The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1911-11-24
~ came an overwhelming sense of n

lence.
For a while he lay motionless. with
not even the movement of an eye-lash
to indicate consciousness, in
a 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, a bitter dose
tasting of opium: that s%peechlessly.
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
p%oliteness to him. And why had the
drug been administered? Vaguely,
~1ncoherently, Mr.. Grimm imagined
that in some way it had to do with the
great international plot Of wal 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 m%otionless, without so
much as lifting a finger, since hat
first glimmer of consciousness had en-.
TERED his brain. He was probably
under scrutiny, even in the darkness,
and for the present it was desirable to
accommodate any chance watcher by
remaining apparently unconscious.
And so for a long time ne lay, list
ening. Was there another person in
the room? Mr.. Grimm's ears we're
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 wherein he
lay.
Confident, at last, tlNt wherever he
was, he was unmatched, Mr.. Grimm
was on the point of concluding thai
further lnaction was useless, when his
stralning ears caught the faint grating
of metal against metal-perhaps the
insertion of a key in the lock. His
hands grew still; his Eyes closed. And
after a moment a door creaked slight
ly on it's hinges, and a breath of cool
air informed Mr.. Grimm that that
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
If not-then what? He ex.
pected the flare Of a match; instead
was a soft thread, and the rustic
Of skirts. A woman! Mr.. Grimm's
was all but forgotten in his
surprise. AS the steps drew nearer
his clenched fingers loosened; he
Two hands stretched forward in the
dark, touched him simultaneously
one on the face, n on the breast, 4.
thrill shot through him. but
here was not the flicker of an eve or
he twitching of a finger. The woman
it was a woman-seemed 0 to be
bending over him, then he heard her
lrop on her knees beside him. and she
an inquiring ear to his left
side. 1t was the heart test.
Thank Cod she breathed softly.
1t was only by a masterful effort
hat Mr.. Grimm held himself linn and
merit, for a strange fragrance was en-
alma fragrance he well
The hands We're fumbling at his
again, and there was the sharp