El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-16
Bad Conscience
A short story.

TIE CAME rushing into the restau-
rant and sat down in corner. 1t
II was early in the day and the
walters were busy cleaning the. silver
ware and setting the tables.
He did not seem to notice that the
room was anything but inviting. He
sat in his corner staring straight be
fore him witbcTt touching the break
fast he heG ordered
the better class tC see person as neg
Igent in appearance as he was his
finSernails We're dirty, his collar rath-
er gray than white and MS face looked
as If it had seen neither water nor
towel for several days. He looked like
a man who had been travelling on trains
for several days and nights in success
sion. And so he had too.
Suddenly he awOke from his day
dreams. snatched the little brown
satchel he had placed on the table IN
'front.' Of him and put il down on a chair
next to him, where he kept his eyes on
it almost continually.
The early customers Of the cafe now
began to arrive to get their 'eyeopen-
erS-" The stranger scanned their faces
anXiOuSly and then asked a waiter TO
bring him some illustrated papers.
Suddenly he sat up and the color Of
his sallOW face became almost greenish
with fear He thought he had noticed
one Of the guests cycling him suspi-
ciOusly- As a matter Of fact he had
sat down on the chair this man cOnsid-
cred his own in the morning and the
man felt annoyed
The stranger sat turning over the
leaves of the illustrated paper with
out being interested in il until he dis
covered what was Enthusiastically his
own portrait His heart almost stopped
beating and his face was CHASTITY with
fear. Underneath the portrait he read:
Information wanted about Gustave
Keller, formerly cashier of the Ores
dener bank, Dresden, Germany He
disappeared from Dresden on. December
81. He is tall and walks with a stOOp.
He has gray ewes, good teeth and a
was wearing dark gray suit. brown
Derby hat and box calf shoes. He has,
or had IN his possession negotiable Sc
Curities for 100000 marks belonging to
the bank Keller speaks fluently
French, German, English and Spanish.
the latter with pronounced German
accent A reward of 10000 marks is
promised anyone causing his arrest.
The Dresdener Bank"
He studied the portrait carefully. The
resemblance was striking and when he
looked al himself in the glass IL
seemed to him as If the scar on his
chin was more prominent than ever.
" hat paper was this2 He looked at
the cover and saw that IL was Pour
TOus." He wondered if it were much
read. Perhaps it was to be found in
every cafe in Paris. In that case ne
still he had thought Paris a very safe
refuge. Who would think OF looking
for a German in Paris just now? And
stlu over there person sat staring at
him.
Had he perhaps seen - Non
sense, he was holding the paper in his
hand even now But perhaps the pOr-
trait appeared in other papers too. Now
he talked to one of the walters, it was.
of course, Of him they were talking.
Now the waiter was coming towards
him should he go? No ii was too late
now.
Has monsieur finished reading Pour
TOus'2"
NO. not quite, but you may have It
in few minutes"
He took out his knife and cut out
the advertisement. In a few minutes
which seemed days to him he had fin
ished. He rolled the paper into small
ball and swallowed it.
The waiter called for the paper and
brought him some others. He ordered
another cup OF chocolate which he paid
at once.
In the first paper he opened. ILLUS
tratlon' he saw the portrait and adj
vertisement and it was the same in all
the other papers.
It was hopeless. Sooner or later he
would be found, and them His only
salvation was TO run away. He drank
his chocolate and tried to appear calm
and uncOncerned- 1t was not easy.
With beating heart he picked uD his
hat and left the cafe. The cool air
made him feel better He was free once
morc-What was that2 The waiter who
had waited on him in the cafe came
IuSulHE AFTER MIN. someone among
the guests must have recognized him
and now they were after him.
He pretended not to have seen the
waiter, rushed in among the crowd
and disappeared into a side street
Then he ran until he was out of breath.
No one was running after him any
more.
Exhausted and dripping with perspi-
ration the waiter returned to the cafe
and handed the little brown satchel to
the manager Inside were found the
100000 marks OF the Dresdener bank.