The Ordway new era., 1909-07-02
ELLERY
GAVE PROOF
Il Was a Convincing Dtmoaf'Fa'ion

window to gaze therein 1t a hectic ar
ray Of fascinating seeks. The man
brushed up against him, iarring the
small package which El,ry carried
beneath his arm so that he had to re-
adjust his grasp OF H.
Il was a small box neatly tied up IN
frash paper with violet cord. because
his sister had attended TO that detail
II looked as d Il might be jewelers.
plush box containing diamond neck
lace or something OF the sort. but In
reality 1t held two sandwiches.
This was because Ellory Is an alb
scntmiulri individual who VIII not
heed the call OF hunger unle's some
,nr Is az hand forcIhly TO lead him to
a meal OF late he had been worf.ns
nights ami forgetting TO go out to
Iiuuer. coming out Of his trance about
ten O'Clock. ruvtuous and faint.
III you ru, This box in front Of YOU
upon lugr H.sk." his sister had tod
him with faint sarcasm. maybe you II
-emguh.r 'D open IL and eat the con.
tents aElv ynu work"
E"c-, bad obcGGcu,lv carried the
roN Ioautaan with him Il was small
,aarEn go escape general notice. but Il
7"yu.E 10 have attracted the low.
or1u,. man
luI..#. ~ the entrance 10 convent.
ont alley That lurking individual sud-
!anly save EUcry a push and maIa
mother unsuccessful grab NJ the box
Then be sTHes.y hl; the dust because
EIiery .a s.s Indignation and alUr u
had Immediately squared Oh and hit
back, claEce i.lEt-E his fist on the
sensitive sa.; %: tAg l-D- -srowci man
law.
In the resll-aa; o-at-s.on the man
scrambled 20 rs .s.: and aei. The
box WAS recgv--ss sg .cs owner while
the assembled Poru.aoe csesreE him
for so ably defending BIS property.
El,ry Is a man OF peace Under or.
lin.ry conditions he would hrs par.
ion Of a fly If he got IN its way How.
ever. In his ears still rang pleasantly
the plauIits OF the street crowd as he
entered the general Office and related
his adventure.
You say you actually hit him?" de.
mandcd Busby with a look OF incredu.
ulity.
"You-in a vulgar street fight"
mourned Williamson. oh. you shock
mo. dear boy"
Maybe you think I'm a coward"
brIsticd Ellory.
NO. oh. no." soothed hummer. But
a.,
For answer Ellery walked into his
private Office and slammed the door.
UncOnsclously he doubled up his arm
and felt his swelling biceps with a
certain fierce pleasure. He measured
a good five feet eleven and was broad
of shoulder and inwardly he writhcd
at the incredulOus tones which had
been employed by the mon in the outer
office. That they should think him in.
capable Of wOrsting an opponent or
even OF hitting back rankled in his
mind. That he was mild of manner
and reserved OF speech was no reason
for putting him down as a mollycoddle
afraid to call his soul his own.
All day in intervals of work the lit.
tie sting kept recurring to destroy Ell.
lery's peace Of mind, to rouse in him
a spirit Of wrath. In subconscious
way he knew the men In the Office
had talked the matter over and he
could imagine their comments and
:heir winks. Maybe they even went
so far as to think he had exaggerated
had even told falsehood.
In a sort Of fury Ellery worked on
that evening. devouring his sand,
w!ches with slow, fierce grinds of his
Jaws, his brows straight and frown.
Ing. He did not realize that those
sandwiches had been lovingly filled
with lettuce and mayonaise and
chopped nuts-they might Just as well
have been spread with sawdust.
He started home about ten O'Clock
Just as he reached the deserted
corner of the building from the shad
ows stepped a man with the gruf,
command, Hands upi"
There was no one else in sight. So
It was useless to call for help. The
man was bigger than Ellery, but Ell
lery's evaporation at this second as
sault in one day overcame all othe,
emotions.
with an inarticulate howl and the
blood humping In his temples, Ellory
made a leap at the robber In sublime
disregard Of possible six-shooter. His
assailant crumpled up like a pane,
man beneath the shock Of Ellery's
weight. Without any wasting nj
breath In preliminarles Ellery pro
ceeded to pound the mans face as IL /,
were particularly tough beefsteal
which he was in a hurry to make ten
der. The 10y of onset was still upor
him as he pounded away, but his op
ponent twisted his countenance aside
to escape that implacable fist.
Stop, Ellery, stop!" gasped ,
strangely familiar voice.
Looking closely the gladiator saw +
was hummer i.'om the office. Sneech
L