Government investigators -- Fiction; Impostors and imposture -- Fiction; Religious fiction; Romantic suspense fiction
“Is there a doctor on board, or have you any restoratives? There is a
lady----” He hesitated and the color rolled freshly into his anxious
face. “That is--my wife.” He spoke the word unwillingly, having at the
instant of speaking realized that he must say this to protect her good
name. It seemed like uttering a falsehood, or stealing another man’s
property; and yet, technically, it was true, and for her sake at least
he must acknowledge it.
“My wife,” he began again more connectedly, “is ill--unconscious.”
The conductor looked at him sharply. He had sized them up as a wedding
party when they came down the platform toward the train. The young
man’s blush confirmed his supposition.
“I’ll see!” he said briefly. “Go back to her and I’ll bring some one.”
It was just as Gordon turned back that the thick-set man entered the
car from the other end and met him face to face, but Gordon was too
distraught at that moment to notice him, for his mind was at rest about
his pursuer as soon as the train started.
Not so with the pursuer however. His keen little eyes took in the
white, anxious face, the smear of sticking plaster about the mouth and
eyebrows, and instantly knew his man. His instincts had not failed him
after all.
He put out a pair of brawny fists to catch at him, but a lurch of the
train and Gordon’s swift stride out-purposed him, and by the time the
little man had righted his footing Gordon was disappearing into the
stateroom, and the conductor with another man was in the aisle behind
him waiting to pass. He stepped back and watched. At least he had
driven his prey to quarry and there was no possible escape now until
the train stopped. He would watch that door as a cat watches a mouse,
and perhaps be able to send a telegram for help before he made any move
at all. It was as well that his impulse to take the man then and there
had come to naught. What would the other passengers have thought of
him? He must of course move cautiously. What a blunder he had almost
made. It was no part of his purpose to make public his errand. The
men who were behind him did not wish to be known, nor to have their
business known.
With narrowing eyes he watched the door of the stateroom as the
conductor and doctor came and went. He gathered from a few questions
asked by one of the passengers that there was some one sick, probably
the lady he had seen faint as the train started. It occurred to him
that this might be his opportunity, and when the conductor came out
of the drawing-room the second time he inquired if any assistance was
needed, and implied that doctoring was his profession, though it would
be a sorry patient that had only his attention. However, if he had one
accomplishment it was bluffing, and he never stopped at any profession
that suited his needs.
The conductor was annoyed at the interruptions that had already
occurred and he answered him brusquely that they had all the help
necessary and there wasn’t anything the matter anyway.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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