The Havre herald. [volume] (Havre, Mont.) 1904-1908, 1908-01-31

! ouch card aaa-u. .wasassa.r -h<,w .okss.s
I've sworn to taaeIg nIt j snahafs fsn.;
must change come ti1ae. It seasxz No q,
forever like thil-' =
A knock at the street dpsr hrsEse .sn
thread OF kiH grorfingH- bat he >weaH
- pacing still, and did MOI bear 1 rte,
which came blunderins mp the ssaiyease
and halted outside his door.
Come IN ]" be cried. in startled an.
swer to rapping on the panel. and
slatternly servant girl pushed her head
round the edge Of the door.
Here's somebody for you. Mr.. Frost
Gentleman with a portmanteau. He
didn't give no name"
"11l come down and have q look at
him" returned Mr.. Frost, taking up bis
candle. -Four separate fights Of ssirty
wooden stairs. unca rpeted, brought him to
the hail. Frost. holding bis candle high
advanced toward the shadowy figure Of his
guest. TITS you! p he said, with an odd
laugh. Come upstairs"
The guest. selling the portmanteau.
mounted after him, and the dingy apart
nent at the top of the house was reached
Is this the palace you continually
live in?" asked the guest. with the faint
est possible trace of some foreign accent
in his voice. II had expected from your
last letter to have found you In marble
halls, with vassals and serfs at your side.
Ohio you have been at it again. sup
pose said the visitor. making q move
ment in imitation of the dealing Of a pack
Of cards. Isn't it time you dropped
that? Haven't you lost enough by this
time? What should you have done if /
had not turned up?"
II don't know" Frost answered. care
lessly enough. but l was thinking at
the very minute when / heard you knock
at the door, and saying to myself, I'll
drop it. I'll tell you the truth. Zeno-''
Tell me as much Of the solid truth as
your constitution will allow, but do not
call me by that name Wroblewskoff will
answer. It's jawbreaker, but its very
easy when you come to know it. Well"
said Mr.. Zeno smiling still, this is the
advantage of talking over things. | have
lived in New York q year or two. You
knew me there. You meet me here. You
know me to be a safe mana man to be
depended upon. You introduce me to
y
staring?"
II will see you boiled in OIL" returned
Mr.. Frost, with extreme slowness: II
will see you roasted on a gridiron, I will
see you cut up SO extremely fine that Il
microscope won't find you--and then
won't introduce you to Dobroski."'
Ieno got up from his seat, and kneel-
ing on the floor unstrapped his portman-
seau and took therefrom razor case. a
small metal soap bowl and brand new
shaving brush. Frost watched him in ST.
lence "
Zeno took off his coat and threw it
across the back Of chair, tnen produced
a pair of scissors, and taking great
handful of his beard sliced it off before
the glass; then another, and another, and
another until he was close cropped all
over the cheeks and throat and chin. Next
he attacked the mustache, and cropped
that also so close as the scissors would
go to the skin. Then pouring little
hot, water into the metal bowl, he began
to lather himself with great energy, and
then to shave. Even to himself the
metamorphosis he produced must have
seemed more than a little droll. Under
the razor he came out no longer Greek
and austere in contour, but chubby. with
fat round cheeks. and a chin very curl
ously thrust forward and pointed and
beneath the lower lip and the base Of the
chin there was a good half inch in length
less than one would have expected to find.
The change was amazing. and when Mr..
Zeno drew a spectacle case from a waist
coat pocket, set the glasses on his nose,
and, removing a wig, appeared with half
an inch of sandy natural hair below it,
and forehead an inch higher than it had
been, the disguise looked impenetrable.
He took a handkerchief from his coat
pocket, rubbed corner of it on the soap
in his shaving bowl. and applied it vigor-
ously to his lips. The corner of the
went crimson, and Mr..
Zeno's cherry lips grew pallid and dry.
He soaped and moistened another corner
of the handkerchief. and scrubbed at his
eyebrows. The handkerchief became
black, and the eyebrows sandy, like the
hair. Then he resumed his coat, set the
two candles upon the table, drew chair
between them, and sat down. i
Ito be continued.)