Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1912-03-15

With an indulgent smile the gracious
host begged to be excused for two min
utes. He went out TO the sidewalk and
gave an order to- the chauffeur. who
still waited with the car. Returning to
the mysterious apartment, he sat by
his guest and began to entertain him so
well by his witty and genial converse
that the poor bed liner almost forgot
the cold streets from which he had
been so recently and so singularly res
cued. A servant brought some tender
cold fowl and tea biscuits and a glass
of miraculous wine. and Thomas felt
the glamour of Arabia envelop him.
Thus half an hour sped quickly, and
then the honk of the returned motor
car at the door suddenly drew the
grand duke to his feet with another
soft petition for a brief absence.
Two women, well mufIled against the
cold. were admitted at the front door
and suavely conducted by the master of
the house down the hall through an
other door to the left and into a small
/ Nl ibpihs W MN was Nilttuth anu SCS-
regated from the larger front room by
heavy double portieres.
The taller woman threw back her
| black veil and loosened her cloak. She
was fifty. with a wrinkled and sad face
The other young and plump took a
! chair little distance away and to the
rear, as a servant or an attendant
might have done.
"You sent for me, Professor Cheru-
busco." said the elder woman wearily
Il hope you have something more def
inite than usual to say. I've about lost
the little faith | had in your art
would not have responded to your call
this evening if my sister had not in
sisted upon it."
Madam" said the professor. with
his princeliest smile "the true art can
not fail. To find the true psychic and
! potential branch sometimes requires
time. We have not succeeded, l admit,
with the cards. the crystal, the stars.
the magic formulae of Zarazin nor the
| oracle of Po. But we have at last dis
covered the true psychic route. The
Chaldean chiroscope has been success
ful in our search"
"Why, there was no sense in those
| words that it wrote with my hands on
it, she said. What do you meanT
"The words were these" said Pro-
fessor Cherubusco. rising to his full
magnificent height: by the fifth
wheel of the chariot he shall come"
And now the lady was disturbed both
in her disbelief and In her poise.
"Oh. professor! she cried anxiously.
when? Where? Has he been found
Do not keep me in suspense"
81 beg you will excuse me for a very
few minutes" said Professor Cherubus-
co, land l think l can demonstrate to
you the efficacy of the true art"
Thomas was contentedly munching
the last crumbs of the bread and fowl
when the enchanter appeared suddenly
at bis side.
"Are you willing to return to your
old home If you are assured of well
come and restoration to favorT he
asked, with his courteous, royal smile.
do | look bughouse?" answered
Thomas. Enough of the footback life
for me. But will they have me again
The old lady is as fixed In her ways as
nut on a new axle"
And now a change came DER the
suave countenance of the caliph Of
Bagdad He looked keenly and sus-
piciously at the ex-coachman.
MAY I ask what your name isl" he
said shortly.
you've been looking for me-" said
Thomas, land don't know my name?
You're a funny kind of sleuth. You
must be one of the central office gum
shoers I'm Thomas McQuade, Of
| course and I've been chauffeur of the
Van Smuythe elephant team for a
year. They fired me a month ago for
well. you saw what l did to your old
| owl. / went broke on booze, and when
saw the tire drop off your whiz wagon
| was standing in that squad of hoboes
at the Worth monument waiting for a
free bed. Now, what's the prize for
the best answer to all this?'
| To his intense surprise, Thomas felt
] himself lifted by the collar and dragged
without word of explanation to the
front door. This was opened, and he
was kicked forcibly down the steps
with one heavy, misunderstanding humil,
iating impact of the stupendous Ara
bans shoe.
| As soon as the ey-coachman had re
covered his feet and his wits he has
tened as fast as he could westward to
ward Fifth avenue
Crazy guy" was his estimate of the
| mysterious automobilist. "Just want
ed to have some fun kiddin'. guess
He might have dug up dollar any
how. Now I've got to hurry up and
| get back to that gang of bum bed hunt
ers before they all get preached to
Sleep"
When Thomas reached the end Of
his two mile walk he found the ranks
of the homeless reduced to a squad OF
perhaps eight or ten. He took the
proper place of a newcomer at the left
end of the rear rank. In the file in
front of him was the young man who
had spoken t. him of hospitals and
something of wife and child.
"Sorry to see you back again." said
the young man, turning to speak to
him. 81 hoped you had struck some
thing better than this
"Me?" said Thomas. "Oh, just
| took q run around the block to keep
warm. see the public amt lending
to the Lord very fast tonight"
"In this kind of weather." said the
young man. charity avails itself Of
the proverb and both begins and ends
| at home"