Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-11-05
Copyright. 1881
HAD been spending a few days at

S&' Oii yin Cllh vi bNhNi' III
orner. within a few feet of me.
nan was standing, leaning with hi
ack against the raling--an odd-look
1g man, tall, slender, with somethin,
lmost Monaghan in his clean-shavei
ound face As one sometimes doe
hen one sees an unusual-looknl
ranger, | wondered hazily what kinC
person he might be. l did no
Ike the look OF him.
Presently another man came alon,
be balcony and paused close to him
hey took no notice Of each other
le newcomer looked attentively at tn,
rowd promenading on the deck below
most ostentatiously disregarding the
hers neighborhood All the same
c man in the corner whispered some.
ing which probably reached his ear,
one-and my Notwithstanding
hich seemed to be a few disconnected
ords:
NAIVE dress, big black velvet hat
trich plume; four-thirty train"
That was all he said. The new
mcr remained for a few moments
~ watching the promenaders then
rning, without vouchsafing the other
slightest recognition, strolled care
sly on.
It struck me as rather an odd little
me was constantly being made
unintentional confdante of what
re meant to be secrets; but about
lt brief sentence which the one had
lispered to the other there was a
uant something which struck me as
using-the more especially as I be-
we'd had seen the lady to whom the
rds referred. AS | came on the
r l had been struck by by her gor-
pus appearance, as being a person
o probably had more money than
tie.
Some minutes passed. The Mon
ian-looking man remained perfect
quiescent in his corner. Then an
er man came strolling along-big
burly, in a reddish-brown suit,
green felt hat worn slightly on one
OF his head. He paused on the
ne spot on which the first man had
ught his stroll to a close. and he
d no attention to the gentleman in
corner, who looked right away
m him, even while / could see his
framing precisely the same SEN
Re:
Mauve dress. big black velvet hat
ich plume; four-thirty train"
he big man showed by no sign that
had heard sound He continued
do as his predecessor had done
ed at the promenaders, then strolled
lessly on.
his second episode struck me as
g rather odder than the first. Why
such commonplace words uttered
o mysterious a manner? | left the
ngolian-looking gentleman still in
corner and went 10 the other side
the balcony to watch the people
lg down the pie. | saw the gor-
Us lady in the mauve dress and big
picture hat with a fine ostrich
be, and | wondered what interest
might have for the round faced
in the corner, and what she had
o with the four-thirty train.
be next day left Brighton by an
train. In the compartment
reading the Sussex Daily News,
a paragraph caught nv eve.
gic occurrence on the Brighton
Late the night before the body
woman had been found lying on
ballast, as if she might have fallen
of passing train. It described
costume-she was attired in a pale
Fe dress and a big black picture
in which was an ostrich-feathcr
e. There were other details
y of them-but that was enough
me.
was very much occupied Just then.
Fas because | had nearly broken
in my work that ! had gone
those few days to Brighton.
I if even glanced at a newspaper
some considerable time after that
mot say that the episode wholly
from my memory, but | never
what was the sequel Of the lady
was found on the line, or, in
anything more about her.
accepted an engagement with
and dumb girl who was about to
with her parents on a long
BE. pretty nearly round the world.
to meet them in Paris, and then
with them to Marseilles, where
real journey commenced The
before | started some friends
me sort of send-off dinner at
Embankment Hotel We were
halfway through the meal when
n came in and sat by himself at
all round table, nearly facing me.
lld not think where ] had seen
before. was pulling my brain
second man came across ,he
and strolled slowly by his table.
i'd not pause, nor did either allow
to escape him to show that they
acquaintance. yet ! distinctly
he lips of the man who was seat
the table frame about a dozen