New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1916-11-07
How the Stranger Acted When Madge
Told Him Her Maiden Name.


Dickys manner was nervous, pre-
| occupied, as he spoke. His Mothers
| face showed very plainly her resent
ment at being obliged to meet the man
upon whose steady staring at me she
| had so acidly commented a few
| minutes before.
| For my own part, I was SO upset
| that I felt actually i'll, as the eyes of
| the persistent stranger met mine.
How had this man, who had so ter
rified me by his persistent pursuit and
| scrutiny, managed to obtain an intro
| duction to Dicky
| Dicky made a, place for the man
near me, and signalled the waiter.
l. II know you have dined,' he said,
| courteously, but you'll at least have
| coffee and a cordial with us, will you
| not?"
'Thany you,' Mr.. Gordon said in a
deep, rich voice. ST have not yet had
coffee. If you will be SO kind, I
should like an apricot brandy instead
! Of a cordial
Dicky gave the necessary order to
! the waiter and we all sat back in our
| chairs.
| I, for one, felt as though I were a
| spectator at a play waiting for the
| curtain to run up upon some thrilling
| episode. For the few minutes while
! we waited for our coffee, Dicky had
! to carry the burden of the conversa-
| ton. His mother, with her lips
| pressed together in a tight, thin line,
! evidently had resolved to take no part
! in any conversation with the stranger
| I was really too terrified to say any
! thing, and. beside the briefest of as
SCENTS to Dickys observations, the
! stranger said nothing.
! With the coming of the coffee, how
ever there occurred a little incident
that intensified the vague terror I felt
| of Mr. Gordon.
| When the coffee and tiny glass of
| cordial were set before him, Mr. Cor
/ don said som ething in an undertone
to the waiter, who bowed, slipped
away and came back with a curiously
shaped spoon with tiny prongs under
meath it, which fitted over the top Of
Mr.. Gordon's demitasse.
Zone or two?" the man asked de-
ferentially, with hand outstretched
toward the sugar tongs.
Mr.. Gordon waved him aside, took
up the tongs himself, and placed two
cubes of sugar in the curiously shaped
spoon. Then he carefully poured a
1 portion Of the tiny glass of apricot
|
| his hand for a lighted taper, which
| the we'll trained waiter, seeing what
he wished had ready for him at pre-
cisely the right moment.
| A DiIettante's Hands.
AS the blazing match touched the
soaked sugar, the alcohol caught fire,
| and a little blue flame, heavy with the
aroma of the burning brandy, arose.
solicitously as if he were a devotee
tending the shrine. When the flame
! sank he added more drops of the
brandy until the tiny glass was
empty. When the last blue flame had
dried he stirred a portion Of the sugar
into his coffee and slipped the bever-
! age with the enjoyment of a sybarite.
! I have seen people burn brandy
over their demitasses many times, but
! there was something about the way
Mr.. Gordon did it, something in the
appearance of his long, slender, white
! hands of a dilettante, that thrilled me
with a sensation Of terror !
! For the conviction was borne IN
upon me that somewhere, somehow,
had seen this man bend over ms
! coffee in the same manner before.
! I told myself that the idea was most
! nrGDOStorOuS. J.
! never in nv ife before the morning at
! +I,e Svdenham hotel had I ever seen
; Mr. Gordon. But the conviction per-
rir+ed overwhelming my reason and
INV common sense. Those long, slen-
cor. nervous, white hands, were as ia
rni1iar to me as were Dicky's.
! There was something about the
,,,an's whole personality that both at
tracted and repealed me. With one
breath I felt that I had curious
sorse Of liking and admiration for
| him. and was proud of the interest in
me which he had taken no pains to
conceal The next moment a real
terror and dislike Of him swept over
me.
waited with beating heart for him
TO finish his coffee. 1t seemed to me
that I could hardly wait for him to
speak. For I had a psychic present.
ment that before he left the table he
would make known to us the reason
for his rude pursuit of me.
His first words confirmed my i'm
pression:
ct am afraid, Mrs Graham" he
said, courteously, turning to me, as he
finished his Coffee that I have
startled and alarmed you by my en-
deavor to ascertain your IDENTIFY
L did not answer MIN. ala not
wish to tell him that I had been
frightened; neither could I truthfully
| deny his assertion. And I wished that
I had not evaded my mother-in-laws
query concerning him.
He did not appear to heed my
silence, however, but went on rapidly:
sMay T Ask?''
'It is a very simple matter after
ALL" he said "You see, you resemble
so closely a very dear friend of my
youth; in fact, the dearest I ever had,