St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-13

S|gz4 Y 4Nse
eYET THE FIGHT WAS FORCED ON THIS MAN"
their heads close together, and discussed the
! situation in whispers. They had been in
| the room not more than fifteen minutes when
an emphatic rap was heard on the outside,
| and in response to an impatient 'come in"
! the door opened, and Almedo entered.
swell, gentlemen" he exclaimed, excitedly,
the affair is settled, and, think, in a way that
| will prove satisfactory.
''What is it," asked EIlerton, with surpris-
ing caimness. ,.e
'Why here it is, in brief" said Almedo,
laying his index finger on the palm Of his
left hand, and continuing as if he were read
ing the preliminaries there, sthe weapons
are repeating rifles; distance, forty PAGES
the firing to continue, after the word is given,
till one falls; the hour, shutdown this even
ing. or about a quarter to six; place of
meeting. the sea shore, on the dividing line
between the estates of Colonel Morton and
Doctor Haynor. How does that suit your"
'The weapons, the place and the distance
are exactly to my taste" said Elerton, .sbut
could have wished that the time had been
deferred until tomorrow morning How
ever, it is an unpleasant affair, and quite
agree with you that the sooner it is over the
better, and now as there is little time to
spare, and as am somewaatou out of practice,
1 think will ask you, Almedo, to come with
me to the targets. a;nsquite willing that
this fellow shall have his own rifle, I
having the privilege of selecting my own
weapon" - -
The twosmen walked out, leaving Colonel
Morton alone. He at once opened the safe,
set in the wall of the private Office took
therefrom a;lot Of papers! which he de-
stroyed, and then began writing his own last
will and testament. When he had concluded
this document, he sent for Mile. Bertrand and
the butler, told them what the paper con-
tanned, and asked them to witness his sigma
ture, which they did.
They had hardly left the room, when the
signal bell from the tower again sounded the
alarm; and Colonel Morton, kissing out an
oath, hurried up the stairs, to where the
faithful Fred sat, bending over the ticking
keyboard.
':What the DEVILS up, now:" growled the
Ii,
though he thought he was responsible for the
disturbance. q =.
"French is at the other end of the line, sir,
and appears to be greatly excited said the
operator, as he handed his employer the last
dispatch he had written down.
The colonel seized the paper, and it trembled
with an audible rustic in his hand, as he read,
aloud:
dispatches received from twenty points
Indicate that the plan has failed and that our
scheme has been discovered. The police
headquarters of San Francisco have been
notified, and the city is swarmng with detec-
tives. What is to be done? FRENCH
The colonel dropped into chair, seized
pencil, and made as if about to write, but his
hand trembled SO that he found it impossible.
"Take this down." he said, ssand send it
immediately" and he dictated thus:
'tMay you not be mistaken as to failure?
But if right, why should we feel anxious. Our
tracks are completely covered, and if sus-
picion is excited against any one on this
coast, it will not be US. Keep cool, and send
| me particulars"
The operator flashed this back to San
Francisco almost as rapidly as it was die
tated, then changed the switchboard, and
bent again to listen. Translating the click
ing of the instrument, he spoke as follows:
'In spite of all our precaution, I am salts
fed that suspicion points directly at US. My
own safety is now to me- matter of the
spend another night in San Francisco, it
would be in the police station, as the guest
of the authorities. Good byel FRENCH"
+I,.o
sage he looked quickly and eagerly up at the
colonel's face, and saw that its color had
changed into purplish gray. Within ten
minutes the man had aged ten years his
neck had shortened, and his chin appeared
to sink into his breast, while the little lines
| about the corners Of his eyes and mouth
worked like an agitated mass of worms.
''There is no more to say, Fred French is
| evidently ratified without any reason. If the
| worst comes to the worst, you will find me
| prepared. I need not tell you, my boy, that
have never been Indifferent to your fidelity,
and that in any event your safety is as
sured and you will be amply rewarded for
| your services to me-
Fred bowed, and said .eThank you, sir -
| but the expression of his face showed that he
drew no comfort from the words of his en-
| ployer.
Looking out the window of the telegraph
tower before descending the stairs to his pri-
vate office, the colonel saw, with great sur
! prise, his wife and Commodore West and
Dora and Ralph Holmes strolilng through
the park-like grounds, and evidently engaged
in earnest conversation.
He went down the winding steps, placed
his papers in the safe and closed it; then
threw himself back on the lounge, closed his
eyes, folded his arms across his breast, and
| looked to be as dead as Hector.
He had been playing a bold game for many
years, and now he realized that the hour had
come which would bring him in perfect safe
ty. or overwhelm him with disaster and de-
feat. As he lay there he could hear, through
the open windows, the occasional crack of q
rifle, telling him that Eerton was getting up
his practice; and, as he listened, he realized
that, if not in fact, at least TO the world,
three hours would see him e dead man.
The sun was dropping behind mountains
OF red clouds, whose reflected light turned
the waters OF the Pacific to a sanguinary