The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-12-03

"once before, SIR" said he. "Niagars
Falls, sir"
CHAPTER XIV.
1 Traverse the Night
E WERE drenched to The skin and BE-
spattered with mud, cold and chesriess
but full Of q grim excitement. Across
the street from the small, poorly lighted rail
way station there WAS an eating house. Lesv-
ing the car in the shelter Of . freight shed,
we sloshed through the shiny rivulet that
raced between the curbs and entered the
clean, unpretentious little restaurant.
There was q rousing smell Of roasted cot
fee pervading the place. A sleepy German
waiter first came up and glanced mIlenly Al
the mud-tracks we left upon the floor; then
he allowed his insulting gaze TO trail cur
progress to the lunch counter by means Of .
perfect torrent Of rain-wster drippings. he
went out Of the room grumbling, to return .
moment later with q huge mop. Thereupon
be ordered US out Of the place, standing ready
with the mop to begin the cleansing process
the instant we vacated the stools. Il wss
quite clear to both Of us that he wanted 70
begin operations at the exact spot where We
we're standing.
Coffee for two,'' said !, in German. To
me anything uttered In the German language
sounds gruff and belligerent, no matter now
gentle its meaning. That amiable sentence:
Itch liebe dich," Is no exception; to me 1t
sounds relentless. am confident that /
asked for coffee in q very mild and ingratiat-
ing tone, in direct contrast to his command
to get out, and was somewhat suffled by his
stare of speechless rage.
''zwei," said Britton, pointing to the big
coffee urn.
The fellow began hopping around my feet
in fact, he went SO far as to mop the tops
of them and a little way up my left leg in his
efforts to make . good, clean job of it.
stop thatl'' l g~rowled, kicking at the
mop. Before / could get my foot back on the
floor he ~skilfully swabbed the spot where it
had been resting, q feat Of celebrity that I
have never seen surpassed. Damn it,
don'ti" l roared, backing away. The reso-
lutte mop followed me like the spectre of
want. Fascinated, l found myself retreating
to the doorway.
Britton, resourceful fellow, put an end to
his endeavors by jumping upon the mop and
~pinning it to the floor very much as he would
have stamped upon a wounded rat.
The fellow called ont Justify to some one
in the kitchen, at the same time giving the
mop handle a mighty jerk. If you are ex-
pecting me to say that Britton came to woe,
you are doomed to disappointment. 1t was
Just the other way about. Just as the prodi-
gious yank took place, my valet hoped MIN
bly, from the mop, and the waiter sat down
with a stunning thud.
do not know what might have ensued had
not the proprietress Of the place appeared st
that instant, coming from the kitchen. She
was the cook as well, and she was large
oh IN n tho cnona nf at 1ooct throa
She was huge beyond description.
"Wass issi'' she demanded. pausing
aghast. Her voice was q high, belying
l shall not attempt to describe in detail
all that followed. 1t is only necessary to
state that she removed the mop from tbs
hands of the quacking mental and fairly
swabbed him out into the thick Of the rain
storm.
While we were drinking our hot, steaming
coffee and gorging ourselves with franklin
ters, the poor wretch stood under the caves
with his face glued to the window, looking |
in at us with mournful eyes while the drip
from the tiles poured upon his shoulders
and ran in rivulets Town his neck. l felt .,
sorry for him that I prevailed upon the NUT
apologize hostess TO take him In
again. She called him in ~ she might have
,alled . dog. and he edged his way past her
with the same scared, alert look In his eyes
one always sees in those Of an animal |
hat has its tail between its legs.
She explained that he was her nephew, Just
the farm. Her sisters son, she said,
md naturally not IS intelligent - h ought
o be.
While We were sitting there at the counter,
train roared past the little station. We
usHed to the door In alarm. But IL shot
trough At the rate Of fifty miles an hour.
ooked at my watch. II still wanted haitian
Jour of train time, according to the schedule.
ut was the express, mein herr" explained
he woman. TT never stops. We are TOO
mall yet. Som time We may be big enough"
noticed that her eyes were fixed In some
on the old clock above the pie
helves. "Achl But II has never been 50
ar ahead Of time Is tonight. It is not due
or fifteen minutes yet, and here Is ID gone
Perhaps your clock is xlcw," I nid.
MY watch says four minutes to twelve"
Whereupon she hesped 4 TRADE Of abuse
pom the shrinking Hans for letting the clock
ose ten minutes Of her valuable time. To
lake sure, Hans set 1t forward nearly half
n hour while she was looking the other way.
hen he began hopping the floor again.
AT half-past twelve the train from Munich
rev up at the station, painted awhile in evil
ent disdain, and then moved on.
A single passenger a%lighted a man with
bass VOL. There was no sign Of the Ii
lsesi
We made q careful and extensive search
I the station, the platform and even the
urrouding neighborhood, but il was quite