Ottumwa semi-weekly courier., 1903-06-16

| to make the same advances In the pres
ent instance. Somehow she was diff
| ferent. There was that strange digni.
ty, that pure beauty, that imperial
manner, all combining to forbid the
faintest thought of familiarity.
| He took out the coin and leaned back
in his chair, wondering where it came
from. 'In any case" he thought, "it
III make a good pocketpiece, and some
day I'll find some idiot who knows
more about geography than do" AIr.
Lorry's own ideas of geography were
| jumbled and vague, as if he had got
them by studying the labels on his
! hatbox. He knew the places he had
been to, and he recognized new coun-
try by the annoyances Of the customs
4 house, but beyond this his ignorance
was complete. The coin, so far as he
knew, might have come from any one
of a hundred small principalities scat
tered about the continent.
Before the train reached ST. Louis
he made up his mind to change cars
there and go to Washington. 1t also
occurred to him that he might go on.
to New York If the spell lasted. Dur
ing the day he telegraphed ahead for
accommodations, and when the flier ar
4 rived in st. Louis that evening he hur-
riedly attended to the transferring and
rechecking of his baggage, bought
new ticket and dined. At he was in
the station, and at S:15 he passed her
in the aisle. She was standing in her
stateroom door, directing her maid.
He saw look of surprise fit across
her face as he passed. He slept sound
ly that night and dreamed that he was
crossing the ocean with her.
| At breakfast he saw her. but if she
saw him it was when he was not look
ing at her. Once he caught Uncle Cas-
par staring at him through his mono
Gle, which dropped instantly from his
eye in the manner that is always self
4 explanatory. His spirits took a furi-
Gus bound with the realization that she
had deigned to honor him by recogni-
ton, if only to call attention to him
because he possessed certain coin
/ Once the old gentleman asked him
the time of day and set his watch ac-
cording to the reply. In Ohio the man
servant scowled at him because he in
i voluntarily stared after his mistress as
she paced the platform while the train
/ waited at a station. Again, in Ohio,
they met in the vestibule, and he was
compelled to step hside to allow her to
pass. He did not feel particularly ju-
bilant over this meeting. She did not
even glance at him.
Lorry realized that his opportunities
We're fast disappearing and that he did
not seem to be any nearer meeting her
than when they started. He had hoped
to get Uncle Caspar into a conversa-
ton and then use him, but Uncle Cas-
par was as distant as an iceberg. IF
there should be wreck" Grenfall
caught himself thinking, then my
chance would come, but 1 don't see
how Providence is going to help me il
any other way
Near the close of the day, after they
. left Cincinnati. the train began to wind
through the foothills of the Allie
ghanies. Bellaire, Grafton and other
! towns were sleft behind, and they were
soon whirling up the steep mountain,
higher and higher, through tunnel aft.
: er tunnel. nearer and nearer to Wash
ington every minute. AS they We're
pulling out of a little mining town
!, built on the mountain side sudden
jar stopped the train. There was some
little excitement and scramble for
, information. Some part of the engine
, was disabled. and it would be neces,
sary to replace it before the run
. could proceed
Lorry st1olled up the crowd of pas.
, sengers who We're watching the engi
: neer and fireman at work. A clear
: musical voice, almost in his ear, star.
, tied him, for he knew to whom it be
longed. She addressed the conductor
who, impatient and annoyed, stood i'm
J mediately behind him.
How long are we to be delayed?'
! she asked Just two minutes before
this same conductor had responded
most ungraciously to a simple question
/ Lorry had asked and had gone so fal
5 as to instruct another inquisitive trav
, eler to go to a warmer climate because
he persisted in asking for information
| which could not be given except by /;
clairvoyant. But now he answered il
most affable tones:
We'll be here for thirty minutes al
: least, miss-perhaps longer
She walked away after thanking
: him, and Grenfall looked at his watch.
Off the main street of the town rar
: little lanes leading to the mines be
low. They all ended at the edge of 0
t steep declivity. There was drop OF
+ almost 400 feet straight into the valley
, below. Along the sides of this valley
} were the entrances to the mines. Above
: on the ledge, was the machinery fol
: lifting the ore to the high ground OF
$ which stood the town and railroad
: yards.
9 Down one Of these streets walked the
! young lady, curiously interested in al
t about her. She seemed glad to escape
!. frSm the train and Its people, and she
] hurried along, the fresh spring wint
blowing her hair from beneath her cap
the ends of her long coat fiuttering.
0 Lorry stood on the platform watch
4