opened at the stations she start,
ed as one thar breads purSuer. She dId
not. however. change at Preston. but
pocketbook. During the long run to
Carlisle she did change. however. and
as a Law sister vanished from the north
ern mail
The morning was fully broken when
she got ont on the desolate platform Of
Cairn Edward station. The babe still
slept "a her arm the untroubled sleep OF
healthy babyhood.
She uncovered its face and looked a
lon- look; she wished that it would open
its eyes. The flush Of the sunrise was
on the infant. like the promise Of the
day-spring from on high. The young
woman stopped and kissed the hoy who
lay on her breast. unconscious Of the
clouded eyes Of despair that looked upon
him. The StationmaSter-a broad. ab-
rupt. hurly man-camp 70 speak 70 her,
She was now plainly dressed as . Young
widow Of the middle class. and his heart
went ont To her. She seemed TO claim
friendship and counsel
Were We expectin' onybody 10 meet
yc?' he asked
No" She replied, but I would ike