The Palatka news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1907-10-25
Was 1t to Rob Him
OF Money or a Kiss?
lorigtnzLl

When 1 was poy-l lnlIh was
I fourteen-while standing in railroad
starapu, q woman had never seen be-
fore surprised me by approaching me,
putting her arms about me and giving
me s kiss. Then abe went away, look
! ing back at me admIringly and smiling
as though well satisfied both with her
self and me l confess her reason for
what she did was a mystery TO me,
and II has been something Of mys-
terry ever since. The incident has moth
ing to do with this story unless 1t may
serve for material on which TO base an
opinion in similar case.
Fletcher lie Roy had been graduated
from college and was making a tour
abroad One day he was travelling
through Switzerland in one Of those
railway coaches they have abroad
which are nothing more or less than
string Of stagecoaches moderniZed and
built together. lie Roy was hand
some fellow, with reddish curly hair,
blue eyes and exquisitely curved lips,
which he did not cover by a mustache.
In other words. he was tempting TO
woman, though to do him justice ne
was perfectly unconscious OF his man
" beauty and nothing disturbed him
more than TO have II remarked upon
In his hearing.
In the compartment with him were
man, q girl Of fourteen to sixteen and
a young woman. The man ind the girl
sat on the same side with lie Roy, the
young woman opposite. 1t suddenly
occurred TO lie Roy that be might not
have funds to last him till he should
again reach a point where he could get
more. After CHANGING at his fellow
passengers to satisfy himself that he
might safely examine his funds before
them he took out his pocketbook and
counted a number Of new crisp notes
he had drawn in Paris. He had de
termined the amount and put the bills
back into his portemonnsie and the
portemonnaie into the left breast peck
et Of his cost when the train dashed
into a tunnel under the Alps.
Not more than twenty seconds had
elapsed after this entry when lie Roy
felt hand on his right and immediate
IL another on his left breast. Some
one who could not see him was feeling
to find out where he was. He grasped
both hands. They were soft and small,
like a woman's In another moment
he felt a face against his cheek and
pair Of lips were pressed TO his mouth.
There was no beard on the face. For
perhaps ten seconds those lips were
glued to his, then they were with
drawn, and their owner made a vigor-
Gus attempt to get away. Both hands
were held in lie Roy's grip. In vain
the woman-if she were a woman
struggled, only to be held the tighter.
For a time lie Roy never doubted that
what he had experienced was an at
tempt 10 rob him. But the kiss-what
did It mean? Was the person he held
the young woman who sat opposite or
the girl beside him? She might be
either. The man beyond the girl might
have educated her to such methods,
she being an accompllce. He was more
inclined TO suspect this couple than
the young woman opposite, for while
counting his bills he had glanced re-
peatedly at the latter, and she had
never once taken her eyes of book
she was reading. Lastly, 1t occurred
10 him that for some reason he could
not understand she might have desired
10 kiss him.
These thoughts flashed one after the
other In his mind while the train was
speeding through the tunnel. lie Roy
held the two hands IN his despite fran
tic efforts to get them away TIL this
last superstition occurred to him. Then
suddenly he released his grasp.
In ten or fifteen seconds more the
train shot out of the tunnel. lie Roy
at once examined the faces Of his fell
low passengers. The man was looking
out of the window, with his back turn
ed, so that his features were not visit
bic The girl looked tribe fustered,
though not so much SO but that lie Roy
thought he might have attributed her
appearance to his own imagination.
The young woman opposite sat with
her book on her lap and raised It the
moment the train ran out into the
light. She seemed 10 be breathing
quickly. but lie Roy was not sure but
this, too, was an appearance created
by his Imagination He turned his
gaze from one TO the other in uncer-
tainty. The train rolled on; the man
continued TO look out Of the window;
the girl leaned her head back In &
cushioned corner and closed her eyes;
the young woman opposite turned page
after page. lie Roy was so interested
in watching and studying them that
for time he forgot TO feel for his
pocketbook. When he did he found
that it was SAFE, and & glance assured
/ him that the bills were inside.
In perhaps ten minutes after the In
cident the train entered the outskirts
Of a town. The young woman opposite
glanced out Of the window, shut up her
book, put it in a satchsl and prepared
to leave the car. AS she passed lie Roy
to aHght she accidentally grazed his
knee, and she said in a soft voice,
Pardon, monsieur"
After a few minutes stop the train
rolled out Of the station on IT'S way
AS the car in which lie Roy sat passed
into the open he saw from his window
the woman driven In a victoria on e
street running parallel with the track
The driver and footman were IN hand
some livery, poodle was on the front
seat all bespeaking an equipsge be-
longing to one Of high station. Ths