New-York tribune., 1920-08-01
.NO THE other passengers in
the Pullman car the Fair in
Section z were q nrosnerolls

A CcStiOH were prosperous
business man of q rotund
middle age, who was sedately alb
sorbed in his afternoon papers, and
healthy youngster in his later
teens who watched the window fas-
cinatedly. The man had an air of
unworried wellbeing; he read as if
he were contented with the world
and tolerant of its doings, as these
appeared in print, and when, in
turning the paper, he glanced at
the boy, he showed an appraising
eye of interest in that silent young
alertness that did not irritate with
questions. The boy remained obliv-
ious. The Hudson River was max
ing moving picture of itself in the
frame of the car window for his
Notwithstanding and flickering as it
unrolled on a sun-dazzled finland
he and the other passengers might
have been sitting in the darkness of
orchestra chairs, for all he saw of
them
The man was Walter Babbing.
The boy was Barney Cook. They
were supposed to be on their way to
Philadelphia to work on a case. And
Babbing was waiting to see how
long it would take Barney to remem-
ber that the road to Philadelphia did
not lead up the west bank of the
Hudson River.
Hence his appraising glances.
Hence, also, the questions that he be-
gan to ask, from behind his paper,
every now and then, as he turned
from one news item to the next:
"Were you ever in Philadelphia 2"
"How far have you been from New
York;" "Where is Philadelphia" 2"
"Well, in what direction do you think
it is from New York;" And to these
queries Barney had to answer that
he had never been in PHILADELPHIA.
that he had never been further from
New York than Coney Island, that
he did not know where Philadelphia
was, nor in what direction it Law,
nor how long it would take to get
there. He admitted his ignorance
reluctantly.
Babbing put aside his paper.
You're real New Yorker" he con-
cluded, with sarcasm. He opened his
satchel on the seat beside him, took
book from it, and settled down
again to read. Barney returned his
eyes to the window, smiling doubt
fully.
He did not notice Babbinc's book.
Yet he might we'll have done SO. 1t
was curious book for detective to
be reading-a sort of boudoir vol
ume of Elizabethan poetry, bound in
white vellum elaborately fooled in
gold leaf. 1t was called "The
Queens Choir" and the poem tc
which he first applied himself was
in the middle of the book: ga Fic-
ton; How Cupid Made a Nymph
Wound Herself With His Arrows y
In the last stanza there was 9 coup
let that read:
Though mountains meet not, lovers
may;
So others do, and so do they.
And the first line Of the couplet
was heavily underscored.
Babbing regarded that line with
satisfaction before he went back to
the blank fyleaves and began to ex-
anime page after page with leisurely
particularly. "Have you ever heard
of the Catskills?"
eyes, sir"
He passed several pages before he
asked: "What are they?"
Barney looked out the window as
if he expected to see them floating
down the Hudson on a Haverstraw
brick barge. ~ don't know" he re-
piled, II forget"
"They're mountains" Babbing said
sand we're going there"
Barney glanced furtively out the
window again to make sure that he
had not overlooked them. There
were none in sight. eyes, STR" he
said.
"Sit over here and III tell you
what l want you to do"
Babbing continued to occupy him,
self with his book. eve have case
against a man named Langton," he
said, as he scrutinized and turned
the pages. civilian x. Langton
For wrecking trust company that
he was president Of He's out O,
bail. We can't complete our case
against him without the evidenc,
of the treasurer of the company
a young fellow James Whately
James Parkin Whately. Whately
has disappeared. He's keeping our
of the way, so as to protect ole
Langton.
"He's engaged to Langton's daugh