Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1902-05-01
MAN IN THE FUR COAT

III mas lett OIL showing, said Nor
daunt, "and | must be on the move.
what, without finishing the de
bate on ghOsts'" demanded Ernstone
1--WE have finished IT,"
'No; there was an amendment
Wilson has just asserted that, allow
ing an intelligent purpose, it is with
In the province of reasonable specu.
lation to admit the possibility Of
spectral appearances"
A grave young man in the corner
nodded.
(Which does away entirely with the
existence of the traditional chain
clanklng ghosts Of our nursery days"
he explained.
"Oh, l grant you," said Mordaunt,
"the chain-clanking ghost is quite OBJ
solete now. More's the pity"
1.-The chain clanking.' unused
ErnstOne, may be taken to have
been in some sort the tonal express
sion of past regrets, and suggestive
entirely Of the Ghost with a Past
Permit me to congratulate you upon
that very excellent coat ofyours, Nor
daunt."
Mordaunt had. while ErnStOne was
speaking, unhitched from a peg a
magnificent fur-lined coat, which he
was proceeding to put on, not with
out a degree of conscious, if subdued,
pride.
"There is not such another coat in
Oxbridge, l am willing to wager"
continued Ernstone.
Perhaps Mordaunt was of the
same opinion, as he left his friends
lodgings and stepped out into the
night. The air struck upon his face,
an east wind blew, and now and then
a belated snowflake touched him clam
mily as he walked.
He had not gone far when. turn
ing corner of the street, he sudden
ly saw on the opposite pavement the
figure of a man passing beneath a
lamp-post. His eye was oddly at
tracted by this figure. 1t was walk
ing in the same direction as himself,
and parallel with Mordaunt, keeping
pace with him as he stepped briskly
on.
1t was not only this circumstance,
however, that had excited Mordaunt's
attention. 1t was the singular coinci-
dence of the man being clad, like
himself, in heavy and magnificent
ly-lined fur coat, its sleeves surround
ed by deep sable cuffs, its collar
turned mp about the ears of its
wearer, concealing his face.
The parting words of the grave
young undergraduate REQUIRED to him
There's not such another coat in
Oxbridge, l will wager" And yet
here, not quarter Of a mile from
the house which he had just left, he
was confronted by a stranger wear
ing precisely such another coat as
his own.
Mordaunt was piqued by the coin
cidence. He was annoyed. too, by
what appeared to be a persistency of
imitation Oh the part of the stranger.
The street was a long one, and |
there were few foot passengers about.
After traversing another hundred |
yards Mordaunt, experiencing a SEN
sation of resentment against the |
man whose fur coat seemed a kind Of
comment upon his own,
determined to cross the street, and
~ this means put to the test his
growing suspicion that the stranger
vas making mock Of him.
He did so; and as he left the pave
nent the stranger on the opposite
de left the pavement TOO, and at
he same moment crossed the road,
'assing a little in front of Mordaunt.
Mordaunt stared at him; but the
tranger took no notice. In the dark
ess his face, half hidden in the enor-
nous folds of his coat, was effectually
oncealed. He proceeded to walk,
til. parallel with Mordaunt, on the
pposire pavement as before, their
,laiiyc positions unchanged.
Mordaunt repeated his expert !