Hand and Ring

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very palp

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above which shone a thick crop of short curly hair of a peculiarly bright blond color. He was sitting at a small table, drawn somewhat apart from the rest, and was, as I have said, engrossed with a newspaper, to the utter exclusion of any apparent interest in the talk that was going on at the other end of the room. And yet this talk was of the most animated description, and was seemingly of a nature

made interesting and dramatic by the unconscious enthusiasm of the chief speaker, a young fellow of indifferent personal appearance, but with a fervid flow of words an

before her face just as if she had seen a ghost or a demon. An equal exclamation burst from him, but he did not cover his eyes, only stood and looked at her as if he were turned to stone. In another moment she dropped her hands. ‘Were you coming to see me?’ came from her lips in a whisper so fraught with secret horror and anguish that it curdled my blood to hear it. ‘Were you coming to see me?’ was his response, uttered in an equally suppressed voice and with an equal intensity of expression. And then, without either giv

u see them again before you left?”

“was on the train that brought me he

e get off?” rose in a somewha

her veil, I thought she did not relish my inquiring looks, and as I could not sit within view of her and no

rowd being exhausted, two or three or more of the group sauntered up to the bar, and the re

ty of the person he addressed, and make him more than ever ready to talk. “I wish I had been in your place,” continued Mr. Byrd, almo

ers?” the young fellow inquir

no more than the truth. He had a rare talent for off-hand sketching,

f talent for it. I can see a scene in my mind now — this one for instance — just as plain as I can see you; all the details of it, you know, the

d not seen it for himself, might easily put it on paper just from your description. See now!” And he caugh

ce, leaned over the detective’s shoulder a

few strokes with his penc

ady dressed?”

ng wonder and an unbounded admiration. “You have caught the exact poise of the head, as I live, and — yes, a large hat with two feathers, sir, two feathers drooping over the side, so; a bag on the arm; two flounces on the skirt; a — oh!

some confusion and a deep blush, which he vainl

e change in his voice, that, however, escaped the atten

ilt, with a strong face, large mustache, brilliant eyes, and a look — I cannot describe it, b

large or tall. The face, too, presented difficulties he was far from experiencing in the case of the lady, and the young fellow at his side was obliged to make several suggestions such as:—“A little more hair on the forehead, if you please — there was quite a lock showing b

gained a very correct notion of the style of clothing the gentleman wore, which, it is needless to state, was m

too, as half the illustrations given in the weekly papers. Would you mind letting me have it as a souvenir?” he eage

come in play with him some time, and that he could not afford to part with it. At which remark the young fellow looked disappointed and vaguely rattled some coins he had

ed to clink glasses with the youthful stranger, taking the opportunity, at the same time, of glancing over to the large,

in the news as ever, not a feature or an eyelash appear

n in passing the gentleman, to glance at the paper he was studying so industriously, and, to his

sit for a half-hour with his eyes upon a sheet of paper totally devoid of news, no matter what his purpose might be, or how great was his interest in the conversation to which he was secretly listening. No; this gentleman was doubtle

of Mrs. Clemmens’ murder. But Mr. Byrd felt that he no longer possessed a professional right to such interest; so, leaving behind him this fine-looking gentleman, together with all the inevitable conjectures which the latter’

ge scene enacted that day in the Syracuse depot; a scene to which, by means of this impromptu sketch, he had now become as nearly a witness as any one could hope for who had not been actually upon the spot. Strange! And he had been so anxious to know what had altered the mind of this lady and sent

d started from home with a simultaneous intention of seeking the other, and yet, at the first recognition of this fact, both had started and drawn back as if death rather than life had confronted them in each other’s faces. What did it mean? What secret of a deep and deadly nature could lie between these two, that a scene of such evident import could take place between them? He dared not think; he could do nothing but gaze upon the figure of the man he had portrayed, and wonder if he would be able to identify the original in case h

e, and think of it and her no

in folding it up and putting it away somewhat carefully in his memorandum-book, with a vow that he would leave Sibley and its troublous mystery at t