The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1918-11-01
THE DOUBLE SIGN

BY oTTlLlA PFErFFER

the moment I knew not WHY ! qua r.
rall IT impulse and you probably have
Il. In crowded cosmopolitan res.
taurant ihrongcd with Il varied group
] raised my hand at The beck and
win Of a dark-eyed earnest-faced man
ne about thirty + had never seen be-
fore, and gave "thc double sign"
What the double sign was mind YOU,
/ ! did not know. I onlT felt to 4 (
surety that If was a double sign. Thus
| I extended one palm, half straight
] from my chin half sign. I formed q [
ruplke cavity Of the palm and allowed I
Inv hand 10 sink inert the double sign +
completed. Why I had made this
sign TO the man in question, How
came to know how to form that du
plicate gesture, / must explain.
our house, Burdick & Co, is /
one Of the largest in the United States
n the importation Of olive oil.
Several fines I had gone 70 Italy
on business. tt was during a carnival
m the town Of Vecchio when that
illouble sign came into my life. Vecchio
jhad double element and was a hot
bed Of sedition, always at variance
With the authorities. A great fete
was on. The Princess Colomna, q
great favorite with the patriot insur-
Irectlonist gronp, passed through the
Ilown. the idol of the populace. I fol-
lowed the great procession oEt Of GU
rlosity to see her largesse distributed
"a crowdlng, adoring thousands. It
,vas on that occasion that I noticed
IN ordinarily dressed but keen-visaged
ran fix his eyes implorngly upon her.
[Fp wore a little triangular button on
ona side of his cap. He made that
sign. The princess recognized it. She
lore from her wrist a glittering brace
let. tossed it to the man, who flashed
back heartfelt gratitude, and then he
disappeared,
And now, because I had noticed
Gashng-eyed Italian-faced man with
the same peculiar button in his cap
lfhe same probing. expectant expression
II, his face. as though seeking IN des
teration recognition, friendship, as
sistance I must perform the sign
HAT had caused royal princess 70
SCATTER broadcast her iewelsl Quite
Romantic. truly But the cosmopolitan
plarc Of the great mixed restaurant
holding Bohemians from everv CLINE,
had something to do with it.
In flash that wild, somewhat
fierce, vet markedly intelligent face,
fun Of haggard, anxious woe and hope
lessness,s frightened. Those piercing
pves. seemed to invade the very secret
chambers of my soul. Then there
crossed those features that glow that
only a sinking, despairing castaway
could express finding a saving hand
suddenly extended.
"The FoscariH he uttered, in low
hsense tone. gazing guardedly all
about him. "You know the button?
It is life or death Can we be alone"
! shook my head obviously at the
word "Foscari." to me impenctrable,
but I said: lead Where you will"
and followed him down a dark side
street and into a poor foreign wine
shop.
"For twelve hours" he said pass
ing to it's deserted rear room Lis
ton. almost the salvation Of the order
Is involved. / must have five hun
dred dollars within the hour. To be
returned Mt noon tomorrow. Your card,
or designated rendezvous, and then
forget. for the good of the brethren"
Would you believe it, viii you credit
me, but as a Sentimentallst | placed
my hand In my pocket And, too, as
business man, read in this mans
ewes the guarantee 0f strict integrity,
as had with many i.evantlne trader
Whose word was rs good rs his bond,
IN other words, identifying him only
rs a man with a peculiar button in
his cup, tracing some afiillHtion OF
great nower and influence I took ont
the money, gave It to him with my
cord. and he vanished and ! stood the
victim of an impulse | could not an
alyze.
was nettled. uneasy after that for
a while. I was by no means at po7-
erty's door: my business was not in
the best condition i'm the world For
scars our foreign agent had been q
shrewd. energetic Italian named Do
nati. Within a year. anticipating wal
troubles in Europe he had sold us
out. That is, he had taken advantage
Of mis- close connection with us to un
de.handedly transfer contracts to ri
walls SO that we had lost fully 80 PEI
cent. Of future business.
We had summarily dismissed the
knave. but the mischief was done, and
on the eve of marriage to my heart,
choice had called postponement
until my tangled business affairs were
Strengthened out.
At noon the next day in walked my
3ensioner He returned the monel
with a brief word of thanks. Ahou
10 90 his face darkened as his eye
fen upon an old photograph of DO
natl.
MAY I ask about that manf" he in
quired and told him all.
"Good friend" he said to me, "yol
have helped me without question. vii
you give me an authorization to &C
for You in regard to the disreputabl'
dealings of this fellow. Donati2"
Within one month every flched ans
rnaniuuIsted contract had been re