Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-02-13
My Stran gest Case
BY GUY BOOTHBY
Author of 1.-THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL"
"PHARoS, THE EGYPTIAN" Etc.
copyrighted, 1901, by Ward, Lock Col
BY GUY BOOTHBY.

| noon and night, the quarter in which
the Hotel of the Three Desires was
situated was fragrant with the smell
of garbage and Chinese tobacco; pc
culiar blend of perfume which, once
smelled. is not to be soon forgotten,
Everything, even the bottles on the
shelves in the bar, had & greasy feel
about them, and the mildew on ones
boots when one came to put them on
in the morning, was a triumph in the
way of erysiphaceous fungi. Singa-
pore at this season of the year is
neither good for man nor beast; in
this sweeping assertion, of course, l
except the yellow man, upon whom it
seemsto exercise no effect whatsoever.
1t was towards evening. and,
strange to relate, the Hotel of the
Three Desires was for once practical
ly empty. This was the more ex-
traordinary for the reason that the
customers who usually frequented it,
en- route from one end of the earth
to the other, are not affected by sea-
| sons. Midwinter was to them the
same as midsummer, provided they
and by those ships, or that business,
received their wages. That those
hard-earned wages should eventually
find themselves in the pocket of the
landlord of the Three Desires was
only in the natural order of things,
and, in consequence, such of his
guests as We're sailors, as general
rule, eventually boarded their ships
without as much as would purchase
them a pipe of tobacco. 1t did not,
however, prevent them from return
ing to the Hotel of the Three Desires
when next they happened to be that
way. If he had no other gift, Manuel
at least possessed the faculty of maxi
ing it comparatively homelike 10 his
customers. and that is the desider-
alum not to be despised even by sail
or men in the far east.
| AS / have said, night was falling on
one of the hottest days of the year,
when man entered the hotel and
| inquired for the proprietor. Pleased
to find that there was at last to be
| turn in the tide of his affairs, the
landlord introduced himself to the
! stranger, and at the same time in
quired in what way he could have the
pleasure of serving him.
81 want to put up with you," said
the stranger, who, by the way, was a
tall man, with a hawks nose that was
not unlike the beak of the same bird.
"You are not full, suppose?"
Manuel rubbed his greasy hands to-
gether and observed that he was not
as full as he had been; thereby insin-
uating that while he was not over
flowing, he was still not empty. It
will be gathered from this that he
was good business man, who never
threw q chance away.
SIN that case, I'll stay" said the
stranger, and set down the small va
lise he carried upon the floor.
From what have already written,
you will doubtless have derived the
impression that the Hotel of the
Three Desires, while being useful
place of abode, was far from being
| the caravanserai of the luxurious or
! der. The stranger, whoever he might
be, however, was either not fastidi-
Gus, or, as is more proba ble, was used
to similar accommodations, for he
paid as little attention to the perfume
of the bar as he did to the dirt upon
the floor and walls, and also upon the
landlords hands. Having stipulated
for room to himself, he desired to
be shown to it forthwith, whereupon
Manuel led him through the house
to small yard at the back, round
which were several cabins, dignified
by the name of apartments.
"Splendeed," said Manuel, enthusi-
astically. throwing open the door of
one of the rooms as he spoke. 'More
splendeed than ever you saw"
The stranger gave ravenous sort
OF croak, which might have been a
laugh or anything else, and then went
In and closed the door abruptly be-
hind him. Having locked it, he took
off his coat and hung it upon the
handle, apparently conscious of the
fact that the landlord had glued his
eyes to the keyhole in order that he
might, from precautionary point of
view, take further stock of his pa
tron. Fooled in his intention he re-
turned to the bar, murmuring Gang
lish peeg" to himself as he did so.
In the meantime the stranger had
seated himself upon the rough bed in
the corner, and had taken letter
from his pocket
"The Hotel of the Three Desires"
he reads, land on March the fifteenth.
without fail" There was a pause
while he folded the letter up and
placed it in his pocket. Then he CON
tinued: "This is the hotel, and to-day
is the fifteenth of March. But why
don't they put in an appearance? 1t
isn't like them to be late THEY'D
better not play me any tricks or
they'll find l have lost none of my old
power of retaliation
Having satisfied himself that it was
impossible for anyone to see into the
room, either through the keyhole or
by means of the window, he partly
4 disrobed, and, when he had done so,
unbuckled from round his waist a
i broad leather nopey half Satin n