The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-06

a gurgle passed my fingers, for they were
 almost buried in his hot, smooth flesh.
 Oh, l am not proud of 1t; the act was as
 vile as act coudd be; but l was not going
 to see Rallies taken. my one desire was to
 be the saving of him. and 1 tremble oven
 now to think to what lengths I might
 have gone for its fulflllment As it was 1
 squeezed and tugged until one strong
 hand gave way after the other and came feeling round me. but feebly because they
 had held on so long. And what do you
 suppose was happening at the same mo-
 ment? The pinched white hand of Raf-
 fes, reddening with returning blood, and
 with clot of blood upon the wrist, was
 craning upward and turning the key in
 the lock without moments loss.
 Steady on, Bunnyi"
 And 1 saw that Beefy's ears were blue;
 but Rallies was feeling in his pockets as
 he spoke. Now let him breathe" said
 he clapping his handkerchief over the
 poor youths mouth. An empty phial was
 in his other hand and the first few ster-
 torons breaths that the poor boy took
 were the end of him for the time being.
 Oh, but it was villainous,. my part espe-
 cially. for he must have been far gone 10
 go the rest of the way so readily. I be-
 gan by saying that l was not proud of
 this deed, but it's dastardly character has
 come home to me more than ever with
 thc ptiidice Ol WrltlIlB IL Out. l see n.y.
 self at least my then self, things that I
 never saw quite so clearly before. Yet let
 me be quite sure that I would. not do the
 same again. I had not the smallest de-
 sire to throttle this innocent lad (nor did
 D, but only to extricate Rallies from the
 most hopeless position he was ever in;
 and, after all, it was better than blow
 from behind. On the whole, I will not
 alter a word, nor whine about the thing any more
 We lifted the plucky fellow into Raffes' place in the pantry locked the door on him, and put the key through the panel. Now was the moment for thinking of our selves, and again that internal mask mask which Rallies swore by came near
 being the undoing of us both We had
 reached the steps when we were hailed
 by voice, not from without but from
 within, and I had just time to tear the
 accursed thing from Rallies face before the turned
 A stout man with blond mustache was on the stairs, in his pajamas like the boys.
 What are you doing here?' said he. There has been an attempt upon your house. said l, still spokesman for the night and still on the wings of inspira- ton.
 Your sons''-
 My pupils"
 Indeed. Well, they heard it, drove off the thieves and have given chase" And where do you come in?' inquired the stout man, descending We were bicycling past. and actually saw one fellow come headfirst through your pantry window. l think he got over the wall'
 Here a breahless boy returned Cant see anything of him." he gasped It's true then,' remarked the cram mer.
 Look at that door" said I. But, unfortunately the breathless boy looked also, and now he was being joined by others equally short of wind Where's Beefy?' he screamed What on earth's happened to Beefy?" My good boys' exclaimed the cram mer, will one of you be kind enough to tell me what you've been doing, and what these gentlement have been doing for you? Come in all before you get your death see lights in the classroom, and more than lights. Can these be signs of a carouse?"
 "A very innocent one, sir" said we'll set-up youth with more mustache than I have. yet
 Well, Ophert, boys will be boys Sup pose you tell me what happened, before we come to recrimnations. 2? The bad old proverb was my first warn ing. caught two of the youths exchang- ing glances under raised eyebrows. Yet their stout, easy going mentor had given me such a reassuring glance of sidelong humor. as between man of the world and man of the world, that it was difficult to suspect him of suspicion. 1 was never theless itching to be gone.