Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-08
ghtniing
CONDUCTOR
By
chr AM.WlllIANfSON

love lt-at least hadn't, and the night be-
fore I had behaved to it not at ali in
gentlemanly manner, but I couldn't have
stood by like that to watch 1t die without
moving finger. a.
oh, Brown I gasped out. running to
HIM, so close that the fire was hot on my
| face: "Oh. Brown, how can you? Anybody
! would think that YOU were glad
And he ISL cried voice in French at my
back. 1T was he who set your automobile
on fire, mademoiselle. I myself, who tell
you. saw him do It," whisked round and
there stood Monsieur Talleyrand. looking
very picturesque in an almost theatrical
deshabiIle, with the freight shining on
him. just as If 1t were a scene on the stage.
Brown faced round too. and at the same
| instant. the fire having drunk the last drop
Of petrol, the flame suddenly died down.
and there fell a curious silence after the
roaring of the fire, which had been like a
blast. The woodwork Of the car. the hood
wheels. had all disappeared-the flame had
swallowed and digested them OF my var
nished and dignifed car there remained
only heap of twisted bits of iron, glow
ing dull red In the gray dawn we must
| have looked like witches at some secret and
unholy rite. The going out of the light had
an odd effect upon us three. When Mon
sieur Talleyrand launched his accusation at
Brown he had thrown up his chin. and
| the light. striking on his eyeballs. made
them glow like red sparks. But with the
dying of the light the fash in his eyes died
too; and his face changed to disagreeable,
ashy gray. At the same minute. when 1
turned to Brown, 1t was his eyes that glow
ed. but the light seemed to come from in
side
1 forget whether 1 ever told you that
Brown is very goOd-looking fellow, too
goOd-looking for mere chauffeur. His face
is like his name-brOwn: his eyes are
brown too and they can almost speak One
can't help noticing these things, even IN
ones chauffeur. If he weren't chauffeur.
one might certainly take him for gentle
man. Some things really are pity! But
never mind.
Brown looked at Monsieur Talleyrand.
and then he said. You are liar" Oh.
my goodness. 1 expected murder!
Monsieur Talleyrand gave sort OF leap
"Scoundrel hog, canaiile." he stammered.
trembling all over. ITO be insulted by an
English cad. a common chauffeur, that
gentleman cannot call out an incendiary-
But here Brown broke In with 81
Ience." that made me jump. And the fun
ny part was that it was he who looked the
gentleman, and Monsieur Talleyrand the
cad-uufte a little. mean cad. though he Is
really handsome. with eyelashes you'd have
to measure with a tape. That aW1ui 81
throat like a gust Of wind. and while he
was getting breath Brown followed up MS
first shot; but this time 1t was aimed my
way. ~,
he flung at me- without even taking hold OF
the words with Miss for handle. be-
tween the two men and the excitement,
gasped instead of answering. ana perhaps ~;
he took silence for consent, though that is
such an old-fashioned theory, especlaIS
when 1t concerns girls. Anyway. ne seem
ed to grow three or four inches tailer, anu
his chin got squarer. so far from purn,
ing your car" said he (and you could
have made a block of ice out or each "oru,,
~ have been to Amboise to hire a car tor
YOU and thought l had been lucky III SC
curing my old masters
"As this expedition has occupied the "nole
night. l have really had no time Tor plot.
ting. even if there had been a motive. or II
1 were the sort OF man FOR such WIZ
hoped YOU knew 1 wasn't. But there ana
he pointed to the road outside the open
ga te-'is my masters car and the motor Is
still hot enough to prove
Il don't want 1t to prove, found breath
to exclaim. .Of course 1 know you didh
But if say I saw him." cut in Monsieur
Talleyrand
could think of that went to the spot anu
T hurried on to Brown. "All l minded was
seeing you with your hands IN your pock-
cts 1t didn't seem like you
..You don't understand" said he. Just
as I opened the doors to drive IN the car
I'd brought I saw at glance that there
was something queer about yours Inc
front seat was off. and as L came nearer l
found the screw had been taken out VI
the netrol tank With that l caught Slght
of a fame creeping along tightly twisted
niece of cotton waste-the stuff one cleans
cars with. Then I knew that some one nad
MANNED to set fire to the car and leave NM
self time to escape. l sprang at it to knock
away the waste, but was too late. That
instant the vapor caught and was helpiess
to do any good, because SAND, ana nuse
lot of it. was the only thing that might
have put the fire out. If one couio nave go.
it. and then gone near enough 10 throw IL
on Since there was none, the only tning
to do was to stand by; and as L Scorched
nv hands little, l suppose l lnstinctlveiy
put them in my pockets
uS,l layrr
your story very we'll said he. but
He didn't get farther than that but. for
Just then up came running the FARMER anu
lis wife from the fields, where they had
seen the flames. They began chatterlng
shrilly. in a dreadful state about their
buildings, but Brown quieted them down.
pointing out that no harm had been done to
anything of theirs and that the fire was
out. Now, he said, since don purh
the car who did,
/ looked at Monsieur Talleyrand because
Brown was looking at him. or rather gar
ing when suddenly a loud exclamation from
the farmer and his wife MADE me turn 10
see what was going to happen next What
saw was the most wonderful old ngure
hobbling out of the house. through the door
I'd left open-a mere knotted thread or an
old thing. in a red flannel nlghtgown,
think it must have been, and a few streakS
of gray hair hanging from nfghtcap that
tied up It's fabby chin. 1t was the old
woman who had breathed so much In the
dark the night before: ana no WONDER tney
exclaimed at seeing her crawling out of
doors, hardly dressed.
Somehow 1 felt frightened; she was
lust like a witch-horrifying, but pa
thetic too; SO old. so little life left
in her She would have come hobbling on
into the court yard, but the farmer stop
ned her. and there she stood on the door
SIN raising herself up and up on her
stick, until suddenly she clutched the farm
er's arm and pointed the stick straight at
Monsieur Talleyrand, gabbling out some
thing which 1 couldn't understand.
The farmer had just been going to hustle
her inside the house. but he changed his
mind "She says you set fire to the au-
tomobile," he exclaimed; she saw 1t from
the window. She thinks you will murder
us ALL Monsieur, my mother has still her
senses. She does not tell foolish lies. You
must go out of my house."
"Mcnstrous!" cried Monsieur Talleyrand.
"Am 1 to be accused the word of a
crazy old witch? / advise you to be care
full what you say.
Here is something else, which speaks for
ITSELF" Brown said Look and he point
ed to the ground not far from the gnawed
bones of my We looked and saw
some wisps Of the stuff he had called cot
ton waste, twisted up and saturated with
Gill; THAT was used to fire the petrol"