Evening star., 1918-08-18
THE MYSTERY OF THE Hk

fore this striped material rather than
ferred. Then her eyes! She would
try to hide the defect which par
ticularixed them by the use OF glasses
or. at least. by a very heavy veil.
While her walk-well! she might
successfully conceal her halting step
promised himself that he would be
very careful to see that any woman
rousing his suspicion should be
given some reason for hurrying.
=, While VI. thus thus musing; he he had reach,
wheeling about to come back. the
woman whose profile he now faced
attracted his eye again. In spite OF
himself. and he gave her another Idle
thought. How absorbing was the
ing, and how deeply 1t affected her!
1t struck him as he quietly repass-
ed her that he had never seen q sad
der face. Then that impression pass
ed from his mind. for he saw Perry
coming toward him. with a pencil and
cided to let Sweetwater know where
he could be reached that night. and
Perry had come for the message.
It must have been fully two hours
later that Mr.. Gryce,. sitting down
found his view unobstructed to the
river. Tho woman had gone.
Just Tor the sake of saying some-
thing to Perry. who had drawn up
beside him. he remarked upon the
interest in so small matter:
TITS the thoughts and feelings of
people which take hold Of my Curl
osity now. Human nature Is big
book-a great book. have only be-
gun to thumb It. and I'm an old
mn GnnNo hol
tions in one way. some in another.
Some are loudest when most trou-
bled. and some are SO quiet one would
think them dead. The woman was
watching there was one Of the quist
ones; her trouble was deep; that was
apparent from her outline-an out
line which never varied"
YES she's queer duck. saw
her: l even did an errand for her
that was before you sat down here"
You did an errand for herr"
"Yes; she wanted a newspaper OF
course. was glad to get 1t for her.
as she said she was lame"
"Lame?
"Yes; I suppose she spoke the
truth. I didn't think of her being in
any special trouble. but 1 did think
wearing two dresses"
Mr.. Gryce started and turned sharp
ly toward him.
VOL, nwhat,s hats tn that t,sy, yc@ ~ say? What do
NO.. why: this: when she stopped to get
she pulled up the skirt of her dress.
and I saw another one under It, Per-
haps she thought that was the easiest
way Of carrying 1t. I noticed that
her suit case was a small one"
Describe that undertook to me-"
Mr.. Gryce's air and tone were unac-
countably earnest. What was its
"Why. reddish, 1 think. No, 1t had
stripes in 1t and something like spots.
Do you suppose 1t was her petticoat?"
Mr.. Gryce brought his hand down
on his lame knee and did not seem
to feel It. Find out where she's
self" And before the other could re-
cover from his astonishment he had
started for the piazza where he had
just seen the proprietor of the hotel
take his seat.
"This comes from an old mans folly
In thinking he could manage an affair
Of this kind without help" he num-
bled to himself as he went stumping
along. Had | told Perry whom we
nize her. I should have spent my time
talking with this woman instead of
staring at her. Two dresses! with the
bright one underi Well; she's even
And by this time. having reached
the man he sought. he put his ques-
tion:
Can you tell me anything about
the woman who was sitting here?
Who she Is and where she has gone?"
Why. should say she was a factory
hand and has gone to her work on
the other side CT the river"
Her name? Do you know her
name? I'm a detective from New
York-one of the regular police force.
I'm in search Of a woman not unlike
tho one I saw here. though not, /
am bound to state, q factory worker
except on compulsion."
You are! A police detective. eh,
and at your age! 1t must be healthy
employment. But about this woman.
I'm sorry. but can't tell you any
thing except that she came on the
same train you did and wanted a
boat right away to take her across
the river. You see, we've no ferry
here, and I told her so, and the only
way she could get across was to wait
for Phil Jenkins, who was going over
at g.. She said she would wait. and
sat down here. refusing dinner. or
even to enter the house. Perhaps she
wish to register eh?''
Had her speech an accent? Did
You take her for a foreign woman"
Yes, did and / didn't. She spoke
know"
I'm not looking for young
woman"
well. she's gone and you can't
reach her tonight. There they are