Argosy All-Story Weekly, 4 February 1922 — page 146: what you’re looking at

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

ee “ RRCOSYAELSTORY WEEKLY. vie Kot ‘hs: room. She settled herself rtably, with the idea of passing as h of the two hours and twenty minutes ble. co ~The bill of fare received her undivided | ntion for the next five minutes. At ast she gave the order for a hearty break- \ . The restaurant was filling rapidly. idly Jacqueline watched the people coming going. Then suddenly her heart al- ost stopped beating. She held to the edge of the table to keep from slipping out of sight underneath. _ Some people she knew—a man and his ife, neighbors—had entered and were com- ‘toward. her, nearer and nearer. She 1 glanced frantically around. Picking up the nenu, she tried to hide behind it. _ “T£ they come one step nearer, it’s all p,” she muttered grimly. ~~" When she finally gained courage to | isan over the top of the card a deep sigh of relief escaped her. The woman had.se- lected a table at quite the other end of the room. She “was hurrying toward it, fol- lowed by her husband and the resigned waiter. “Now ”—at last Jacqueline was able to se, ee turn her undivided attention to the break- . fast the waiter was Placing before her— ere: Be & am going to enjoy a long-drawn-out 2 aS glanced up and frowned. The head = waiter was waving a young man into the There was ab- + ><. empty chair opposite her. _ solutely nothing the matter with the young ‘man. Ordinarily Jacqueline would have eaten her breakfast regardless of whether the place opposite was occupied or not. ~ But to-day was different. She much pre- _ ferred being alone. _ Having poured her coffee, she took a = hasty swallow. As she lowered the cup her _ byes met those of the young man. “J wish he’d mind his own business,” _ Hidgeted Jacqueline, knowing all the time it was unfair, as she was the central object = of his vision and not easy to avoid. She | med her attention resolutely to her lon. Tt was Rot very ripe, ‘so eahe gare “ T wish he wouldn't watch me as ifit— I—” She glanced at the man with a ques- tioning frown. Could it be possible that he was trying to identify her as Jacqueline Garfield? Her family might have discovered by this time that she was gone—they might have phoned to some detective agency. She supposed that was what was done when daughters of rich families ran away, and the families had a motive for getting them back again. | Then common sense came to her rescue. It was absurd to think that they could be looking for her yet. Even if they had dis- covered her escape, how would they know where to begin looking? Having settled this firmly in her mind, she attacked her bacon and eggs again. But after a couple of mouthfuls she put down her fork and fell into a brown study. Perhaps some one had seen her and rec- ognized her on the road or at her home station. She supposed the New York sta- tions would be the first places the agency would send detectives. They would know she couldn’t have gone very far in so short a time. The thought choked her. She was un- able to swallow another mouthful. She must get away somewhere—by® herself. She paid her bill; then she sat, undecided. Much as she wanted to leave the table, she dreaded making the first move. It would be a test. If the young man let her go without a protest—well and good. If not— She got up. The waiter handed her her traveling- bag. She was turning away, when— “IT beg your pardon—” The young man pushed back his chair, rose quickly, and ‘leaned across the table toward her. Jacque- line stood still, unable to move. “ Are these your gloves?” As Jacqueline took them a sudden irre- pressible chuckle escaped her. The relief was so sudden she felt hysterical. “ I sup- pose if I had ever run away before,” she thought as she hurried from the room, “I wouldn’t be so panicky.” Going to the news-stand, she picked out — = three magazines and several newspapers. — we she sige a remote corer 3 ~ a «a —— ~~ a Se - ona ee So = a