Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1910-11-16


around her. She peered forth cauti-
ously upon it. She saw a ford face,
a woman she knew casually-and
there her eyes fastened, not for the
woman's brilliant presence, but for
what she saw directly in front of it,
thrown into relief upon it's background
"a short and shabby figure, foreign,
equivocal, reticent, the figure of
blue-eyed Chinaman.
He was standing still while the
crowd flowed past him. This time he
was alone. He seemed to be waiting,
yet not to watch, as if he had already
seen what he was expecting and knew
that it must pass his way. 1t was I'M
canny, his temperance, at a second
interval of her route, standing as if
he had stood there from the first, pa
tent, expectant, motionless. 1t was
worse than uncanny.
All at once an idea, wild and illog-
ical enough, jumped up in her mind.
Couldn't this miserable vehicle that
was numbering like a disabled bug
move faster and rattle her on out of
reach of the glare, the publicity, the
threat of discovery, and, above all, of
her discomforting notion?
She thrust her head far out and ad-
| dressed the driver.
go as fast as you can, faster! and
I'll give you twice what he gave you"
The words rang so wildly to her own
ears that she half expected the driver
| to peer down like an old bird of prey
from his perch and demand her res-
son. But he made no sound or sign.
It may have been that in his time he
had heard even wilder requests than
| hers He only sent his whip cracking
| forward to the ears of the lean horse,
and the cab began to rattle like mad
thing.
! Flora leaned back with sigh of re-
| lief. The mere sensation of being
borne along at such rate, the sight
| of houses, lamp-posts, even people
! here and there, fitting away from the
eye, unable to interrupt her course, or
even to glimpse her identity, gave her
feeling of safety The more she
was getting into the residence part
| of the city, the more deserted the
streets, the closer shut the windows
! of the houses, the more 1t seemed to
her as if the night itself covered and
! abetted her flight. So swiftly she
went it was only a wonder how the
cab held together. She had never
travelled more rapidly in her light and
silent carriage. Now they whirled the
corner and plunged at the steep rise
of a cross street. Just above, over
the crown of the hill, she saw the sky,
moonless, blacklist, spattered with
stars. Then against it little futter-
ing shape like a sentinel wisp-the
only living thing in sight. 1t was in
credible, impossible, horrible that he
should be there, in front of her, wait
ing for her who had driven so fast
too fast, it had seemed, for human
| foot to follow. By what unimaginable
route had he travelled? She was ready
to believe he had flown over the
housetops. And above all other hor-
rors, why was be pursuing her?
The carriage was abreast the China
man now, and Immediately he took up
his trot, for little while keeping up,
| lodging along between light and
shadow, presently falling behind. AT
| intervals she heard the patter, patter,
patter of his footsteps following; at
| intervals she lost the sound, and
shadows would engulf the figure, and
she would wait in panic for its reap
pearance. For she knew it was there
| somewhere, on one side of the street
or the other. But, oh, not tc see 1t!
To expect at any moment it might