The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-05-21
Two LIrTLE BROWN ROOTS.

TWO LITTLE BROWN BOOTS.
 Graham Fortescue was standing in
 the passage gazing meditatively at a
 pair of tiny brown boots outside the
 door of bedroom No. 47. He had ar lrived at the Beau Rivage, Lucerne, the
 evening before. and was on his way
 downstairs to breakfast when the boots ,attracted his attention.
 He was a good deal of dreamer
 was Graham, and inclined to specula-
 ticn about people whom he met and to
 weaving stories around any of their lpeculiarities lie chanced to notice, and
 these dainty little boots of polished brown leather gave to the curious kink in his imagination the promise of dainty little lady of refinement whose acquaintance ought to be well worth the making. He had forgotten all
 about his breakfast and was lost in ad- niration of the boots, when the door of No. 47 opened slightly. a shapely hand and arm peeped out, and as the owner of them reached down for her property Graham caught sight of thick wisp of dark brown hair with golden glints in it, of long eyelashes and of dimpIed cheek.
 He knew of course that it was quite ridiculous. but still the vision of that shapely hand and arm and the remen- brance of those tiny boots quite spoiled his appetite for the Swiss rolls and mountain honey, and caused his coffee to get cold before he drank it.
 Five minutes after. with blush which would have done no shame to the cheek of a youth of one-and twen- ty, he was inquiring at the desk as to the identity of the fair denizens of No. A.
 No. 47 is empty, sir. Mile. de RoeI and her aunt. who occupied 1t, have just left for Andermatt."
 Graham spent a wretched afternoon, and thought he had intended staying at Lucerne at least a week, when eve ming came the knowledge that there was train which would enable him to make the Andermatt connection and get there that night became too much l for him. and so he left.
 At Andermatt, after he had been to | three hotels and searched the registers, | he found the name for which he had been hunting at the Krone. But Mile. de Roel and her aunt, the Comtesse de | Sollemel, had gone on to the Furka, and | of his i'll luck, Graham, af- Ter nasty luncheon, caught the after 1oon diligence and followed them.
 The day had been quite warm at Am lematt, but on the Furka, when they got there at about o'clock, Graham | md his fellow travellers found them 'elves wrapped in heavy clouds distill- ng icy moisture, and were cold and | hungry. Dinner and a bed interested Graham Fortescue more that evening h han the owner of the brown boots did. Besides, there was but one hotel perch- X d up on the Furka pass, 5000 feet Ibove sea level and he had seen the lainty boots before a bedroom door as le was taken to his own.
 He slept late. for the walk to Ander- matt and the drive through the clouds Ii lad tired him, and when he went down ', 0 breakfast he saw that the brown i, oots had disappeared They and their wner were not in the breakfast room, t lor were they on the stretch of road in { ront of the hotel. Mile de Roal and lt Ter aunt had gone by tn eearly stage to iletsch, and there would be no other tage until the afternoon.
 Walk down?'' "Oh, yes: the walk down was a steep |