The San Francisco call., 1908-10-11

NtraVeling by the night express
from the north to London, faced
by the dreary prospect of waiting
couple Of hours till the line was cleared
by the breakdown gang, were offered
the alternative Of putting UP at a
hotel IN York and resuming their Jour
ney next morning.
John Malcolm. Junior partner of Nal
colin & Fitzroy. Bond street jewellers,
was among those who chose to spend
the night at York He was annoyed
at the interruption of his journey. nat
uraIly. As for the delay, that was not
a matter Of extreme Importance. and
could be explained by telegram to his
partner. There was no business that
demanded his presence in London in
the morning. and by catching an early
train from York he could reach Bond
street comfortably dYing the after
noon.
one thing only caused him to hesi
tate before deciding TO spend the night
at a hotel; that was that he had with
with him jewelry Of the value of about
10000. Tor the convenience of a Gus
toner he had Travelled to Newcastle-on-
TYNE with a valuable selection from the
stock Of the firms Bond street show
cases. but to his great disappointment
scarcely any Of the articles he had
brought with him had met with the
customers approval. In the end COM
paratively trihing sale was the only
result Of his long journey. and the plain
brown travelling bag that he carried
with him as ne left the train was prac-
tically as rich in its centents as when
he left London.
His responsibility. however did not
weigh heavily on him; he had trav-
eled in safety many times before with
jewelry quite as valuable and had no
reason to fear that he was now in any
danger Of being robbed. His hesita-
tion, therefore. was only momentary.
The prospect Of supper and comfort
able nights rest was too alluring TO be
dismissed in favor of the wearisome
wait until traffic could be resumed. He
accepted the station masters offer to
provide him with a bed at the COM
pany's hotel
The warm and cozy coffee room Of the
railway hotel was a welcome change
from the bleak platform. Few of the
passengers of the delayed train had
elected TO wait in their carriages while
the breakdown gang was doing its
work, and when John Malcolm entered
the room he found that practically
every table was filled and that the
many sharp set appetites were keep
lLS lAC " dANGAc DAoe III
Taking q closer survey in his search
for a seat, he presently discovered that
there was a small table for two in a
corner Of the room. and at that moment
onIy one Of the seats there was occu-
-ied. Crossing the room to secure the
vacant chair. he did not notice until he
reached the table that it's solitary oc-
cupant was a man who had shared the
same first class carriage with him in
the Journey from Tyne
TO York Malcolm had already set this
individual down as a surly sort of
person, for he had replied with un-
communicative grunts TO the few re-
marks that had been addressed to him
in the train and showed a very evident
desire not to be drawn into conveEsa-
tion. Contenting himself. therefore,
with bare nod Of recognition the jew
eler drew the vacant chair toward him
and set the brown bag on 1t, while the
attending waiter relieved him OF his
hat and coat.
Holding the hat and coat on one arm.
the waiter stretched out the other to
take the bag from the chair.
Don't bother about the bag" said
Malcolm casually; 1t viii do very well
here"
He took it from the walters hand
and put it on a shelf that projected
from the wall at one end of the table.
AS he did so he chanced to glance at the
man who sat on the other side of the
table and surprised him in the act of
staring with unconcealed curiosity at
the brown bag. Malcolm could not
forbear an interrogating lift of his
eyebrows at this unwelcome interest
in his property. but the strangers only
reply was to look furtively at him for
a moment and then push back his
chair and leave the room. About two
minutes afterward he returned and re-
sumed his interrupted meal without
letraying any further interest in NAL
colin or the brown bag.
Interested somewhat by the peculiar
ity OF the man, Malcolm, in the course