The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-08-07

est to him. II was not particularly
interesting block, for that matter,
though somewhat typical of the neigh
borhood. The north side was lined
with fve-story fiat buildings, their
dingy-red brick facades regularly
broken by equally dingy brownstone
s,oops. as to the ground floor, by open
windows as to those above. The south
side was mostly taken up by a tow
ering white apartment hotel with an
ostentatious entrance; against one OF
whose polished stone pillars the short
and thick-set man was Longing.
The sidewalks, north and south
swarmed with children OF assorted
ages. playing with the ferocious en-
ergv characteristic Of the young OF
Harlem: their blood-eurdling cries and
premature Fourth-of-July fireworks
created an appalling din, to which.
however. the moro mature denizens
had apparently become caHous, through
long endurance.
Beyond the party-colored lights OF
drug store window on Seventh avenue.
the electric arcs were casting a 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 bloc to
tire west Cathedral heights bulke5 Ike
a 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 APP
probation of the beauties of nature as
exhibited by West One Hundred and
Eighteenth street on . summers even
ing. If anything, he could apparently
have desired a cooling breeze; for,
after a moments doubtful considera-
ton, he unbuttoned his waistcoat and
heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, carefully shifting the butt Of
6 dead cigar from one corner of his
mouth to the other, where it was al
most hidden by the iutting thatch Of
his black mustache, and drawing down
over his eyes The brim of a rusty plug
hat. he thrust fat hands into the peck
cts of his shabby trousers and lounged
against the polished pillar even more
energetically than before, if that were
possible An unroman .ic, 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 magnetic attrac-
ton 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
upon him a steadfast and adOring re-
gard, as well as for the policeman
who lorded it on the St. Nicholas ave
nue. corner, in front of the real estate
Office, and who from time to time
shifted his contemplation from the in
finite spaces of the heavens, the better
TO exchange a furtive nod with the
idler in the hotel doorway.
Presently-at no great lapse of time
after the short and thick-set man had
slowed away his watch-out Of the
thro1ged sidewalks of Seventh avenue
a man appeared, walking west On the
north side Of the street and reviewing
carelessly the numbers on the illumin
ated fanlights: a tall man, dressed all
in gray, and swinging thin walking
stick
The short, thick-set person assumed
a mien of more intense abstraction
than ever.
The tall man in gray paused indef-
nitely before the brownstOne stoop Of
the house numbered 205, then swung
up the steps and into the vestibule.
Here he halted bending over to scru-
tiEize the names on the letter boxes.
The short, thick-set man reluctantly
detached himself from his polished
pillar and waddled ungracefuLy across
the street.
The policeman on the corner seemed
suddenly interested in Seventh ave
nue.. and walked in that direction.
The gray man, having vainly de
ciphered all the names on one side
OF the vestibule, Strengthened up and
turned his attention to the opposite
wall, either unconscious of or indif-
ferent to the shuttle Of feet on the
stoop behind him.
The short, thick-set man removed
one hand from pocket and tapped the
gray man gently on the shoulder.
'Lookin' for McCabe, Anisty?" he
inquired, genially..
The gray man turned slowly, exhi5-
ting a countenance blank with aston
ishment. Beg pardon?" he drawled;
and then, with a dawning CLEAN OF
recognition in his eyes: why, good
evening, Hickey! What brings you
up this way?"
The short. thick-set man permitted
his jaw to droop and his eyes to pro-
trude for some seconds. "Oh," he
said in. tone of great disgust, hell"
! (To be Continued)