Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-06-29


pursuit. In the country the night
comes with finality, the world Is asleep
and he who travels must travel alone
and uniformed.
CHAPTER TX.
First of all, | ate something; for,
now that l understood the blow, now
that panic had crystallized into deter
mination, recognized that, the more
serious the situation. the more need
there was that should be at my top
level Of efficiency. Then seriously |
sat down to consider the matter.
After all, was certain of only one
thing, that Nancy had not left me of
her own free will, and even here my
certainty was moral one. With morn
ing l must be ready to find her. to go
straight to her If could; or, at any
rate, must have some definitely de-
termined plan OF action; nothing much
is ever gained by vague casting about
for trail And, as at first thought
things over, 1t all seemed for the mo-
ment blind and hopeless. Then meth
odically went back to the very be-
ginning of things. OF a sudden l rem
embered the curtains that had stirred
in Ephraim Bonds house, that un-
known eavesdropper at our first meet
ing, whose arm had grasped through
the curtain folds and found unexpected
lily strong. remembered, too, Nancys
nervousness at the ferry. and the man
in the brown derby hat, who had driven
up just too late to catch our boat How
stupid and unnotioing a man In love
may be; now was the first time that l
connected this impatient man the
ferry gates with the skulking intruder
of the night of our arrival, whose lost
hat, rocking in the empty road, had
alone been enough to cloud the happi-
ness of the day for Nancy. Surely, I
thought, here was the man.
Here was the man; but how was
further advanced? To be sure. had
seen him at the ferry, and had strug-
gled with him amid the glimpsing
moonlight Of the lawn; but on neither
occasion had I clearly seen his face.
nor could l call to mind any memory
of it. Yet, in all probability, 1t was
he who had inquired about US at the
county seat. Here was man remark
able for nothing save long nose. The
fact that the clerk was very sure that
then he wore cloth cap, strengthen
ity. If the man I had struggled with.
and who had lost that brown derby az
he broke away from me, were the
same, he would not have gone about
the country bareheaded, but would
have ste ped in to local harberdash-
er's to make some shift at replacing
his loss. That he returned for the
derby showed more a commendable
caution than anything else; he must
have been pretty certain that I had
Nancy In my care, and as he was defi-
nitely planning to take her away from
me, risked a daylight search Of the
roadside rather than leave such .
workable clue in my hands. And with
the thought I got to my feet After
all, something was left; I need not
start absolutely in the dark; for up
stairs in my bureau lay the torn collar
and tie, tangible witnesses Of our mid
night encounter. I took the lamp from
the table and climbed the stairs In
search of them.
The door Of Nancy's room was still
open. How empty the house seemed!
I closed my own door behind me to
shut out the new and poignant loneli-
ness, and to lock myself in to that
familiar solitude to which had grown
perforce accustomed.
The collar itself was torn and rump-
led, but evidently, as had noticed be-
fore, of good make. smoothed 1t out
on the bureau before me, going over 1t
infinitely, as I imagined Central or
fee man would do, and, to make things
more clear, jotted down In my note
book what meager observations and
deductions I could make. The size
was sixteen; evidently my man was
either stout or strong; for matter OF
fact I already knew him to be the lat
ter. It was marked in indelible ink,
u. 4s. after the custom Of steam laund-
ries, and there followed after this five
upright marks in varying degrees of
freshness, four Of them grouped to-
gether by cutting diagonal. These
marks I took 1t we're his own; l had
known one or two men before with
this same economical inquisitiveness
whose strange pleasure 1t was 50 to
reckon the life Of collar. These
marks Simply meant that this particu-
lar collar had been Numbered six
times since its purchase. In all prob
ability by the same concern. And as
there were no other laundry marks
than the M 48 had noted, this 1t
seemed to me must mean two things;
first, that my man had in all probable
ty lived in one place for at least six
weeks, and second, that in this case he
must have become known and listed
patron of some laundry.
The tie was plain enough, but bore
the name of fashionable New York
maker, which I hoped meant that my
man lived in New York. and that per
haps he might be known to the firm
whose name the tie bore. I knew at
least, that fortunately they prided
themselves upon the exclusiveness OF
their designs. that, even In their own
shop, they sold but two or three Of the
same pattern, and hoped that there
might chance upon salesman in.
telligent enough, and with that I'M
canny trick of remembering custo.
mer's face that salesman sometimes
acquire, to give me some information
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