The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-11-04
CHAPTER I. The Woman of the Coach

1 a vouns man was pushed inside by the | guard. As he picked up his vahse l and raincoat, which had HnoWn out 1 of his hand, he noticed that his only l feFow-passenge was a lady, Who 1 seated in a corner at the farther end | of the carriage, had her head turned toward the wind ow-
 l In Belgium. as in France. one does 1 not lightly address a lady travelling | a1one-that is, unless ones intan- l tions are gallant. or unless the lady's
 age renders 1t unlikely that gaMantry | should be suspected, and as this lady l continued to look out of the window l (which, as it was now dark, reflect
 ed the carriage and it's other passen- 1 ger), and as she was shrouded in l furs that it was impossible to decide l whether she was young or old, Law renee Aronld decided with a feeling 1 of relief that it was not necessary to | laboriously construct a phrase in | French which should express his des- | olation at having intruded upon her l privacy.
 l He determined to change carriages
 at the next opportunity, and. as he 1 had omitted to buy himself anything l to read, gave himself up to use1ess | indignation at the Chemin de Fer's l use of these inconvenfent and old 1 fashioned carriages instead of the
 usual corridor train. occasioned by | the snow-drifts. which had inter- | fered greatly With the passenger traf- fc between Brussels and Paris. It
 was cold, and he had not been sup | plitd with the usual metal foot | warmer filled with hot water.
 | However. Arnold hoped that when | they reached the frontier he would be
 able to relieve the lady of his society,
 and at the same time improve his
 own lot.
 The dim light. the silence and the
 cold, made him sleepy, and in order
 order to keep awake he began to
 make mental program for his weeks
 stay in Paris, which included the pur-
 chase of a bracelet, set, if possible with scarabs, which his sister had
 petitioned, and for which he had
 searched in vain in Brussels.
 The lady in the farther corner con | tinued to stare into the window with such persistence that a vague sense
 of injury penetrated Arnold's drowsl- ness, for. after all, it was scarcely his fault that he had been thrust into
 her comDnny. He contemplated the
 back Of her fur toque-which show
 ed only a suggestion of black hair
 with some intention of telling her, as
 soon as 1t should please her to glance
 in his direction. that he would change carriages at the next stop.
 But, instead, he went to sleep. When he awol1e, he found that the
 lady was looking at him with an ex-
 press:on of hostility as marked as 1t
 Was inexplicable. Oserving that Ar
 hold had awakene ed, she returned to
 her study of the window, but not be-
 fore he had established the fact of
 her youth, and received a strong inn pression of a small, vividly tinted face of a type Spanish rather than Trench, with intensely black hair and eyelashes. She took no further notice
 of him. but seemed unable to control signs of restlessness which she had
 not at first shown.
 The train. which, On account of snow-drifts upon the line, had stopped , frequently, now crept through a small station, of which Arnold did
 not see the name. but which must
 have conveyed something to the lady,
 for she rose and began to rearrange
 her belongings upon the seat. Arnold, 5 guessing that they were near the frontier, offered to list her suit case
 from the rack. with which she ap-
 peared to have some difficulty, and
 rather to his surprise she accepted his aid with brilliant smile. , When he put the suitcase ,on the ! seat, she was just picking up his rain ! coat from the floor, where it had evil I dentfy fallen. It was now his turn to thank her. which he did with more earnestness than the occasion really ! demanded. They returned to their respective seats. and a moment later
 the train slowed up beside a platform and a uniformed official walked along, = calling out warning to the passen- V gers to get their baggage ready for !. the customs inspection.
 great deal of lace is smuggled o out of Belgium, and the customs ex- ;; animation is always very thorough. V l A heavy penalty is exacted in all de- = tected cases. and while the successful
 snuggler is always regarded as some
 what of hero. the unfortunate who t l is caught in the act is prop ortio ionately 0 regarded as one having fallen from u grace.
 In the present case. the customs e officer had asked if either of the pas s sengers had anything to declare, and n each had returned "a negative answer h He was about to leave the carriage,
 after having plunged into all the s suit cases, when the young lady ere d ated something of a sensation by say- y ing:
 n Pardon, monsieur! That gentre- > man has duitable articles in the | pocket of that coat. I saw them = when accidentally upset it,'
 The customs officer. with a ques- toning glance from the young lady - to the staring Aronld, politely asked T the latter to empty the pockets of h1s t raincoat Arnold slowly did so, re- Il membering with uneasiness the lady's t malevo1ent glances, and the excellent U opportunity she had had to slip some - thing into his pocket while he was
 taking down the suitcase. In fact, he
 scarcely had time to wonder what req ,s son she could possibly have for wish
 ing to have an innocent fellow pas 0 enger arrested for smuggling, before : his fingers encountered an unfamiliar o o2 package. hastily wrapped in tissue . paper. which, as he drew it out plainly showed lace at one end The . officer of the douane unwrapped the