Page:Tag (1909).djvu/122

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TAG; OR, THE CHIEN BOULE DOG


about her face, partly to allay any anxiety her fellow sinner might be experiencing. Her re-assurance was quite unnecessary however, for the plump Bateese, sitting on a bench with his legs braced on Cairlo’s back, was in a state of semi-coma induced by the fatigues and indulgences of the day. He roused once to respond to a ripple of laughter from Patty with a sleepy chuckle, then sank again into lethargy.

The story being concluded, a silence fell upon the room. The captain shifted some papers and frowned upon the door through which the French father should have entered hours ago. One of the two policemen occasionally rose, opened the door and glanced out, returning softly to his place. Mr. Burns seated himself next Bateese and watched the alleged kidnappers of that young person with keen but puzzled eyes. His inability to come

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