The Hattiesburg news., 1910-02-24

tah1o made the room bright and
cheS was empty.
Nd1ne oeo were comfortable. The
place 0oS IN Of feminine trifes that
made u - the weakness Of our po-
sition. notne such instinct made Nc
Knight 1rGkeat division.
I'VE oaN <e an invading army"
he said. rs here alone, we will
startle Ut spasm. One of us
could tak6S look around and"
What was that? Didn't you hear
somethingy'
The sound, whatever it had been,
was not repeated. We went awkward
~ out into the hall, very uncomfort-
able, all of us, and Tipped coin. The
choice fell on me, which was right
enough, for the affair was mine, pri-
marily
''Wait just inside the door," l di-
rected, "and If Sullivan comes, or
anybody that answers his description,
grab him without ceremony and ask
him questions afterwards"
The apartment, save in the hallway,
was unlighted. By one of those freaks
Of arrangement possible only in the
modern fiat, found the kitchen first,
and was struck a smart and unex-
pected blow by swinging door. l
carried handful Or matches, and by
the time / had passed through but
ler's pantry and a refrigerator room
was completely lost in the darkness.
Until then the situation had been
merely uncomfortable; suddenly 1t be-
came grisly. From somewhere near
came long groan, followed
almost Instantly by the crash of some
thing-glass or china-on the floor.
l struck fresh match, and found
| myself In q narrow rear hallway. Be-
hind me was the door by which must
have come; with . keen desire to get
back to the place l had started from,
/ opened the door and attempted to
cross the room. thought l had kept
my sense of direction, but 1 crashed
without warning into what, from the
resulting jangle, was the dining table,
| probably laid for dinner. cursed my
stupidity in getting into such SIT
uation, and I cursed my nerves FOR
making my hand shake when ] tried
| to strike a match. The gr0an had not
been repeated.
1 braced myself against the table
and struck the match sharply against
the sole of my shoe. 1t fiolkered
family and went oalt- And then, with
out the slightest warning, another dish
went OF the table. 1t fell with a
thousand splinterings; the very air
seemed broken into crashing waves
of sound. stood still, braced against
the table, holding the red end of the
dying match, and listened. / had not
long to wait; the groan came again.
and I recognized it, the cry cof dog
in straits. I breathed again.
Come, old fellow said '"Come
on, old man. Let's have q look al
|ym"
i could hear the thud of hrs tail on
the floor, but he did not move. He
only whimpered. There is something
companionable in the presence of q
dog, and 1 fancied thfs dog in trouble
Slowly l began to work my way
around the table toward him.
| ALOOu DOy, Sdfus as He WulHlpeIcu
We'll find the light. which ought tt
be somewhere or other around here
and then"
l stumbled over something, and
drew back my foot almost instantly
Did l step on you, old ,m8IfT' ex
claimed, and bent to pat him. I re
4 member Strengthening suddenly ant
hearing the dog pad softly stowart
me around the table recall ever
that II had put the matches down ant
could not find them. Then, with {
;l7burstiAg horror Of the room and iti
'sontenSs, of the gsbbebiqS darl
~round me, l turned and maae flor thu
door by which l had entered.
i \ could not find it felt along thu
,6ndless ,wainscOdAG. mast miles O