The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-05-15
A KISS I'M.
THE DARK
By r P. CLARKE

AN $780,
found myself in a strange sur
rounded by a number Of persons, all or
whom were looking at me with sympa-
thy on their faces. l could not re-
that condition or why ! felt as ] did.
The truth was that in crossing Il street
l had been knocked down through the
~carelessness Of a chauffeur and Sc
verely injured. A man whom ! o
to be a doctor "a pate ching me up. and
as soon as | returned to consciousness
he ordered every one out of the oom
and. after telling me that l had been
run over, said that | had been carried
into a house near the scene of the &C
,cident and could not be at once re-
moved.
One of my eyes had been injured.
and a 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 | heard what
sounded to me to be a faint rustling of
a woman's skirts. Then there was a
vague consciousness that some Il
was standing zeal me looking at me.
One thing l. felt sure OLA warm
breath against my cheek.
Suddenly l felt a pair of lips pressed
against mine. 1t was only for a mo-
ment. after which by the sound of
skirts l knew some one was scamper-
ing away. had evidently been kissed
by a woman.
Now. l was at an age when q kiss
like that would naturally stir the i'm
agination. Was the kisser young? I
judged so by the feeling Of her lips.
which were soft and warm. l lOnged
to get we'll that l might find her out.
l remained where I was but a few
days, when l was taken to my own
home. . 1 was not permitted to remove
my eye covering before leaving the
house. SO l was ignorant Of the mem
bers Of the family. AS soon as l was
well enough to be out again I went to
thank them for the care they a
taken of me. I was received by the
lady Of the house, and I 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 were 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 I heard
was not that of a child. l asked II
there had been any one besides the
family in the house during my s~Ojourn
there, to which she replied that no n
had been staying there. The accident
had caused considerable excitement in,
the neighbOrhood. and a number of
persons had come in to make inquiries.
This was as far as l could go in my
investigation. at least at the time, and
| felt discouraged. There was Il strong
probability Of my remaining in igno.
rance of what l was extremely anxious
to know. l resolved to cultivate the
acquaintance of the Murrays, who had
housed me, with a view to q possible
meeting with the kisser.
This l did. The son. Ed Murray,
was about my age. and | took especial
pains to cultivate him. He was moth
ing loath. and we soon became excel
lent friends. | have often thought
that the kisser. seeing me going about
with him. must have quaked in her
boots. But. though l %purposely talked
with Murray about my stay in his
mothers house. L gained no informa-
ton as to who was there Oh the day
l was taken in. Ed had been away
at the time. However. l was doing
my bit Of detective work very we'll.
and it was quite likely that by being
a good deal at the house l might run
across my quarry, and if l did | was
quite sure she would show in her fea.
lures a 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.
l chose Efie Murray, the daughter, as
one too young to have many scruples
about giving the lady away.
Il do believe it was Kit Travers,"
she said. she's just the kind of girl
to do a thing like that"
"Who is Kit Travers? Was she here
on the day l was brought here?"
II don't know about her being here,
bnt she might have been. At that time
she used to come here quite often"
AT that time? Doesn't she come
here quite often now?"
."She hasn't been in the house in a
long WHILE
| felt quite sure | was on the right
track. ! based my conclusion on the
fact Of Miss Travels having formerly
been aften n, the Murrays' and having
suddenly dropped off after | became
intinllte Will them. ! induced Efie
to send fc, Miss Travers on some pre-.
text and telephone, NE ON her arrival.
One day I received the message and
hurried to the Murrays.. had my
own pretext for coming prepared. but
did no need to use it. | suddenly en-
tered n room whprp EA3o waS talking