The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-08-21
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!: I would like to nave hat trunk
checked for Boston, please-the one
with the canva cover and the initials
j. r. I mean"
He was mtddle-aged and had an as
pect Of belonging to one OF the learned
professions. He spoke in d voice soft,
agreeable and deliberate-too deliber-
ate the busy baggageman probably
found 1t, for with The quickness Of long
meaning and a pair of checks, had slid
one Of the latter off the strap, and
had darted away to fix the other to
the trunk several words in advance of
the n of the sentence.
The fingers Of the Boston bound
traveller had not fairly closed over the
bit of cardboard offered him when 1t
violent jostling Of a person who seemed
to have more use for haste than for
ceremony. He was a youngish man
with a red m~oustache and a wideawake
air, and it seemed he had not meant
to be rude, for as the check touched
the floor, perceiving what he had done,
he stopped and. bending quickly, picked
it up.
I'm sure I beg a thousand pardons,
hr," he exclaimed, in rather exagger-
ated apology; sit was i~nexcusably
careless in me, I know, butt
The slow flush that had been creep
ing into the cheek Of the older man
began to subside, and, as he received
the check which the other handed him,
he said, with a forgiving smile:
Don't mention it, sir; there's no
harm done" Then, putting his check
into his pocketbook, he bowed slightly
n urned away.
VXT1l11 ~ - 49,
crowd the mar Of the red mustache,
whose impulse to hurry had died out
as If by magic, stood stock still looking
after him. Not until the object Of his
interest was quite beyond his sight did
he turn, seeming suddenly to remem-
Der himself, n call to the baggage
master:
81 say, where shall I find the train
for Boston2"
"Out on the tracks, I s'pose," was the
tart reply, accompanied by a Disguised
look tina a man driven nearly to the
limit with business should be made the
victim of 80 idiotic a question.
Instead of trying to find the train
he had inquired about, the red-mus-
tached man fingered for some time in
the neighborhood Of the baggage room
until a certain truck load was drawn
to the train shed, when he went and
posted himself near the baggage car
to watch until nearly all the trunks
had been transferred to it. Finally,
satisfied Inc with mind at rest, he en-
tered the smoking a Of the Boston
express and temporarily subsidized.
Meanwhile the middle-aged traveller,
seated in the parlor car, was busy with
a book Of an appearance as sedate as
his own. So deep vas he in his read
ing as to be W of the presence
Of a meek, smooth-faced little mar who
had roma IN inst oftar him on1 fokon
a seat near the rear end Of the car.
Even had he CHANGED to notice him
1t would not have occurred to his wild
est imaginings that, in an unobtrusive
way, the smooth-faced man had been
keeping his eye O. him since the even
ing of two days before.
Eleven minutes late the train pulled
out Of the station, taking with it the
three travellers whom we may desig-
nate as Graybeard, Red Mustache and
! Smooth Face. From a chilly Novem-
Der sky flakes of snow were beginning
to fall; Albany had not been left far
behind ere the atmosphere was filled
with them and it became apparent that
a serious storm might be expected.
Graybeard, oblivious Of the weather,
(. continued to read. Smooth Face feigned
to have dropped into a doze. In the
smoker Red Mustache furtively took
from his pocket a baggage check which
\ he held within The hollow Of his hand.
1t was a check for Boston n bore
the number 1880. He eyed it lovingly
for several moments, then put 1t away
more carefully than if it had been a
J twenty-dolar goldpiece.
4 The train crossed the state line In
| a binding storm; at Pittsfeld it had
lost nineteen additional minutes, and
it left Chester more than an hour be-
hind schedule. It was about here that
+ Graybeard, after a glance from his
watch to the timetable folder, showed
his first sign Of u~neasiness. and he
|. fdgeted Enthusiastically until Spring
I field was reached, when he rose hur-
I riedly n left the car. T~hereupon
\ Smooth Face awoke from his cat nap
and followed h1m-at a discreet dis
lance. Graybeard went straight to the
telegraph office, where he seized a
+ blank and wrote a message. Smooth
Faces discreet distance became an In
discreet proximity when he tool the
liberty Of peering owe the writer's
4 shoulder and reading these words:
/ Boston Cab Company, Boston:
! Have carriage meet Albany train
number sixteen, take passenger and
trunk across city hurry.
! JAMES RIDLEY"
!! The sender Of this dispatch seemed
to breathe more freely after he had
got back to his chair. But Smooth
Face had evidently taken In food for
4 reflection; he did not even pretend ia
. sleep n MORE, but sat erect and
turned certain matters over and over
Fin his innermost mind.
/. At Springfield Red-Mustache had al
30 got out to send a telegram and buy
some so-called evening papers. He oc-
I cupied himself with the latter during
a part of the run to Worcester. There
were two features under scare head
tfngs on the front page. One had to do
| with h failure Of StIckney & Co., the
well known bankers, and the supposed
guilty flight Of Jonas Ralston, the ju-
nior partner. The other purported to
give the latest Developments in the
election contest Of a certain great
state, where a strange condition Of af-
fairs had shown itself. So evenly bal
|sanced was the power between the two
political parties that the result would
turn upon a pivotal ward Of the prin-
cipal city. The returns from that ward
= were unaccountably long In being rem
dared Vhpt rrIyl1 honyo oo,,eoI A..