Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-06-04
! h e Spoil ers|
By REX E. BEACH.
By REX E. BEA c H.


elbow, shot twice, SO rapidly that the
reports blended-but without checking
his antagonists approach. Four more
times the ralentless assailant fired de-
liberately, hts last missile sent as he
stood over the body which twitcher
and shuddered at his feet, it's gar
ments muddy and smeared. Then he
turned and retracted his steps. Back
within arm 's-liength of the two who
pressed against the building he came,
and as he went by they saw his coarse
and sullen features drawn and work.
ing pallidly, while the breath .whistled
through his teeth He held his cours,e
to the door they had just quilted, then
as he turned he coughed bestiall.i,
splitting out mouthful of blood. His
knees wavered. He vanished Within
the portals and, in the sickly silence
that fell, they heard his hobnai!cd
boots dumping slowly up the stairs.
Noise awote and rioted down The
tho, nighfarc Men rushed forth from
in the dirt Was hidden by sseeih.ng
mars Of nliupers
Glenister raised the girl, but her
head rolled Imply, and she would have
slipped to her knees again had he not
placed his arm about her waist. Her
eyes were staring and horror-filled.
Don't be frightened" said ne, smil-
Ing at her reassuringly; but his own
lips shook and the sweat stood out like
dew on him; for they had both been
close to death. There came surge
and swirl through the crowd, and Dex-
try swoopad upon them like hawk.
BE We hurt? Holy Mackinaw! When
| see EN- blaze away yells at We fit
to bust my throat. | shore thought
you was gone. Although can't say but
this KILN was sight for sore eyes
SO neat an genteel- still, as a rule,
in these street brawls it's the limo.
cuous bystander that has flowers sent
around to his house afterwards"
Look at this" said Glenister.
Breast-high tn the wall against which
they had crouched, not three feet
apart, were bullet holes.
'Them's the first two he unhitch-
ed" Dextry remarked, perkng his
head towards the objects in the street.
Must have been a new gun an pull
ed hard throw.ed him to the right.
See!"
Even to the girl 1t was patent that,
had she not been snatched as she was
the bullet would have found her,
Come away quick" she painted, and
they led her into a nearby store,
where she sank upon seat and trem-
bled until Dextry brought her glass
of whiskey.
Here. Miss" he said. aPretty
tough go for a scheechako." I'm afraid
you amt gettin' enamoured of this
here country whole lot
For half an hour he talked to her, in
his Whimsical way, Of foreign things.
till she was quieted. Then the part,
ners arose to go. Although Glenister
had arranged for her to stop with the
wife Of the merchant for the rest of
the night, she would not.
Il can't go to bed. Please don't
leave me! I'm too nervous. I'll go
mad il you do. The strain of the last
week has been too much for me. If
I sleep I'll see the faces Of those men
again.
Dextry talked with his companion,
ten made purchase which he laid
at the lady's feet.
AASAV q pan VI l1dll-SloWu gun
boots. You put EN- on an come with
us. Wen take your mind off Of things
complete. An as fer sweet dreams,
when you get back you'll make the
slumbers of the just seem as restless
as a riot, or the antics of mountain
boat which nimbly leaps from crag to
crag, and-well that's restless enough
Come on"
AS the sun slanted UP out of Beh-
ring Sea, they marched hack towards
the hills, their feet ankle-deep in the
soft fresh moss, while the air tasted
like a cool draught and a myriad of
earthly oders rose up and encircled
them. Spipe and reed birds we're noisy
in the hollows and from the misty
tundra lakes. came the honking of
brant, After their weary weeks on
shipboard, the dewy freshness livened
them magically, cleansing from their
memories the recent tragedy. SO that
the girl became herself again.
Where are we going?" she asked,
at the end of an hour pausing for
breath.
Why to the Midas, of course" they
said; and one of them vowed reckless
~, as ht drank in the beauty of her
clear eyes and the grace of her slen-
der, painting form, that he would glad
ly give his share OF all its riches to
undo what he had done one night ON
the Santa Maria.
CHAPTER v.
In the lives of countries there are
o..