New-York tribune., 1906-09-30
THE GREAT SECRET
Continued from page 4

am sorry, sir" he said, "but Mr.. Blumen-
tein is engaged Is there anything can . do
mol" | answered him bluntly. want
| the manager, and no one else VIII 90; II ne
cannot see me now, l shall wait. If he does
not appear in a reasonable time, shall go
| direct to Scotland Yard and lay certain infor-
! nation before the authorities there:
in a tic tolerant Grant manner. Il will send message
| down to Mr.. Blumentein, sir, he sald' but
| he is very busy this morning. =,
| waited with as much patience as l could
command. Suddenly gave start and looked
| up quickly.
A woman had entered the reception room,
passing so close to that her skirts almost
| brushed my feet. She was tall, quietly and
| elegantly dressed, and was followed by
| most correct looking maid, who carried tiny
| Japanese spaniel. | did not see her face,
although | knew by her carriage and figure
that she must be young. That she was a
person of Importance 1t was easy to see by
the attention which was at once paid her.
Her interest for me, however lay in none OF
these things. | had been conscious, as she
had passed, of Whit of faint, very delicate
perfume, and with it.of sudden sharp recol-
lection. 1t was a perfume which L had dis
tnguished once before in my lfe and that
| only few hours ago.
She gave her key in at the desk received
| some letters, and, turning round, passed
| within few feet of me. Perhaps she realized
| that | was watching her with more than
| ordinary attention, and her eyes fell for a
! moment careleSSly upon mine. They were
withdrawn at once, and she passed on with
| the slightest of frownS; just sufficient rebuke
| to the person who had forgotten himself so
far as to stare at woman in public place.
| The little Japanese spaniel yawned as he was
carried past and showed me a set of dazzling
white teeth.
| | was unable to desist staring at the woman
and the maid and the spaniel She was younger
than | had thought her, even, and felt that
| there was something foreign in her appearance.
| although of what nationality she might be L
| could not determine. Her hair was OF a shade
| between brown and golden, and, as she stood
now, with her back to me, | could see that
| it was so thick and abundant that her maids
| art had been barely sufficient to keep it within
| bounds. In the front it was parted in the
| middle and came rather low over her fore
head. Now could see her profile, the rather
long neck which the lace scarf about her
shoulders seemed to leave little more than
usually bare, the soft and yet firm outline
of features, delicate enough and yet full of
| character.
lust then her maid said something which
seemed to call her attention to me. She slowly
and deliberately turned her back upon me,
and continued talking to the maid. My cheeks
| were tanned enough, but | felt the color burn
them as | prepared II move away. At that
moment, the lift stopped just opposite to her,
and Blumentein stepped out, followed by his
dapper little clerk.
| Hat in hand and with many bows and smiles,
| Blumentein addressed a few remarks to the
woman, who answered him CourteOusly, but
with obvious condescension. Then he came
on to me, and his manner was different in
deed.
Mr.. COURAGE" he inquired. 'You wished
| to speak to me?"
| | handed him the type written communica-
| ton which | had received 4" | wish for some
| explanation of this, | said.
| He glanced at it and shrugged his shoulders.
Il cannot permit such proceedings as took
place last night in this hotel" he said. Il
can find no trace of the two persons whom YOU
described as having broken into Your room
and | am not at all satisfied with the explana-
tions which have been given"
| Indeed " | answered. "I can assure YOU
| that | find the situation equally unsatis-
factory. | came here in the ordinary way as
a casual guest. Ny room is broken into in
the middle of the night. | myself am assaulted,
and another man, a stranger to me, is nearly
murdered. If any explanations or apologies
are due at ALL l consider that they are due to
me"
Blumentein edged little away You
should consider yourself exceedingly for
tunate," he declared. ito be spared the incon-
venience of police inquiry My directors
dislike very much any publicity given to
brawls of this sort in the hotel. or YOU might
find yourself in a somewhat awkward position
| 70 1ho