The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1910-12-30
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BANNI)TER- MFRWIN
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He looked up. Suddenly light ap
peared among the branches. 1t was
short ray, striking against the trunk
Before Orme could realize what was
happening hand appeared In the
little bar of radiance and was ini
serted apparently into the trunk OF
the. tree. A moment later 1t was
withdrawn. 1t held an oblong OF
white
Involuntarily Orme took a step for
ward. A twig cracked under his foot
Instantly the light went out.
Orme drew the wrench from his
pocket and stood tense. There was
no other tree quite close enough for
the man above him to spring to its
branches. He would have to drop
near Orme.
Standing there, the wrench In his
hand, Orme felt that the advantage
was his. He heard rustlings in the
branches above his head and kept
himself alert to guard against the
man dropping on his shoulders.
To strike the Japanese down as he
dropped from the tree, that was his
plan But meantime, where was the
other Japanese? Was he among the
near shadows? If so, he might even
now be creeping stealthily toward
Orme. The likelihood of such an at.
tack was disconcerting to think Of.
But as Orme was wondering about 1t,
1t occurred to him that the man in
the tree would not have gone on
guard so quickly, if his confederate
were near at hand. 1t was natural
that he should have put the light out,
but would he not Immediately after.
ward have given some signal to the
friend below? And would he not take
1t for granted that, were a stranger
near, his watcher would have man.
aged to give warning? No, the other
Japanese could not be on guard
Perhaps, thought Orme, only one
of them had come on this quest. He
hoped that this might be the case.
He could deal with one.
The man in the tree was taking his
own time to descend. Doubtless he
would await a favorable moment,
then alighting on the ground as far
from Orme as possible, make off at
top speed.
But now, to Orme's surprise fig
ure swung from the lower branch ap-
parently without haste. Once on the
ground, however, the stranger leaped
toward Orme.
An intuition led Orme to thrust out
his left arm 1t was quickly seized,
but before the assailant could twist
it, Orme struck out with the wrench,
which was in his right hand. Swift
though the motion was, his opponent
threw up his free arm and partly
broke the force of the blow. But the
wrench reached his forehead never
theless, and with little moan, he
dropped to the ground in heap.
AS Orme knelt to search the man,
another figure swung from the tree
and darted northward, disappearing
in the darkness. Orme did not pursue
it was useless-but a sickening in
tuition told him that the man who
had escaped was the man who had
the envelope
He struck match The man on
the ground was moving uneasily and
moaning. There was a scar on his
forehead. 1t was Maku.
He went through the unconscious
mans pockets. There was no enve-
lope such as he was looking for, but
he did find folded slip of paper
which he thrust into his own pocket.
A discovery that interested him,
though it was not now important, he
made by the light Of second match.
1t was the marked flve-dollar bill. He
would have liked to take 1t as
souvenir, If for no other reason, but
time was short and Maku, who evil
IDENTIFY was not seriously hurt, showed
signs Of returning consciousness.
Another occurrence also fastened
him. A man was strolling along the
lake short, not far away. Orme had
not seen his approach, though he
was distinctly outlined against the
open background of lake and sky.
The stranger stopped. The striking
of the two matches had attracted his
attention.
Have you lost something?" he
called.
NO" Orme replied.
The man started toward Orme, as
If to investigate, and then Orme no.
ticed that outlined on his head was a
policeman's helmet.
To be found going through the
pockets of an unconscious man was
not to Orme's liking 1t might be
possible to explain the situation well
enough to satisfy the local authori-
ties, but that would involve delays
fatal to any further effort to catch
the man with the envelope.
CTo BE CoNTINUED3
Indla's National Dish.
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