Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-04

god In vain. Nor poppy nor mandragora"
had he too sOothe him.
Instead there were new and anxious
thoughts to vex, and so another half hour
he tossed and tumbled and when at last
he seemed dropping to the borderland, per-
haps, Of dreams he thought he must be all
ing again and in need of new bandages or
cooling drink or something for the muffied
footballs, betrayed by creaking pine rather
than by other sound. told him drowsily that
the attendant or somebody. cautioned not
to disturb him, was moving slowly across
the room. He might have been out on the
side porch to get cool water from the ola.
but he needn't be SO confoundedly slow and
cautious. though he couldn't help the creak
ing. Then, what could the attendant want
In the front room, where were still so many
of the precious glass cases unframed, and
the bugologists favorite books and his big
desk. Uttered with papers. etc? Blakely
thought to hail and warn him against NOV
ing about among those brittle glass things.
but reflected that he. the new man. had
done the reshifting under his, Blakelys.
supervision, and knew just where each item
was placed and how to find the passageway
between them. 1t really was trifie intri-
cate. How could he have gone into the
spare room at Captain Wren's, and there
made his home as-she-Mrs Plume had
first suggested? There would not have been
room for half his plumber, to say nothing
OF himself. What on earth can Nixon
want?" he sleepily asked himself. FUN
bling about there among those cases? Was
tnaC q crack or Snap! SOunQeQ ike
both, a splitting of glass. a wrenching Of
lock spring or something. BE careful
there" he managed to call. No answer.
Perhaps 1t was some one of the big hounds,
then, wandering restleSSly about at night
They often did, and-why. yes. that would
account for it. Doors and windows were
all wide open here, what was to prevent?
Still. Blakely wished he hadn't extinguished
his lamp. He might then have explored.
The sound ceased entirely for a moment,
and. now that he was quite awake, he re-
! membered that the hospital attendant was
no longer with him. Then the sounds must
have been made by the striker or the
hounds. Blakely had no dogs of his own.
Indeed. they were common property at the
post most of them handed down with the
rest of the public goods and chattels by
their predecessors of the --th. At all
events. he felt far too languid, inert weak
Indifferent or something. If the striker, he
! had doubtless come down for cool water.
If the hounds, they were in search of some
thing to eat. and in either case why bother
| about it? The incident had SO far distract
ed his thoughts from the worries of the
night that now at last and in good earnest
he was dropping to sleep.
But in less than twenty minutes he was
broad awake again. with sudden start
gasping, suffocating. listening in amaze to a
| volley of swapping and cracking, Ealf-
smothered from the adjoining room. He
| sprang from his bed with a cry of alarm
and flung himself through a thick, hot veil
| of eddying, yet invisible, smoke, straight
| for the communicating doorway, and was
| brought up standing by banging his head
| against the resounding pine. tight shut In
| stead of open as he had left it. and refusing
| to yield to furious battering. It was locked,
bolted or barred from the other side. Blind
| ly, he turned and rushed for the side porch
and the open air. stumbling against the
striker as the latter came Gathering head
long down from aloft. Then together they
rushed to the parlor window. now cracking
and splitting from the furious heat within
A volume of black fume came belching
| forth, driven and dashed by rutldy tongues
Of flame within, and their shouts for aid
| went up on the wings Of the dawn. and the
infantry sentry on the eastward post came
running to see; caught one glimpse of the
glare at that southwark window; bang
went his rife with a ring that came echo
ing back from the opposite cliffs, as all