The Paonia progressive and the Paonia newspaper., 1911-09-14
ly came an overwhelming sense of ST.

lence.
For a while he lay motionless. with
not even the movement of an eye-lash
to indicate Consciousness. wrapped in.
delicious languor Gradually this
passed and the feeble futter of his
heart grew into a steady, rhythmic
beat. The keen brain was awaken
ing; he was beginning to remember.
What had happened? He knew only
that in some manner a drug had been
administered to him. bitter dose
tasting of opium: that speechiessiy.
he had fought against it. that he had
risen from the table in the restaurant.
and that he had fallen. All the rest
was blank.
With eyes still closed. and nerve
less hands inert at his sides he listen
ed. the while he turned the situation
over in speculative mood. The waiter
had administered the drug. OF course,
unless-unless It had been the courte-
Gus stranger who had replaced the
newspaper on the table, That thought
opened new fields OF conjecture Mr..
Grimm had no recollection OF ever
having seen him before; and he had
paid only the enforced attention OF
politeness TO him. And why had the
drug been administered? vaguely,
incoherently, Mr.. Grimm imagined
that in some way 1t had to do with the
great international plot of war in
which Miss Thorne was so delicate
and vital an instrument
Where was he? Conjecture stopped
there. Evidently he was where the
courteous gentleman in the restaurant
wanted him to be. A prisoner? Prob
ably In danger? Long. careful at
tention to detail work in the Secret
Service had convinced Mr.. Grimm
that he was always in danger. That
was one reason-and the best-why
he had lain motionless. without so
much as lifting a finger. since that
first glimmer OF consciousness had en-
TERED his brain. He was probably
under scrutiny. even in the darkness.
and for the present II was desirable to
accommodate any chance watcher by
remaining apparently unconscious.
And SO for a long time he lay. list
ening Was there another person in
the room? Mr. Grimm's ears were
keenly alive for the inadvertent shut
fling of a foot; or the sound of breath
ing Nothing. Even the night roar
OF the city was missing; the silence
was oppressive. At last he opened his
eyes. A pail of gloom encompassed
him-a pail without one rift Of light
His fingers. moving slowly. explored
the limits of the couch whereon he
lay
Confident. at last. that wherever he
was, he was unmatched. Mr.. Grimm
was on the point OF concluding that
further inaction was useless. when his
straining ears caught the faint grating
OF metal against metal-perhaps the
insertion OF key in the lock. His
hands grew still: his eyes closed And
after a moment a door creaked slight
ly on its hinges. and a breath OF cool
air Informed Mr.. Grimm that that
open door. wherever It was. led to the
outside. and freedom.
There was another faint creaking
as the door was shut. Mr.. Grimm's
nerveless hands closed involuntarily.
and his lips were set together tightly.
Was It to be a knife thrust In the
N
pected the fare OF a match: instead
there was n soft thread. and the rustic
| of skirts. A womanl Mr.. Grimm's
caution was all but forgotten in his
surprise. As the steps drew nearer
his clenched fingers loosened; he
waited.
Two hands stretched forward In the
dark. touched him simultaneously
one on the face. one on the breast. A
singular thrill shot through him. but
there was not the flicker OF an eye or
the twitching of a finger. The woman
1T was a commissioned now to be
bending over him. then he heard her
drop on her knees beside him. and she
pressed an inquiring ear to his left
side. 1t WAS the heart test.
THANK God,' she breathed softly
1t was only by masterful effort
that Mr.. Grimm held himself limp and
inert, for a strange fragrance was en-
veloping him-a fragrance he well
knew.
The hands were fumbling at his
breast again, and there was the sharp