The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1910-01-12
CHAPTER XIV.
The Other Woman

The world is the book of women.
Rousseau.
l needed not to be advised that
presently there would be meet
ing of some of the leading men of
the Hudson Bay company at the
little gray stone, dormer Widowed
building on Notre Dame street. For
myself, it was out of the question
to gain admittance.
In those days all Montreal was
irox shattered after nightfall, re-
sembling agseries of jails; and to-
night it seemed donbly screened
and guarded. None the less, late
in the evening, l allowed seeming
accident to lead me in certain d.
rection. Passington as often as l
might up and down Notre Dame
street without attracting attention,
| saw more than one figure in the
Semi-darkneSs enter the low
chateau door. Occasionally a tiny
CLEAN showed at the edge of a
shutter or at the top of some little
window not fully screened. AS to
what went on within could only
guess.
passed the chateau, up and
down, at different times from 8
o'clock until midnight. The streets
of Montreal at that time made
brave pretense of lighting by virtue
of the new gas works; at certain
intervals Pickering and wholly in
competent lights serving to make
the gloom more visible. None the
less, as passed for the last time,
plainly saw shaft of light fall upon
the half darkness from a little side
door. There emerged upon the
street the figure of woman. | do
not know what led me to cast Sec
ond glance. for certainly my bust
ness was not with ladies'. any more
than | would have supposed ladies
had business there; but, victim of
some impulse of curiosity, | walked
a step or two in the same direction
as that taken by the clOaked figure.
Careless as | endeavOred to make
my movements, the yelled lady
seemed to take suspicion or fright.
She Quickened her steps Accident
favored me. Even as she fled. she
caught her skirt on some object
which lay hidden in the shadows
and fell almost at full length This
conceived to be opportunity war
ranting my approach. l raised my
hat and assured her that her flight
was needless.
She made no direct reply to me.
but as she rose gave utterance to
an expression of annoyance. Mon
Dieu!" heard her say.
/ stood for a moment trying to re-
call where had heard this same
voice. She turned her face in such
way that the light Illuminated it.
. Then indeed surprise smOte me.
Madame Baroness" said I,
laughing. 1T is wholly impossible
for you to be here, yet you are
here! Never again will say there
is no such thing as chance. no such
thing as fate, no such thing as a
miracle"
She looked at me one brief mo-
ment; then her courage returned.
"Ah. then, my. IDIOT she said,
"since ii is to be our fortune al
ways to meet of dark nights and in
impossible ways, give me your
arm
! laughed. 1--WE may as we'll make
a treaty. If you run again, shall
only follow you"
"Then am again your prisoner"
Madam, | again am yours"
"At least you improved" said she.
"Then come"
"Shall not call a caleche ?--the
night is dark"
"No MOI" hurriedly.
We began midnight course that
took us quite across the old French
quarter of Montreal. At last she
turned into small, dark street of
modest one-stOry residences, iron
suffered, dark and cheerless. Here
she paused in front of narrow
iron gate.
MADAM" said, you represent
to me one of the problems of my
life. Why does your taste run to
such quarters as these? The might
be that same back street in Wash
ington!"
She chuckled to herself. at length
laughed aloud but wait! II you
entered my abode once, she said,
why not again? Come"
Her hand was at the heavy
knocker as she spoke. In mo-
ment the door slowly opened, just
as it had done that night before in
Washington. My companion pass
ed before me swiftly. AS she en-
tered | saw standing at the open
ing the same brown and wrinkled
old dame who had served that night
before in Washington