“Seems to me I’ve heard the name,” he said at last, “but I can’t just place it.”
“Perhaps Mr. John Trent went away from Cloudy Cove?” Doris tried to help the faulty memory of the white-haired passenger.
“Let me see,” the elderly man answered. “It seerrjs to come back to me that Mr. Trent—”
Mr. Baker’s voice trailed off into an unfinished sentence. Doris hardly knew whether or not to keep on prodding the forgetful man for information. With her the subject of her uncle was a vital one, but she reminded herself that after all this kindly old man was a total stranger to her.
She looked at Kitty, to determine what her chum might be thinking. That young lady bobbed her head in approval, and without uttering a sound made her lips say:
“Go on and ask him some more.”
Thus urged, Doris tried once more.
“He didn’t have an account at your bank?” she ventured.
“Let me see. Trent. John Trent.” Silas Baker repeated the name slowly. “Why, yes, seems to me he did have an account with us at one time. Or was it that he rented a safe deposit box? Bless me, it’s been too long ago for me to recall.” Doris cast her chum a half-despairing glance. If only the old gentleman could remember! It was tantalizing to realize that, had his memory been unimpaired, he might have been able to furnish her with valuable information concerning her long-lost uncle.
Hopefully she plied him with questions, yet of the past Mr. Baker could remember but little. After the girls had talked with him for perhaps half an hour and were satisfied that they had learned all that he could tell them of Cloudy Cove, they took their leave and walked back to the observation car.
Entering, they were surprised to see that some form of impromptu entertainment was going on. A group of passengers had gathered about a sallowfaced, sleek young man who was causing a deck of cards to perform in a most astonishing manner. Doris and Kitty crowded forward to watch the exhibition of magic.
“He’s a professional,” Kitty whispered to her chum. “You can tell that by the way he handles the cards.”
The magician had seen the two girls enter the car and smiled at them in a rather personal way. Slightly confused, as the other passengers turned to stare at them, Kitty and Doris would have backed out of the room had not the performer called to them.
“Don’t go away, girlies. The great Ollie Weiser is about to perform a breathtaking stunt. Now, ladies and gentlemen, watch very closely! I place my handkerchief over the palm of my hand thus—”
In spite of the unrefined manner in which the man had singled them out, Kitty and Doris found it impossible to turn away. Overpowered with curiosity, they crowded forward with the other passengers.
“Watch my every move,” the magician challenged. “And presto! What have we?” He swept the handkerchief from his hand.
A cry of horror went up from the ladies and even the men backed hastily away. There, coiled about the magician’s hand, was a small snake!
“Ugh!” Kitty murmured. “He must have had it up his sleeve! You couldn’t hire me to touch the crawly, thing!”
“Show’s over,” the magician announced. “This is only a small sample of what I can do. I’ve three other snakes here in this suitcase and they’re all trained.”
“Better not let the conductor see them or they’ll land in the baggage car,” one of the passengers suggested bluntly.
Doris and Kitty took seats near the door, and selecting magazines from the table, began to read. However, scarcely had they sat down when Ollie Weiser slid into the vacant chair beside Doris. She looked askance at the suitcase which she knew contained the snakes, but said nothing.
“Going far?” the magician asked breezily.
Doris glanced up from her magazine rather coldly, and hoping to discourage any attempt at conversation, said briefly:
“To Cloudy Cove.”
“Same here. I’ve been on the road for better’n six years now. Hit all of these jerk-water towns. Lately I’ve been at liberty, but I’m expecting to get an engagement at Cloudy Cove. You want to be sure to see my act while you’re there. It’s great! Took me two years to train my snakes.”
“Really!” Doris returned with increasing coldness. “I’m not in the least interested in snakes.”
She opened her magazine and pretended to read. Not in the least rebuffed, Ollie Weiser turned his attention to Kitty. Sincd she did not reply to his questions, the conversation turned into a monologue.
Finally, the actor did take the hint and became silent. However, he continued to glance with interest at the girls, and they were made painfully aware of his attention.
“I think we’d better be going back to our car,” Doris suggested.
“Yes,” Kitty agreed in relief. “Mrs. Mallow will be wondering what has happened to us.”
“Don’t let me drive you away,” Ollie Weiser said with a grin.
Thoroughly provoked at the man’s bold manner, the girls did not trouble themselves to reply. Kitty hastily arose and Doris was just getting to her feet, when her eye noticed the arm of her chair.
There, not six inches from her hand, lay one of the magician’s snakes!.
CHAPTER V
A Pest
At sight of the snake, Doris instinctively recoiled and gave a little scream of terror. She tried to arise, but fright held her chained.
“Don’t move!” the magician warned tersely. “I’ll get him!”
He reached over and gently removed the snake from the arm of the chair, murmuring soothingly, “Figi, don’t you know you shouldn’t annoy the young lady?”
Still trembling, Doris sprang to her feet. She scarcely knew whether to be grateful to the magician for saving her or angry that he had permitted the snake to escape. As she groped for words, several of the passengers began to protest to Ollie Weiser.
“Keep those snakes locked up,” one man warned him, “or we’ll report you to the conductor.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” the magician protested. “Figi is a smart snake. He got out of the suitcase.”
Doris and Kitty did not wait to hear the end of the argument but fled to their own car.
“What an experience!” Doris shuddered.
“Probably the snake was harmless, but my flesh is still creepy from the thought of having that creature near me.”
“You know, I think perhaps that magician let the snake out on purpose,” Kitty declared.
“You do? If I thought that—”
“He wanted to brush up an acquaintance with us and we didn’t pay much attention to him. Probably he thought that trick would make you grateful to him.”
“I didn’t even thank him. I was so provoked I just couldn’t!”
“I don’t blame you a bit. Let’s not have a thing to do with him. Maybe we won’t see him again.”
“He’s going to Cloudy Cove,” Doris reminded her.
“Yes, worse luck, but we need not have anything to do with him.”
Mrs. Mallow was quite displeased when the girls told her what had happened. She felt that, Ollie Weiser was not entirely blameless, and was relieved that the girls had decided to pay no attention to him.
However, Doris and Kitty had not realized the aggressiveness