The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-01-02

ger way-a laundering sight bigger
way-of sending Lord Cranthorpe to
blszes than by putting a knife into
him."
The WORDS were hardly out of his
mouth before | had jumped TO the
scoundrel's scheming. Number Two
under whose direction Number Three
was acting, had shifted the most
dangerous part of his mission-the
actual conveyance of the bomb to Lord
Cranthorpe's residence - upon the
shoulders OF his subordinate, who. in
his turn, thought to make use of me
as his catspaw in the same manner
To affect to fall in with his BASTARD
ly plan would be the surest way to in
duce the piOtter to show me his hand;
so, protesting with a profusion of oathS
that | was ready to listen to anything
that promised TO make more terrible
the vengeance that was to be melted
out to Lord Cranthorpe, invited him,
in suitable language, TO tell me what
he wanted me to do. Evidently graft
fed, and perhaps not a little relieved
by the success of the stratagem by
which the decree which he dared not
dispbey could be carried out without
risk to his precious person, he
took my arm, and leading me towards
the shadow of some trees at the cor
ner of the square, began to unburden
his mind of the business. Scarcely had
we got our heads well together, how
ever, when suddenly, silently, and
without a moments warning, some
thing whi2zed between us. Though |
was not conscious of any direct blow,
| found myself flung forward as
forcibly as if | had just been dis
charged from an enormous catapult,
and after whirling, a confused tangle
Of arms and limbs, in a sort of human
catherine wheel, and executing a couple
of somersaults, | landed finally on the
pavement, where | lay listening to the
music of the stars that were singing
in my ears as well as staggering away
before my eyes. A bicycle, going at
lpNIuS pCIN, ulu lhI ljAp U.s., anu lilh
knocked the conspiring pair of US apart
as neatly as a couple of kissing" bill
lard balls are knocked spinning in OPP
posite directions by the impact from
a ball which piping hot from
the stroke of the cue. | grieye to say
that when | began to get some breath
back in my body the first mOnthful
was. put to no better use than the ut
terance-the emphatic utterance-of
the single and sinful word, "Damn."
Il quite agree with you" said a
voice, the owner of which | was still
too da2ed to see. "A most sensible
remark, I'm sure. and my own scnti-
meDts entirely. Say it again. 1t VIII
do you good"
| said it again.
Precisely" the voice went on; cts
not generally considered a word Il
make glad the heart of man, but in
the present instance you couldn't have
hit upon one to crafty me more. 1t
was quite soothing in fact, for |
llDllSul at lll6l / udl hllltu Spli, hIN
that word was the best assurance |
could have that you hadn't yet gone to
Heaven and become an angel. 1t was
too human"
| sat up, rubbing the back of my
head ruefully, and looked around.
Number Three had gone-whither
there was nothing to indicate; but a
bridesmaids cart had drawn up to the
curb, and by the light of the lamp |
saw standing over me, with what in
spite of the levity with which he had
spoken, vas a face of concern, a tall,
dark, determined looking man. Two
of his fingers were clipping the UNDER
cuff of his coat sleeve in order to
stretch the cloth sufficiently tight to
form an improvised brush, with which
he was gingerly sCraping away at the
dust on his brown bowler hat; and |
saw that his hair, which he wore short,
was, though thick and curly, quite
gray. Whether his fresh complexion,
bright eyes and black mustache sug-
gested some sort of contradiction to
his gray hair, and thus tended to make
him look out of the common, | could
not at first say, but as | stared up at
him | was conscious that there was
something unusual, if not Of distinC-
ton, about the man.
"Well-now that you have got your
senses %back-don't you think that you
ought to be ashamed OF yourself for
obstructing the t~horoughfare, pitching
me off upon my head, not to speak of
the damage you've done to the bicycle
and to my ARM {@
He held up his ID arm as he spoke,
and | saw that the eeve was ripped
up, showing an ugly 3 sh at the elbow,
Pm very sorry" / said, unmindful
of my own hurts, and with a want of
spirit which was probably due to the
fact that my brain was still a bit con-
fused.
Tut! tut! man." he suffered, as il
disarmed by my meekness; the fault
was as much mine as yours, for had
right to be travelling at such a pace.
| hope you're not hurt? Let me lend
YOU a hand up
I took the proffered hand and leaDt
to my feet; but my haste cost me dear,
for my right ankle winged to such
purpose that l. squealed with pain, and
sank to the ground, where |
sat grooming and squirming till the
pang passed.
RIO Be Continued