The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 13, 1901, Page 6

6 THE SUNDAY CALL. GRENFALL LORRY hos f a twen- alone filled 0 mtry he knew ce lost its at- wsboys had literature for his preferred to gloomily and the e, and a W he he boxes with weariness. Grenfall Lor aid the train that dow in dark nt flity poment afte 1 figure ne him light the For many the after California r with voyage w every journe world &oon fished througl dia. and ot the Scottish Assouan. He s towns h Amer- a and the Rhone d Dam he but not until then did re might be me- me. True, he me Englishmen in the Rockles, but that h Wh > him above bee: amily that would have thing for thoughtful mother he Work S e 1t found him t dropped ere were managed - b nade him hat yme girls ma 1 the moment yo v sTe in mar mes to th marriage; his ind was general, and he he had a feeling in this case generalities did not apply well; there was sor g ubout the girl that made h beling her “Class A or B or - did not know, b e bowing to much dignity with & grand t he rea ir ar that ¥ he er companions uncheon in German word or j stately most with ing woman no erstand. His very st face lined; moustache and imperial gray; the evebrows large and bus and the jaw and chin square ani firm. The white-haired lady carried her head high with unmistakable gentility. They were all dressed In traveling suits - suggested something foreign, but a nor Par smart, but far from watched the trio with great in- ice during luncheon the young anced toward him carelessly impression that she v left the table nto the observation car, he th some defiance. But nd her dimples showed, was ashamed. For some t gazing from the car win- w—forgetting his luncheon—dreaming. he got back to his compartment the porter. A plaved in his pose you could find next compartment, w vigorously f carele “Do vo has the as git thuh. T ain’ ax um no ques- ause thuh's somethirn’ *bout um mak me f s if I ain’ got no right to k at um even.” er thought a moment. believe 1t'll do yuh any good, k o try to shine up to tha’ young lady. awt, I can tell yuh that. I e see too many guhls in ma time——" o you talking about? I'm not to her. I only want to ist out of curiosity.” 2 trifle yut 1 kind o’ thought was like oth’ gent'men when they & han’some wo Allus wants to Bn' ont womethi huh, suh, yoh know. *Scuse me gin’ yuh suh. Th' lady In question is a foh'ner—she es across th' ocean, 's fuh as I can fin’ € in a hurry to git home foh use they ain’ goin’ to stop v York, ’'cept to change ere do they change cars? by Wway of Cincinnati She Be ame | Over to S ied him by way of himself wondering if his ticket in St. Lo with her father and mothe suh; they's huh uncle and aunt. I heah huh call 'em uncl ' aunt Th’ ole gent'man is Uncle Caspar. I don’ know what they talk ’hc It's mostly some foh'en language. Th' young lady allus speaks Amehic to me, but th’ old folks ver' well. They all been to Frisco, an’ th' hired he'p they’s got with ’em say they been to Mexico, too. you lady ot good Amehican doll jon' care wha' she's been. She allus smiles when she ask me to do any thin’, and I wou are if she ne tipped me, ’'s long as she smiles that- away.” “8ervants with them, you y “Yas, suh; man an’' wo nex' sec- tion t'other side the ole folks. Cain't sa mor'n fifteen words in Amehican. Th’ woman is huh mald, an’ th’ man he's th’ gen'ral hustler fer th’ hull pahty.” “And you don’t know her name?” “No, an’ 1 cain’t ver’ well fin’ out.” “In what part of Europe does she live?” ““Australia, I think, suh.” “You mean Avstria. “Do I? 'Scuse ma ig'nance. T was jis’ guessin’ at it anyhow; one place's as good ‘nother h thuh, I reckon “Have you orfe of those dollars she gave you?” “Yes, suh. Heh's a coin that ain’ Ameh- ican, but she vy= it’s wuth seventy cents in our money. It's a foh’en piece. She t me to keep it till T went ovah to huh country; thén I coul have a high time with it—th: what she says—a high time'—an’ smiled kin' o’ knowin’ like.” “Let me see that coin,” said Lorry, eag- erly taking the silver piece from the por- ter's ha “I mever saw one like it be- fore. it looks to me, but I can't ke a thing out of these letters, gave it to you?” “Yas, suh—las’ on seventy c She evening’. A high time nts! That's reediculous, ain't it demanded the porter scornfully. “I'll give you a dollar for it. You can have a higher time on that.” The o0dd little coin changed owners im- ely, and the new possessor dropped it into his pocket with the inward con- viction that he was the silliest fool in existence. After the porter's departure he tcok the coin from his pocket, and, terested in can the Dark Corners With Eager the fearch ard Bent Eyes. with his back to the door, his face to the window. stndied its lettering During the afternccn he strolied about the train, his hand constantly jingling the coins. He passed her compartment everal times, yet refrained from look- ing in. But he wondered if she saw him At one little bear hunters ci station a group of Indian ted considerable interest among the | gers. Grenfall was down at the station platform at once, looking over a great stack of game. ! he left the car he met Uncle Caspar who was hurrying toward his niece’s se tion. A few moments later she came down the steps, followed by the dignified old gentleman. Grenfall tingled with a strange delight as she moved quite close to his side in her desire to see. Once he glanced at her face; there was a pretty look of fear in her eyes as she surveyed the massive I and the stark, stiff antelopes. But she laughed as she turned away with her uncle Grenfall was smoking his cigarette and vigorously jingling the coins in his pocket when the train pulled out. Then he swung on the car steps and found him- self at her feet. She was standing at the top, where she had lingered a mo- ment. There was an expression of