Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-02-22
I~coNTINUED.l

he Cafe Royal and enjoyed an excel
lent dinner. From where l sat in the
dining room 1 had a view through an
open door Of the great hall beyond. in
which the representatives Of q dozen
played their dominos. Hallway
through my meal l looked up. and
there was my friend u~nobtrusively sip
ping a glass Of vermuth right oppo-
site the doorway. 1t was plain that I
vas followed still, as 1 had suspected
would be the case. To lose sight Of me
on the chance that l had bestowed
what they wanted in my rooms was
not a piece Of their policy. 1 suppose
the would keep. l had a good
view of the fellow, and as 1 leisurely
drank my wine I watched him. Clear
" I "a to have an adventure for nv
pains, and the first thing was to run
Sheppard to earth.
When l got out into the street 1 was
conscious that the man was behind me,
and, turning quickly, I confronted him.
Ny action was SO abrupt that it took
him by surprise, but he took off his hat
politely and with a Pardon. SIR" in a
slightly foreign accent, avoided the col.
dsion that had been imminent.
jumped into a cab and drove straight
to Sheppard's rooms in Down street,
As luck would have it, he was out, but
It was a relief to find that he was in
town According to the maid. he was
to be back in the morning. In consid.
cradle disappointment l ran down the
stairs and banged the front door, and
there was my man across the roadway
/ confess that I began for the first
time to have the feeling of being hunt.
ed. l strobe V e to him.
what the devil do you want?" !
asked angrily.
"Sir!" said he and looked up at me
as If in surprise.
What the devil do you want?" 1 re
peated.
There was a slight pause, and witt
my hand in my pocket I ostentatiously
cooked the revolver. The faint clicl
caught his ear.
II am DESTROYS to walk about tn,
street, SIR" he said softly. II hav.
made up my mind to see London b,
night 1t is var beautiful"
Every WELL" thought 1, for it wa
plainly of no use to deal with the ras
col. You may walk as much as 70,
like. 1 am for a cab
And into q cab again 1 jumped
snrivo-roct orv-horo. ,,;d -
last to the questioning cabman. "Il
direct you"
l had this dilemma now before me-
that / dared not go back to my rooms
The risk was too extravagant. An
the question as to where l was to pas
the night became important, as it wa
now past II. OF course 1 could g
to a hotel, where I should be compare
lively safe, but 1 had no fancy to spen,
the long hours of darkness awak
and on my guard on the chance tina
this scoundrel would make an attemp
On my room. No, l must be rid Of hin
first. AS the cab drove off I peepet
through the little window at the bacl
and saw my squirting friend in con
versation with another man. 40 doub
the second Of the gang.
The cab passed through Knights
bridge and toward kensington. ant
then turned the driver through til,
park for Bayswater. Presently l wa.
aware of a rafting behind and lookin.
out through my spy hole again perceiv
ed a second cab close upon us.
VERY WELL" said / to myself. "Yo,
shall have your wish. A stern chase i
a long chase"
/ fancy my cabman must have
thought me near upon a lunatic.
chopped and changed his directions {
dozen times, and during the next two
hours we visited quite half Of the me
tropolis.
You will doubtless dub me a fool il
mat I didn't forthwith take the shelter
OF the law and put myself under safe
custody. But l had two reasons
against that-the one, that 1 had a sor
OF Informal bargain with Sercombe no
to bring the authorities into this feud
but to fight out a private war; the 9th
e1, that l would see these scoundrels
IN the internal regions before I sur
rendered to them. And when you come
TO think of it, to call in the police TO,
help in the distinctly illegal job which
occupied me would hardly be in taste
So there was nothing for it but the
road, and the road it was for the mex
two hours and more. By that time my
cab horse, a fine outstanding chestnut
had fairly run himself down, and so
hoped had my pursuers' cab. But Of
this / could not be certain, and, in any
case, it was not their object to provoke
an open fracas. AS l imagined, they
merely sought to run me to earth some
where. And it was obvious by now
that l could not drive about in cabs al
night.
Somewhere between / and 9 | founc
myself again in Kensington, or, rather
IN that region Of respectable, desolatt
and gloomy houses lying about Glou
cester road. The chase had to enl
somehow. We drove up a road diml,
lighted and narrow. suppose my cab
man must have been almost as wear,
as ]. and probably more sleepy. A
any rate, | had ceased TO guide him FOL
anna tina Ha had fakan tho injtIntI,,