The newspaper., 1909-01-15
CONTINUED from page fourl

wise me to do, cabby?"
We'll sir. seem as you put it to
me straight" returned the cabby with
engaging candor, I'D go home. sir. if
l was you, afore | got any worse"
Thank you" gravely. Long Island
City depot, then, cabby."
Maitland extended himself languid-
~ upon the cushions. Surely" he
told the night, the driver knows best
he and Bannerman"
The cab started off jogging so Sc
dately up Madison avenue that Matt
land glanced at his watch and elevated
his brows obviously; then with his
stick poked open the trap in the roof.
''If you really think it best for me
TO go home, cabby. you'll have to drive
like hell" he suggested, mildly.
''Yessr,"
A whip-lash cracked loudly over the
horses back. and the hanson, lurch-
ing into Thirty-fourth street on one
wheel, was presently jouncing eastward
over rough cobbles. at a regardless
pace which reused the gongs of the
surface cars to a clangor of hysterical
expostulation. In n trice the Il" ex-
tension was roaring overhead and n
little later the ferry gates were yawn-
ing before them. Again Maitland con-
suited his watch. commenting briefly:
In time
Yet he reckoned without the ferry.
one CT whose employees deliberately
and implacably swung to the gates in
the very face of the astonished cab
horse. which promptly rose upon its
4 81, at, .,tl,
lures of pardonable evaporation. To
no avail. however: the gates remained
closed, the cabby with language)
reined his steed back n yard or two.
and Maitland. lighting a cigarette.
composed himself to simulate patience.
Followed a wait of ten minutes or
30, in which a number of vehicles
Joined company with the cab; the pas
senger was vaguely aware of the jar
ring purr OF a motor car. like that OF
some huge cat. in the immediate rear.
A circumstance which he had occasion
to recall ere long.
In the course of time the gates were
again opened. The bridge cleared of
incoming traffic. As the cabby drove
aboard the boat. with nice considera-
ton selecting the choicest stand of
ALL well out upon the forward deck.
motor car slid in. humming. on the
Il right OF the hanson.
Maitland sat forward resting his
forearms on the apron. and jerked his
cigarette out over the gates: the glow
ing stub described a fiery arc and took
Il the water with hiss. Warm whiffs
of the rivers sweet and salty breath
famed his face gratefully. and he be-
came aware that there was a moon.
His gaze rowing at will, he nodded an
even-tempered appreciation of the
nights splendor-in the city a thing
unsuspected.
Never. he thought. had he known
| moonlight so pure. so silvery and
strong. Shadows of gates and posts
| lay upon the forward deck like stencils
of Iampblack upon white marble. Be
yond the boats bluntly rounded nose
the East river stretched it's restless.
dark reaches. glossy black woven with
gorgeous ribbons of reflected light
streaming from pier head lamps on the
further shore. Overhead. the sky. 4
pallid and luminous blue around the
iow-swung moon. was shaded to pro
found depths of bluish-black. toward
the horizon. Above Brooklyn rested a
tenuous haze. A revenue cutter a
slim. pale shape. cut across the bows
like a hunted ghost Farther out n
homeward bound excursion steamer.
tier upon tier of glittering lights.
drifted slowly toward its pier beneath
he new bridge. the blare Of its band.
swelling and dying upon the night
breeze. mercifully tempered by dis
fance.
Presently Maitland's attention was
distracted and drawn. by the abrrpt
cessation Of its motors pulsing. to the
automobile on his right He lifted his
ehin sharply. narrowing his eyes.
xhistled low; and thereafter had eyes
or nothing else.
The car. he saw with the expert.
need eye of a connoisseur, was a re-
ent model of one of the most ex-
ensive and popular foreign makes;
nilt on lines that promised deal in
ne way of speed and furnished with
ngines that were pregnant with multi
lied horse power. All in all not the
lyle of car one would expect to find
ontrolled by a solitary woman, es-
ecially after ten of a summers night.
Nevertheless the lone occupant of
bis car was woman. And there was
lat in her bearing. an indefnable