anx- iety in her eyes as he looked up into them, followed instantly by one of relief. Then she passed into the car. She had seen him swing upon the moving steps and had feared for his safety—had shown in her glorious face that she was glad he did not fall beneath the Doubtless she would have been as ous had he been the porter or the brake- man, he reasoned, but that she had no- ticed him at all pleased him At Abllene he bought the Kansas City newspapers. Afier breakfast he found a seat In the observation car and settled himself to read. Presently some one took a seat behind him. He did not look bacic, but unconcernedly cast his eyes upon the broad mirror in the opposite car wall. Instantly he forgot his paper. She was sitting within five feet of him, a book in her lap, her gaze bent briefly on the fitting bulldings outside. He studied the reflection furtively until she took up the book and began to read. Up to this time he had wondered why some nonsensical jdiot had wasted looking glasses on the walls of .a railway coach; now he was thinking of him as a far-sighted men. The first page of his paper was fairly alive with fresh and Important dispatches, chiefly foreign. At length, after allowing himself to become really interested in a Paris dispatch of some international con- e, he turned his eyes again to the mirrc She was leaning slightly for- ward, holding the open book in her lap, but reading, with straining eyes, an arti- cle in the paper he held. He calmly turped to the next page and looked lelsurely over it. Another glance, quickly taken, showed to him a disap- pointed frown on the pretty face and a reluctant resumption of novel reading. A few moments later he turned back to the first page, holding the paper in such a position that she could not see, and, full of curiosity, read every line of the foreign news, wondering what had interested her. Under ordinary circumstances Lorry would have offered her the paper and thought nothing more about it. With her, however, there was an air that made him hesitate. He felt strangely awkward and inexperienced beside her; precedents did not s2em to count. He arose, tossed the paper over the back of the chair as if casiing it aside forever and strolled over to the oppesite window and looked out for a few moments, jingling his coins care- lessly. The jingle of the pleces suggested something else to him. His paper still hung {nvitingly, upside’ down, as he had left it, on the chalr, and the lady was poring over her novel. As he passed her he drew his right hand from his pocket and a piece of money dropped to the floor at her feet. Then began an embarrassed search for the coin—in the wrong direc- tion, of course. He knew precisely where it had rolled, but purposely looked under the seats on the other side of the car. She drew her skirts aside and assisted in the search. Four different times he saw the little piece of money, but did not pick it up. Finally, laughing awkwardly, he began to search on her side of the car. ‘Whereupon she rose and gave him more room. She became interested in the search and bent over to scan the dark corners with eager eyes. Thelr heads were very close together more than once. At 1 she uttered an exclamation and her hand went to the floor in triumph. TLey arose together, flushed and smiling. She had the coin in her hand. “I have 1it,” ‘she said gayly, a deliclous foreign tinge to the words. “I thank you— he began, holding out his hand as if in a dream of ecstacy, but her eyes had fallen momentarily on the object of their search. “Oh!” she exclaimed, the prettiest sur- prise in the world coming into her face. It was a coin from her faraway home- land, and she was betrayed into the In- voluntary exclamation. Instantly, how- ever, she regained her composure and dropped the piece into his outstretched hand, a proud flush ‘mounting to her cheek, a look of cold reserve to her eyes. He had hoped rhe would offer some com- ment on what she must have considered a strange coinzidence, but he was disap- poiated. He wondered if she even heard him say: “I am sorry to have troubled you “She had resumed her seat, and to him there seemed a thousand miles between them. Feeling decidedly uncomfortable and not a little abashed, he left her and strode to the Joor. Again a mirror gave him a thrill. This time it was the glass in the car's end. He had taken but a half-dozen steps when the brown head was turned slyly and a pair of interested eyes looked after him. She did not know that he could see her, so he had the sat- isfaction of observing that pretty, puzzled face plainly until he passed through the door. Grenfall had formed many chance ac- quaintances during his travels, some- times taking risks and liberties that were refreshingly bold. He had seldom been repulsed, strange to say, and as he went to his section dlzzily he thought of the good fortune that had been his in other attempts, and asked himself why it had not occurred to kim to make the same ad- vances in the present instance. Somehow she was different. There was that strange dignity, that pure beauty, that imperial manner, all combining to forbid the faint- est thought of familiarity. He was more than astonished at himself for having tricked her a few moments be- fore into a perfectly natural departure from indifference. She had been so re- served and so natural that he looked back and asked himself what had happened to flatter his vanity except a passing show of interes With this, he smiled and re- calied similar cpportunities in days gone by, all of which had been turned to ad- vantage and had resulted In amusing pas- times. And here was a pretty girl with an air of mystery about her, worthy of his best efforts, but toward whom he had not dared to turn a frivolous eye. He took out the coin and leaned back in his chair, wondering