The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-07-31

next passing, hoping that she would
be more easy of recognition then.
Even though one has rented fur
nished apartment, and has lived in it
only a few months, one finds that
little by little one has acquired a
considerable quantity of possessions.
was sailing in two days; l could
not afford to be willfuily eXtrava-
giant; SO spent the rest Of the day
in dealings with secondhand mer-
chants, realizing a few thousand
francs. The next day l spent in
packing and shipping my trunks and
in purchasing some necessaries for
the trip. And the next morning,
promptly at nine o'clock, ! passed
through the train gates at the Care
du Nord, and entered a first-class
carriage.
Having seen to it that my bags
were safely deposited in corner of
the carriage, walked to the plat
form to watch the rest Of the trav-
elers. | strOlled as far as the train
gates, putting at cigaret. l was
| about to turn back when ! saw, ac-
companied by maid, a valet and an
misunderstanding youth who was
occasionally the millionaire's sec
rotary, Mr.. and Mrs. Higgins.
| had. not examined the passeng-
enlist, and SO was surprised at their
arrival. But beyond natural in
terest at the coincidence, l should
have thought very little about it.,
had not they been followed through
the gates by man who was blind
in one eye. Not merely that, but
he was indisputably one Of the
group with which l had collided on
corner Of the Rue des Saints
Peres!
could not be mistaken; the fact
that his dress was much improved,
that he had been to a barber, made
no difference. In that first moment
of shock, when l had realized that
| all these loiterers on the sidewalk
were blind, the features of those
whom l beheld were ineradicably i'm
| pressed upon mys memory.
All my resolutions, that l would
worry no more about Higgins and
the White Eagle, left me. Indeed,
watched eagerly Cor the arrival of
the supercrook. But he did not come,
though l waited until the last mo-
ment before the train started.
strOlled through the train short
ly after we pulled out from the sta
ton. The Higgins party occupied
two private compartments, as
could tell from the half-opened
doors. The oneeyed man shared a
compartment with three other peo-
pie, American tourists.
| The One-eyed man., then, was not
part of the Higgins encourage. He
had exchanged no signs of recogni-
! ton with the millionaire as they
}passed through the train gates, al
| though they had been close enough
to touch each other.
| Puzzled, bewildered, almost fran
tic because could not peer through
curtains behind which, was con-
tvinced, a play of vital significance
to me was being performed, l rode
to Cherbourg. was no wiser at the
end of the railway journey. Indeed
l was no wiser six days later when
the Altaria was only a night from
her dock in New York.
During those six days | had OBJ
! served, as closely as l could with
! out drawing attention to myself,
Higgins and the one-eyed man. But
although nearly every one of the
first-class passengers, including my
self, exchanged words, lat some
ttime or other, with the millionaire,
the one-eyed man never to my know
ledge. even exchanged look with
Higgins. The one-eyed man kept to
HIMSELF whenever he walked the
deck, he was alone; he never SEEM
ed to utter more than monosyllables
to his table-mates in the saloon; he
neither offered nor accepted hos
pitality in the smoke-room, but
drank alone.
On the night before We landed, l
| attended the concert in the lounge.
I sat with couple of chance ac-
quaintances near the door, where we
watched the various arrivals, ex-
[ changed banter with them, and Cos
siped, after the fashion of travellers,
about their manners, appearances,
fprobable income, and flirtations dur
ing, the voyage. Then, as ,Mr. and
| Mrs. Higgins passed through the
wide doors, we all three gasped.
/ Higgins was worthy of note. His
white waistcoat was fastened with
emerald buttons; he wore a soil
tire diamond on one hand that must
have weighed dozen carats and
been worth fortune. A solid rope
of diamonds hung from his watch
pocket, supporting ruby fob.
His vulgarities had formed the
basis of half the smoke-room talk
lduring the trip, but this ostentation,
Fin excessively bad taste, outdid any
thing else. But he was diffident as
compared with his wife.
1t was not alone. that her gown
was cut so low that one blushed with
vicarious shame, wondering that so
Uniformed aewoman should care to
fexpose her muddy flesh. 1t was not
that her jewels were so expensive,
keyen; it was that she wore such an
unbelievable number Of. them. She
seemed plastered with precious
stones, until one forgot how low
her dress was cut. had read of
her jewels, but had assumed that
the newspaper writer's had been
guilty Of the usual Sunday supple
ment exaggeration. Now knew that
they had been restrained.
And one jewel, pearl hanging
from q chain until it rested like q
La round white grape upon, her bosom
held my fascinated eyes. It drew
fmy companions attention, too, for
one Of them, Brokaw by name, men
ftioaed it.