River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-10-24

pa" CicdIly Ouiy splendid S0dISK1u
coat with sable collar, fashionable
hat, two well-gloved hands and a thick,
1mpenetrable veil. This chance ac-
workmanship was about to end. /
could not follow her, spying, to the
clerks desk, and yet l must act with
IN the next thirty seconds before the
house porter reached the bag ii
wished even to go a step further. He
was passing the elevator now. set
my feet into the Rubicon.
Madam" said, this is st. Valen-
tines night, sacred to the unknown.
Its privileges have been respected
since Claudius. beg you to share my
loin Of beef"
The woman started perceptibly,
glanced up and down the corridor and
then hurried to the elevator. For a
moment l was at a loss to account for
this instant flight Then l observed
that second hanson had arrived
and man was coming in with the
porter through the door, The obse
quious turnkey was in the midst Of
reply.
"Just arrived, sir, in the first han
som, sir"
| glanced at the elevator, the door
clicked; the escape was by a hairs
thickness. turned to follow the man.
He was advancing to the clerks desk,
his back toward me. l observed that
he was rather tall and wore a dark
ulster with strap across the back.
The incident required no reflection.
Here was the hurrying stranger of the
ferry-shed, certainly one Of several
kinds Of dragons to be found at the
heels of escaping beauties. 1 should
presently see to which type of danger
Gus beast he belonged. l strolled over
to the big leather settle opposite the
clerks desk, planted myself in it and
lighted a cigarette. The newcomer
wrote his name in the register, took
off his coat, and turned. / saw then
that he was not an irate father, OBJ
viously. He was either the brother,
or alas, the husband of this charm
ing unknown. He was a tall young
man, evidently from the south or west.
His eyes were gray, he wore gold
trimmed spectacles, his nose was
aquiline, his mouth and chin firm and
well cut. He was evidently a person
of determination and courage.
"Aha!" l said behind my cigarette;
there is here certainly snuffings of
battle, but not afar off. However, be-
fore the shouting of the captains begin
to arise, it might simplify matters If l
knew whether the Nemesis is brother
or husband"
should arrive at the solution from
his bearing; Monsieur LIE Coque or
Dupin would read it, instantly, like a
weather report. l looked up at the
mans face. He was smiling! Then
the beast was not an avenging hus-
band. Such one does not smile
when he pursues the faithlesS. | had
all the reeking dramas as authorities
for that. He might chuckle in his
throat, or draw his lips into a sinister,
foreboding curl; but he did not fall
into facial sunshine. This man was
grinning like a Cheshire cat; and, by
the Lord Harry, he was off to the bar
below for grog! He must be the broth
er, then-and yet, no. He was too big
limbed for a brother, the types of the
two were distant as the poles-nor
would brother be so bedecked with
grins. He would have nothing to con-
ceal, he would buzz like a hornet
around the truant, stow her safely I'M
der his wing and then take his Scotch
with his eye on her. This dragon was
evidently less the brother than the
husband; but was he not, indeed, the
husband? Did Pinero draw always
faithfully from life? A greater than
he had written of those who smile and
smile.
Look at it now; the first domestic
wrenchings were old enough to be cal
loused to the fingers, the home was
shattered beyond all hope of patching,
the woman had gone out over bridges
that straightway fell In behind her;
the man followed like an Indian-not
to win her back to his hearth, but for
some object more sinister. He had
found her at the Twenty-third street
ferry and lost her, but here she was,
run fast into pocket, and so he
smiled and took a glass of grog. There
was time a-plenty for the blow. l
thought the husband theory had rather
the better of the argument.
Meanwhile, 1 was ravenously hun
CRY. l threw away the cigarette, went
into the dining-room and ordered a
somewhat elaborate dinner. Events
were marching over me, the good st.
Valentine slept. / must dine alone,
while the unhappy truant trembled
and went hungry, and, while, perhaps,
tragedy knotted the tie strings Of her
mask.
was leaning over a cup of bouillon
when low, merry voice said:
You are not very thoughtful of a
guest"
sprang up to confront a dainty
figure in a gray travelling dress, two
merry dark eyes, trace of smiling
scarlet above a defiant chin, and
mass of brown hair wound in loose
coils.
Il beg you, madam" I said, Ito lay
this discourtesy to my meager knowl-
edge of fairies. I thought you van
ished."
What" she quoted, land lose the
loin of beef, the Burgundy, the salad?"
My tone was reproduced adorably.
Then she sat down opposite me at the
table, as bewitchihg madcap as ever
danced out of the kingdom Of Queen
Nab.
SO, then, had been mistaken. She