Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1916-03-01

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"You Must Take Me With You."
cap, he had no choice but to accep
1t without protest.
Come, then" he told her-"and no.
a sound"
She signified assent with another
nod. and promptly he turned to an ad
jacent door, opened it gently, whipped
out his f1ash-lamp, and passed through
Without sign of hesitancy she fol
lowed, and like two shadows they
logged that dancing spotlight through
a linen closet and service room, down
shallow we'll threaded by spiral Of
iron steps and, by way Of long cor
ridor that linked the kitchen offices
on to stout door of oak secured only
by huge, old-style bolts of iron.
In two minutes from the moment OF
their encounter they stood outside
Troyon's, that door at their back, fac
ing cramped, malodorous alleyway-
a dark and noisome souvenir Of that
wild medieval Paris whose effacement
is an enduring monument to the fame
of the good Baron Haussmann.
Now, again, it was raining, thick
drizzle that settled slowly, wanting
little Of fog's opacity; and the faint
glimmer of the street lamps of that
tll-lighted quarter lent Lanyard and
the girl little aid as they picked their
way cautiously, and always in com.
plete silence, over the Shiny cobbles
of the foul backway. For the adven-
turer had pocketed his lamp, fearing
lest it bring down upon them some
prowling creature of Popinot's, though
he felt passably sure that the alley
had been left unguarded-less, per-
haps, through ignorance of it than
through confidence that he would
never dream of it's existence did he
survive to seek an escape.
For all its might and it's omniscience,
Lanyard doubted If the Pack had as
yet identified Michael Lanyard with
that ill-starred Marcel who once had
been as intimate with this secret way
as any skulking Tom of its feline
hordes
But with this one confidence was
never akin to foolhardiness; and it,,
before leaving Troyons back door, he
had paused to take the girls hand
and had drawn it through his arm-it
was his left arm that he thus dedi-
Gated to gallantry-his right hand
remained unhampered and was never
far from the grip of his automatic.
Nor was he altogether trustful of his
companion. Momentarily he grew more
jealousy heedful of her, of every nu-
ance in her bearing The least trace
Of added pressure on his arm, the most
subtle suggestion that she wasn't alto
gether Indifferent to him or regarded
him in any way other than as the
comrade of an hour of
trouble would have proved enough to
Tx his suspicious. For such, he told
himself, would be the first thought of
one bent on beguiling, to lead him on
oy some intimation-the more tenuous
and elusive the more provoking-that
'he found him in person not Altogether
But he failed to find anything Of this
n her manner.
So what was he to think? That she
vas alert enough to appreciate how
'uinous to her design would be any
such advances?
In such perplexity he brought her
% the mouth of the alley and there
pulled up for reconnaissance before
forth into the narrow. dark
md utterly deserted side street that
presented itself.
At this the girl gently disengaged
Ter hand and drew away pace or
wo, and when Lanyard had satisfied
himself that there were no Apaches
n the offing he turned to see her
standing there, just within the en-
rance to the alley, in a pose of blank
ndecision.
Conscious of his regard, she turned
O his inspection face touched with a
fugitive, uncertain smile.
where are we now?" she asked in
guarded tone.
He named the street, and she shook
er head.
THAT doesn't mean much to me-"
he confessed; I'm so strange in
'aris, 1 know only a few of the prin-
ipal streets. Where is the Boulevard
It. Germain?"
Lanyard indicated the direction:
Two blocks that way"
THANK you" She advanced step or
wo, but paused again. DO you know,
ossibly, just where I could find a taxi
abb"