The Washington times., 1913-09-21

. that. My WhOle MIND was concentrated
on one object.
On across the Avenue l ran, eiudins
the fender OF a passing trolley by less
than a yard, only to find myself directly
in front of a motorcycle. The rider OF
it jammed his brakes with a cry,
brought it to stop, and dropped one
foot to the pavement to steady himself.
Then l recognized the uniform of a mes
Senger boy.
''Here." 1 cried. seizing him by the
shoulder and giving him pnush that
forced him to dismount.
He gasped at me-a breathleSs gen.
tleman in evening dress. / thrust a
| hand into one of my pockets and drew
| forth some bills.
Take this l exclaimed.
1t was twenty that l handed him.
Mechanically he took the money from
my hand and stood staring dumbly
| at me-
I'll notify your office where the ma
chine is l gasped.
Wrestling the handle from his grasp,
! gave the machine push forward and
not stopped the engine when he halted
, to avoid a collision with me, and all I
had to do was to throw forward the
! clutch. / had had some experience with
motorcycles, and, while l was not IA
miliar with this particular make.
| found that it responded quickly to my
f, touch.
Heading it I'D Madison street, which
| skirts Lafayette Park on the east SIDE,
turned on full speed and blaZed a
reckless path through number Of We
hicles waiting for some theater patrons,
never cast a glance behind me. but
heard the owner of the machine shout
ing until his voice was lost in the dis
| tance.
sIouad down as ,nnroac ched the II
4 street crossing. The broad sweep OF
Vermont avenue that stretched ahead
! of me was empty of vehicles. As cast
a swift look up H street / saw the tall
light of cab swinging around the cor
ner of Sixteenth street and disappear. I
headed after it. Turning into Sixteenth
| few seconds later l saw the cab d
short block ahead of me- I drew up
| on it until half that distance separated
| us, and then slowed down to an equal
| pace.
| In every outward aspect ii was the
| same taxi which had conveyed the girl
and myself to the White House; yet :
could not be absolutely sure. for all the
| cabs belonging to that company were
PAINTED alike. and had taken no notice
| Of the license number. To add to my
| uncertainty. I had for several seconds
| lost sight of the object of my pursuit
| while communicating the machine
| was now riding. Yet no other cab was
| in sight and 1 followed hopefully.
I felt grim angry. and 1 was very
shabbiest kind of trick-luring me on a
thoroughly purposeless erraEd and ex-
| hibiting me to official society in the
guise of fool. i knew no more OF her
| than I did the moment first set eyes
| on her, while she, for some reason that
| vas utterly beyond my guess, had sud-
denly interrupted or abandoned the busi-
| ness which set her on my trail.
Sixteenth street was nearly empty as
taxi and pursuer rolled quietly uptown
into the fashionable residence section Of
the northwest. The taxi skirted the
| circle at Massachusetts avenue and kept
onward. / followed as closely as
| thought advisable, for / did not wish to
warn the driver or the occupant Of the
cab that chase had been given.
For the better part of q mile our
course was a straight one. Then was
| suddenly aware that I was rapidly
now drawing in toward the curb on the
west side of the street ] shut of power
and brought the motorcycle TO an alb
rupt standstill. Dismoun.ing. l leaned
it against tree and then stopped be-
hind the same Shelter.
The cab had stepped. Breathless, I
stood in the dark shadow and waited.
The door OF the cab opened and the
girl in the scarlet cloak stepped out. ]
hcaved q deep sigh of satisfaction; she
few seconds she stood moticnless under
the glare of q nearby street lamp, look
ing up at tall. cark dwelling. in front
of which the taxi had halted. Then
she crossed the sidewalk briskly, pushed
open an iron gate. crossed the court
yard and ran up the front steps.
At the top she stood for a moment or
two. ard / judged that she was ringing
the bell. for now and then she stepped
back to the edge OF the porch and
locked upward at the windows. / could
see no light there.
Presently she glanced up and down
the street II eXpectant. She rang
the bell again, but It brought no re-
sponse. A moment later I saw her head
bent close over something: then she
stopped in front of the door and SEEM
ed to be thrustinC something under II.
Rising quickly. she made a final sur
vey of the lonely street in both direc-
tons, ran swiftly down the front steps,
changed the courtyard gate behind her.
said something to the driver and dsap-
peared within the shelter of the cab.
1t started off in long curve, so as to
head downtown again. AS IL Passed the
spot where ! was standing /. edged
slowly around the tree to avoid any
possible chance of being observed. For
moment 7 hesitated between pursuit
and consuming desire to know wheth-
or she had left message on the door
step. Then ! decided to attempt both.
The darkened house was not more
than thirty or forty yards from me,
and l sprinted for IT. Lea ping up the
front steps three at time ! dropped
to my knees and brought my eyes close
to the threshold of the carved outer
doors. 4 tiny triangle of white prof.
ected less than A quarter of an inch. I
clutched IT il with my thumb and fore
finger. but only succeeded in pushing it
farther in. With an exclamation of
annoyance ! turned ard glanced down
the street Will. / felt in my pocket for
penknife The tail light OF the taxi
was visible nearly two blocks away;
there was desperate need of haste.
Opening a blade of my knife. struck
match and bent to my task again.
The corner of white card was lust
visible. Very carefully and as steadily
as I could ] slipped the knife blade ne
meath the door and impaled the cord
on its sharp point: but my hand was
shaking as ] attempted to draw II forth
and the card was released.
/ tried again. with no better success.
Then my match went out. made one
more desperate jab in the darkness,
ana. by good luck. out came the card,
There was not a second to be lost in
examination OF the prize I had received
] bounded down the stone steps. yaulted
the COURTYARD railing and ran to where
had left the messenger boys machine
AS ] swung II around ] could still see
the red light. distant and faint, get
tlne ominously smaller every instant
Giving the machine a run forward, I |
threw my legs across the saddle and |
pedaled desperately. The spark caught |
promptly and I was off again. trium- |
phant. Although several blocks in the |
Lot, \,