The San Francisco call., 1909-01-10

get his bearings. Himself painfully
shaken and bruised. he shrewdly sur
missed that his assailant had Jared as
i'll. If not worse And in point of
fact. the man lay with neither move
nor moan, still as death at the Ameri-
cans feet.
And once more silence had folded it's
wings over Number 8. Frognall street
More conscious of that terrifying.
motionless presence beneath him than
able to distinguish 1t by power of
vision. he endured interminable min
utes of trembling horror, in a witless
daze, before he thought of his match
box. Immediately he found it and
struck light. AS the wood caught and
the bright small flame leaped in the
pent air. he leaned forward, over the
body. breathlessly dreading what he
must discover.
The man lay quiet, head upon the
floor, legs and hips on the stairs. One
arm had fallen over his face. hiding
the upper half The hand CLEANED
white and delicate as a woman's His
chin was smooth and round, his lips
thin and petulant. Beneath his top
coat evening dress clothed a short
and slender figure. Nothing whatever
of his appearance suggested the burly
ruffian, the midnight marauder: he
enough to dress for dinner. In his
attitude there was something pitifulIy
suggestive of a beaten child. thrown
into a corner
conscience smitten and amazed Kirk
wood stared on until. without warn
ing, the match fiickered and went ont
Then, Strengthening up with an ex-
clamation at once of annoyance and
concern, he ratified the box; it made
swore it was the DEVILS own luck, that
he. should run out of vestas at a time
so critical He could not even saw
whether the fellow was dead. uncon-
scious or simply shamming He had
little idea of his looks; and to be able
to identify him might save a deal of
trouble at some future time-since he.
Kirkwood. seemed so little able TO dis
engage himself from the clutches of
this insane adyenturei And the girl
what had become of her? How couId
he continue to search for her without
lights or guide. through all those silent
rooms, whose walls might inclose a
hundred. hidden dangers in that house
of mystery?
blood was young, and it was hot: IT
was quite plain to him that he could
not withdraw and retain his self
respect. If the girl was there to be
found, most assuredly he must find
her. The hand lamp that had dazzled
him at the head Of the stairs should
be his aid, now that he thought of IT.
and providing he was able to find it.
In the scramble on the stairs he. had
lost his hat, but he remembered that
the vesta's short lived light had dis
covered this on the floor beyond the
mans body Carefully stepping across
the latter he recovered his headgear.
and then, kneeling. listened with an
ear close to the fellows face. A softly
regular beat of breathing reassured
him. Half rising. he caught the body
beneath the armpits. lifting and drag
ging 1t off the staircase; and knelt
again, to feel of each pocket in the
mans clothing, partly as an obvious
precaution. to relieve him of his ad-
vertised revolver against an untimely
Weakening. partly to see If he had the
lamp about him.
The search proved fruitless Kirk
wood suspected that the weapon like
his own, had existed only in his vic
TINS ready Imagination AS for the
lamp, in the act of rising he struck it
with his foot. and picked it up.
1t felt like a metal tube couple of
inches in diameter, foot or so in
length. passably heavy. He fumbled
with it impatiently. However the
dickens he wondered audibly, does
the Internal machine work. As il
happened, the thing worked with dis
concerting abruptness as his unframed
fingers fell hapchance on the spring.
A sudden glare again smote him in the
face, and at the same instant. from a
point not yard away, apparently, an
inarticulate cry rang out upon the
stiffness.
Heart in his mouth he stepped back,
lowering the lamp (Which impishly
went out) and lifting protecting
forearm.
who's that?" he demanded harshly
strangled sob of terror answered
him, blurred by a swift rush of skirts,
and in breath hrs shattered nerves
quieted and a glimmer of common sense
penetrated the murk anger and fear
had bred in his brain. He understood,
and stepped forward, catching blindly