Evening star., 1921-09-11

InO CluU ease ulIu lhlO Ci6hN-Ao%A
dred-dollar fur-lined coat and sailed
forth in a taxicab to seek adventure
in a house chosen at random. Trivial
as the adventure had been. it was
q stirring event in Morley Smiths
placid. well-groomed life. For week
he munched it in his mind and was
satisfied He glowed with a feeling
that he had seen life. Then came
the urge to further adventure.
When he had finished his ample
dinner at the club. washed down by
. half-pint of good sauterne (his Ia
vorite dinner-wine,. Morley Smith
had retired to the smoking-room
nothing farther from his mind than
the thought of going out into the
miserable, drizzly night. 1t was an
excellent night on which to SIT IN
drowsy comfort in the club. ana ne
settled himself in a big chair, with q
fat cigar and the daily paper. 1t
may have been so slight thing as
q whispering of uneasiness IN re-
gion under his waistcoat where all
was usually placid. Without know
ing why. Morley Smith felt a vague
discomfort. He tossed the newspaper
onto the table.
H.,
For an instant he thought OF the
opera-which bored him always. He
thought of his favorite musical
comedy. and thought OF it with dis.
taste Suddenly, with the impetus OF
a flood, there swept through his con-
seriousness a memory of the tremu-
lous moments during his first anna
teur adventure. when he was not
sure whether he would be kicked out
of the apartment into which he had
so daringly ventured. or accepted as
a lawful visitor; and he desired once
more to feel that thrill. He tapped
the bell at his side.
Henry" he said, "a taxi"
yes. Mr.. Smith," Henry said.
"There is one outside now. sir"
There was now. in manner OF
speaking. no turning back. OF course
he might, if he chose. tell Henry he
rad changed his mind, or he might
order the taxi driver to carry MIN
to this or that theater. but as an
amateur adventurer such 1alterins
game The adventure began when
the first word was spoken. When he
was buttoned into his fur-lned coat
and stood with one foot on the step
of the taxi the adventure was we'll
along.
"Where to, Mr. Morley" asked the
On his way from the coatroom to
the street Morley Smith had plunged
deeper into adventure than he had
ever imagined possible This tune ne
would choose no quiet. respectable
street but plunge into the heart OF
danger. where adventure teens. He
would leap into the heart OF the
black area known as the East SIDE
vaguely so known to Morley SMITH:
East Houston Street" he said. 7
say, 1 don't recall the number. what?
when you get there. drive. along
bit slowly. old chap. and I'll know
the place"
THIS was going it strong. He halt
ed the taxi before a tenement
house that was as like all the others
on the block, as one third pea in
pod is like the fourth and fifth. He
stepped out of the cab and looked up
at the facade Of the building. The
East Side!
"wait here for me- he said. and
the driver clambered down and threw
a robe over the hood of his cab. Dis
cretion is the better part OF valor.
1t was as well to have the cab at
hand.
In the entrance Morley Smith did
not find the row of Ietter-boxes he
had expected. Here, evidently, one
did not push a button: one entered
and went where he chose. He looked
coming down. : Morley Smith stood
until he should pass, for the stairway
was narrow. The man stopped
Here already? That's quick
work." he said approvingly. ITS
the fourth floor: the first door on the
right. Go right up"
"Thank you. said Morley Smith.
and he went up the stairs.
AS you mount the stairs in tene-
ment, one side of the building is on
your right; When you reach 81
the dark. narrow hall. the other side
of the building is on your right.
Morley Smiths heart was beating
rapidly, either with the elation due
to the adventure or the exertion Of
on the door to his right. after trying
the bell in vain. He raped as a
soft-knuckled clubman would rap,
not noisily, but with authority. and
at the second rapping the door
opened.
A girl. not more than sixteen. thin.
big-eyed and pale. answered. The
room behind her was so scantly fur
nished as to seem but temporary
lodging place. There was no carpet
on the floor. On a couch pushed
made pile of cheap bedding; there
was no chair and no table. Instead
there were short, nondescript
wooden bench and a packing-case on
which stood an oil lamp. On the
box were a bottle of milk and loaf
of bread from which perhaps half
had been cut away. On the wall,
on hooks, hung several articles of
female wearing apparel and a dowdy
little hat The feather of the hat
was still wet. or had dried while pre-
serving it's water-soaked appearance.
clearly he saw that the face Of the
girl was streaked with tears, and
that tears still glistened in her eyes.
She supported herself against the
door-frame; in her hand she held a
wad of wet handkerchief, and she
used it on her eyes before she spoke.
This is the wrong door," she said.
sTt is the door across the hall"
Morley Smith might have answered
that no door twas the wrong door for
him since no door was the right
don?" ouestioningly. while his eyes
took the girl in.
1T is the door across the hail."
the girl repeated. you are the un-
dertaker, aren't you?"
In the course Of his first adven-
ture Morley Smith had accepted the
suggestion that he was an insurance
adjuster and he was ready to accept
almost any similar suggestion II 1t
might further his adventures, but he
recoiled from the necessity Of posing,
even temporarily. as an undertaken.
my word, NOT" he exclaimed. sBy
3ove: now! I don't look quite that,
The o,r1 .tarsa n, hin, aouhtfu1lv