Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-10-30
My Strangest Case
BY GUY BOOTHBY.
Author Of "DR NIKoLA" 1.-THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL"
"PhAROS, THE EGYPTIAN"
BY GUY BOOTHBY.
Copyrighted. 1901. By Ward. Lock 4 Col

except the yellow man. upon whom it
seems to exercise no effect whatsoever.
1t was towards evening, and,
strange to relate, the Hotel of the
Three Desires was for once practical
lily 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
did their business. or got their ships,
and by those ships. or that business,
received their wages. That those
hard earned wages should eventually
And 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 were sailors, as a general
rule, eventually boarded their ships
without as much as would purchase
them 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. II he had no other gift, Manuel
at least possessed the faculty of maxi
ing it comparatively homelike to his
customers. and that is the desder-
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 a
turn in the tide of his affairs, the
landlord introduced himself to the
stranger, and at the same time in
pleasure of serving him.
II 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. 1t
will be gathered from this that he
was good business man, who never
threw a chance away.
I'm that case, I'll stay" said the
stranger and set down the small va
hse he carried upon the floor.
From what I have already written.
you will doubtless have derived the
impression that the Hotel of the
Three Desires, while being a 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 BILE. was used
to similar accommodations for Re
paid as little attention to the perfume
of the bar al he did to the dirt upon
the floor and walls, and also upon the
landlords hands. Having stipula ted
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-
astic.l sly, throwing open the door of
one of the rooms as he spoke. More
splendeec 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 a precautionary point of
view, take further stock of his pa
iron. Fooled in his intention he re-
turned to the bar, murmuring Gang
fish 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 bis pocket.
"The Hotel Of the Three Desires"
without fail" There was 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 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
disrobed, and, when he had done So
unbuckled from round his waist q
broad leather money belt. Seating
himself on the bed once more he un.
fastened the strap of the pocket, and
dribbled the contents on to the bed
They consisted of three Napoleons, Is
English sovereigns, four half sover.
eigns and IS one-franc pieces. In his
trousers pocket he had four Mexican
dollars and some cosmopolitan change
Of small Value.
Its not very much" he muttered
to himself after he had counted it
but it ought to DO sufficient for the
business in hand. II / hadn't beer
fool enough TO listen to that French
woman on board, I shouldn't have
played cards, and then 1t would have
been double. Why the deuce wasn't
able to get monsieur ashore? In thai
case I'd have got it all back. or To
have known the reason why"
The idea seemed to afford him Soms