The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-01

! former resolution nd he passed on qulck- 1 ly; by the theatres now empty of their audiences; through Trafalgar Square, where the clubs and the hotels were still brilliantly lighted; up dark Cockspur street; through St. James Square; and so to an abrupt halt at the door of great house open to the night and dismisslng its guests.
 Alban despised himself for doing it, but he could never resist the temptation of staring through the windows of any man sion where a party happened to be held. The light and life of 1t all made a sure appeal to him He could criticise the figures of beautiful women and remain i ignorant of the impossible abyss between their sphere and his own Sometimes, he would try to study the faces thus revealed to him, as In the focus of a vision, and to say, That woman is ut terry vain" or again, "There Is a doll who has not the sense of an East End flower girl" In a way he despised their ignorance of lfe and It's terrible come dies and tragedies. Little Lois Boriskoff, he thought, must know more of human nature than any woman in those assem- plies where, as the half-penny papers told him. cards and horses and motor cars were the subject chiefly talked about. It delighted him to imagine the abduction of one of these society beau tLas anud her forcibe detention for a month in Thrawl street. How she would shudder and fear 1t all-and yet what human lessons might not she carry back with her. Let them show him a woman who could face such an ordeal unfiinch- ingly and he would fall In love with her himself The impertinence of his idea never once dawned upon him. He knew that his fathers people had been for merly wel-to-do and that his mother had often talked of birth and family. "I I. e fA.- all," he reflected; and this was hls ar nor against humiliation. What did money matter? The fine idealist of twenty, with a few coppers in his pocket, declared sto- icaliy that money was really of no con- sequence, at all.
 He fingered some five minutes outside 1 the great house in St. James square, | watching the couples in the rooms above. l and particularly interested in one face
 which appeared in and disappeared from, I a brilliantly lighted alcove twice while he l was standing there. A certain grace of l grlhood attended this uppariton; the l dress was rich and costly and exqulsitely , made. but that which held Alban's closer | attention was the fact that the wearer l of 1t unquestionably was a Pole and not unlike Lois Borskoff herself. He would i not say, indeed, that the resemblance i was striking-it might have been merely ] that of nationality. When the girl ap- peared for the second time he admitted l that the comparison was rather wild 1 None the less, he liked to think that she 1 resembled Lois and might also have heard l the news from Warsaw today. Evidently l she was the daughter of some rich for l eiBner In London, for she talked and moved with Continental animation and
 grace. The type of face had always made
 q sure appeal to Alban. He liked those ] broad contrast of color; the clear, almost
 NfbFf FfA ulyf tt. .-ffr lf.., f1. l expressive eyes fringed by deep and elo- quent lashes. This unknown was taller
 than little Lois certainly-she had a ma i turer figure and altogether a better car 1 riage; but the chara cterlstics of her na- 1 tionality were as sure-and the boy fell l to wondering whether she was also cap
 able of that winsome sentiment and jeal-
 ous frenzy which dictated many of the
 seemingly inconsequent acts of the little
 heroine of Thrawl street. This he
 imagined to be quite possible. They are
 great as d nation,' he thought, but most
 of them are mad. I will tell Lois to-
 morrow that l have seen her sister in St.
 James square. I shouldn wonder if
 she knew all about this house and the
 party--and Boriskoff will, if she doesn't"
 He contented himself with this and
 the girl having disappeared from the
 alcove and a footman announced, in q
 terrible voice, that Lady Smigg's carriage barred the way, he turned from the house ! and continued upon his way to tho
 caves" It was then nearly 1 o'clock.
 and for occasional hanson making q
 dash to a club door. St. James street was
 deserted Alban took one swift look up
 and down, crossed the street at a run
 and disappeared down the court which ! led to those amazing 'tombs' of which
 few in London save the night-birds and
 the builders so much as suspect the ex-
 istence.
 He did not go alone; he was not as he
 thought unwatched. A detective. com
 nlisisoned by unknown patron to fol-
 low him. crossed the road directly he had disappeared, and saying, 80 that's
 the game" began to wonder if he also
 might dare the venture
 l He, at least, knew well what he was
 doing and the class of person he would be : likely to meet down there in the depths
 of which even the police were afraid.
 (To be continued)