The Washington times., 1919-05-01

which had been going on for afty
years. were most valuable, too IN
contributing the brilliant hues %
uniforms to an otherwise sombeF
civilian world, and investing COM
monplace and sober cities with the
omnipresent looming mystery Of
'fortiflcations.
To a painter, war seemed to be
a dramatic and gorgeous AFFAIR 90
q young man Il appealed as al ex-
citement appeals. The sportsman
in him desired to witness q scrap;
his artists imagination wax aroos-
. ed: the gambler in him speculated
as to the outcome OF such a War-
And the seething. surging drop of
Irish fixed and purred and coaxed
for chance to edge sideways into
any fight which God in His mercy
might provide for a decent gos-
soon who had never yet had the
pleasure OF a broken head.
mot" thought NeeIanl to him
self. "that I'll go trailing my coat
tails. I'll go about my own husi-
ness, OF course-but somebody nay
hit me a crack at thatP'
He thought OF Ilse Dumont ana
OF the man with the golden beard,
realizing that he had had a Won-
derful time. after all; sOrry in
his heart that IL was All over
and that the Volhynia was due @
let go her mudhooks in the Mersey
about 3 o'clock the next morning.
AS he leaned on the deck rail- in
the soft July darkness, he could
see the lights OF the destroyers 30
port and starboard. see strings of
jewel-Iike signals flash, twinllcs
fade, and flash again.
Typical steamer Scene.
All around him along the deck
passengers were prOmenading. giri
in evening gowns or in SUMMER
white; men in evening dress Or
reefed In blue as nautically as pos
sible: old ladies toddIIng. swathed
In wells. old gentlemen In dinner
coats and sporting headgear--
every weird or conventional cOmbi-
nation infested the decks Of th9
Volhynia.
Now, for the first time during the
voyage, Neeland felt free TO -lOungo
about where he listed saunter
wherever the Whim OF the moment
safety OF the oliVe-wood box was
no longer on his mind, the haudlo
no longer In his physical clutch.
He was at liberty to str6lE a.
carelessly IS any boulevard
flaneur; and he did so. scanning
the passing thronS Cor \ glimpse
OF the goldcn-bcaTded one, bat not
seeing either or them.
In fact, he had nos laid eyes on
them since he had supped not wise
ly but too we'll on the soEp thar
Scheherazade ha6 favored Cor aiE.,-,
The stateroon door Of the gold-
en-beardcd man had remaiaed
closed. His own little cOckney
steward, who also looked our fcc
Golden Beard. reported that gem
tleman as requiring five meals 3
day, with beer in proportion, and
the porcelain pipe steamiug liks
Aetna all day long.
His little West Indian steward
ess also reported the gossip Es0fn
her friend on another corridor
which was, IN effect, that Miss
White, the trained nurse, took all
meals in her room and had not
been observed to leave that some
what monctoEous sanctuary.
How many more OF the band
there might be Neeland dill not
know. He remembered vaguely.
while lying rigid under the grip
OF the drug. that he Sad heard
Ilse Dumonts voice mention some
body called Kari. And he had an
idea that this Karl mIgnt easily be
the big. Manifested Gsrman Who
had :riej so earnestly TO stifie
him al hrow him from the yesG3-
bule midnight express
h.-ssi0n Nearing Eah.
However. it did not matter now.
The box was safe in the eapLaIn's
care; the NOIhynia would be Tying
at anchor Off Liverpool before day
light; the whole exciting and rO-
maEtic business was ended.
with an unconscious sigh, not
entirely of relief, Eeeland opened
his cigarette case. found il empty.
turned and went slowly beloW
with the idea of refiIIing IL.
They were dancing someW here
on deck; the music Of the SHIPS
orchestra came to his ears. IIa
paused u moment on the next deck
to lean on the rail in the darkness
and listen.
Far beneath him. through = sea
as black as onyx. swept the re-
Elections of the lighted ports; and
he could hear the faint hiss OF foam
from the curling flow below.
AS he turned to resume his quest
for cigarettes, he was startled e
see directly in front OF him the
heavy figure of a man-so close to
in
lively threw up his arm, elbow out.
to avoid contact
But the man, halting. rreret9
lifted his hat, saying that in the
dim light he had mistaken Neeiand
for a friCnd; and they passed
each other on the almost de-
serted deck, saiCtinS formally in
the European fashion, with lifted
hats.
His spirits . trifls sIbduee, but
still tinglinE with lhc shock OF dfs-
covering a stranger so close behind
him where ne had stood leaning
over the ships rail. Neeland eon-
tinued Oh his way below, -, .---
Had silently -Apprsaehed.
Probably the bfg man Had mads
a mistake in good faith: but the
man certainly had approached very
silently, was almost at hiss very
elbow when discovered. And Nee
land remembered the high. shot
depths over which. at that moment.
he had beer leaning; and nc realised
shat ii would have been very easy
for n man as big as that to have
flung him overheard before he had
wiz TO realize what had been done
to him.