The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1916-10-10
Bu ELINOR MARSH

tnmg crop N Cne stde pocket OF MS |
overcoat
What's thatT' he asked.
Never mind what It Is. II 1t Is dis |
covered there and you do not know
what Il is you will be really surprised. |
The police will thus be the more read
ny convinced that you did not put It
there yourself"
Suppose refuse to acknowledge
your
I'm that case If they arrest me-
am lost"
What do you neanT
Il shall spend the rest Of my life In |
Siberia"
This surely was an unfortunate posi- |
ton In which to be p.aced-an at |
tractive girl pleading for a chance to
avoid lifelong imprisonment, endan-
gering the liberty of the man she asked
to help her. Thorpe was an American, |
full Of chiyalry. He knew that the
sensible thing for hin to do was to |
dtsengage himself from the girl and |
leave her to take care of herself. But |
he could not bring himself to do this |
II flashed through his mind that If he |
became involved he would find a way
out of the trouble. Ho had the rights |
Of any foreigner, and he was not In
terested IN the revolution. he might |
suffer Imprisonment fo- time, but he |
would eventually be able to prove that !
he was not revolutiOnist- 1t needed |
only this reasoning, In addition to the |
pleading face turned up to his and the |
feeling Of the little hand on his arm,
to win him to the girls purpose.
When his mind Yves made up he be- |
gan to talk volubly In English to his |
companion, pointing out various OBJ |
1ects as he passed them with his cane,
as though he were conducting her
through the city as stranger. Occa-
sionally he used the words my DEAR"
but it Is doubtful If the two were I'M
der surveillance or, # so, whether they
were understood, for Q Russian police |
officer Is not supposed to know Eng |
hsh. The girl too, played the part of
q visitor to the city, regarding with |
interest the objects pointed out and re-
marking upon them.
Are We going toward your homer
asked Thorpe In a whisper
moi take me to yours"
This staggered the American, but he
remembered the great stake of a life
Imprisonment ia the Kara mines for
the girl he was aiding, and he led the |
way to bis lodgings He was about to |
pass into the house where he lived
when an officer stepped up to him and |
said very civilly In the Russian tongue:
"Have you your passport with you,
STRIP
Thorpe, who was never without his
passport, took 1t from his pocket and
handed 1t to the officer, who looked
at 1t and from It to him. Seeing that
the description tailed with the orig
inal, the officer handed the document
back to its owner, then asked:
May see madame's passportT
What does he say?" asked the girl
Of Thorpe, pretending not to under
stand.
He wishes to see your passport"
"Oh, 1t Is in my trunk. Ask him to
come in and win show it to him."
By this time the officer was con-
vtnced that the pair were American
travellers. He went into the house and
remained with Thorpe In a reception
room while the girl assembled the stair
case ostensibly to go to her room to
get her passport. Thorpe, who knew
that she would not come back, engaged
the officers attention by asking him
questions. The man wished to stop
the girl, but RETAINED from DOING so
until it was too late. Thorpe, who
knew that when the officer was con-
WINGED that his supposed wife would
not return he would take him into
custody, was in agony He remember
ed the girls slipping something into
his pocket and knew 1t would be found
there. ALI this seemed too much to do
for woman he had never seen before,
and he was tempted to free himself at
once by declaring the deception: but,
whether It was wise or unwise, it was
now too late, and he refrained.
For awhile after the girl had gone
upstairs Thorpe talked volubly to the
officer, intending to give her as much
AAA4C as pOc5lOAS W AAAahC ACA COS0PC.
During this period Thorpe was think
ing how she could get away. There
was a rear staircase by which she
might descend into a back yard and
thence gain another street But 1t
was likely that there were others on
the lookout, and It was possible that
her flight by this route would be inter
copied. Other houses about the same
height as the one they were in 1anked
1t, and she might escape by the roof.
In any event II she succeeded Thorpe
would be left to the mercy Of the Rus
sian government
What was his amazement to see her
re-enter the room.
my DEAR" she said, Il wish you
would go upstairs and see If you can
find my passport. thought left It
N my trunk when l went out, aAd,
though have turned everything up
side down, 1 haven't found II. / think
that must have placed 1t in your
trunk, but it is locked and I could not
open 1t. Go and see II 1t is not there"
What could her return mean but
that she had found that she could not
sacrifice her benefactor and had come
back to permit him to escape instead
Of herselff He was not to be placed
In the position Of accepting such a
sacrifce from a woman. Taking a
bunch Of keys from his pocket, he
handed them to her, telling her to go
herself and look for her passport in
bis trunk She demurred at first, but
when he handed her his overccat, ask
| ing her to take It up with her, she con-
eented and again left the room, with