The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-09-07
AFFAIR AT
EIIZARETH BY Burton E. Stevenson,
8#N9a# 8#NNI@---@ @Hs @-@ Holiday Case" Etc
New York-Henry Holt & co-lr. S
New York-Henry Holt & co-lsN.

IF you really wish to find her." /
said, perhaps this will give us a clue"
! do wish to find her"
This form will tell us which station
wait here q minute and / crossed the
a to the brokerage offices of Sims &
Wesson. May l speak TO your opera
tor?' I asked of the junior partner.
Certainly" he said, and waved me
TO the little room where the instruments
were clicking merrily away.
can o tell me what these charac-
lers mean? | asked, placing the mes
sage before the operator and pointing
10 the row of figures and letters at the
top OF it--'61CWDDSA8PD.'
The 61," he said, means that this
was the 6lst message received at Eliza
beth this morning; CIV means that the
message was filed at the Christopher
street office-corner Christopher and
the operators who sent and received
the message; '8PD' means that there
are eight words in the message and that
1t was prepaid. It's the regular form
used on all Western Union messages"
sIhank you l said. and hurried back
across the hall elated, for l had learned
more than l had dared to hope.
"Well?" asked Curtiss. locking III.
with anxious face.
M iS 20 e was lieu at the SnTJS-
TOPPER street Office" / said, "Christo-
pher and West street.
West street," eachoed Mr.. Royce
What on earth was she doing there p.
She could have been doing only one
thing" / pointed out e~Nultantly. when
a goes down to the docks, it
must be-
ITO take a boat"
Just so! And when she goes to that
particular portion of the docks, it must
be to take a transatlantic liner"
Curtiss stared at me for a moment as
though not understanding; Their he rose
heavily to his feet.
Well, can follow her even there,i
he said, and started for the door.
But Mr.. Royce had him by the arm.
My dear Curtiss!" he protested.
Think what a wild Dos chase you're
starting oni"
torted Curtiss doggedly; and could
not but agree with him.
Perhaps we can narrow the search
down a little" I said. Suppose we
drive around to the West street Office"
Just what l was about to do" said
Curtiss, and led the way to the eleva-
tor.
During that drive across w we
found little to say. Curtiss was deep
In his own thoughts, and I saw from
the way Mr.. Royce looked at him, how
anxious he was concerning him. But
at last we reached our destination.
Can vol give me any description of
the person who sent this message?" I
asked. and spread out the telegram be-
fore the man at the desk. Perhaps
you'll let us see the original
He glanced at the message and then
at us.
N question of a mistake, 1 hope ?'
he said. The message reads straight
enough"
NO" 1 answered; rather a question
of preventing a mistake. I hope you
won't refuse US"
He glanced us over again and seemed
to understand.
It's a little Irregular he said, but
l guess l can do it,"
He opened q drawer, and ran through
a sheaf of papers.
Here it is" he said, and laid a sheet
before US. you see the message vas
correctly sent"
Yes" I agreed; out it was not at the
message l was looking; it was at the
sheet upon which it was written-a
sheet which had embossed at the ton
the words IS. S. Umbria.'
Who sent the message?" I asked.
1T was brought in by a messenger
from the Cunard liner pier.
What time did the Umbria sail?"
She was to la called at 10 O'Clock.
but was delayed by a little accident of
some sort. Perhaps she's still at her
pier"
I thanked fortune that I had told our
cabman to wait; I think Curtiss would
have been craZed by any delay. AS it
was, we rushed from the office and
crowded in. (,
The Cunard pier!' cried Nh. Royce,
land in a hurry" and he waved a bill
under h claimants nose.
Not until we were under way did
Curtiss speak.
Did you see?" he asked, in a voice
which shook convulsively. THE mes
sage was in Marcia's writing"
Yes" I said. Il recognized it,"
must catch the boat. Why don't
that fellow whip up?"
Hes going as fast as he can" said
Mr.. Royce. sit still, Curtiss," and he
threw an arm about him.
What a ride that was over the rob
bic stones! Half a dozen times I
thought a collision inevitable, but we
had fallen into skillful hands, and were
crowd of vehicles where it seemed a
hand barrow could not hope to go.
Here We are.: cried cabby and we
tumbled out. He had done his best to
his tip, n got it.
The pier was crowded. but we forced
ouV way alOus ~ Win ScaHt regard for
the feelings of other people. Had the
ship sailed-were we in time.
shes gone" said Mr.. Royce, as we
gained the front of the crowd. See
there"
There she YVES, headed squarely down
tie stream, just gathering speed. There
was a flutter of hsndkerchiefs from her
deck, We could see the people crowdins
against the rail in their eagerness to
wave a last goodby-
Curtiss, who had been staring at her
stnridly. suddenly flushed and pulled
himself erect.
There she ISL he cried. "See-stand-
ing alone by that forward boat,
l stared with all my eyes. There was
indeed a figure there-a woman clad
in black-but the face was the merest
blur.
You think OF" I asked incredu-
lousy
Il know sol" and he swung sharp
round, his face alight with eagerness.
"Come-there must be some way to
catch her-a tug"
He accosted the first blue coated Of
fetal he could find, but that worthy
shook his head. No tug could catch
the Urnbria now; besides, there was
none at hand to make the trial. By
the time one could be sec11red tba ebin