Evening star., 1927-09-16
CHAPTER XXI.
The Mountain Trail.

HRISTOPHER, sleeping sound
Wv in his room at the Wash
ington Hotel, Cristobal, was
aroused about o'clock on
Sunday morning, As hours
after leaving the Hope, by violent
knocking at his door. 1t required TWO
or three minutes for him to get ms
hearings. for his slumber had been
the profound one that follows eX'
haustion, and his sudden awakening
in unfamiliar surroundings bewiidereu
him. The knocking continued until
no came to himself sufficiently TO rise
and open the door. confronting good
hooking young fellow in civilian
clothes. c.
"Alr. Dahlgren? Mr.. Winston left
this note for you, sir, said to be sure
to hand it to you myself.
Thanks" Chris took the envelope
"sny answer! -,
hack about noon. / hope l dldn I
wake you too early. sir, he said it was
very important that you should get 1t
the first thing in the morning..
Chris, still sleepy, thanked the mes
sanSer and closing the door of his
room sat down on the edge OF the
he'd TO read Winston's note, praying
as he tore it open, that some news OF
Anne might be contained therein, and
reacting to its contents with whoop
of joy! 49,, uo
ouietlv he said: Thank Cod for
the message did indeed contain news
OF his beloved:
"Anne safe at Aeon. Take first
boat through canal in the morning,
she'll be waiting at dock. Will call
YOU there by early afternoon. Win
ston."
The blessed sense of relief which
stole over Christopher, following the
reading of this note, shut out all other
feelings. Anne was found, safe ana
well, In a few hours he would see
her again, hold her close, kiss the
sweet lips so long denied him! His
pulses throbbed, his whole being re-
sponded to the tremendous thrill Of
Joy that overwhelmed him.
Five minutes were passed in this
realm of ecstasy, then more practical
details loomed once more into the
the first boat through the canal,
sending a wireless to the steamer
bringing Anne's father and the keans,
TO the scene of action. How re-
lieved and rejoiced such a message
would make the little party! Chris
topher, jumping into his clothes with
out further delay, pictured the thanks
giving aboard the boat. and concocted
his message to Prof. Norris without
regard to expense.
He was writing it down, to save
time, when it occurred to him that he
had better leave word for Winston,
and it was then that he penned the
message received later that day by
Winston, the message which so
startled that young man:
Got your note. Following your In
structions, Chris"
Now, then" Christopher said aloud,
as he opened the door, Lafayette we
are herew And stepping into the
hall he stopped to remove his key
when he felt light touch upon his
arm, and turning in response stared
into the face of a woman f1attened
against the wall, her head and body
enveloped with dark shawl.
"Shhh.' she whispered, mot speak
herei Come by house where see fire
last night, quick" and before Chris
topher could reply she had slipped
away around a corner of the corridor
and vanished from sight.
Chris stood stock still, wondering
what this strange appearance por-
tended. Where had he seen the
woman before? Her face was vaguely
familiar-yet he had not met any
woman on the Zone. 1t was not
Marie-not Sonia-a chambermaid of
the hotel, perhaps? Certainly he was
not going to follow blind lead of
that kind! He must get to Ancon
without delay, and he hurried down
stairs and into the lobby, leaving his
key and the note for Winston with
the hotel clerk. Then without delay
he set out for the docks, still wonder
ing what the woman could have had
in mind, and he had almost reached
the waterfront when he suddenly re-
membered where he'd seen her! She
was one of the girls Winston had
brought to meet him the night he
had come in upon the tug, the Banana
Baby!
Christopher stopped short, his mind
one big question mark. This was
Winston's girl, and he had learned
that Winston never made an un-
necessary connection or lost trick.
There must be some reason for her
peculiar call, for unless she knew
something of what was going on she
could not have been aware Of his
presence at the bonfire the night be-
fore. The house belonged to Holmes,
q man under Government surveillance,
the home of the carrier pigeons, the