The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1903-01-22
BY ROBERT
LOUIS
STEVENSON

sdASudSe eIup1Oyeu ny CllS young man
to the doctor, to the murdered man, to
Mime. Zephyrine, to the boots, of the
hotel, to the princes servants and, in
a word, to all who had been ever so re-
motely connected with his horrible mis-
!. fortune. He skunk down to dinner
! about o'clock at night, but the yellow
r. coffee room appalled, him, the eyes of
the other diners seemed to rest on him
with suspicion, and his mind remained
upstairs with the Saratoga, trunk.
When the waiter came to offer him
cheese, his nerves were already so
much on edge that he leaned half way
out of his chair and upset the remain
der of pint of ale upon the table
cloth.
The fellow offered to show him to
the smoking room when he had done,
and, although he would have much
preferred to return at once to his peril
GUS treasure, he had not the courage
to refuse and was shown downstairs
to the black, gaslit cellar which
formed, and possibly still forms, the
divan Of the Craven hotel
Two very sad betting men were
playing billiards, attended by a moist,
consumptive marker, and for the mo-
ment Silas imagined that these were
the only occupants of the apartment
But at the next glance his eye fell upon
a person smoking in the farthest cor
ner, with lowered eyes and most re-
spectacle and modest aspect He knew
at once that he had seen the face be-
fore, and in spite of the entire change
of clothes recognized the man whom
he had found seated on a post at the
entrance to Box court and who had
helped him to carry the trunk to and
from the carriage. The New England
er simply turned and ran, nor did he
pause until he had locked and bOlted
himself in his bedroom.
There all night long, prey to the
most terrible imaginations, he watched
beside the fatal boxful of dead flesh.
The suggestion of the boots that his
trunk was full of gold inspired him
with all manner of new terrors if he
so much as dared to close an eye, and
the presence in the smoking room, and
under an obvious disguise, Of the loiter-
er from Box court convinced him that
he was once more the center of obscure
vaccinations.
Midnight had sounded some time
when, impelled by uneasy suspicious,
Silas opened his bedroom door and
peered into the passage. 1t was dimly
oinated by single jet of gas, and
some distance off he perceived man
sleeping on the floor in the costume of
a hotel servant. Silas drew near the
man on tiptoe. He lay partly on his
back, partly on his side, and his right
forearm concealed his face from rec
ognition. Suddenly. while the Ameri-
can was still bending over him, the
sleeper removed his arm and opened
his eyes, and Silas found himself once
more face to face with the loiterer of
BOX court.
, Good night. sir" said the man
pleasantly.
But Silas was too profoundly moved
to find an answer and regained his
room in silence.
Toward morning, worn out by appre-
hension. he fell asleep on his chair,
with his head forward on the trunk.
In spite of so constrained an attitude
and such grisly pillow his slumber
was sound and prolonged. and he was
only awakened at a late hour by a
sharp tapping at the door.
He hurried to open and found the
boots without.
"You are the gentleman who called
yesterday at Box court?" he asked.
Silas. with shiver, admitted that
he had done so.
Then this note is for you" added
the servant, proffering sealed en-
-yelope.
Silas tore it open and found inside
the words, ''Twelve o'clock"
He was punctual to the hour The
trunk was carried before him by sew
eral stout servants. and he was himself
ushered into room where a man sat
warming himself before the fire, with
his back toward the door. The sound
of so many persons entering and leav-
ing and the scraping of the trunk as it
was deposited upon the bare boards
of the occupant, and Silas stood wait
lng in an agony of fear until he should
deign to recognize his presence.
Perhaps five minutes had elapsed be-
fore the man turned leisurely about
and disclosed the features of Prince
gFlorizel of Bohemia.
$50. SIR" he said, with great ,severi-
tty, "this is the manner in which you
abuse my polireness. You join yourself
to persons of condition. l perceive, for
no other purpose than to escape the
consequences of your crimes, and I
can readily understand your embar-
rassment when / addressed myself to
you yesterday"
! Indeed" cried Silas,s II am innocent
. @of everything except misfortunev'
And in a hurried voice and with the
greatest righteousness he recounted to
the prince the whole history of his ca