Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-08-09
Copyright, The Bobbs- Merrill Coz

Copyright The Bobbs-Merrill Coz
CHAPTER VII.
The Hotel splendide.
Mr.. Joseph Almer, proprietor Of the
Hotel Splendide, on Gibraltar's Water
port Street, was alone in his Office,
August fifth. The night before the
cable had flashed word to General Sir
George Crandall, Governor-general of
the Rock, that England had hurled
herself into the great a But that
was no concern of Mr.. Joseph Almer
except as it affected the hotel bust
ness admittedly 1t did bring compli-
cations there.
A sleek well-fed Swiss he was; one
whose neutrality was publicly as I'M
previous as the rocky barriers of his
home land. A bland eye and a a
professional smile were the ever
present advertisements Of urbanity on
Joseph Almer's chubby countenance.
He spoke with an accent that might
have got him into trouble with the
English masters Of the Rock had. they
not known that certain cantons IN
switzerland occupy an unfortunate
contiguity with Germany. and Almer,
therefore, was hardly to be blamed
for an accident Of birth. From q
4 window of his Office, he looked out
on crooked waterproof Street, where
all the world of the Mediterranean
shuffed by one shoes, slippers and
bare fee Just across his desk was
the Hotel ~Splendide's reception room
la sad retreat, wherein a superan-
nuated parlor set of worn red plush
tried to give the lie to the reflection
cast back at it by the dingy gold
framed mirror over the battered fire.
place. Gaudy steamship posters and
Autographs Of the Sphinx and kindred
tourists delights were the walls only
decorations. Not even the potted
all, was there to screen the interior
of the of1ce-reception room from the
curious eyes Of the street, just be-
yond the swinging glass doors. Jo-
lseph Almer had taken poetic license
with the word "~splendide"; but in
Gibralter that is permissible: neces-
sary, In fact. Little there ives up
to its reputation save the Rock itself.
1t was four in the afternoon. The
street outside steamed with heat, and
the doors that make Gibraltar q last
ing memory were at their prime of
distillation. The proprietor Of the
Splendide vas nodding over his books.
A light football on the boards beyond
the desk reused him. A girlewith two
cigar boxes under her arm slipped,
like 9 shadow, up to the desk. She
was dressed in the bright colors Of
Spain, c~laret-colored skirt under a
broad Romany sash, and with thin
white waist, open at rounded throat.
A cheap tortoise-shell comb held her
coils Of chestnut hair high on her
head. Louisa of the Wilhelmstrasse;
but not the same Louisa-the sophis-
ticated Louisa OF the Cafe Richie and
the Winter Garden. A timid little
cigar maker she was, here in Gibral-
tar.
"Louisa!" Almer's head bobbed up
on a suddenly stiffened neck az he
whispered her name. She set her
boxes OF cigars on the desk, opened
them, n as she made gestures to
Ipoint the worthiness Of her wares she
spoke swiftly, and in a half whisper.
"Alls is as we hoped. Almer:- He
comes o N the Princess Mary'-a
~cablegram from Koch just got
through to-day. I wanted
you mean" Almer thrust his
head forward in his eagerness, and
his eyes were bright beads.
Woodhouse!" The girls voice trem-
bled in exultation. And his number
his Wilhelmstrasse number-is-
listen carefully; Nineteen Thirty-two."
Nineteen ~Thirty-two," Almer re-
peated, under his breath. Then aloud:
"On the Princess Mary you say?"'
Yes: h is already anchored in
the straits. The tenders are coming
ashore. He will come here, for such
were his directions in Alexandria"
Louisa started to move toward the
street door.
But you," Almer stopped her; "the
English are making a roundup of
suspects on the Rock. They will ask
1questions-perhaps arrest
me? No. I think not. Just be-
cause I was away from Gibraltar for
six weeks and have returned SO re-
Gently is not enough to rouse suspi-
cion. Haven't I been Josepha, the
cigar girl, to every Tommy in the
garrison for nearly a year? Mono,
senor; you are wrong. These r the
purest cigars made south of Madrid.
Indeed, SENIOR"
The girl had suddenly changed her
tone to one of professional wheedling,
for she saw three entering the door.
Almer lifted his voice angrily:
"Josepha, your mother is substitu-
ting with these cigars. Take them
back and tell her If I catch her doing
this again 1t NEAR the cells for her"
The cigar girl bowed her. head in
simulated fright, sped past the incom-
ing tourists, and lost herself in the
shifting crowd on the street. Almer
permitted himself to mutter angrily as
he turned back to his books.
you see, mother? See that hotel
keeper lose his temper and tongue
lash that poor girl? Just what / tell
you-these foreigners don't know how
to be polite to ladies'
Henry j. Sherman--"yes, sir, of
Kewanee, Illynoy'-mopped his bald
pink dome and glared truculently at
the insulting back of Joseph Almer.
Mrs. Sherman, the lady of direct nm
pulses who had contrived to stare
Captain Woodhouse out of counte-
nance in the Winter Garden not long
back, cast herself despondently on the
decrepit lounge and appeared to need
little invitation to be precipitated into
a crying spell. Her daughter Kitty,
a winsome little slip, stood behind
her, arms about the mothers neck.
and her hands stroking the maternal
cheeks.
"Here-there, mother: ever-ythingIl.
come out right" Kitty vaguely assur-
ed, Mrs. Sherman, determined to
have no eye for the clouds silver lin-
Ing, rocked back and forth on the sofa
and gave voice to her woe:
8@'..Oh, we,ll never see Kewanee again
I know 1t! Iiknow 1t! with eyery-
body pushing and showing us away
from the steamers-everybody refus-
ing to cash our checks, and all this
lighting going on somewhere up
iamong h Belgians@ The lady
from Kewanee pulled out the stopper
of her grief, and the tears came co.
Ipioilaly Mr.. Sharman ubo boa ,na5.