The weekly true Democrat., 1909-10-29

... .I....
@Perfeeiiy." she said. brighteuins
"And What % yOu Durposs doing
DOWfT
u cant teiI yeL The guards gone
10 get me some Information about the
night trains on other lines. IN the
meantime don't fret about HObbA Fii
answer for Hobbs"
Il shan't BE- worried" she said sim
ply, with yOu here"
whatever answer be would have
made - vas obliged 10 postpone be-
cause Of the retHrn Of the guard. with
q handful OF time tables. and when.
rewarded with a modest gratuity, the
man had gone his way and KirkWOod
turned again 20 the girl she bad With
drawn her attention for the time.
UncOnsclouB Of hls bold regard, she
was dreamlnf. her thoughts at loose
ends. her oges studying the incalcuia-
bie depths cf blue black night that
64lFied and e1fied beyond the window
aaa The most shadOwy OF emIies
ioettd her lIps: the fsintest ehnts o.
Aar bed ctlof rested on her eheeks.
60 Vas talntihg 0f-himl As I0ng
= 81 dared is yoUuS man. ~ hsari
a - own eyes. Watohed her sIeodily.
taking q mlsers Joy Of her youthful
beauty. striving with all bis soul to
analyEs tha enigma Of that most 10,
eerutabIe smile.
Il ba6ied him. He could not say Of
what sho th0ught and told himself
bitterly that~ft was not Ger him, z
pauper, to presume q place In her
meditations. He must not forget his
circumstances nor let her tolerance
render him ObIivious 10 hls place,
which must be q servants, not q low
eF's.
The better 90 convince himself Of
this be plunged desperately into for
lorn attempt 10 make head OF tau OF
Belgian railway schedules, eomplicat-
"a e. these OF necessity are By the
alteration from normal time notation
% the abnormal system sanctioned By
the government, and vice versa, with
every train that crosses q boundary
line Of the state.
So preOceupied ala he become In this
parsuit that be was subeonsciOusiy
impressed that the girl had spoken
twice efe be could detaeh his interest
from the exasDeratingly ineOnelusive
ana ineohoEent cohorts Of ranked ng-
urea.
"Can't you Hnd out anythingf' Dor.
Othy was asking. af
sPfeelOus little" he gfumbled. "I'd
Give my bead for q BFadahawi Only
L wo6ldn't b fair exchanges. there
seems 70 bo an express for Bruges
leaving the Care du NOrd, Brussels.
at, hftY-AVs mlnntes after 90 O'eboek.
and n I'm not mistaken that's the
latest train out of Brussels ana the
earliest we can catch--lf We can catch
e. rye never been n Brussels, and
heaven only knows how long Il would
take as TO cab Il from the Care do
Midi to the N0rdsT .E
In this statement. however, hT.
KiFkwood was fortunately mistaken,
Not only heaven, it appeared, had
cOgnizance Of the distance between
the two stations While KirkwOOd
was still debating the question, with
pesslmistic tendencies. the friendly
guard had occasion 20 pass through
the coach ind. being tapped. yielded
the desired information with entire
tractablllty.
Il would be a cab ride Of perhaps ten
minutes Monsieur. however. would
serve himself well II be offered the
driver an advance tip as an incentive
10 speedy driving. Whyi Why, be-
cause there the guard consulted bis
watch, and KlrkwOOd very keenly re-
gretted the loss Of his 0Wul-because
this train. announced 10 arrive In Brus-
sells some twenty minutes prior to the
departure Of that other. was already
late But. yes. a matter of some ten
mlnutes-cOuld that not be made upi
An, monsieur. but who should sayf
The guard departed, doubtless with
private views aa 20 the madness OF all
English speaking travellers.
"And there we areF commented
KlrkwoOd IN factitlOus resignation.
III we're obliged to step overnight In
Brussels our friends win be on our
back before we can get out In the
morning n they hare 90 come by
motor car" tie reflected bitterly on
the fact that with but a little more
- aars aun1H