The Irish standard., 1908-10-10


CO.
me go out at one this aTterno0n?''
Again the food gates were lifted;
from the deluge of explanations and
protestations Maitland extracted the
general drift of narrative. And in the
end held up his hand for silence.
Il think understand, now. You say
he had changed to my gray suit?"
O'Hagan darted into the bedroom.
whence he emerged with confirmation
Of his statement.
'Tis gone, sor an"
"All right. But" with a rueful smile,
'I'll take the liberty of countermand-
ing Mr.. Snaith's order. If he should
call again, O'Hagan, very much want
to see him. e..
Faith, and 'tis mesilf will have a
worrud or two to whisper in the ear
av him, sor," announced O'Hagan,
grimly.
I'm afraid the opportunity will be
lacking. You may fix me hot bath
now, O'Hagan. and put out my even
aug S1OIuSo. IL ufuO az IAC NAuV W
night and may not be back"
And, rising, Maitland approached a
mirror; before which he fingered for
several minutes, cataloguing his in
juries. Taken altogether, they
amounted to little. The swelling Of
his wrists and ankles was subsiding
gradually; there was slight redness
visible in the corners of his mouth,
and a shadow of discoloration on his
right temple-something that could be
concealed by brushing his hair in a
new way.
II think shall do," concluded Matt
land; there's nothing to excite partic-
ular comment. The bulk of the sore
ness is inside"
Seven p. m.
"Time," said the short and thick.set
man casually, addressing no one in
particular.
snap and returned the timepiece to
his waistcoat pocket. simultaneously
he surveyed both sides OF the short
block between Seventh and St. Mich
olas avenues with one comprehensive
glance.
Presumably he saw nothing Of inter-
est to him. It was not particularly
interesting block, for that matter.
though somewhat typical Of the neigh.
borhood. The north side was lined
with flve-story nat buildings, their
dingy-red brick facades regularly
broken by equally dfngy brownstone
stoops, as to the ground floor. by open
windows as to those above. The south
side was mostly taken up by tow
ering white apartment hotel with an
ostentatious entrance; against one Of
whose polished stone pillars the short
and thick-set man was 1ounging.
The sidewalks, north and south,
swarmed with children Of assorted
ages, playing with the ferocious en-.
ergy characteristic of the young Of
Harlem; their blood-curdling cries and
premature Fourth-of-July fireworks
created an appalling din, to which,
however. the more mature denizens
had apparently become callous, through
long endurance.
Beyond the party. .colored lights Of q
drug store window on Seventh avenue,
the electric arcs were casting sickly
radiance upon the dusty leaves of the
tree-lined drive. The avenue itself
was crowded with motor cars and
horse-drawn pleasure vehicles, mostly
bound uptown, their occupants seeking
the cooler airs and wider spaces to be-
found beyond the Harlem river and
along the Speedway. A few blocks to
the west Cathedral heights bulked like
great wall, wrapped in purple shad-
ows, its jagged contour stark against
an evening sky Of suave old rose.
The short and thick-set body, how
ever, seemed to have no particular ap-
probation of the beauties of nature as
exhibited by West One Hundred and
Eighteenth street on a summers even
ing. If anything, he could apparently
have desired cooling breeze; for,
after moments doubtful considera-
tion, he unbuttoned his waistcoat and
heaved sigh of relief.
Then, carefully shifting the butt Of
q dead cigar from one corner of his
mouth to the other, where it was al
most hidden by the jutting thatch Of
his black mustache, and drawing down
over his eyes the brim of a rusty plug
hat, he thrust fat hands into the pock-
cts of his shabby trousers and lounged
against the polished pillar even more
energetically than before, II that were
possible. An unromantic, apathetic
figure, fitting so naturally into his sur
roundings as to demand no second look
even from the most observant; yet one
seeming to possess a magnetic attrac-
tton for the eyes of the hallboy OF the
apartment hotel (who, acquainted by
sight and hearsay with the stout gen
tleman's identity and calling, bent