Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-09-21

INC DtQch liS5tny tCutCrS WtuCneu DC
t,CCcn boat and brigdnttrc.
poll cut of the window to incite his
drivers cupidity with promises of re-
doubled fare.
krkwood mopped his dripping fore
head and whistled low with dismay.
1t seemed that from that instant on it
was to be vendetta with vengeance.
Calendar. as he had foreseen. was
stopping at nothing.
At dogtrot he sped down the alley
to the next street, on which he turned
back-more straightforward the river,
debouching on the esplanade just one
block from the Hotel du Commerce.
AS he swung past the serried tables
of n cafe whatever fears he had har-
bored were banishcd by the discovery
that the excitement occasioned by the
chase had already subsidized. Beneath
the garish awnings the crowd was
laughing and chattering. eating and
slipping its beer with complete uncon-
Germ, needless altogether of the bag
gard and shabby young man carrying
black hand bag. Without attracting
any attention whatever, indeed, he
mingled with the strolling crowds
making his way toward the Hotel du
Commerce. Yet he was not at all at
ease. His uneasy conscience invested
the gladstone bag with magnetic at
traction for the public eye. To
carry 1t unconcealed in his hand fur
nished him with n sensation us dis
turbing as though it's worn black sides
had been stenciled "Stolen!' in letters
Of flame. He felt it rendered him a
cynosure of public interest, an object
of suspicion to the wide, cold world;
that the gaze which lit upon the lslg
Travelled to his face only to espy
thereon the brand of guilt.
For ease Of mind presently he
turned into a convenient shop and
spent ten invaluable francs for hand
satchel big enough to hold the glad
stone bag.
With more courage, now that he had
the hateful thing under cover, he found
and entered the Hotel du Commerce.
In the little closet which served for
an office, over a desk visibly grooming
with the weight of an enormous and
grimy registry book, sleepy, fat,
bland and good natured woman pre-
sided, a benign and drowsy divinity Of
even tempered courtesy. To his mis-
leading inquiry for Nj. Calendar she
returned a cheerful permission to seek
that gentleman for himself.
'Three flights, m'sieu', in the front
Suit II it is. M'sieu' does not mind
walking up?" she inquired.
M'sieu' did not in the least, though
by no strain Of the Imagination could
1t be truthfully said that he walked
up those steep and redolent stairways
Of the Hotel du Commerce d'Anvers
More literally. he flew with winged
feet, spurning each third padded step
with force that raised a tiny cloud
of fine white dust from the carpeting.
Breathlcss, at last he paused at the
top of the third fight. His heart was
hammering, his pulses drumming like
striction In his throat, fire of hope in
MS neart alternating with the ice OF
doubt. Suppose she were not there!
What If he were mistaken? What if he
had misunderstood? What if Mulready
and Calendar had referred to another
lodging house? He passed down the
corridor to the door whose panels wore
the painted legend II and there
knocked.
Believing that he overheard from
within sudden startled exclamation,
he smiled patiently, tolerant of her
surprise.
Burning with impatience as with a
fever, he endured long minutes wait.
Misgivings were prompting him to
knock again and summon her by name
when he heard footballs on the other