The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-01

the doctor, II am glad to be 50 we'll rid
Of him. It is most fortunate thaS he
did not die on the voyage. In my opin-
ion, he is very near the end. -
I turned away with lighter heart.
From dying man there could not be
much to fear. So I hunted up Mr..
Royce, and found him, finally, endeavor-
ing to extract some information from a
supercilious official in a gold-laced I'M
form.
It was, it seemed, somewhat compli-
Gated proceeding to get at Etretat. In
half an hour, a train would leave for
Bonneville, where we must transfer to
another line to Les Ifs; there a second
could reach our destination. How long
would it take9 Our informant shrug-
ged- his shoulders with fine nonchal-
ance. It was impossible to say. There
had been a heavy storm two days be-
fore, which had blown down wires and
damaged the little spur track between
Les Ifs and the sea. Trains were
doubtless running again over the
branch, but we could not. probably,
reach Etretat before morning.
Amid this tumble of uncertainties, one
definite fact remained-a, train was to
leave in half an hour, which we must
take. So we hurried back to the boat,
made our declaration. had our boxes ex-
amined perfunctorily and passed,
bought our tickets, saw our baggage
transferred, tipped dozen people,
more or less, and finally were shut
into compartment two minutes before
the hour.
Then, in that first moment Of mac
tivity, the fear. Of Martigny came back
upon me. Had he really gone to the
hotel9 Had he deemed us not worth
watching? Or had he watched9 Was
he on the train with us? Was he able
to follow2 The more I thought of him
the more I doubted my ability to de
ceive him.
| I looked out cautiously from the win
dow, up and down the platform, but
saw no sign Of him, and in a moment
more we ratified slowly away over thu
switches. l sank back into my seal
with sigh Of relief. Perhaps I hat
really blinded him!
An hour s run brought us to Beuze
vile, where we were dumped out, to
gether with our luggage, in little
frame station. An official Informed III
that we must wait there three hours fol
the train for Les Ifs. Beyond that? HI
could not say. We might possibly reaci
"How far is Les Ifs from hereg'
inquired my companion.
"About twelve kilometers, mon
sieur
"And from there to Etratats'
rs. twenty kilometers more, mon
sieur. -
"Thirty-two kilometers altogether
said Mr.. Royce. "That's about twenty
miles. Why can't we drive, Lester
We ought to cover it easily in three
hours-four at the most. -
Certainly it seemed better than wait
| ing on the uncertain railway, and W.
set at once about the work Of finding
a vehicle. / could be of little use, since
English was an unknown tongue a
Beuzeville, and even Mr.. Royce !
French was sorely taxed, but we sue
ceeded at last in securing horse ant
light trap, together with driver wht
claimed to know the road All this hat
taken time, and the sun was settins
! when we finally drove away northward
The road was smooth and level-they
manage their road-making bette,
in France-and we bowled alons
at good rate past cultivated
fields with little dwellings lik,
dollhouse dotted here and there. DC
casionally we passed man or woman
truding along the road, but as the dark
ness deepened, it became more and NOR
Beuzville we reached Les Ifs, and her,
we stopped for light supper. We hat
cause to congratulate ourselves that W,
had secured vehicle at Beuzville, TO
we learned thatsno train would star