The Red Cloud chief., 1906-01-26
&c

you Succecuoi,' she ictortrd. "IoI
viii BRING Miss Holiday to us?'
III we find her, yes"
Then, again, gOOdby."
She waved her hand, smiling, and
was lost in the crowd.
Come OH, Lester" said Mr.. Royce's
voice. There's no use standing star
Ing here
Suddenly ! remembered Martigny.
I'll be back in a minute" | called,
and ran up the gang plank. Has NJ.
Martigny left the ship YETI" | inquired
of the first steward | met.
"Martigny?" he repeated.
"The sick gentleman in 375," I
prompted.
oh, yes" he said. Il do not know"
Well, no matter. I'll find out my
self"
mounted to the upper deck and
Knocked at the door of 375. There was
no response. After a moment l tried
the door, but II was locked. The win
dow. however, was partly open, and,
shading my eyes with my hands, l
peered inside. The stateroom was
empty.
A kind Of panic seized me as l turned
away. Had he indeed seen through
my artifice? In attempting t. blind
him had l merely uncovered my own
plan, GRAND my cheeks burned ut the
thought - was he so well intrenched
that he had no fear Of me? Were his
plans 80 we'll laid that 1t mattered not
to him whittier | went or what l did,
| passed a moment Of heartrending
uncertainty. l saw quite clearly what
a little. little chance of success we had.
But I shook the feeling off, sought the
lower deck and inquired again for
Martigny. AT last the ships doctor
told me that he had seen the sick man
safely to a carriage and had heard him
order the driver to proceed to the Hotel
Continental.
And frankly, Mr.. Lester added the
doctor. II am glad to be SO well rid Of
him. 1t is most fortunate that he did
not die on the voyage"
turned away with a lighter heart.
From a dying man there could not be
much to fear. So l hunted up Mr..
Royce and found him, finally, endeav-
Oring to extract some information from
a supercillous official.
1t was, 1t seemed. a somewhat COM
plicated proceeding to get to Etretat.
In half an hour a train would leave
for Bonneville, where we must transfer
to another line to Les Ifs. There a
second transfer would be necessary be-
fore we could reach our destination.
Io-, Lone, xVA,II ~ tAILNp NV In
formant shrugged his shoulders with
fine ~nonchalance. 1t vas impossible to
say. There had been a heavy storm
two days before, which had blown
down wires and damaged the little
spur Of track between Les Ifs and the
sea.
Amid this tumble Of uncertainties
one definite fact ~remaincd-a train was
to leave In half an hour, which we
must take. So we hurried back to the
boat, and finally were shut into a
compartment two minute 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 bo-
tel? Had he deemed us not worth
watching, or had he watched? Was
he on the train with us? Was he able
to follow?.
looked out cautiously from the win
dow, up and down the platform, but
saw no sign of him, md in a moment
more we ratified slowly away over the
switches.
An hours run brought us to BeuZe-
vile, where we were dumped out, to-
gether with our luggage, in a little
frame station. An official Informed us
that we must wait there three hours
for the train for Les Ifs. Beyond that
ne could not say.
How far is Les Ifs from here?" in
quired my companion.
About twelve kilometers, monsieur"
And from there to EtretatT'
rs twenty kilometers more"
'Thirty-two kilometers altogether"
said Mr.. Royce. That's about twenty
miles. Why can't we drive, LesterY'
Certainly 1t seemed better than wait
ing on the uncertain railway, and we
set at once about the work OF finding
a vehicle. l could be of little use, since
English vas an unknown tongue at
Bonneville, and even Mr.. Royce's
French was sorely taxed, but we sue
ceeded at last in securing a horse and
light trap, together with a driver who
claimed to know the road.
The road was smooth and level, and In
an hour and a half from Bonneville we
reached Les Ifs, and here we stopped
for a light supper. We had cause to