Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-08
THAT DINNER TO BARBERETTI
Continued honp
Continued from page II

part from two such royal chaps q am voicing
my thought of the momen) and accordingly.
| arms linked, started walking up the street,
apparently totally oblivious of the existence
| of such things as cabs. Then we got tired, and
| | have a dim remembrance of climbing to an
| elevated station and the corresponding ride
| positive the guard sang out Fiftieth
| Street, and that where | finally awoke
enough to realize that was getting near home
AS in the car and stood making my
| finest bows and srhirks to George" and
" Frank " in farewell became dimly conscious
of two dark haired men opposite. When left
| the train they did too.
Down the station stairs l went. the cold
winter air SOLDERING me by the second. Then
struck west toward the locality my boarding
| house graced.
| Rubber soled shoes must have been the
device; for heard absolutely no sound until,
after one blocks walk, was seized vicously
from behind and quickly bound and smothered
| by strong hands.
WHAT drug was used on me don't know.
my only quick thought before con-
| seriousness left being that my assailants were
| the two dark haired men had noticed in the
| train They apparently were waiting till had
parted from my companions Little oppor-
| tunity was given me tor struggle, and, even II
there had been, it seems doubtful to me whether
| | could have put up any effective resistance
| in my still somewhat fuddled condition.
How they effected my transfer from that
| locality to the place where | recovered my
senses, | shall probably never know; for be-
came cognizant of things about only when
| | felt fingers probing about my ribs, apparently
| in an effort to bring me to
| AS f1ickered back into consciousness, little
| by little | took in the scene about me The
walls of the place were rough plaStered and
| whitewashed, and here and there beaded with
a dampness which told me we were under
ground say we for there stood about. eying
me most intently fully dozen meriHi They
| were all of determined east Sfi countenance
naturallv,~ and whatever they had on hand
| at this moment seemed to set their features to
an added hardness | believe my first con-
nected thought was something to the effect
| that possibly that hundred wasn't quite SO
easily earned, which conviction was by no
| means lessened as things went on.
When my ewes were finally blinking to full
sanity. of the men, who seemed OF some
| authority among them backed off a little way
and began to address me vehemently IN what
| | took to be Italian For the second time that
| evening labored under ignorance of language;
but this time it was not feigned: As his ha-
rangue continued, it began to look as though
ought to show in some way my failure to under
stand. So | managed to wriggle to sitting
posture on the table across which they had
| laid
| From their looks | could see it was time
| for trifling; so decided to make clean breast
| of things Pendleton and my promise to him
| certainly didn't include submission to such
| treatment as | undergoing The hundred
wasn't worth it | sang out in English:
Pardon me-" said | politely; for, hard and
unreentingly villainous as they appeared, they
somehow bore the stamp of birth, you gentle
| men have probably made a mistake | don't
| understand your language
| At my speech they seemed vastly astonished;
then after a conference. their mood changed
| to one of viciousness; and 1nvect1ve, as even
could understand, was hurled at me. As their
tempers rose they forced me to cover before
| them Finally the leader shot out his hand,
caught my right wrist, and with dizziness Slid
| back my sleeve, barring the fore arm.
His sharp cry of surprise, was echoed by
them all Then they elbo%ed one of their
number to a position before me. He spoke
little broken English. You are Barberettis
he inquired.
| felt the truth nudge me- No, | answered
emphatically, and with one swoop of my hand
| | swept false mustache and imperial from me-
| They fell back in astonishment. Then toll
lowed a sharp sign from their leader. had
not looked behind me during the entire time;
but now before l could raise even remon-
STRANGE | succumbed for the second time to
drug soaked cloth
InNCE more | came to consciousness. l telt
~ chilly, and, managing to rise, looked
about me had been lying under tree. and
the light glow in the east proved that the hour
was davbreak felt about my person to see
| what injury | had sustained Except for a