The San Francisco call., 1909-03-14

way invite the attention of the author
tiles; and threats would be an idle
waste Of breath, in the case of that
corrupt and malignant little cockney,
himself as keen as any needle, adept In
all the artful resources of the under
world whence he had sprung. and
further primed for action by that mas
ter rogue, Calendar.
The train was pulling slowly into the
station when he reluctantly abando he'd
his latest unfeasible scheme for sh Tx
ing of the little Englishman, and oon-
cluded that their salvation was only to
be worked out through everlasting Wig
flance, incessant movement. and the
favor of the blind goddess, portHne-
There was comfort Of a sort In the re-
fiection that the divinity OF chance is at
least blind; her favors are impartially
distributed; the swing of the wheel of
the world Is not always to the advrn-
tage of the wrong doer and the scamp.
He saw nothing of Hobbs as they
alighted and hastened from the station,
and hardly had time to waste looking
for him, since their train had failed to
make up the precious ten minutes. Con-
sequentIy he dismissed the fellow from
his thoughts until-with Brussels lin
gerfng In their memories garish Wis.,
ion Of brilliant streets and glowing
cafes, glimpsed furtively from their cab
windows during it's wild dash over the
broad midcity boulevards-at mid
night they settled themselves in a car
riage of the Bruges express. They
were speeding along through the open
country with q noisy clatter; then
minutes investigation sufficed to dis
cover the mate of the Alethea serenely
ensconced In the coach behind.
The little man seemed rarely COM
placent and impudently greeted Kirk
woods scowling visage. as the latter
peered through the window in the
coach door. with smirk and wag-
gish wave OF his hand. The American
by main strength Of will power mas
tered an impulse to enter and wiring
his neck, and returned to the girl. more
disturbed than he cared to let her
know.
There resulted from his review of the
case but one plan for outwitting Mr.
Hobbs, and that lay IN trusting to his
confidence that Kirkwood and Dorothy
Calendar would proceed as far toward
Ostend as the train would take them
namely, to the limit OF the run, Bruges.
Thus inspired, Kirkwood took coun-
sci with the girl, and when the train
paused at Client. they made an unos-
tentatious exit from their coach, find
ing themselves. when the express had
rolled on into the west, upon a station
ptdtIOTIu III d IOE6ISn City &I nlno IIllu-
utes past l o'clock in the morning.
but at length without their shadow.
Mr.. Hobbs had gone on to Bruges.
Kirkwood sped his journeyings with
an unspoken malediction, and collected
himself to- cope with situation which
was to prove hardly more happy for
them than the espionage they had Just
eluded. The primal flush Of triumph
which had saturated the Americans
h,yx<. hi ofe
but nctive and transitory when In
quiry Of the station attendants educed
the information that the two earliest
trains to be obtained were the 6:09 for
DunkerQue and the 6:37 for Ostend.
A minimum delay Of four hours was to
be endured in the face OF many con-
tingent features singularly unpleasant
to contemplate. The station waiting
room was on the point of closing for
the night, and Kirkwood, already
alarmed by the rapid ebb of the money
he had had of Calendar, dared not
subject his finances to the strain Of
a nights lodging at one of Clients
hotels. He found himself forced to
be cruel to be kind to the girl, and
Dorothys cheerful acquiescence to
their sole alternative of tramping the
street until daybreak did nothing to
alleviate Kirkwoods evaporation.
1t was permitted them to occupy a
bench outside the station. There the
girl. her head pillowed on the treasure
bag, mapped uneasily, while Kirkwood
plodded restlessly to and fro, up and
down the platform, communing with
the Shade of Care and adding his
poor, weary wits with the problem of
the future-not so much his own as
the future of the unhappy child for
whose welfare he had assumed respon-
sibility Dark for both of them. in his
understanding tomorrow loomed dark
er for her.
Not until the gray, formless light Of
the dawn-dusk was wavering over the
land did he cease his perambulations
Then a gradual stir of life in the city
streets, together with the appearance
of station porter or two. opening the
waiting rooms and preparing them
against the traffic Of the day, warned
him that he must rouse his charge
He paused and stood over her, reluc-
tant to disturb her rest, such as it