Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-07-26

ing his bath and clothes, no pleasant smell of coffee-none of the small lux uries to which he was accustomed. On the contrary. he had slept all night upon bed of bracken with no other
 covering than the stiff pine needles
 from the tall black trees, whose strange, rlstling music had lulled him to sleep.
 He sat up and remembered sudden
 ly where he was and how he had come there. He yawned and was on the point of struggling to his feet when
 he became aware of certain changed conditions in his surroundings. Some Instinct of simple curiosity perhaps.
 but of far reaching effect, led him to crawl back into his hiding place and watch
 Last night two things alone, after
 many hours of painful walking, had impressed themselves upon his con sciousness-the dark, illlmitable forest and the double line of rails which with the absolute straightness of exact sci ence had stretched behind and in front till the treetops in the far distance had seemed to touch and the rails them selves to vanish Into the black heart of the close growing pines. For miles he had limped along the painfully rough track without seeing the slightest sign Of any break in the woods or any hu- man being. At last the desire for sleep had overtaken him. He was a hardy young Englishman, and night out, of doors in the middle of June nnder these odorous pines presented it. self merely as not disagreeable ad- venture. Five minutes after the idea had occurred to him he was asleep.
 And now in the gray morning he looked out upon a different scene Scarcely dozen yards from him stood single travelling coacn of dark green. drawn by heavy engine At inter- vals of scarcely twenty paces up and down the line as far as he could see soldiers were stationed like sentries. They were 'o)sing sharply about in all directions. and he could even hear the, footsteps Of others crashing through the wood. From ;ie train three or four men Ill long cloaks had already descended. Thy were standing in the track ta.;s.ng toge her.
 The young nan behind the bracken felt himself In somewhat of dilem- ma. There was q delightful smell of fresh coffee from the waiting coach. and there seemed to be not the slight est reason why he should not emerge from his hiding place and claim the hospitality of these people. He was a quite harmless person. with proper ere dentials and an adequate explanation of his presence there. On the other hand, the spirit of adventure natural to his years strongly prompted him to remain where be was and watch. He felt certain that something was going 10 happen. Besides, those soldiers had exactly the air of looking for some body to shoot.
 While be was hesitating something did happen. There was a shrill whis- he, pun of white smoke in the dis lance, and another train approached from the opposite direction.
 It drew up within few feet of the one which was already waiting AL most immediately half a dozen men. who were already standing upon the 1 platform of the car. descended. One of these approached rapidly and salut- ed the central figure of those who had ] been talking together in the track. | After few moments conversation | hese two. followed by one other man | bnly who was carrying a writing port folio. ascended the platform of the | nain which had arrived first and dls- appeared inside.
 The young man who was watching hese proceedings yawned.
 No duel. then" he muttered to him pelf I've half a mind to go out" Then he caught sight of particularly herce looking soldier with his finger already upon the trigger of his gun. md be decided to remain where he Eas.
 In about half an hour the two men eappeared on the platform of the car. Simultaneously the window of the car sage in which they had been sitting vas opened. and the third man was visible. srsnding before q small table md arranging some papers. Suddenly ie was called from outside He thrust lis hat upon the papers and hastened Q obey the summons. X little gust of breeze from the open ng and closing of the door detached me of the sheets Of paper from the re training weight of the hat It fiut- cred out Of the window and lay for a i n0ulent upon the side of the track. No me noticed it. and in n second or two , fiutferei underneath the clump of {, racken behind which the young Eng Ishman was hiding He thrust out his ' aud and calmly secured it. z In less than five minutes the place | ras deserted Amid many hasty fare { rells. wholly unInteIIIgible to the watcher. the two groups of men sepa- nted and climbed into their respective . rains. As soon as every one was out f sight the Engiishman rose. with | ttIe grunt of satisfaction. and stretch I q himself. He glanced first at the sheet Of paper ( nd finding It written In German. ! [