The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-01-24

y
know: silent. black street one brief
block in length. walled with dead and
lightless dwellings,. haunted by his er-
rant memory; a street whose atmos-
phere was heavy with impalpable es-
sence of desuetudei in two words.
Frognall street.
Kirkwood identified 1t with a start
and a guilty tremor He stopped stock
still, In an unreasoning state of semi
panic, arrested by a silly impulse to
turn and fly: as if the bobby. whom he
deserted approaching him with meas
ured stride, pausing now and again
to try a door or flash bullseye down
an area, were to be expected to iden-
fifty the man responsible for that dam
nable racket raised ere midnight In
vecant number 81
Oddly enough. the shock OF recogni-
ton brought him to his senses-tem-
porarily. He was even able to indulge
himself In a quiet, SOLDERING grin at his
own folly. He passed the policeman
with nod and cool word In response
to the mans good natured, Good night.
sir" Number 9 was on the other side
Of the street; and he favored Its blank
and dreary elevation with a prolonged
and frank stare-that profted him
nothing, by the way. For crazy no
ton popped incontinent1y into his head,
and would not be cast forth.
At the corner he swerved and crossed.
still possessed OF his devil OF inspira-
ton. 1t would be unfair to him to say
that he did not struggle to resist it,,
for he did. because It was fairly and
egregiously asinine; yet struggling. his
feet trod the path to which it tempted
him..
Why" he expostu1ated feebly. II
nights well turn back and beat that
bobby over the head with my camel
ant Un n
his change pocket. feeling over that
same brass door key which earlier he
had been unable to account for. and
he was INFORMING himself how very
easy it would have been for the SOW
ereign purse to have dropped from his
waistcoat pocket while he was sliding
on his ear down the dark staircase
To recover 1t meant, at the least. shell
ter for the night. followed by decent.
comfortable and sustaining morning
meal. Fortified by both he could re-
deem his luggage. change to clothing
more suitable for daylight travelling.
pawn his valuables, and enter into ne
gotiations with the steamship COM
pany for permission to exchange his
passage, with a sum to boot. for trans
portation on another liner. A most feas-
ible project! A temptation all but ire
sistiblel
But then-the risk . Suppos-
ing (for the sake OF argument) the
customary night Waterman to have
taken up a transient residence In num-
Der 8; supposing the police to have
entered with him and found the stunned
man on the second floor: would the
watchman not be vigilant for another
nocturnal marauder? would not the
police now, more than ever. be keeping
wary eye on that house OF suspicious
happenings?
Decidedly. to re-enter It would be to
incur deadly risk. And yet undoubt-
eddy. beyond question. his sovereign
purse was waiting for him somewhere
on the second flight OF stairs; while as
his means of clandestine entry lay
warm in his hngers-the key to
the dark entry. which he had by force
of habit pocketed after locking the
door.
He came to the Hog-in-the-P Pound.
It's windows were dim with low turned
gas lights. Down the covered aIleyway
Quadrant News slept in a dusk but
f1tfully relieved by a lamp or two round
which the friendly mist chung close and
thick.
There would be none to see :.
Skulking. throat swollen with fear,
heart beating like a snare drum, Kirk
wood took his chance. Buttoning his
overcoat collar up to his chin and ours
Ing the fact that his hat must stand
out like chimney pot on a detached
house. he sped on tiptoe down the cob
bled way and close beneath the house
walls Of Quadrant News. But, half way
In. he stopped. COMPOUNDED by an un-
foreseen difficulty. How was he to
identify the narrow entry of number 9,
whose counterparts doubtless communi-
Gated with the news from every resi-
dence on four sides Of the city block7
The low inner tenements were vet
high enough to hide the rear elevations
Of Frognall street houses, and the mist
was heavy besides; otherwise he had
made shift to locate number by tick
Ing on the dwellings from the corner
II he went on, hit or miss, the odds
were anything you please to one that
he would blunder into the servants
quarters OF some inhabited house. and
be promptly and righteous1y sat upon
by the service staff. while the bobby
was summoned.
Be that as II might-he almost lost
his head when he realized this-escape
was already cut Off by the way he had
come. Some one, or, rather. some two
men were entering the alley. He could
hear the tramping and shuttle of clumsy
feet. and voices that muttered indfs-
tinctly. One seemed to trip over some
thing, and cursed. The other laughed;
the voices grew more loud. They were
coming his way. He dared no longer
vacillate.
But which passage should he choosef
He moved on with more haste than
discretion. One heel slipped on cob
bls time worn to CLASSY smoothness; he
lurched. caught himself up in time to
save fall. lost his hat, recovered II,
and was discovered. A voice. maudlin
with drink, hailed and called upon him
to stand and give an account OF him
self, like a goo Teller" Another
tempted him with offers OF drink and
social confabulation. He yielded not;
adamantins TO the seductive lure, he
picked up his heels and ran. Those
behind him. remarking with resentment
the amazing fact that an intimate OF
the news should run away from liquor,
cursed and made after him. veerIng,
staggering. bowling like ravenlng anil.
mails.
For all their burden OF intoxication
they knew the ground by instinct and
from long association. They gained on
him. Across the way window sash went
up with a bang, and woman screamed
Through the only other entrance to
the news belated cab was coming:
its driver, getting wind OF the unusual,
pulled up. blocking the way. and
81 = 81 -. ~