The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-11-21

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last nights paper, dropped IT quickly
and tiptocd toward us, He peered be,
| tween the partly open curtains, closed
them quietly and went back, ostenta
| tiously solemn. 10 his scat, The very
crackle with which he opened hls pa
per added 10 the bursting curiosity OF
the car. For the passengers knew that
something was amiss: l was conscious
Of sudden tension.
With the curtains closed the porter
was more himself; he wiped his lips
with a handkerchief and stood erect.
cit S my last trip in this car, he
remarked heavily. "Thcre s something
wrong with that berth. Last trip the
woman in 1T took an overdose of some
sleeping stuff, and we found her, Jcss
like that. dead And il ain E more n
three months now since there was
twins born in that very spot. NO, sir,
it ain T. natural -
AT that moment a thin man with
prominent eyes and spare graylsh
goatcc creaked up tho aisle and paused
beside me.
Porter sick?" he inquired, taking
in with a professional eye the porter S
horror struck face, my own excitement
and the slightly gaping curtains of
lover ten. He reached for the darky s
pulse and pulled out an old-fashloned
gold watch.
''Hm! Only fifty! What Is the mat
teri Had a shocko' ne asked shrcwd-
yes" answered for the porter.
doctor. j wish YOU would look at the
man in the berth across, lower ten.
| m afraid il IS too late, but ] m
not experienced IN sue matters. y
Together we opened the curtains, and
the doctor, bending down, gave a com
prehensive glance that took in the roll
ing head, the relaxed Jaw, the ugly
stain on the sheet. Tho examination
needed only a moment. Death was
written in the clear white of the nos.
trils, the colorlcss lips, the smoothing
away Of the sinister lines Of the night
before. With its new dignity the face
was not unhandsomc: the gray hair was
still plentiful, the features strong and
we'll cut.
The doctor straightened himself and
turned to me dead for some time, F"
over @ the stains. "These are dry and
darkened, you see, the rigor mortis is
we'll established, A friend of yours7''
''I don t know him at all, - ! replied,
"Never saw him but once before
"Then you don 7 know if he is trav-
cling alone2'
ono, he was uot-that is, I don I
, know anything about him, | corrected
myself. 1T was my first blundet: the
doctor glanced up at me quickly and
then turned his attention again to the
body. Like a flash there had come to
me the vision of the woman with the
bronze hair and the tragic face, whom
had surprised in the vcstibule between
| the cars, somewhere in the small hours
l-f IA
first impulse-the masculine ono OF
shielding a woman.
] The doctor had unfastened the coat
of the striped pajamas and exposed the
dead man s chest. On the left side was
= a small punctured wound of insigni6
D cant size.
= every neatly done" tho doctor said
with appreciation, .'Couldn t have
: done it better myself Right through
the intercostal space: no time even
, to grunt,
:. "Isn't the heart around there some
!, wherc?' | asked. Tho. medical man
! turned toward me and smiled austerely
Z "That's where it belongs Just un
der that puncture, when it isn't CAD
;, ding around i'll a man S throat or hi:
c boo!S.'
!; ] had new respect for the doctor
q for any one indeed who could crack
even feeble joke under such circum
stances. or who could run an impcrsona
z finger over that wound and those
stains. Odd how a healthy. normal mar
D holds the medical profession in half
: contemptuous regard until he gets sick
or an emergency like this arises, ant
! then turns meckly TO the man whr
/ knows tbe ins and outs of his morta
: tenement, takes his pills or his patron
age, tics 10 him like a rudderIess sbiI
in a gale.
: "Suicidc. is it, doctor''' I asked
+ lGc stood erect after drawing th
bed clothing over the face. and, fax
} ing of his glasses, he wiped then
slowly
!, ''No. it is not suicide F" he announce,
L decisivcly, cit IS murder.
OF course, / had expected that, bu
the word itself brought n shlver.
/ was Just bit dizzy. Curious face
\ through the car were turned toward II:
' and T could hear the porter behind m
breathing audibIy \ stout woman i
ncgligee came down tho aisle and queI
uously confronted the porter. Sh
wore pink dressing Jacket and carrie
portions of her clothing.
Porter she began, in the voice q
? the lady who had 'dauged, "is ther
y rule Of this company that Will allo'
Y woman TO occupy the dressing -roor
Il for one hour and curl her hair with q
q alcohol lamp while respectable peopl
& haven't place where they can hoo
x their
8 She stopped suddenly and stared int
y lower ten. Her shining pink cheel
Y grew pasty her jaw fell, ! rememb'
4 trying TO think of something TO sa
d and Of saving nothing at all, Then
9 she had buried her eyes in tho no
Y dcscript garments that hung from HI
4 arm and tottcred back the way ST
& had come. Slowly little knot of me
9 gathered around MS, silent for the mo-
Y part. The doctor was making scare
~ of fbr bertb when thc conductor {