Duskin (Musaicum Romance Classics). Grace Livingston Hill

crept into her berth at last and snapped out the light. As she pulled up the window shade she caught a full, bright glimpse of the moon looking down at her from a clear sky above open fields that were powdered with soft silver mists. It was not a thread of a moon now; it seemed to have gone higher and grown wider. Its light had a clear twinkle in it, almost like a star, that same friendly look, as if it were smiling at her.

      She dropped off to sleep almost instantly when her head touched the pillow. Sheer weariness overpowered her. But sometime in the night she awoke suddenly and stared around her in the darkness. She felt terribly alone. There were strange grinding noises underneath and around her, above the rumble of the train. The moon was gone away somewhere and darkness reigned outside in the hurrying blackness. Only a few far stars pricked the velvet of the night. She seemed to be plunged back into an abyss of fear. The vision of the two men haunted the little space beside her bed and filled her with horror. She dared not open her eyes again to dispel it, and when she dropped once more into a troubled sleep, she dreamed that her two seatmates were standing over her and laughing in her face; and one, the tall, lanky one with the toothpick and the bulging eyes, stooped over her and took her by the throat. She could feel his bony fingers clutching her, and she found no voice to cry out.

      Struggling, she came awake at last to find a pale dawn creeping in at the window and a new country whirling by. She lay and watched the day come up and wondered what it held for her of added fear and perplexity.

      CHAPTER III

       Table of Contents

      At breakfast the two men came and sat down at a table opposite hers and seemed to take delight in watching her.

      Though she kept her glance out the window at the new country which, but for them, would have been interesting, she still felt their gaze. It seemed to her that they were trying to disconcert her, that they understood she did not like it and for that reason fiendishly continued to annoy her.

      She finished her breakfast sooner than she would have chosen and slipped back to her own car, leaving the door of the drawing room open for the convenience of the conductor, but drawing the inner curtain shut and keeping herself well out of sight on the seat that backed toward the rest of the car. It seemed bitter to her that even the pleasure she might have taken from the journey into a new part of the country had to be spoiled by her dread of these men.

      She took out the memorandum she had made of their half-whispered conversation the afternoon before and reread it, wondering if perhaps she had misconstrued some of their sentences, for she had been tired then. But no, they seemed more incriminating than when she had first heard them, and she put them away and began to ponder just how she should use them.

      It was a serious thing of course, to make a charge against them, especially so grave a charge as the evidence she held made necessary. And she was a girl alone, with no one whom she dared trust to advise her. If Mr. Fawcett had only been well it would have been a simple enough matter to have handed him the sheets on which she had typed their conversation and turned the whole thing over to him. But here she was in Mr. Fawcett’s place, possessed of knowledge that no one else in the company knew, and sworn to act according to her best judgment in everything regarding the Fawcett Construction Company.

      Should she have consulted someone in the office before she left? Her judgment told her no. She tried to think of one who could have been trusted with the information. Mr. Clough, the bookkeeper, would have been for having the men arrested without further ado, and perhaps that was what should have been done. If she only knew! And yet on the other hand, it might have been disastrous to precipitate matters if it should turn out that these men were in the confidence of the owner, for instance.

      It seemed to her that really the first thing she ought to do was to find out who the men were where they lived and what relation they sustained to the matter. And how was she to go about it? Perhaps she had better telegraph tonight to the office boy and get him to wire the names of the two men. Their cards would likely be at the desk by the elevator, or perhaps lying on Mr. Fawcett’s desk. Harry was a smart boy. She would say, “Send all information possible about two men you brought to the office yesterday at two o’clock. Wire answer care Duskin.” Then perhaps it would be there when she arrived. That would help greatly. Only where then would the two men be? Her birds might already have flown. Well, it was the best she could do. Perhaps she might get some clue in Chicago that would make things plainer, or she might even find it wise to ask the younger Fawcett’s advice. One thing was certain: she did not intend to give those men any more opportunities of seeing her than were necessary. To this end she managed to watch their movements, from the shelter of her curtain, and when she saw them get up and go to the smoking room, their hands obviously searching for cigars in their upper pockets, she drew a long breath and relaxed her vigilance.

      The men had to pass her door to go to the diner, and she kept a diligent watch on their movements when it came near mealtime knew when they went to the diner and when they returned to their seats, and timed her own meals accordingly so that she did not again come in direct contact with them. But she could not get them out of her mind. They were like carrion crows that continued to hang over her head.

      The afternoon’s monotony was broken by a telegram which the porter brought to her. As she took it, she noticed with eyes that were business-wise that the envelope had been torn open, and she gave the porter a questioning glance.

      “It’s been opened?”

      “Yes, miss,” the porter apologized. “The gemmen, he done make a mistake. He expected it were fer him. He sends his regrets. Gemmen back dere where you was last night, miss. He see de number of de seckshum on de emvelup and take it de message was fer him.”

      Carol felt a sinister apprehension stealing over her. Those men again! They had managed to read her telegram!

      She gave the porter a quarter and got rid of him, but her heart felt uneasy as she opened the telegram and read:

      C. W. Berkley,

       Section 12, Car 2,

       Train No. 10,

       Chicago Limited.

      Dinner tonight, 8:30 in Fawcett’s honor. You must arrange to stay over and take his place. Speech expected. Great opportunity. Several important men to be present. Will board train half hour out of Chicago.

      Frederick Fawcett

      Carol sat in a daze and stared at the telegram. Well, at least there was nothing there that would give any information to those two prying men! But what kind of a situation was she in now? She couldn’t stay over and attend a dinner with a lot of men! Didn’t they know she was a woman?

      She examined the telegram but found no Mr. or Miss on either message or envelope, just her initials. Hadn’t she said Miss in her telegram?

      Surely they wouldn’t expect a woman to speak; yet the telegram that she had sent from the office gave all reason to suppose that the coming representative was fully capable of taking Fawcett’s place. What should she do? She grew hot and cold, and a constriction of fright came in her throat. Ah, now indeed she saw clearly that her mother had been right and this was no situation for Carol Berkley to be in!

      Gradually, however, out of the daze and horror her thoughts began to clear as she read and reread that message. Certain catchwords stuck in her mind: “His representative!” “Great opportunity!” and “Several important men present!” Ideas began to shape themselves in her thoughts. She began to wish she were a man and could make a speech to those men whom her employer had so earnestly desired to influence in favor of the company. Loyalty to her cause which she had not known she possessed came to the forefront. Her business mind longed to be able to use this opportunity. Of course she couldn’t. Of course she wouldn’t! But she wished it were possible all the same. She began to set about planning a speech for Frederick Fawcett to make in her place. She would outline to him several of the things she had heard Mr. Fawcett discuss with his brother Edgar before the latter left to go abroad.

      She