GRAUSTARK




I

MR. GRENFALL LORRY SEEKS ADVENTURE


Mr. Grenfall Lorry boarded the east-bound express at Denver with
all the air of a martyr. He had traveled pretty much all over
the world, and he was not without resources, but the prospect of
a twenty-five hundred mile journey alone filled him with dismay.
The country he knew; the scenery had long since lost its
attractions for him; countless newsboys bad failed to tempt him
with the literature they thrust in his face, and as for his
fellow-passengers--well, he preferred to be alone. And so it was
that he gloomily motioned the porter to his boxes and mounted the
steps with weariness.

As it happened, Mr. Grenfall Lorry did not have a dull moment
after the train started.

He stumbled on a figure that leaned toward the window in the dark
passageway. With reluctant civility he apologized; a lady stood
up to let him pass, and for an instant in the half light their
eyes met, and that is why the miles rushed by with incredible
speed.