The northwestern bulletin., 1923-08-25
Young Man With
Pigskin Bag
By H. IRVING KING

H down Sixth avenue. II was Just
turning dusk and the Sidewalks were
crowded. She always enjoyed this
Attls walk from the mail order house
where she was employed. down to
lTwenty-third street, where q cross
town car took her to the ferry on her
way 10 her homo In the confines Of
Hudson county.
She liked the feeling Of surging,
hurrying LIE around her and built
up little romancss for those Of the
passing throng whose faces caught
her attention.
A young man came walking rapidly
toward her. In his hand he carried
q small pisskin travelling bag. Con-
stance was Just about 70 start build
ing q romance for him when, a. he
passed her. she felt the handle Of the
travelling bag slipped Into her hand
and her fingers closed over 1t with q
gentle pressure. With q gasp Of AZ
,,touishmsnt she turned to see the young
mans back disappearing In the crowd.
Realising, instinctively. that she
could not stand there gaping idiotic-
ally and obstrucung the trafic, she
walked on, still holding the bag, her
mind In Q daza She looked down at
the mysterious article. It appeared
nearly new.
Could It be that the nice looking
young man had matched" 1t from
some one In the throng and, imagin-
ing that he had been detected In the
act had thrust the stolen property on
her to get rid Of Id incriminating Dos
sesSionf Impossible-with such an
open. attractive face a he had.
! But even II he had, thought Con-
stancs. and II her involuntary acqui-
escsnce In his act Of transference had
savsd him from arrest, she was glad
oe Il h was wrong 10 feel 90. she
knsw. but she was giad Of II.
Then suddenly another thought
suppose the bag contained an internal
mashinel
Oh, horrorsi What would she dor
II she dropped the bag. and there was
IN internal machine inside It would
surely explode.
Where was q policsmanf She had
reached Twenty-third street now and
"A with blanched face, she looked
around there was the young man him
lssaf. apparently waiting for her.
He reached out with one hand and
took the bag and lifted his hat with
,the other. '.Thanks," said he with
q captivating smile and hurried away
up the steps Of the elevated station
Constance. a. has been intimated.
was q commutsr. She dwelt with her
widowed mother In q neat cottage
within the confines Of Hudson county
and went to and from the great city
every day except Sundays
That her soul was tronbied because
sf the attractive young man and the
plgskin travelling bag goes without
saying. Here was mystery with q
capital r. What did 1t all meant
Whatever II meant she was prepared
10 declare ne attractive young man
not guilty. Not guilty ot whatf Well
-of anythiag dishonorabis. He could
net be, with that faca
Oonstancs scanned the papers ca
gsrly the NEXT morning. hoping against
hope that she might light upon some
thing which would furnish q clew to,
ths strange adventure. She read all
the police items word BY word. Moth
ing therel
Al, here 1t wasi q personal: III the
young lady who 20 obiisingiy carried
b gentleman's travelling bag from
Twsnty-afth street 10 Twenty-thirdl
street on Hirth avenue yesterday after
moon via kindly communicate with
q. T, at the once q the Forsythe
Chemical company (such street and
numbsr,, the gentleman viii bs glad
20 explain his unconyentional pro-
ceedings."
For q moment Constance hesitatsd,
but only for q moment. Then she dis
patched q little unsigned note to the
address given, simply stating that: III,
the gentleman Of the pigskin bag do
sired to explain his extraordinary con-
duct, hs would have an opportunity to
DO 20 at the place where he had re-
sumsd possession Of his property II
he would BE- there at Ave o'clock to
morrow afternoon"
No sooner had she mailed the note
than she regretted Il. Had she not
done IN unmaidsnly thing In thus MAX
ing IN appointment with an un-
Known mani But. then, the whole
AFFAIR was 90 against al rule and prec-
sdsnt And hs had such an honest,
frank facet She wondered what his
name was. She hoped II was Robert &
|she liked the name of Robert.
Constance wore her best dress on
ths day Of the meeting. Q neat tan
oolored, tailor-made suit She was ON
time at the rendezvous and the attrac.
tive young man was waiting for her.
he introduced himself. Mr.. John n.
|Tsnton. Constance was sure the h
stood for Robert; latsr on she found
she was right
He was the very embodiment Of def
lsrential courtesy. more agreeable even
THAN Constance had imagined himt
|shs felt that she could trust him Inn
|piicitiy.