where it came from. “In any case,” he thought, “it'H make a good pocket-plece, and some day I'll find some idiot who knows more about geography than I do.” Mr. Lorry’s own ideas of geography were jumbled and vague—as if he had got them by studying the labels on his hat box. He knew the places he had been to and he recognized a new country by the annoyances of the Custom-house, but beyond this hs ignor- ance was complete. The coin, so far as he knew, might have come from any one of a hundred small principalities scattereq about the continent. Yet it bothered him a little that he could not tell which one. He was more than curious about a very beautiful young woman—in fact, he was undeniably interested in her. He pleas. antly called himself an “ass” to have his head turned over a pretty face, a foreign accent and an insignificant coln, and yet bhe was fascinated. Louis he Before the train reached & made up his inind to change ars and go to Washington with b It also occurred to him that he might go on to New York if the spell lasted. During the day he telegraphed ahead for accom dations, and when the fly Louis that evening he hurried! to the transferring and reche baggage, bought a new At 8 he was at the sta he passed her in the aisle ing in her stateroom doc maid. He saw a look of s her face as he passed. that night and dreamed crossing the ocean with her, At breakfast ne saw her, bt him it was when he was her. Onece he caught Uncle ing at him through his mo dropped instantly from his manner that self-¢ had ev tly 1 the unc to him, but herself from the window whe poiled the cket that alway calt was tion dately fortunately its took a furious bound tion that she had deigned t scrut recognition only him because he pos: Once “the old gen time of cay and set I to the reply. Ohio the m scowled at him bec: he invol stared after his s as she ¢ platform while the ted at a tion. Again, in Ohio, they met in the tibule, and he was compelled to step as to allow her to pa: He did not ticularly jubilant over this meeti did not even glance at him. Lorry realized that his opportunities were fast disappearing, and that he 1 not seem to be any nearer meeting her than when they started. He had hoped t ar into a conversation t Unele Caspar was @ listant shot get Uncle C: verg. “If there 1 be a * Grenfall caught himself think “then my chance would come; but I see how Providence is going to help me in any other w Ne the left St. ain thr of t Bellaire. Grafton and other towns wers left behind. and they were : up the steep mountain higher, through tunnel after - er and nearer t ington m ute ing out it mining town the m a sudden jar ain some € informat he 3 place it before the “ru Lorry strolied gers who w i fireman a voice he it 1 dressed the conduc and annoyed, stood immediately be him “How long are we to be delayed?" she asked. Just two minu before same conductor had respo graciously asked and another inquisitive 5 warmer climate bec esking for rmati given except by a he answered “We'll be least, Miss—p She walked away and Grenfall look Off the main street lanes lea all ended at There was a drop of al feet straight Into the sides of this es to th a3 the ma ] high ground ¢ railroad yards, Down one of these streets walked the young lady usly intere in all about her. She seem cape from the train and its people and she hurried along, the fresh spring wind blowing her F rom beneath her ca the ends of I at flutte: then he atform wa g a cigarette and fol- ed. He had a vague feeling that she ht not to be alone with all the work- men. She started to ¢ back before he reached her, however, and he turned again toward the stati Then he heard a sudden whistle and a minute later hag the end of the str he saw the train pulling out. Lorry had rather distin- ed himself in college as a er he dashed up the street 2 t in time to catch the railing of the last coach. But there he stopped and stood with thumping heart while the eoaches slid smoothly up the track, leaving him behind. He re membered he was not the only one left and he panted and smiled. It occurred to iim—when it was too late—that he might have got on the train and pulled the rope or called the conductor, but that was out of the question now. After a it might not be such a merry game to stay in that fiithy little town; it did not follow that she would prove ‘friend A few moments later she appeared— wholly unconselous of what had hap- pened. ‘ A glance down the track and her face was the picture of despalr Then she saw him coming toward her with long strides, flushed and excited Regardless of appearances, conditions or consequences, she hurried to meet him, ‘Where is the train?” she gasped, as the distance between them grew s ort, her blue eyes seeking his beseechin her hands clasped. “It has gone.” “‘Gone? And we—we are left?" He nodded, delighted by the word “we." “The conductor sald thirty minu has been but twen she cried, tearfully, half angrily, looking at her watch. ““Oh, what shall I do?" she wer on, distractedly. He had enjoyed the sweet, despairing tones, but this last wail called for manly and instant action. “an we catch the traln? We must! I will give a thousand dollars. I must catch it.” She had placed her gloved hand against a telegraph pole to steady her trembling, but her face w perious, commanding. him to obey as she would have com manded a slave. In her voice there w. authority, in her eye there was fear. § could control the one but not the oth “We cannot catch the flyer. I want to catch it as much as you and”—here he stralghtened himself—"I would add a thousand to yours.” He hesitated a mo- ment—thinking. “There is but one ws and no time to lose.’ With this he turned and ran rapidly toward the lttle depot and teleg office. 3 resolute, She was ord ou 1L TWO STRANGERS IN A COACH. Lorry' wasted very little time. He