The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-09-11
A Lugubrious
Race
By ALAN HINSDAlE

A hearse drove up to the dock Of
the channel boat at Calais, followed
by . carriage, out Of which stepped a
man Of somber countenance, dressed
In funeral black. Summoning q porter.
he engaged him to bring assistants.
and from the hearse an oblong box
was removed and carried on to the
boat During the transit one Of the
men carelessly let 60 his hold, and the
box came very near falling to the
ground.
The mourner groaned. do be care
ful." he said. "That box contains the
remains Of my dear wife. She died d
few days ago In Brussels, and am
taking her body to my home In Har.
witch, across the channel. to give 1t
sepulture."
Sorry. sir. that l lost my hold"
replied the porter. evidently affected
by the mourner's deep grief. II won't
do 1t again."
The mourner raised his handkerchief
to his eyes to dry the tears that had
started at the jogging Of the dear re-
mains and followed the bearers on to
the boat, where he begged them to
put down the box gently. They all
seemed impressed by the exhibition Of
grief. and when the box touched the
deck not a sound was to be heard.
Wiping his eyes with one hand, with
the other the mourner gave each one
Of them half a crown, and they dis
persed, walking away with soft tread
as If fearing to wound him by unseen
,, ly noise.
When the boat reached Harwich q
customs officer came aboard. The
mourner stepped up to him and, with
trembling voice and difficulty in re-
pressing his tears, said to him:
my friend, l must ask your indul-
gence for one In trouble. That box
contains the body Of my beloved wife.
who died abroad. beg Of you to see
that l am spared any delay or difh-
Guilty in receiving a permit to remove
It The circumstances Of my wife's
death were extremely distressing. She
died Of fever after a long and pain
| full illness. Everything was done for
her.
"All right, sir" replied the official
"In see that you're put to no trouble.
SIR"
| He put the customs mark on the box.
The mourner, sitting his tears. slipped
q sovereign into bis hand and, turn.
ing to some deckhands, asked them to
carry the box on to the dock. As the
melancholy procession was passing
over the gangplank a man stood on
the dock scrutinizing those who came
ashore. The mourner while passing
him put his handkerchief to his face
and sobbed.
| A hearse stood near-it had evident.
ly been spoken for-and the box was
duly committed to 1t. The mourner
entered a carriage, and the two We.
hicles were driven away.
They had scarcely started when the
man who had stood by the gangplank
entered another carriage and told the
driver to follow them. Slowly the
funeral cortege passed through the
town and took a road leading to
cemetery. The mourner so far forgot
his grief to turn and look through the
glass in the back Of the carriage and
saw another carriage not far behind.
Presently the funeral vehicles turned
out Of the main road. The mourner
looked again and saw that the carriage
behind also turned. Lowering a win
dow, he said quickly:
Jim. we're gone up!"
"What makes you think so2" asked
the driver
II saw q Scotland Yard man by the
gangway watching for us. He is in
that carriage back there"
Suppose we race him?"
In another moment the melancholy
trot Of funeral procession was
changed to q gallop. As soon as the
new gait was begun the carriage in the
rear also made change. On went
the hearse; on went the carriage con-
tanning the mourner. and on went the
one containing the detective. Seeing
funeral party galloping over the
ground. persons along the road stopped
and gaped. Then when the rear car
riage passed, scattering dust and dirt,
It was evident that there was race In
progress.
Presently the hearse reached a ceme-
tary. The gate was open and the
driver turned in, shouting to several
persons standing about to get out Of
the way. The avenues Of the Enclosure
were tortuous and well adapted to
leaving a pursuer In the lurch. After
making a number Of turns on two
wheels. the driver Of the hearse stop
ped before a vault. the door of which
stood open, the mourner's carriage
came up. the two drivers withdrew the
box and hurried II into the vault. There
the mourner remained with It, while
the two drivers drove on. The mourn
er listened. In few minutes he heard