The Monett times., 1918-11-29
THE DOUBLE SIGN
BY OTTiLIA PFEiFFEE.


ne moment l knew not why I did It,
"all it impulse and You probably have
II. In crowded cosmopolitan res
faurant thronged with varied group.
[ raised my hand at the beck and
will Of dark-eyed. earnest-faced man
,f about thirty I had never seen be-
'ore, and gave "the double sign"
What the double sign was. mind you,
did not know. I only felt to a
surety that 1t was double sign. Thus,
[ extended one palm, half straight
from my chin, half a sign. I formed
,unlike cavity of the palm and allowed
ny hand to sink inert, the double sign
completed. Why had made this
,Ign to the man IN question, how l
came to know how to form that du-
clicate gesture, ] must explain.
Cur house, Burdics & Co, Is
me OF the largest in the United States
IN the importation of olive oil.
Several times / had gone 30 Italy
IN business. II was during carnival
IL the town of Veccnio when that
double sign came into my life. Vecchio
nod a double element and was hot
hNd of sedton. always at variance
Nth the authorities. A great fcte
was on. The Princess Colomna,
great favorite with the patriot insur-
"nrtionist group. passed through the
lnNn. the idol of the ponulace. | fol-
owed the great procession out of Gu
":osity to see her Iargesse distributed
10 crowding, adoring thousands. 1t
was on that occasion that I noticed
IN ordinarily dressed, but keen-visaged
ran fix his eyes imploringly upon her.
He wore little triangular button on
one side of his cap. He made that
sign. The princess recognized 1t. She
tore from her wrist a glittering brace
tet. tossed ii TO the man, who flashed
back heartfelt gratitude, and then he
disappeared.
And now. because I had noticed q
i;ashing-eyed Italian-faced man will.
the same peculiar button in his cap.
tl!e.same probing. expectant expression
n his face. MS though seeking in des'
ferat,on recognition, friendship, as
sistance. I must perform the sigr
tNnt had caused royal princess to
,nattor broadcast her jewels! Quite
romantic, truly! But the cosmopolitan
.Inrp of the great mixed restaurant
holding Bohemians from everv cline,
Gad something TO do with it
IN q fash that wild, somewhat
aerce, yet markedly intelligent face.
full of haggard, anxious woe and hope
leSsness, frightened. Those piercing
eyes 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 saving hand
suddenly extended.
"The Foscari," he uttered, in low,
intense tone, gazing guardedly all
about him. "You know the button!
It Is life or death. Can we be alonef"
] shook my head dubiously at the
word "Foscari," to me impenetrable.
b1t T said: "Lead where you will,'
and followed him down dark sid'
street and into a poor foreign wine
shop.
"For twelve hours" he said, pass
Ing to it's deserted rear room. "Lis-
ten, almost the salvation of the orGer
il involved. I must have five nun.
d'ed dollars within the hour. To be
returned at noon tomorrow. Your cord.
or designated rendezvous. and then
forget, for the good of the brethren
Would you believe It. will you credit
me- but as sentimentalist I placed
my hand in my pocket! And, too, as
a business man. I read in this mans
eyes the guarantee of strict integrity,
as had with many a Levantine trader
whose word was as good as his bond.
In other words, identifying him only
rs man with a peculiar button in
his cap, tracing some affiliation OF
great power and influence, took out
the money, gave it to him with m!
cord, and he vanished and I stood the
victim of an impulse I could not an
alvze.
l was nettled, uneasy after that for
Il while. I was by no means at pOv-
erty's door: my business was not in
tho best condition in the world. For
years our foreign agent had been q
shrewd, energetic italian named Do
natl. Within year, anticipating war
troubles in Europe, he had sold us
out. That is. he had taken advantage
of his close connection with us to un-
de~handedly transfer contracts TO ri
walls so that we had lost fully 80 per
cent. of future business.
We had summarily dismissed the
knave, but the mischief was done. and
on the eve of marriage TO my hearts
choice 1 had called a postponement
until my tangled business affairs were
Strengthened out.
At noon the next day in walked my
)ensioner. He returned the money
with a brief word of thanks. About
to go his face darkened as his eyes
fell upon an old photograph OF Do
natl.
uafor och ohn,,+ fbot man o, hn in