The Washington times., 1911-04-17

II was not night, ana the office or
the Central and South American
Cable Company in San Diego was
quiet. The one operator mapped
spasmodiCally by the instrument table.
rhe occasional and accustomed clicking
did not disturb him greatly. There was
no one TO talk to and nothing to see.
The single window in the box-like
structure Of galvanized iron gave upon
section of the railroad yard. There
UP the 30 a. IN. train, which was pres
entity to climb like fly up the side of
the mountains until it reached the
| Roraima Pass, through and down which
and over the plateau II would hum
swiftly 10 Guayana.
The scene was one of which the oper-
ator was weared to safety; even ciga-
rettes palled upon him after constant
succession of steaming nights made
bearable only by their soothing smoke.
He was quite an elegant, this em-
ploye of the cable company. His pay,
while not excessive, sufficed for the
support of his family, and left a resi-
due which he might not eXtravagantly
devote to the adornment of his person.
Therefore he daily arrayed himself as
Solomon in all his glory would not have
dressed; for Solomon was wise man,
We are told. The devil-may-care Pana-
ma which set off his coarse black curls
was of the finest. His suit of ducks was
Immediately of the whitest, and show
ed the fewest crumples. A crease had
been carefully constructed in his trous-
ers, which were upturned, disclosing a
coy vision of gaudy hosiery above his
patent feathers, which were small, in
sanely high-heeled, and as pointed as
the "toothpicks'' which We of the North
let us give thanks-have outgrown.
Altogether he was not to be eclipsed
In point of transient radiance by any
buck of San Diego: and he was COM
DlacentlN of the fact
That he should thus dress up for a
might job may be explained by the hour
of his going to work, which was s
O'Clock, and by his route to the office,
which took him some several blocks out
Of his way and carried him beneath the
window where, if the gods favored him,
sweet Trinidad would be waiting. 1t is
we'll to make ones person pleasing to
the eye of ones sweetheart, just as Ii is
we'll to carry her a package Of dulces:
for, If the night be dark and the street
deserted, with no watchful duenna in
the room behind that window, Trinidad
may be induced to bend her head, offer
ing the sweetest of sweet lips through
the bars: and Salvador, lifting himself
upon his tip-toes, may
Indeed, they are very dear, these pre-
cious thefts of kisses between the win
dow bars. But leave them to Salvador.
Only South American can steal them
gracefully. Your cold, clumsy North
erner, attempting to achieve them, will
probably bump his nose upon the brutal
irons; and the whole street will see and
be merry.
Possibly Salvador was dreaming Of
Trinidad. He smiled in his sleep, then
abruptly awoke, with the uncomfortable
feeling that he was observed. He
slipped out of his chair and went to the
door; two men were pacing the railway
station platform, but that was all. He
swore at the heat, rolled another ciga-
rette, and contemplated his image in
the fragment of glass which he had
nailed upon the wall. From his eX-
preston. he was satisfied; he twisted
his scant, kinky mustache and beamed
self-approval.
At that moment the two men entered
the office. Salvador frowned: they were
shockingly unkempt, in striking con-
uast to his cleanly, gracious appear
ance. One might have looked a Young
man. had he been washed and. decentIy
dressed: but he was hollow-eyed, and
his sunken cheeks had stubbly growth
OF beard. Over his brows was the red
scab of jagged cut. AS for his an
parel, Ii was torn and rent in sundTy
spots: and where it-was not SO, II was
hlotted with huge blurs of grease.
(Thr Continuation OF This Story WIN
BE Found in Tomorrow Issue
of The Tfn1aal