Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-12-14

mission. l shall make 1t my business ia
see that he gets it"
What do you mean?, she said. wide
eyed. How could you punish your
self? You cannot still deny, that YOU
wrote the letter"
II still deny that I wrote 1t, or ever
saw 1t until you handed it to me jus,
now"
The girl looked at him. nonplussed
more than half convinced, in spite OF
reason.
But isn't that your handwriting? %
1T Is not Look!"
He took out his fountain. pen and
holding the letter on the arm OF he
chair, he wrote rapidly in his natural
hand her own name and address be-
meath the address on the envelope, then
held it up to her.
DO they loo a1ike?"
The twp writings were as utterly un-
like as possible, the letter being adj
dressed in an almost unreadable scrawl
n the fresh writing standing fine and
clear. n D script that spoke of char
acter business ability. Even a
child could see at a glance that the
two were not written by the same hand
and yet, of course, it might have been
practiced for the purpose of deception,
This thought r shed through the
minds OF botff y as he held ii
out for her tosYAsK.,
She looked from the envelope to his
eyes and back to- the letter, startled,
not knowing what to think.
But before either of them had time
for another word, the conductor, the
porter and seyera1e people from the car
behind came nurriedly through. and
they realized that while they talked
the train had come to a halt, amid the
blazing electric lights Of a great city
station.
Why" said Gordon, startled, 1--WE
must have reached Pittsburgh. is this
Pittsburgh" he called out to the van
ishing porter.
"Yas, sah!" yelled the porter, putting
his head around the curve of the pas
sageway. You bettah hurry, sab, fob
dis train goes on to Cincinnati pretty
quick. We's late gittin' in. you see.n
Neither OF them had noticed a man
In rough clothes with SLOUGH hat and
hands in his pockets who had board
ed the train a few miles back and
walked through the car several times
cycling them keenly. He stuck his head
at the door furtively and drew back
quickly again. out of sight.
Gordon hurriedly gathered UP the
baggage, and they went out OF the car,
sthe porter rushing back as they reached
the door, to assist them and get a last
UP. There was no opportunity to say
anything more as they mingled with
the crowd, until the porter landed their
baggage In the great station and hur-
rled back to his train. The man with
the SLOUGH hat followed and stood UNI
obtrusively behind them.
Gordon looked down at the white.
drawn face Of the girl. and his heart
was touched with compassion for her
trouble. He must make her some sat
~isfactory explanation at once that
would set her heart at rest, but he
could NOT do 1t here. for every seat
about them was filled with noisy, chat
tertng folk. He stopped and whispered
low and tenderly:
Don't worry, little girl! Just try to
trust me, and l will explain ALL
Can yOu explain It," she asked anx-
iously, as If catching at a rope thrown
out to save her life.
Perfectly he said, IF you will be
patient and trust me. But we cannot
talk here. Just wait in this seat until
/ see II / can get the stateEoom on the
sleeper"
He left her with his courteous bow,
and HI a watching his tall, fine fig
ure as he threaded his way among the
crowds to the Pullman window, her
heart filled with mingling emotions. In
spite of her reason, a tiny bit OF hope
for the future was springing up in her
heart n without her own will she
foundh herself inclined to trust him. AT
least 1t was all she could do at present.