Famous Detective Story

The little steamer Neptune plowed through the water, sweeping past lovely scenes of green verdure and jutting rocks, almost making her passengers regret that their journey’s end was so near. And, in truth, the approach to Dalton did form a most delightful close to a journey of some forty miles from one of the principal cities on the New England coast. The trip could be made by rail, but the Neptune had been fitted up by a company of enterprising men, who offered comfort and pleasure in opposition to speed and dust. The project succeeded well, the little steamer receiving its fair proportion of passenger traffic. On she sped, cutting the water cleanly, and rapidly drawing near the wharf. Two young men stood on the deck in a position where they could best view the town. One of them was a trifle below the medium height, but his form was well proportioned, and his features indicative of individuality and character. His complexion was rather light, and so was his hair, but his eyes were black, deep-set, and luminous. He had a frank expression, which was marred, however, for the moment by a look of uneasiness and a shade of sadness. His companion was a fair sample of the young American of the present day. He was a trifle taller than his companion, well built, with brown hair and blue eyes, a dark mustache overhanging a well-cut mouth, erect in carriage, deliberate in his motions, his general appearance designating him to the casual observer as a “man of business.” You would naturally feel that he would be equal to any emergency—that his self possession would not be likely, even under trying circumstances, to desert him. Very different in this respect was he from his companion, who was plainly excitable, and whose total “make-up” suggested that he might not at all times be master of himself.