The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1910-02-04

c0uCKle, Tue SlaSScS oScf uA0
thick shoulder and waddling on.
When Tubby threw the stub of II
seventh Dos Hermanos cigar out of
the window that night and put aside
a back number Of the Argosy 1t was
only 10 o'clock. nearly " hours ear
lier than it was his custom to retire.
Although 1t was a hot night. he closed
the windows carefully. switched off all
but one Of the electric lights that he
had installed on II wire from the pow
err house and then brought forth from
the capacious closet a bulky dummy
dressed In a suit of his OWL pink pa
janas and placed it In a sitting pos
ture in the middle of the bed. Open
ing the trunk. he brought out the
skull and after fifteen minutes tink-
ering had it secure upon the Shout
ders Of the efigy.
With a wry face, he then made down
a bed in the farther corner behind the
closet, where the. floor CHANGED to Do
made of boards and not Of openwork
Stats through which a spear could cas-
lily be thrust. Then he opened wide
the bamboo windows and, contrary to
his custom, the door, switched off the
remaining light and, after a glance
into the moonless night through the
algeroba trees aglow with frefies. lay
down with a groan of protest upon his
hard bed. casting a longing look at
the dim outlines Of the more comfort
able n occupied by his alter ego. as
he dryly phrased it.
Tubby Hicks was never known to
have a case Of nerves" In oil his
happy life. and the nature Of insomnia
was quite unknown to him. except as
he had observed it in some of his less
fortunate fellow mortals. Tonight.
however, the usually imperturbable
electrician was as wide awake as a cat.
For obvious reasons he dare not
smoke; he yer dare not roll about In
search of q soft spot because of the
horrible row the grooming boards made.
So he lay upon his aching back and
listened to the big lizards that sour
ried over the ceiling and "lok-u'd" in
raucous voices as If deriding his mis-
cry.
A clammy thing fell with a smart
spat upon his face, and he almost
screamed like q schoolgirl. but as the
horrible something scrambled away
over the wide dome Of his stomach
he realized that it vas only a ten inch
lizard that had missed it's footing as
it frfsked along q rafter. Then a pig
came nosing about under the kitchen
for papaya rinds. and. installing the
sound for something very different. his
heart began to thump ominously.
Scarcely had the pig revealed Its iden-
tity by a satisfied grunt when a party
Of reveling rats began to dance a rag
time upon the bamboo mating over
head.
But what was that? Tubby opened
his mouth and held his breath in an
effort to determine. Yes. it surely was
the sound of stealthy bare feet upon
the bamboo Stats Of the open platform
outside the door. And there. vaguely
outlined against the sky. was a dark
form rising noiselessly above the win
dow car. Listen! The faint but un-
mistakable sound Of a spear in the
cracks of the bamboo floor under his
bed came to him and sent q cold shiv-
er down his spine. Now q dark figure
was balancing on the window ledge,
spear in hand. and some n was
standing in the doorway. Now n half
dozen heads. were visible at the win
dow to the right of the bed. a villain
GUS forked shield showing between
two Of them. A hand clutching a
poised spear rose stealthily in the
doorway-and then Tubby pressed the
button.
At the magic touch q skull with eye
sockets, nose and mouth aflame ap-
peared upon the shoulders of q portly
form in pink pajamas under the mos
quito netting. the horrible thing leer-
ing at its surroundings in a way that
gave even Tubby a thrill. For a mo-
ment there was silence nothing short
Of abysmal. and Tubby noted a score
Of black eyes bullying with terror from
under shaggy name of hair. With
the ghost of a chuckle Tubby pulled a
string which released u spring. and
the fearful thing under the netting
leaped up. the three dozen sixteen cam
die power lights inside Of 1t that the
movement SWlLcueU Oh mdhluS II gov
like q fiery demon from the neither
world.
And then Tubby had the surprise of
his life. Instead Of springing through
the windows in a general stampede,
the Igorrotes Frustrated themselves be-
fore the pink glowing god. sending up
a chorus Of deep cultural groans. One
gaunt old savage Topped down SO
close to Tubby that his feet pressed
the luckless electricians stomach. but
the old heather was SO taken up with
the %newfangled god that he had little
surplus thought to bestow upon his
pedal extremities.
Then a brilliant idea seized Tubby.
Rolling cautiously over. he switched
of the current, and the hectic god rap
idly faded into blackness. For one
long moment Tubby heard nothing but
the deep breathing Of the dark forms
about him, while he held his own
breath; then a wandering zephyr stray
ed in through the nearest window,
tanning the. bald spot on his Uranium.