Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-12
CHAPTER y-tContInued) Z.

| ChaBIEh N--NtOntlnueul'
T WAS unprepared for that, and, with the
i memory of the fellows insolence fresh In
my mind. lost some of my seh-possession.
Sevranco showed astonishment at the rigor
of my remarks, and even deprecated.
oh | say, old chap, it's all very we'll to
! be angry with Won Holzborn and to work
| against him, end all that-but, really
To make him comprehend l had to retail
what had just passed between the man and
myself. Sevrance listened in silence, trac-
| ing little pattern on the carpet with the
| ferrule of mis- stick when he looked UP IL
was with set and angry expression.
THAT makes It clear enough" he COM
| mented thouEhtfuly. The man shows him
| self in his true coors, as an adventurer,
| Chevaler dndustrie, pure and slmple-or
not so pure and simple. This Netze busl-
ness, now take it, is nothing more than
q subterfuge to get Julia into his power
| compromised The devil!"
| THAT is right, as far as It goes" said I.
| But there's more to 1t. In the first place.
| he lies about Portsmouth the yacht, and all
| that"
''Do you think so?" sevrance looked in
credulous
"Oh, obviously He did not believe that
| Julia had managed to communicate with US,
| and he thought to put us off the track.
| Their destination is Saltacres. l have no
| doubt that Dc Netzc is with them, and that
| 1t is true enough that he Ia being stalked
| by Nihilists. If it is so, Saltacres, from all
| accounts is the very place for him to lie
| In safe hiding"
wild and desola;e erough-true," said
| Sevrance.
Then It's there wen find them. Plainly,
| her ladyshp suspects something, otherwise
| she would not have phoned She desires
at least our advice. And she would not
have mised US. Severance"
True" he agreed again. "They will be
at Saltacres."
"And so will we," informed him. adding
the time of the up-train the next morning.
you've acted wisely" he told me Now
| I'm for bed. Wen leave details to Grady
he's thoroughly reliable. Shall we take him
with us?" he added, after moments think
| ing.
'If you wish"
Hes a good man-brave, loyal quick
witted."
had no objection to offer, and thinking
! Sevrance's way wisest 1 followed his ex-
| ample and went promptly to bed, considering
| good nights rest OF more value to us
than anything else just at that stage OF
| the proceedings
| At least II furnished me a clear head and
n certain clarity of judgment during the
| next day; l found time and thought it
| advisable to review the whole affair from
| start to that moment, during the railway
| journey, and, although came upon nothing
new, l began to understand the case much
more comprehensively than 1 had there
| tofore.
I had tune, say. for the reason that
| conversation between Sevrance and myself
was prevented throughout the greater part
of the journey by the presence of another
passenger in our compartment.
Grady had taken a seat in n second or
| third class carrage-I never could quite
| fix in my mind the proper degrees of desir-
10 riaur . tgI,
| railway systems / only know that the
only comfortable way is TO travel first class,
| and even that is by no means as luxurious
| as It is at home.
This person. who made a crowd OF what
Seyrance and / had fondly hoped would be
| Just company" was little. shriveled man,
| apparently OF an age verging upon the
| sixties. He kept well muf1ed up, and
| grumbled to himself throughout the entire
| journey.
Inasmuch as we had virtually nothing
| else to look at, and could hit upon nothing
at all TO talk about that we dared mention
| in the presence of outsiders, | retained n
very vivid impression of his odd appear
ance-of his shaggy, iron-gray brows above
| a thin. hooked nose; OF his sunken mouth
with thin lips that were never still OF the
| gaudy, cheerful comforter which he per-
| sisted in wearing tight-knotted about his
| neck, with the ends hanging down, shawl
like upon his shoulders; of his bedraggled.
.
| which were the hands of the very old-thin
and deicately pink, and with certain
| glossiness OF the skin, as If it were devoid
| OF natural moisture, stretched tight as any
drumhead over the bony knuckles.
He had small. yivaoious, prsternaturally
| bright eyes, / remember with which he
| chose to stare at us by the ten-minute
| stretch. quite unconscious or else careless OF
| his rudeness. And whenever we spoke to-
| gether. remarked that his tTemulous old
/ rtRaNa hot ha
consciously bend forward a bit,
Naturally, such conduct did not pre-
possess me in his favor. / catalogued him
| as an inquisitive and boorish old man, and
prepared to dismiss him from my mind when
we changed cars at Lincoln. taking q
branch-line train which should convey US TO
| Ealtsea Regis.
SeVrance, however, was disposed to be as
considerate and courteous most young
| Britishers are TO the aged l recall that
with his own hands he helped the old gem
tleman out OF the carriage. and that he
instructed Grady to convey his luggage
according to his wishes.
1t later appeared that the ancient was
bound in the same direction as ourselves
| for when our train had drawn In, and we
were climbing into an empty compartment,
caught glimpse OF our former fellow
traveller negotiating an entrance TO another
| car farther down the train.
He disappeared from view, and that was
| the last that saw OF him for some time.
Our train bore us, in lelsurely fashion
| through a rolling and sunny countryside
| still and wrapt In the immense peaeefulness
| that seems an integral component of an
English Sunday afternoon; for it i0as a Sun.
/ day, by the way.
Sevrance said something presumably In
/ structive about downs and i received the
| Information without any astonishment; It
was ali Just precisely as I had been given
/ 10 understand English downs would look,
and / was contented to find them so per
/ fectly patterned TO my mental image
They stretched away deliberately, offer.
/ ing nothing startling to the eye merely q
pleasant and homely sort Of country, neatly
partitioned on into nice little squares of
| yalisv stubbls ana grssn grass ana hare.