El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-27
THE UNEXPECTED

By Elsie Norris.

ICHAEL STEIN lifted his head
NH and drank in the fresh spring
w air greedily. All 1t was fine
to scent the spring flowers again,
to mix with ones fellow men, to hear
the roar of London, to be free. after
three years in the depths of a prison
He sat down on a seat facing the
Serpentine and sighed contentedly. He
had really played his cards very we'll
To spend three years in jail was not
pleasant, but it was better than hang
ing or falling to the tender mercies of
the brotherhood, who were apt to deal
summarily with members who gave
displeaSure. His arrest for theft al
the time of the murder of Marie Stol-
Okoff had evidently thrown them of
the scent, and they had never been
suspected that he had been in any way
connected with that little affair. In
deed, he had received a letter of sym
pathy from his section, and the
promise of further work for the cause
when he was about again.
And now he was free! He smiled
again When would the call come for
him to rejoin the brotherhood?
He slipped his hands into his peck
cts and jingled the coins therein, suf-
ficient to last him for some weeks. He
had gone back to his old lodgings that
very morning, and found they could
receive him. Madam Lalot had re-
ceived him with her old urbanity, and
told him that his room was at present
Has anyone inquired for me?" he
had asked.
Madam s eyes had twinkled
Many people, my dear sir" she re-
piled. But told them you were
engaged in important political work
in your own land.
Good" he had laughed; and then
gone out to revisit the old spots.
London seemed just the same as
when he left it, except that the motors
were more frequent and less noisy. and
that there were not so many familiar
faces in the old haunts- Marie Stol-
okoffs brother he had met, and the
man had greeted him with the pass
word of the brotherhood. No word
yet again Obviously no suspicion
rested on him.
His eyes wandered lovingly over the
delicate pink blossom of an almond
tree that was just coming out and
so absorbed in admiration was he that
he did not notice a man stroll past
and look at him searchingly.
with hand" he said at last, in
German. as Stein still gazed at the
distant almond tree
And heart" Stein concluded.
The man handed him letter, and,
without another word, hurried away.
STEMS eyes followed him doubtfully.
He did not remember him as one OF
the brotherhood. and he had not given
the countersign. But he looked at the
seal on the envelope the doubt went
The brothers still had work for him!
Brother Eisen whose address you
know, has a book for you" the letter
ran. GO for il personally, see that
no other hands touch II Dut yours,
open 1t at the first page, and read"
That was all it contained, in Ger
man. His brows knit in a puzzled
froWn. The member alluded to, Hans
Eisen, kept a little second hand book
shop in Soho. and. even among such
men as the brotherhood contained, held
an unsavory reputation. He could
not understand why the brothers
should choose this annual means Of
giving him instructions. Still. they
always had a reason for what they
It was a musty little den that he
entered later. Stacked with books
from floor to ceiling. there was bare
" room to squeeze in through the
narrow doorway. And so dark it was
that some seconds elapsed before he
could discern the figure of a man
behind the counter. Then a face be-
came visible, the chief features of
which were a hooked nose, and black
eyes beneath overhanging brows. 1t
was undoubtedly Comrade Eisen,
grown more gray and bent.
He did not speak, but stood looking
at Stein fixedly-
with hand the latter said.
Eisen did not finish the phrase, but
turned to a shelf behind him.