Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-08-23
Copyright BY DOdd. Mead & Co.

take their compartment II m'sieur will
not object TO sleeping in a room just
vacated by two mourneTs who today
buried a beloved son In Paris. They
have kept all OF the flowers in their
-Four o'clock. Good Lord, what am
1 to do till them" groaned Brock. glar-
ing with unmanly hatred at the door
Of the Medcroft compartment.
Perhaps madame may be willing to
take the upper ventured the guard
timorously, but Brock checked him
with a peremptory gesture. he pro-
posed, instead, the luggage van, where
/ upon the garde burst into a psalm of
utter detection. Ii was against the
rules, irrevocably.
Then ! guess I'll have to sit here all
night" said Brock. family. He was
forgetting his English.
"If m'sieur will not occupy his own
bed, yes" said the guard. Struggling
his shoulders and washing his hands
of the whole incomprehensible affair.
m sieur will then be up TO receive the
customs officers at the frontier Per-
haps he will give me the keys to ma
danes trunks SO that she may not be
I disturbed"
ASK her for 'em yourself" growIed
! Brock, after one dazed moment of dis.
may.
| The hours crawled slowly by. He
! paced the length OF the wriggling cor
ridor a hundred times back and forth;
! he sat on every window seat in the
carriage: he nodded and dozed aud
I groAned and laughed at himself in the
deepest derision all through the dismal
night Daylight came at 4. He saw
the sun rise for the first time in his
! life. He neither enjoyed nor uppre-
ciated the novelty. Never had he wit.
messed anything so mournfully depress-
I ing as the drst gray tints that crept up
10 mock him in his vigil. Never had
he seen anything so CHASTITY as the soft
red glow that suffused the morning
sky.
III sleep all day If ever get into
/ that id bed" he said to himself, bit
/ terry wistful.
| The customs officers had eyed him sus-
, piciously at the border. They had evil
| IDENTITY been told OF lTs strange mad
ness in refusing 10 occupy the berth
he had paid for. Their examination Of
/ his effects was more thorough than
usual. 1t may have entered their heads
that he was standing guard over the
repose Of fair accomplice. They ask.
ed 50 many embarrassing and discon-
certing questions that be was devoutly
relieved when they passed on, still sus.
piciOus
! The train was late. and at o'clock
he was desperately combating an i'm
pulse to leave ii mt Strassburg. find
lodging In hotel and then, refreshed.
set out for London TO have il out with
the maievolent Medcroft. The disem-
barking OF the venerable mourners,
however, restored him TO a degree of
his peace of mind. After all. he re-
viewed, It would be cowardly and base
to desert trusting wife. He pictured
her as asleep and securely confident in
bis stanchness No. he would have it
out with Medcroft at some later day.
He was conGratulating himself on
the acquisition OF a bed-althouGh Il
might possess the odor of a bed of
tuberoses-when all Of his pleasant
calculations were upset by the appear
ance Of a German burgher and bis
family. Ii was then that he learned
that these people had booked lie com
parchment from Strassburg to Mu-
mich.
Brock resumed his window seat and
despondently awaited the call 10 break
fast. He fell sound asleep with his
monocle in position. nor did II matter
to him that his hat dropped through
the window and went scuttling OF
across the green Rhenish fields. When
next he looked at his watch it was s
o'clock. small boy was standing at
the end OF the passage staring wide
eyed ar him. Two little girls came
piling, half dressed. from a compart-
ment, evidently in response to the
youngsters whispered command to
hurry out and see the funny man.
Brock scowled darkiy, and the trio
darted swiftly into tie compartment.
he dragged his stiff legs into the
dining car at Stuttgart and showed
them under a table The car was
quite empty. AS he was staring blank
] - ~ Tue menu Tue NOUUucLeur from
his car hurried in with the word that
madam would not breakfast until o.
She was still very sleepy Would NJ
Medcroft be good enough to order her
coffee and rolls brought 10 her com
partment at that hour? And would he
mind seeing that the maid saw to it
that Raggles surely had his biscuit and
! q walk AZ the next stat.ons
"RsgGles?" queried Brock, passing
his hand over his brow. The other
shrugged his shoulders and looked
askance. "Oh. yes; I understand"
murmured the puzzled one. recovering
himself. For the next ten minutes he
wondered who RaCSles could be.
He had eaten his strawberries and
was waiting for the eggs and coffee.
resentfully eyinS the early risers who
were now coming IN for their coffee
and rolls. They had slept He could