The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-10-15

mans manner was that or an old friend,
and it was impossible to trip him up in
any way. Again and again Johnson
thought he had him, making it inevitable
that he should say who he was, but each
time johnson found that bitter disap-
pointment and not victory awaited him.
At length johnson looked at his watch.
81 must be getting home" he said.
The man looked at his watch"
$50 must IT, he said.
"Are you going my way" johnson
asked desperately
mo; my way is in the opposite direc-
tion," said the man.
They went down the steps together. The
man called a cab.
Good night" he said, holding out his
hand
johnson took his hand and said, with
as much grace as he could muster in his
perplexity and disappointment, "Many
thanks for a pleasant evening"
The man moved away to tell the driver
where to go. He spoke in low voice.
and the driver had to bend down to hear.
Having settled himself slowly into the
cab, he closed the door and, letting down
the window, leaned out.
81 can see you haven't the least idea
who l am" he said.
Hope rose in Johnson's heart. His Gu
riosity was at last to be satisfied.
81 confess l haven't" he said.
"And it's no use your inquiring at the
club. | don't come here once in five
years, and | don't suppose any one would
know me-
"Yes?" said johnson expectantly.
Its not surprising that you don't
know me, seeing that we have never met
before"
Eyes, yesr' cried Johnson, almost dane
ing in his suspense.
The man leaned back in the cab and
laughed The horse started off, and the
man would have drawn up the window if
Johnson, who walked by the side of the
cab had not prevented him.
"How the devil did you know who /
was if we had never met before"
The man laughed again.
"You once carried a girl across a
stream in Switzerland" he said.
The driver whipped up his horse, and
johnson had to take his hand from the
window of the cab. In an instant the
man had drawn up the window with a
snap, and the cab ratified away. johnson,
left on the curb, swore with vehemence
that was unusual with him.
"Confound it!' he cried. Il shall go
mad if l don't find out who he is"
johnson was mere ghost of his for
mer self when he came down to breakfast
next morning. All night long he had lain
awake wondering who on earth the man
could be and what in creation the girl on
the bank of the stream had to do with
him. The girl, no doubt, was clew to
the mans identity, but it was clew that
was more tantalizing than valuable. John
son did not know the girl from Eve. He
doubted that he would recognize her if
he saw her, and it was most unlikely
that he would ever see her to ask her
who the man was.
A letter, addressed in an unfamiliar
hand, lay on Johnson's plate. He opened
It eagerly. Perhaps the man had thought
better of his joke and was writing some
explanation of it. Johnson's brow
smoothed as he read the letter, which ran
as follows:
Dear Mr. Johnson-I am afraid my father played
rather an unkind trick on you last evening. He
tells me that he never saw man so mad with
curiosity as he made you. l am sorry to say he
enjoyed the joke too much to apologize for it,
but have his permission to set your curiosity at
rest.
l am the girl you helped across the stream in
Switzerland two years ago. When got back to
the hotel l recounted my adventure. OF course
everybody wanted to know who it was that helped
me. When it came to describing you, l found
that what l best remembered was your wonderful
pipe, which made me cough so much. When de-
scribed the pipe, an old gentleman, whose ac-
auaintance we had made, exclaimed: "Why, that s
my nephew, johnson. That's his piper' And my
father who has large collection of strange pipes,
said ''Well, if ] saw that pipe again, l should
know it, He it last night as he was driving
through town. For the fun of the thing he called
out ''Hello, Johnsonp' And sure enough it was
Johnson. You know the rest. My father knew
just enough about you from your uncle to carry
it through
My father hopes you will come round tonight
and let him examine the pipe more closely. We
dine at half past Z. Yours truly
KATHLEEN WARE.
Johnson noted the address and decided
to Cooking.