Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine — page 135: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

BACK TO THE MOIL. room; then for a few moments all was quiet, and he supposed his guest had fallen asleep. His pipe did not draw well, and he tip- toed back for a package of cleaners that he kept in the kitchen. Osgood’s door was ajar, and Tom_sat by the window with his back toward Lemp, whose approach he did not hear. He was still fully dressed, and was bent over some task to the accompani- ment of a queer, rhythmic, swishing sound. Lemp’s gaze absorbed Tom’s employ- ment and grew quizzical, sparkling with laughter. ‘Taking more pains then before to remain unheard, he passed on and secured his cleaners, and tiptoed back to the living-room to resume his reading of the ex- ploits of Dumas’s three heroes. After a time he heard the bedroom door close; then, more dimly, the creakings pro- duced by uneasy tossings, and once a dis- mal, muffled groan. It told of the little man’s continued state of cruel nervousness as he writhed, hoping and fearing Fate as it would accompany Lloyd, the sales manager of the Peerless concern who was now speed- ing from the West. Later, after Mrs. Lemp had returned home and retired, she opened drowsy eyes at the sound of a low chuckle from her hus- band, who stood by the dresser removing his collar. “ What is it, Edward?” she asked. “Nothing, Eunice. Go to sleep,” he told her. Because of his fine instincts, exercised in behalf of the guest, who had now fallen into a troubled sleep of exhaustion in his chamber, he could not tell even Eunice, his pal, what he had seen when he passed Tom’s open door. Osgood, oblivious to the fact that he had not closed his door, had sat humped in his chair like an African, toiling toward an im- maculate appearance the following day. He had brought along paste, cloths, - brushes, and all the paraphernalia—and was shining his shoes! Eunice Lemp was a placid woman. But even her well-controlled nerves were ruffled by Tom Osgood’s antics the following morning and over the luncheon hour. “T hardly think Lloyd will return before to-morrow,’ Lemp had suggested at the 477 breakfast table; “and anyway, he’d have quite a little of accumulated business await- ing him. Better take it easy to-day, Tom, and stroll around and look over the city.” Tom, buttering a roll, fidgeted. ‘“ He might get back to-day,” he suggested with timorous hope, “‘ and he might have a mo- ment he could give me, say, this afternoon. Of course, use your own judgment, Ed; but you see it’s a serious matter with me. Per- haps Vd better stick around here, and if there came a chance to see him, provided he gets in, you could phone me and I’d come right down. Of course, I can’t spend too much—time. If there’s nothing here I must be getting back to Rochester, and see if I can dig up something.” His shifting gaze dropped to his plate. Lemp could not resist casting a sparkling glance at Eunice, who sat, lovely, in morn- ing gown and crisp breakfast cap. Demure little imps flashed in response from her dark eyes. ‘All right, Tom,” assented Lemp cor- dially. ‘Stick around, and I'll send you word if there is any.” 2 So Tom “stuck around ” all the morn- ing, and made Eunice as nerveus as a res- tive cat would have done: She perceived early that he did not want to talk, for which he was profoundly grateful. How- ever, he padded miserably about the living- room, unable to occupy himself with read- ing or resting for more than a few minutes at a time, and altogether presented the aspect of a man with several loads on his mind, allof them of the interior pattern. For a long time, too, he busied himself in the bath-room, from which issued mys- terious swashing sounds. At luncheon he ate but little, and that in jerky fashion. Once he almost jumped from his chair as the telephone bell jangled. But it was a call from one of Mrs. Lemp’s friends. He eyed her almost with resent- ment as she returned to her seat. At last however, at two o’clock, came a second call. Mrs. Lemp hastened to an- swer it. Osgood, seated in an uneasy chair in the living-room, bent forward with tor- tured face, his hands gripping the arms tensely. “Yes, dear,” he heard Mrs. Lemp say. connichbooks.conn