The Argosy, August 1905 — page 114: what you’re looking at

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

104 leap into the dark, but his friend was not in the mood for it. $e. They were to have a night ride to Madrid, and thought luck was with them when they chanced upon a vacant compartment. Before the train left the Burgos station, however, Zimmerman s square-jawed face appeared in the door and he crawled over them into the car- O feke recognized them in the dim light he gave no sign. After stowing his luggage in the racks he settled into a distant corner and presumably went to sleep. : His presence gave Trenwyck a feeling of decided discomfort. Could he, by any yossible chance, be following Trenwyck and Blinkers and keeping them under surveillance ? | Zimmerman could hardly have failed to Giscover that Blinkers had called on the baron not far from the hour of his disappearance. What inference would Zimmerman draw from this, if any? When they were fairly off on their journey Trenwyck drew the silk curtain across the hole in the top of the car- riage and shut off the rays of the dimly burning lamp. 3linkers slept like a log and snored resonantly. Trenwyck passed the time in fitful cat-naps, peering at intervals at the blot of shadow which was all he could see of Zimmerman. No morning ever dawned that was more welcome to Trenwyck than the one that followed the dreary, appre- hensive night. At a station, where the train lingered for a period out of all proportion to the size of the place, he bought a couple of jugs of goat’s milk. Quietly rousing Blinkers, Trenwyck gave him one. As he took it, Blinkers looked significantly toward the sleeping Zimmerman, and Trenwyck shook his head to signify that nothing of impor- tance had happened. An hour or two before they reached Madrid, Zimmerman sat up, yawned, and shook himself together. He and the other two in the compartment, how- ever, might have been total strangers for all the attention they gave each other. When the eapital was finally reached, the three traveled in the same omnibus THE ARGOSY. to the Hotel de la Paix. Wherever Trenwyck turned he was sure to see the German, not watching him, apparently, but merely loitering in his vicinity. He got more and more upon Tren- wyck’s nerves, until it grew so serious that Trenwyek could not look at an alguazil without a shudder of appre- hension. They took lunch at the Hotel de la Paix, and then Trenwyck hurried poor Blinkers away to Seville and Cadiz. ' They paused for breath in. Cadiz, for although Zimmerman had bobbed up serenely in Seville, they missed him at the seaport. But when they had been rowed to the steamer that was to take them through the straits to Malaga, the first person they saw on gaining the deck was their Nemesis—as studiously indif- ferent as ever. “T could plant a few more of those seeds where they would do us a lot of good, Tren,” muttered Blinkers darkly. “ No you don’t!” said Trenwyek in a tone there was no mistaking. * But that fellow is camped on our trail! Are we going to let him chase us all over Spain?” “I’m trying to figure out what sort of a game he’s up to,” Trenwyck answered. “And while youre doing your fig- uring, like as not he’ll land us in one of these Spanish lock-ups!” “No. If he should try that, we’ll fall back on the seeds ourselves and connect with that Peninsular Campaign. Mix us a shandygaff, Blinkers, and bring it out on deck.” Trenwyck made it a point to travel with all materials necessary for the beverage—exceplting the cracked ice. According to his notion, it was the most harmless and satisfying of all the con- coctions invented by man. The Zimmerman riddle was not solved on the voyage to Malaga, nor in Malaga itself. Proceeding on to Gran- ada, the travelers quartered themselves in the Siete Suelos, overlooking the red walls of the Alhambra. Once more they experienced a feeling | of relief—Zimmerman had not been in evidence since they left Malaga. The time had come when Trenwyck could no longer dilly-dally with the set pw that had brought him to Spain. Tf he