Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1902-05-10

| twenty mile ride before him, Five
minutes later he was sound asIeen
and making that fact unmistakabie bv
the most tremendous snores.
But it Caruthers snored loudly. his
brain was fully as active as were his
lungs, and, for a time, he passed
through a series of adventures In
dreamland which were anything but
unpleasant. Then, suddenly, he was
transported from a delightful fantasy
| into what seemed to him to be an i'm
mense haberdasher's shop, where he
| found himself unceremoniously set
down before a little old man, who in.
sisted upon fitting around his neck a
most prodigously high and stiff col
lar.
Now, if there was anything against
which Caruthers was for all time and
most vehemently opposed, it was high
collars, therefore he struggled hard to
push away his tormentor and remove
the Objectionable neckpiece. But all
to no purpose. To his surprise he
found his arms weighted down as if
with lead. His prosecutor coolly con-
having done this to his satisfaction,
pushed over his head until the top
edge of the collar cut into his neck
and was choking him.
Caruthers used every endeavor to
raise his arms, but in vain. Great
drops of sweat seemed to drain down
his face as he tugged at his invisible
bonds, and all the time he felt the
little old man passing his hands, which
were plump and smooth, over his
body, thrusting them now into his
pockets, now inside his vest, and again
pulling at his fingers.
All at once, however, even the de-
sire for resistance left the dreamer,
his sensations became dull, and he
fell again into unbroken sleep.
His next sensation was when his
eyes began to feel the light and he
slowly became aware of a dull, dead
feeling in his arms, a fulness of the
head, and a dry contraction of the
throat. After while he was SEN
sible of the motion of his resting
place, and at last his eyes took in
enough of what was about him to
show him that this was no haber
dasher's shop, but the inside of a rail
way carriage travelling at high speed,
that there was no high collar about
his neck, and that no little old man
stood opposite him. But it was some
time, nevertheless, before his brain
became clear enough to appreciate
that all he seemed to have gone
through with lately was only dream
and that he now was in the seven
forty-five express from London, and
probably-how many hours on his
journey?
He slipped his fingers into his
waistcoat pocket for his watch. Then,
with an exclamation of surprise, he
raised himself quickly to his feet and
somewhat weakly stood there, feeling
for the handsome hunting case which
he could find nowhere. 1t took him
but a minute to realize this, and also
that the gold cuff-buttons he had worn
and his diamond scarf pin were gone,
and that curious stone-studded ring
had disappeared from the little fin
ger of his left hand.
They all had gone; but where? A
sudden recollection of the old, bent
man who had been his travelling COM
panion made him peer closely into the
corner in which that figure had been
curled when he last saw him. But
the corner was empty now.
AS Caruther's glance moved quickly
over the opposite seat, however, one
nj oh nc 10 nj
up 1t was a handkerchief, innocent
of any markings, but smelling strong
ly, as he instantly noticed, of chloro-
form. The pungent odor told Caruth-
ers all he needed. 1t was a complete
confirmation of the theory which had
flashed upon him at the first. He had
been robbed, and in all likelihood by
the little old man who had been his
companion.
Caruthers pressed his face against
the window. He was familiar with
the country through which the train
was passing, and he soon saw where
he was. The express was fifty miles
out of the metropolis, and by SEIZED
ule must have made a stop at R,
about ten miles back. 1t was there
he seeded, that the thief had got out.
The next stop would be made some
twenty-five miles farther on, and he
would have to wait until then to com
municate the knowledge of his loss.
So he arranged himself as comfortably
as possible and began to consider how
he could most quickly recover the ar
ticles which had been taken by the
robber he had not thrown out of the
window, and whether he could pre-
vent the news of the robbery from
spreading so that he should not re-
ceive the taunts of Toppy Russell, by
telegraph or otherwise, upon this
doubly trying experience.
AS soon as the guard had opened
the door of his carriage at the next
station, half an hour later, Caruthers
jumped down and dashing into the
telegraph Office, quickly despatched
statement of the facts to the chief of