Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-04-19

holder Of a great office is necessarily
a great man.. and the government
knows everything about everything. NJ.
:1 4 s= Il: u. \ CHAPTER VIII. I'll. 2..@
: .: -. THE MAN WITH THE FELT HAT. #F5
How long it was my fathers inten-
tion to stay in Denbfgh l have no
knowledge, nor, do ! think had he.
Life had but one object for him, the
discovery Of peace. This, l. thought, he
had found at last. and am sure he
was beginning to think so, too, when
one morning / took him up a letter.
He stretched out his hand eagerly, as
he always did for anything Of that
sort, but as soon as his eyes fell on
the handwriting he started and turned
very pale. and it was with great eff
fort he could control himself so as to
open the missive- Even as he did his
hands shook so palpably that the pa
per rustled. =,
A glance was enough to master its
contents. He looked UP at me- and I
thought that his face had suddenly
grown white and haggard.
"Davie," he said, 1--WE must pack up
at once" -. q
looked hard, but he vouchsafed no
further explanation. and had long
since abandoned my disagreeable hab-
1t Of questioning, But. as appeared to
me natural. asked him where he
thought of going. 49,. ~.
Heaven knows" he said. and as he
spoke he passed his hand despairingly
across his brow. But he at once sought
refuge in his familiar friend, or fiend,
I never knew which-Bradshaw. left
him deeply engrossed in it's mystic and
fascinating pages while went away
ia pack. 49,
Now began an existence the horror,
the terror, of which has remained with
me to this day. No wonder people have
though& my face preternaturally old
for its years. A mind never at peace,
each nerve continually on the throb,
what was there left me but to grow
before my time? Pursued by an un-
known enemy, all the more feared for
the mystery which enshrouded him,
never laid my head on the pillow at
night with the careless consciousness
Of youth, that he shall see the sun
rise on the morrow. Sometimes l
awoke in the night and fancied l could
see the man with the strange eyes
bending over me. dreamed bad
dreams. Many a night / lay awake
striving manfully to beat back the
sleep which came to my eyes. l dared
not go to sleep for fear Of the horror
that awaited me there.
I So up and down the country we
went, seeking peace and never finding
it. My father seemed to have plenty of
money, which he spent with the utmost
freedom. He never haggled over the
price Of room. IF 1t suited him be
took it. He drank wine without stint,
and he seemed to be an excellent Judge
Of it. Anything that brought him safe
ty or peace was worth the highest
price. This dreadful phantom from
which he flew robbed him Of every
other mundane thought. He only want
ed to get away-away; to hide himself
from the sight Of his fellow men. And
yet he had such a horror of the loneli-
ness of the country that he shrank
from the idea of it as one would from
the plague. No, in cities, among men,
the greatest seclusion was to be found.
The cities he haunted, the men in them
he Stunned. 49, :
Fulfilling our pitiable destiny, we
had in due course reached Winchester.
In which town we had succeeded in
passing arsmiserable three weeks in
safety. Then the usual order came,
''Davie, pack up" and without rhyme
or reason we hurriedly set out for the
station: *,... ...
Well, in accordance with our usual
custom-for once he took charge Of the
arrangements he never allowed fate to
treat him to second waiting room cpl
sode-we drove into the station a few
minutes before time. The passing of
the baggage and the buying Of the
tickets took us almost up to starting
point. Indeed we had not been seated
more than minute or so when the
banging Of doors along the line pro-
claimed the near approach Of our de-
parture. E&:zs NJ, a - 49,
{ Ny father, as was usual with him up
on such occasions, sat where he could
get glimpse of the entrance. A paper.
held before him lent an excellent pre-.
tense of reading to his attitude. but l,
who knew him.. saw. the keen eyes
glancing round the corner of the paper
or over the top, and knew that no
soul entered that station without his
knowledge. III *> ~ .= III & .s Il s
7 Suddenly as the train began to move
! saw him ding his head back into the
corner and raise the paper. Startled
looked to see the cause, and as we Gid.
ed by | saw a man hurriedly enter up
on the platform. But one of the on
Gals restrained him, and l could see
that he chafed consumedly under the
restraint. Indeed as our carriage went
By he looked Straight at e.,and IeIr
myself start In turn. Il was only q
look, q glimpse. one might say, and at .
distance, yet to me there was some
thing strangely familiar about his face