Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1902-01-23

| wonder why he had yentured out: why
in fact. ne had left his warm bed. For
| tn detective instinct must be very
| keen. and very strong, to be alive fully
| al O'Clock on the morning of a chilly
] spring day; whsn there is damp mis-;
! rising TO hide the poor apology for a
sun which is to come later With his
| ardor very considerably cooled. Mr.
/ Hubbard was about to return to bed in
tissust when something happened that
brought all his faculties into keen
| working order in a moment
| Tha, something was light, which
/ danced about along the base of the gar
| den wall. and touched. here and there,
/ the trees and bushes as il passed. It
| vas very faint light. and one which
! evidently came from a distance: but
/ Il came from a source within the radius
; OF the garden. Mr.. Hubbard drew his
! coat about him and advanced. cautious
| ~ out into that desert of weeds AMI
] deao leaves through which he hal
/ plowed his way whsE first he had been
! brought into the house.
J The light came from the right-fron
/ the direction of the house that was re-
( garcei as haunted. Almost holding mis-
! breath, Mr.. Hubbard crept out into the
/ garden. ami in the shadow of thu
trees, made his way towards the spot
| from which it came. 1t was evident
! that he was al last to be rewarded for
all his watching and his patience; even
while his teeth chartered with cold and
=, with nervousness he chuckled softly to
! himself with satisfaction as he glided
| along in the shadow.
| He got to clump of trees quite near
81
| stood; down on the ground, in the
! midst of them, were two lanterns.
I Bending forward eagerly, Mr.. Hub
| bard saw that one of the group-a tall
| I:an-was working away busily in the
| earth, digging as though his life de-
! pended on it. Then. in a moment Or
| two, the digging ceased: and this same
| man and another lifted something be-
1 tween than and laid it carefully in TIE
/ earlh-some1hing that bore the unnis-
| taxable likeness Of body. Mr. Hub
bard crert nearer still; saw the tall man
stand al the head of the grave he had
dug and speak some words softly, while
the others stood grouped about him:
then saw the earth shoveled in and
beaten down and the awful work hid
den, so far as was possible.
He was too much fascinated by what
was going on to be aware of the danger
he stood in Of being discovered; it was
only when the lights upon the ground
| were suddenly exLinguished and two Of
the figures began to move towards him
that he realized tt at he had been seen
and that h stood in peril. Then, see
ms; that one Of the men had begun to
make q circuit stealthily, as though to
cut off any retreat he might have de-
ciGed on Mr.. Hubbard took to his heels
and ran.
1t was a this point that he Giscov-
cred, after running aimlessly for some
fifty yards, that the tall man was GAIN
ing on him rapidly: he gave a Shrek
of despair and faced about not with
any special bravery, but rather in des-
perat:on.
The tall man closed with him at
once, and showed himself even in that
first grip, to be a man of strength and
determination. Mr.. Hubbard, forced to
defe nd himself. struck out as nanfuily
az he could. and at the same time
raised j feeble shout of 'Murder.''
The tail man seized him then in good
earnest. and got such a grip of his col
lar as effectually silerced him. Then,
while they rocked and sway aged about to-
gelhei-. door was pulled open sudden
y and a man ran out Of the house
straight towards them. AS he came
close t. them in the darkness. the tall
man flung Mr.. Hubbard. with all his
strength. against the newcomer. SO that
he recled and staggered against him,
and then turned himself and ran in the
direction from which he had first come.
When MIR. Hubbard recovered he
found himself clutching a man wildly
in the dark and ejacula:in murder"
ar intervals. The man grappled with
him, and seemed to be striving to get
a hand over his mouth to stop that aw-
full word.
II saw it saw tive got you-you
can't get away" gasped Hubbard,
family. "Oh, good heavens-dead bod
ies-buried under bushes!-but I've got
you. Oh, good heavens!-murder.''
Hold you tongue, you idiot" ex-
claimed the voice of Leathwood.
What the dickens is your game here?
Who were you fighting with, and what
was that row out here?"
II tell you I saw it," gasped Hub
bard. again, clinging desperately to
L-athwGcd. Il cane here 10 find out
about it; and I've found it the first
time! Dead oodies-hidden at night"
Without another word Leathwood
caught hold Of him savagely and be-
gan to drag him towards the house.
'I'Il silence you you madman!" he
whispered, hoarsely I'll give you
talk of dead bodies! Come in here and
cease this raving! Come in here,
say"
The weedy Mr.. Hubbard was no
| match for the stronger, better-trained
Leathwood. More than that, he was
too much demoralized by actual terror,
and by the strange experiences of the
night, to know fully what was happen
ing or in what peril he stood. Feebly
protesting, he allowed himself to be
| dragged along towards the house,
through the open door and up the
stairs. Nor did Nugent Leathwood re-
lease his hold until he had him safely
in the room wherein James Holden had
met lis death and he had planted his
own back against the door.
$50 you'll pirate Of dead men--will
he me- OF hi