Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-05-16
TheEvening Story
A KISS IN
THE DARK
BY EVERETT P. CLARKE

When consciousness came to me
found myself in a strange room sur
rounded by a number of persons. all of
whom were looking at me with sympa
thy on their faces l could not re-
member how l came to be there In
that condition or why l felt as | did.
The truth was that in crossing a street
had been knocked down through the
carelessness of a chauffeur and Sc
verely injured. A man whom | took
to be doctor was patching me up. and
as soon as ! returned to consciousness
he ordered every one out OF the room
and. after telling me that l had been
run over. said that | had been carried
into n house near the scene of the ac-
cident and could not be at once re-
moved.
One of my eyes had been injured,
and strip of linen was laid over both
Of them. Then | suppose ! was left to
myself for awhile, for heard no sound
in the room. though at intervals per
sons came and went. After having
been alone. so far as | knew, during
one of these intervals l heard what
sounded to me to be faint rustling OF
a woman's skirts Then there was a
vague consciousness that some one
was standing near me looking at me.
One thing felt sure OLA warm
breath against my cheek.
Suddenly l felt pair of lips pressed
against mine. 1t was only for n mo-
ment. after which by the sound of
skirts ! knew some one was scamper
ing away. had evidently been kissed
by a woman.
Now. was at an age when kiss
like that would naturally stir the i'm
agination. Was the kisser young? |
judged so by the feeling of her lips.
which were soft and warm | longed
to get well that l might find her out
] remained where | was but a few
days, when | was taken to my own
home. ! was not permitted to remove
my eye covering before leaving the
house. so | was ignorant OF the mem
bers of the family. As soon as was
well enough to be out again | went to
thank them for the care they had
taken of me. | was received by the
lady of the house, and | asked that
might thank every one who was in the
house during my stay there. The lady
told me that the members of her fam
lily We're one son and a little daughter
eight years old. | knew that the per-
son who had kissed me was neither of
these, for the swish of skirts | heard
was not that of child. | asked If
there had been any one besides the
family in the house during my sojourn
there, to which she replied that no one
had been staying there. The accident
had caused considerable excitement in
the neghborhood. and a number of
persons had come in to make inquiries.
This was as far as | could 80 in my
investigation, at least at the time. and
| felt discouraged. There was strong
probability of my remaining In igno
rance of what | was extremely anxious
to know resolved TO cultivate the
acquaintance of the Murrays, who had
housed me. with view TO a possible
meeting with the kisser.
TINS | did. The son, Ed Murray
was about my age, and took especial
pains to cultivate him. He was moth.
lent friends | have often thought
that the kisser. seeing me going about
with him, must have quaked in her
| boots. But. though | pu:posely talked
with Murray about my stay in his
mothers house. | gained no informa
ton as to WHO was there on the day
| was taken in. Ed had been away
Mt the time. However. | WAS doing
my bit of detective work very well.
and it was quite likely that by being
q good deal at the house might run
across my quarry. and IL l did l was
quite sure she would show In her fea.
lures consciousness that would be-
tray her.
Time passed, and, having thus far
| failed, l concluded to reveal my secret
to some one of the family and ask as
sistance. Neither Mrs. Murray nor Ed
could be relied on to give the girl away.
| chose Effie Murray, the daughter. as
one too young to have many scruples
about giving the lady away.
81 do believe it was Kit Travers,'
she said. "She's Just the kind Of girl
to do thing like that"
"Who is Kit Travers? Was she here
on the day was brought here?"
81 don't know about her being here
but she might have been. At that time
she used to come here quite often"
AT that time? Doesn't she come
here quite often nowT
"She hasn't been In the house In a
long while"
! felt quite sure l was on the right
track | based my conclusion on the
fact OF Miss Travers having formerly
been often at the Murrays' and having
suddenly dropped of after | became
intimate with them. induced Efit
to send for Miss Travers on some pre-
| taxf n nd talephona mo nm her arrival