Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1910-04-08
THE VELVET HAND.
ax EDMUND cAMProN.

"a
"Father." said a miss of sixteen. tell
me a story about when you were a
young man."
"a story about when I was a young
mani Let me see. There's n about a
ride in a train | once took that might
Interest you. I'll tell you that one.
81 got into the car ten minutes be-
fore the train started. and. there being
but few seats occupied. | put my satch-
ell beside me. hoping that l might sit
alone. But people kept coming in. and
l reluctantly set the bag on the floor,
thus offering the seat to any n who
chose to take it. Presently a girl came
in. looked disconsolately at the nov
well filed seats, glanced irresolutely
at the seat beside me and dropped into
it.
"She was about twenty, a blond,
pretty as a peach, handsomely dressed.
with a suspicion of the odor of violets
about her. l considered myself a lucky
man to have such ar attractive crea-
ture so close beside me. I drank In her
beauty out of the corner of my eye,
though | reluctantly refrained from
turning my head in her direction.
1.-THE train was a suburban one, and
the tourney would be short. This | re-
GREETED. for If we had had a longer ride
l should certainly have made an effort
to scrape IN acquaintance with the
lady. When the conductor came
through the car for tickets noticed
that she was going to the same place
as myself. This gave me comfort. for
SO taken was | with her that ! resolved
TO leave no stone unturned to discover
who she was and secure an introduce
ton.
"a few miles from the city there are
heights under which the trains must
pass. We entered the tunnel. the train
being lighted only at the other end
from that which we occupied. leaving
our end almost in darkness. I yielded
to a temptation to turn my head for a
look at my neighbor. Unfortunately
she turned hers in my directly at the
same moment. She turned it away
again Immediately, and somehow a
feeling took possession of me that l
had made her afraid of me.
INSTEAD of shooting right through
the tunnel. the train slowed up and
stopped In the center of 1t. 1t always
makes me timorous to stop in a tun-
mel. | don't like tunnels anyway. Ii
anything should happen to a train in
one of these holes in the earth the
panic of the passengers would be
dreadful. The girl beside me evidently
had the same view In the matter as /.
She wore an overcoat with pockets at
the sides and had been riding with the
hand next to me in her pocket, as
thougK noIdihg- orr roe surfef4hhggs-
was afraid of losing. When we stop
ped she withdrew her hand. looked
about her nervously. evidently forget
ting everything but the situation.
presently the train moved on. 1t had
scarcely started when l felt something
plunged into my own overcoat side
pocket. the one next the lady. Natural
" put ry own hand in the same
place and grasped a banda soft hand.
Indeed. I knew it was the hand of the
girl beside me. The hand at once
grasped mine and held 1t in a grip a
delicate woman could only have pro-
duced under some strong emotion.
''What should do? 1t did not occur
to me that the girl had tried to rob
me-. Such a supposition never entered
- f-.l Dat x-lok .,n how hand ID
ing in my pocket. and what object had
she in holding it so tightly? Had she
held 1t gently | should have supposed
she was no better than she should be
and had taken this e to capture
me. l did nothing-simply waited for
developments. When the first dim re-
turning light entered the car the girl
called to a man sitting on the opposite
side of the aisle in a terrified voice:
"'I'm being robbed! Protect mev
sThe man rose and stood facing us.
Meanwhile the train ran out of the
tunnel. The girl rose. which impelled
me to rise also. The man. the girl and
l looked down at my side. The girl
gave a shrek. took her hand out of my
pocket, thrust it into her W and
drew out a fat pocketbook. Then she
sank back into her seat and covered
her face with her hands.
81 explained briefly in an undertone
to the man she had called upon to pro-
tect her that she had mistaken my
pocket for her own. He resumed his
seat. with a smile. Several persons sit
ting neal asked to be enlightened. and
gradually the story spread through the
car, a wave of litter accompanying it.
"When we reached the station at
which the girl and l were to leave the
train she was oblivious to our arrival
there. / lifted my hat and asked her
If that was not her stopping place.
She made a dash for the door. I rush
ed after her and with difficulty kept
her from jumping off the train when it
was still moving rapidly. A carriage
mac waiting for her and I mt her in