Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-12-22
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He looked up. Suddenly q light A.
peared among the branches. It was q
short ray, striking against the trunk.
Before Orme could realize what was
happening a hand appeared in ths
little bar Of radiance and was In
serted apparently into the trunk Of
the tree. A moment later 1t was
withdrawn. II held an oblonE oe
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 os.
But as Orme was wondering about It,
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 onG
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, a fig.
ure swung from the lower branch APP
p~arently 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,
Q but before the assailant could twist
4 it, Orme struck out with the wrench,
which was in his right hand. Swift
!. though the motion was, his opponent
v threw up his free arm and partly
4 broke the force of the blow. But the
wrench reached his forehead never,
theless, and with a little moan, he
d dropped to the ground in a heap.
AS Orme knelt to search the man
/? another figure swung from the tree
d 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 hai
the envelope.
10 He struck q match. The man OF
the ground was moving ~uneasily ant
IS moaning. There was a scar on hi
10 forehead. 1t was Maku.
% He went through the unconscious
e. mans pockets. There was no enve
lope such as he was looking for, blu
he did find q folded slip of pape
which he thrust into his W pocket
n A discovery that interested him
though it was not now important, h,
le made by the light of a second match
le 1t was the marked five-dollar bill. H
IT. would have liked to take it as
IN souvenir, If for no other reason, bu
a time was short and Maku, who ev
III IDENTIFY was not seriously hurt, shove
d. signs Of returning consciousness.
es Another occurrence also hastene
him. A mar was strolling along tn
lg lake short, not far away. Orme ha
not seen his approach, though h
b. was distinctly outlined against tn
open background OF a and SIX!
re The stranger stopped. The strikin
Inn of the two matches had attracted h
ee attention.
re. "Have you lost something's" b
at called.
mo-" Orme replied.
en- The man started toward Orme, 6
m. If to investigate, and then Orme n
Of ticed that outlined on his head was
lat policeman's helmet.
Ith To be found going through Il
as pockets of an unconscious man WI
or not to Orme's liking. 1t might |
lid possible to explain the situation we
enough to satisfy the local author
m. ties, but that would involve della!
zee fatal to any further effort to catt
om the man with the envelope.
M