The Washington herald., 1921-05-15
The THIEVES MARKET By

Il /kE i
tConcnusd froU prseeding pagsl
ahip stripped Of every uaiserahls convention.
and yet kept clean and vibrant against some
inenabls hour Of fuinlimsnt or disaster. She
was no fool; she knew that th.rs was no hope
for an eternal impersonai:ty between herssff
and Ridenour They attracted each other too
vitality for that. But to have the end como
An angry flush mounted To her cheeks,
Ridenour saw 1t. snatched his foot away,
turned red. arose. dropped q gold piece on the
table, and said shortly. Come on"
He elbowed a way for hsr along the fine Of
men crowded at the bar. They turned their
heads without exception. smiled. nurmured
In her ear. but she gave them not the slight
est heed. she was too intent on Keeping pace
with her escort
As he emerged on the sidewalk he stopped
to light a cisaret and blew the frst fuil pun
OF smoke into the upturned face Of . passer-
by, q face peculiar that once seen Il could
not easily be forgotten Its eyes were as
long as pointed almonds, its eyebrows
strangely slanted. but its cheeks were
swarthy and the lips full They were curved
into a smile Of amused, cynicisn. 1t was the
face Of q composition Of the dregs Of an
assortment of races. but Miss Estes at:en-
ton not riveted by any such involute
deduction; it was fixed by the inscrutable yet
meaning glance which the almond eyes flung
up at Ridenour. a glance which in itself was
a strange mixture of derison. understanding.
camaraderie.
1t took but an instant for her to absorb
this impression. but she had not had time to
puzzle it out when Ridenour fiicked the dead
match. which he still held. over his shoulder
in the general direction OF a man who had
foil eed them out of the restaurant If the
mat was aimed, IL was well aimed. 1t
struck the stranger on the cheek
Are you suddenly determined to be rude
to everybody" demanded Miss Estes. Your
match hit that gentleman In the face
Did IL? murmured Ridenour coolly.
The stranger started at hearing English.
glanced over his shoulder. but hurried on; the
man Of the almond eyes followed him; Ride
nour kept his head down. his face hidden.
Presently he dropped his cigaret in the gut
ter. shrugged his shoulders moodily and
walked on toward the hotel For a moment
Hndegarde hesitated. then she followed and
Joined him. but said nothing. She felt frozen
within herself She had heard Of men who
give way periodically to emotional and sensu-
Gus debauches as others to liquor. and. think
ing only Of the manner in which Ridenour
had pressed her foot, she wondered II he
could be one of these and If her prompt rebuff
had induced his Ill temper.
They walked in silence to the hotel, and on
the following day Miss Estes excused herself
by a note from accompanying him She said
she had a headache. but the truth, was that
she was by turns miserable and furious. un-
happy at the thought that the royal road Of
vaga gabondage had dwinded 50 meaniy, angry
that this man with suddenly discovered feet
o: clay had established himself SO deep In her
regard andEyes. and so near her heart-that
Bne cOulQ not un1ncoLdtcly uISPosScsS Hifu-
Still another day passed before she realized
that intimacy in any degree has certain ac-
quired rights. realm Of its own from which
II cannot be expelled by the first vagrant
doubt She came to RidenoU a little wist.
fully as one who revistts the scene of past
happiness to look for remnants Of hope. He
glanced up from his morning paper. arose
hurriedly, and drew her chair. but said moth
ing until she had ordered her breakfast: then
he remarked:
We'll. I'm on. My man was naboed this
morning"
Miss Estes stared at him. -Nabbed!" she
stamrnered. Nabbed this morning." There
were tears Of disappointment in her VOICE
R.denour pointed out IN fem in the paper
They got him, all light: at Laredo"
AT Laredo" repeated the girl. Her eyes
suddenly flashed Then you must hav,
come on him over two days ago, when we
when we were together. Oh. why didn'
you tell me? Why couldn't your
He smiled slowly at the accusation In he1
tones, then his face turned grave and h,
sighed
Heaven knows I tried to-" he murmuret
absently. "I stepped your foot, blew
Gnoke in the face Of my ferret. hit m,