Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-08
CHAPTER IV-Continued.

tie man lad cleared place for M next
lis own which was in corner facing the
engine. Thanking him absent mndedly, l
sat down. and began to observe my travel
ing companions for the first time.
s. .ar their faces had been mere blurs
f.r me. but now it struck me that all
three were rather peculiar; that is. peculiar
when seen in first-class carriage.
The maU who had reserved the compart-
wert Cor himself and who had removed a
bundle Of golf sticks from the seat to make
room fog me. did not look like a typical
golfer. nor did he appear at all the sort of
person who might be expected to reserve a
whole compartment for himself. He was
small and thin. and weedy. with little,
hlIHkiuS. pink-rimmed eyes of the kind
which ous ht TO have had white lashes in
stead OF the sparse, jet-black ones that
trimmed them His forehead, though mar
TOW. suggested shrewdness, as did the eX-
preN>inl of those light-Colored eyes o: his.
which were set clos to the sharp. slightly
Up-turIld nose. His hair was so black that
4 mad his skin seem singuiarly pailid,
though Il only SdliOw; and a mean
rabbit mouth worked nervOusIy over two
Prominent teeth. Though his clothes were
good and new. they had the air of having
b"cr bought ready made, and in spite of
his N'Iid-be smart get up. the man
evils" might have been anywhere between
tHjtry and thirty-cighp looked somewhat
ike %" eN-groom or bookmaker masquerade
i: : It swell"
The Two intruders who had violated the
sauCtit, of the reserved compartment by
mraES "f their railway key. We're both
bigger and more manly than he who had
right 90 it. one was dark and doubtless
Jewish. with n heavy beard and mustache
in the midst of which his sensual and cruel
mouth pouted disa gre, ably red. The other
was pury and flushed, with a brLck-colored
compie>ion. deeply p!tted by smallpox
They also We're fiaShly dressed, with
"Eursey" neckties and conspicuous scarf
pins A. | glanced at the pair they Were
talking together in low voice, with an
open u"wspaper held up between them; but
the man who had helped in against
their viii sat silent, staring out of the
window and uneasily lingering his collar
Not one Of the trio was apparently pay
ing IN" slightest attention to me, now that
! was seated, nevertheless | thought of
the large. long letter case which / carried
fl an -uner breast pocket of my carefully
hTttVu"u coat | would not attract atten-
ton ~ the contents of that pocket by
touching II. To assure myself that it was
saf@. but l had done just be ore meet
ing hi, and felt certain that nothing could
have Happened to ii since.
folded my arms across my chest,
E.aryad up to see where the cord of COM
rHuuiCaJ.nn might be found in case of
emergency, and then reflected that these
men Mere not likely to he dangerous since
l Lad followed them into the compartment,
not they me. This thought was reaSSur-
ing. as they were three to one if they COM
h.Hed against me, and the train was, I'M
fortunately. not a corridor train. There
fore. having assured myself that l was not
among spies bent on having life or the
seCrcl ! carried. | forgot about my fellow
travellers and fell into gloomy speculations
as {" my chances with Diana Forrest.
lad been loving her. thinking OF little else
hut her and my hopes of her for many
months bIlr had I realized hat
a miserable, empty world il would be for
me without her for my own. as I did now,
When / had perhaps lost her.
Not that l would allow myself to think
That ! could not get her back. l would not
think Il. | would force her to believe in
me, I" trust me, even to repent her sus-
PIGEONS, though appearances were all
against me, and heaven knew how much
or when | might be permitted to explain.
/ would not be a man If | took her at her
word and let her slip from me, no matter
how many times that word were repeated
so / told myself over and over Yet a
voice inside me seemed to say that nothing
would b" as It had been: that Id sacrificed
my happiness to please a stranger and TO
save a woman whom 1 had never really
loved.
III WAS so beautiful. so sweet. so used to
being admired by men. there were so
many who loved her. many with a
tApdStHd times more to offer than | had or
would ever have; how could | hope that
mad happened today? | wondered She
hadn said in actual words last night that
SIZE would marry me. whereas this morn
ing 81" lad almost said she never would
l should have nobody to blame but myself
II | came back to London tomorrow to find
her eng tS"d To Lord Robert West-a man
VINO. a. lis brother has no children, might
some day make her duchess
SpJry tn have seemed rude Just now
sli. ~tld one OF the two railway-key men
suddenly reminding NE OF his unnecessary
'N'Strhrr. Hardly knee what l was
about when ! showed you away from the
door. Me and my friend was afraid of
missing the train, so we pushed instinct of
Sei-PtvservatIon l suppose" and he
Chu"k."d as if he had got off some witt
olSnl- anyhow. / apologize. Nothing in
territorial. pom nay word
Thanks. No apology is necessary" re-
p-iru a. IndihercnJly as / felt
That all right them finished the Jew
lsh-ta'"d man who had spoken. He turned
10 ms companion and the two resumed
their conversation behind the newspaper:
but now became conscious that they oc-
casioualy glanced over the top at their
nelglIo": OF at me. as If their whole atten-
the day.
Any interest they might feel in me- pro-
vided 1t had nothing to do with certain
POCKET they were welcome to. but the little
man was apparently not of the same mind
concerning himself. His nervously witch
ING hand on the upholstered seat-arm which
separated his place rom mine attracted
my attention, which was then drawn up to
ms fac. He was s!ckly pale, under a
KIND "f yellowish glaze spread over his
cpTnpleN.'n that | thought he must be i'll
perhaps suffering from train sickness In
anxious anticipation OF the horrors which
Tl-E ne in store for him on the boat
fr'r"-.ly ne pulled out a red bordered
handkerchief. and Unobtrusively wiped his
forehead under his checked travelling cap
When he had done this l saw that his hair
was left streaked with damp, and there
was a taint purphsh stain on the handker-
chief. Observing which. with evident dis
MAY. lie stuffed the big square Of coarse
cambria hastily into his pocket
The little beast must dye his hair" I
thought contemporary. Perhaps he's an
biEp. really. His eyes look like it."
NitH that he threw a frightened glance
a. M which caused me TO turn away and
spar" him the humiliation OF knowing that
lie was observed. But Immediately after
lie made an effort to pull himself together,
picking up a book he had laid down to wipe
us forehead. and holding 1t so close to his
Rose That the printed page must have been
mere blur. unless he very near
sighted Thus he sat for some time vet
felt that no look thrown by the other two
was lost on him. He seemed to know each
time one of them peered over the news
paper, and when at last the train slowed
down by the Admiralty pier all his nerv-
BUSINESS returned. His small thin hands