The Brand of Silence | Page 3

New York in the past ten
years. Yes, quite a few changes! There are a few new boarding houses
scattered around, and a new general store or two, and the street cars run
out farther than they used to."
"Oh, I've kept up to date after a fashion," Sidney Prale said, laughing
once more. "I'm ready to appreciate the changes, but I suppose I will be
surprised. The New York papers get down to Honduras now and then,
you know."
"I've always understood," Shepley said, "that there are certain
gentlemen in that part of the world who watch the New York papers
very closely."
"Meaning the men who are fugitives from justice, I see," said Prale.
"I didn't mean anything personal, of course."
"It does look bad, doesn't it?" said Prale. "I went straight to Honduras
when I left New York ten years ago, like a man running away from the
law, and I have remained there all the time until this trip. And I have
been gone ten years--thereby satisfying certain statutes of
limitation----"
"My boy, I never meant to insinuate that----"
"I know that you didn't," Prale interrupted. "My conscience is clear, Mr.
Shepley. When I land, I'll not be afraid of some officer of the law
clutching me by the shoulder and hauling me away to a police station."

"Even if one did, a cool million will buy lots of bail," Rufus Shepley
said.
The fog was lifting rapidly now. Here and there through the billows of
mist could be seen the roofs of skyscrapers glistening in the sun.
Sidney Prale almost forgot the man at his side as he bent over the rail to
watch.
"Getting home--getting home!" he said. "I suppose no man ever gets
quite over the home idea, no matter how long he remains away. Ten
years ought to make a change, but I find that it doesn't. I'll be glad to
feel the pavements beneath my shoes again."
"Sure!" said Rufus Shepley.
"Confound the fog! Ah, there's a building I know! And there are a few I
never saw before. We're beginning to get in, aren't we? Ought to dock
before noon, don't you think?"
"Sure thing!"
"A hotel, a bath, fresh clothes--and then for hour after hour of walking
around and taking in the sights!" Prale said.
"Better engage a taxi if you expect to take 'em all in before night, my
boy," Shepley said.
"I forgot! We haven't any too many taxis in Honduras. I had a car of
my own, but sold it before I came away."
"You let the busy auto agents know that, and you'll have a regiment of
them----"
"And there!" Sidney Prale cried. "Now I know that I am home! There is
the Old Girl in the Harbor!"
Prale removed his cap, and a mist came into his eyes that did not come
from the foggy billows through which the ship was plowing. The sun
was shining through the murk at last, and it touched the Statue of

Liberty. The great figure seemed like a live thing for a moment; the
mist made it appear that her garments were waving in the breeze.
"Now I know that I am home!" Sidney Prale repeated.
"She sure is a great old girl!" Rufus Shepley agreed. "Always glad to
see her!"
"Well, I've got to get ready to land; I'm not going to waste any time,"
Prale said. "I'm glad that I met you--and perhaps we'll meet again in the
city."
"Hope we do!" said Shepley, grasping Prale's hand. "Our factories are
out in Ohio, but the company headquarters are in New York, of course.
Here's my business card, my boy. And I generally put up at the
Graymore."
Sidney Prale took the card, thanked Rufus Shepley, and hurried down
the deck toward his stateroom, one of the best on the ship. Rufus
Shepley looked after him sharply.
"Went straight to Honduras and stayed there for ten years, eh?" Rufus
Shepley said to himself. "Um! Looks bad! I never put much stock in
those Honduras chaps--but this one seems to be all right. Never can tell,
though!"
Sidney Prale, still smiling, and humming a Spanish love song, reached
his stateroom and threw open the door; and just inside, he came to a
stop, astonished.
Somebody had been in that stateroom and had been going through his
things. The contents of his suit case were spilled on the floor. A bag
was wide open; he had left it closed and in a corner less than an hour
before.
Prale went down on his knees and made a quick inspection. There did
not seem to be anything missing. A package of papers--business
documents for the greater part--had been examined, he could tell at a

glance, but none had been taken.
"Peculiar!" Prale told