The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1912-11-14

suddenly without paying for ir or,
again, they might have come In TO
steal ash trays or to carry OF the
brass hreirons by way OF keepsake;
and, even when none OF these things
happened, she was far from comfort
able She was convinced that there
WAS something unwholesome about
them
Al last the sandwiches arrived and
huge unsightly hunks they were. The
shabby men accepted them without
oomplalnt--and paid. The maid also
brought the clothes unhandily tied up
In newspaper,
Here's your three-and-six," said
Arthur civilly
But don't you want to look them
over hrst?"
"Oh! guess they'll do" said the
shabby man-Mith the refined voice,
and reused his shabby companion,
aud with him went through the door
and out into the night.
Well, I'm blessed" said Miss
DuEbs, and then, pa" she called
through the glass doors, will you
please give an eye to the bar for
bit? | want TO go upstairs"
the big bass voice. and dapper little
man, whose head came up to the
level OF the barmaids chin, trotted
into the bar. parlor at one door as
she swept out through the other.
Miss Emily Dubbs went to the COT
fee-room above. sat herself In the
window. and pulled aside corner OF
the blind. Outside, In the moonshine,
the little strip OF tidal harbor showed
as clear as day. and across the pave
ment which led to It walked the two
shabby men, arm In arm, with their
purple shadows chasing them. When
they got to the edge OF the quay the
one called Arthur sat his friend care
fully on a pollard, and, when satisfied
that he had acquired a balance there,
nnpacked the newspaper parcel of
clothes. and prepared to descend to a
small boat whose position was shown
by mast that projected above the
gunwale.
An impish inspiration seized upon
Miss Dubbs and for a moment she
laughed and then she acted upon It,
She lifted the sash Of the window,
and, then drawing the blind still more
closely toward the jamb so that only
her mouth was exposed, she called
out loudly for Police" and then
again for Police" and then with
further shrlll cry exclaimed Muir
der!"
The effect was sufficiently startling.
The shabby man who was sitting,
srrang up as though the bollard had
suddenly stung him, and ran with
ungainly strides up into the little
town. The panic was infectious. Ar
thur, from below. clambered up over
the string-piece, called aloud upon the
name OF his Maker, and followed with
precipitate pace. And where they
went the present writer neither
knows nor cares, but can only point
out that from now onward they van
ish from the pages Of this memoir.
Equally strange TO relate, the out
cry raised no further disturbance.
The houses on the quay remained
deaf behind their shutters, and the
town policeman (if, indeed, he heard
gave no sign, but, after the manner
OF his tribe, crunched stolidly along
his beat, and did not seek to ram a
ckivalrous helm into unnecessary dis
turbance.
distinctly elated with the success of
her alarm. Instinctively she had dis
liked the two shabby men, but as she
had nothing definite against them,
her cutlery might be described as in
the main experimental. The result
of It startled her, and as she thought
IL over more, shook her
Idly she had cried Murder" and
the men had run as though the law
itself was actually at their heels. She
was big young woman, and tightly
iucased In black satin which leaves
small space for the more violent emo
tions, but she caught herself SILVER
ing. Had murder been done?
She craned out of the window. and
looked up the street, and then she
looked down. There was no one TO
call to aid, no one to consult For
one fieeting instant she thought OF
the little man with the big voice and
the big words downstairs, and then
dismissed the idea wifi a poof!
Then she darted across 10 her own
bedroom, hunted-out an article OF
uool work known as cloud" fitted
1t dexterously over her masses Of
black hair In front OF the glass, and
then ran nimbly downstairs and out
into the street.
Outside she did not run. because
ladies never hurry, although for one
thing and another she felt monstrous-
~ inclined to do so; but she walked
her quickest, and, looking behind, was
thankful for the shadow that was
kinG enough 10 keep her, company;
and in the course OF forty steps stood
upon the string piece of the quay and
looked down at an untidy weather
beaten boat below. On the floor OF IL.
partly covered with a blackened sail,
was a man. He was lying on his
back, and his face was white under
the moonshine, and his eyelids were
dropped but not fully shut His red
torpedo beard probably accentuated
the pallor OF his face.
For the moment she thought him
dead. and stood there STOPPING over
the boat, fascinated Then her eye