Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-01-17

where In the rear of the house ant
Chakawana's voice soothing; then in ,
moment the Indian girl appeared II
the doorway, saying something abou
going out with Constantine. Cherr!
acquiesced half consciously. Impatient
of the intrusion. Boyd finally rose and
going to the door, saw that the sky wa.
deeply overcast, rendering the night a.
dark as in a far lower latitude.
I've overstayed my welcome" be
ventured and smiled at her answering
laugh.
With trace Of solicitude she said
WAIT! I'll get you raincoat." But
he reached out OBTAINING hand In
the darkness it encountered the bare
flesh Of her arm.
please don't! You'd have to strike
u light to find II. and don't want Il
light now"
1T has been Il pleasant evening"" she
said namely.
81 saw you for the first time tonight
Cherry. think have begun to know
you"
Again she felt her heart leap. Reach
ing out to say goodby. his hand slipped
down over her arm like a caress until
her palm lay In his.
With trembling. gentle hands she
pushed him from her
When the black bulk Of Marshs can
merry loomed ahead Of Emerson he left
the gravel beach and turned up among
the buildings. seeking to retrace bis
former course. AS he turned the cor
ner of the first building he nearly ran
against n man who was standing mo-
tiunless against the wall. The fellow,
with sharp exclamation. vanished
into the gloom. Boyd lost no time in
gaining the plank runway that led to
the dock and. finding an angle in the
backed into It and waited
From his nomentary glimpse Of the
man us he made off he knew that he
was tall and active-just the sort Of
person to prove dangerous In al EN-
counter. But II his suspicious were
correct there must be others close by.
and Boyd wondered why he had heard
no signal. After breathless wait OF
Il moment or two he stole cautiously
out. and, selecting the darkest shad-
ows. slipped from one to another till
he was caught by the sound Of voices
Issuing from the yawning entrance Of
the main building on his right. The
next moment his tension relaxed; one
Of the speakers was woman. Evi-
dently his alarm had been needless.
for these people. whoever they were
made no effort TO conceal their pres
ence. On the contrary. the woman had
raised her tone to q louder pitch. al.
though her words were still undistin
guishable.
Greatly relieved. Boyd was about to
30 on. when sharp cry. like signal.
came IN the woman's voice. cry
which turned to genuine wall Of dis
tress. The listener heard mans voice
cursing in answer. and then the sound
Of IL scuffle, followed at length by a
cry, that brought him bound.
Ing into the building. He ran forward.
recklessly. but before he had covered
half the distance her collIded violently
with piece of machinery and went
sprawling to the floor A glance up
ward revealed the dim outlines Of Il
topper" and showed him farther
down the building. sllhouetted briefly
against the lesser darkness Of the win
lows. two struggling figures. AS he
regained his footing, something rushed
past him-man or animal he could not
tell which. for Its feet made no more
sound upon the floor than those OF
wolf dog. Then. as he bolted forward,
he heard man cry out. and found
himself In the midst Of turmoil. His
hands encountered human body. and
he seizei il. only 70 be hurled aside nS
II with q giants strength. Again he
with mans form. and bore
II to the floor. cursing at the darkness
and reaching for its throat. His IN
tagonist raised his voice In wild
clamor. while Boyd braced himself foi
another assault from those huge hands
he had met moment before. But il
did not come Instead he heard cry
from the woman. an answer In Il deep
er voice and then swift. patterin@
footsteps growing fainter. Meanwhile
the man with whom he was locked
was fighting desperately. with hands
and feet and teeth. shouting hoarsely
Other footsteps sounded now. this
time approaching, then at the door Il
lantern fared. A watchman cume run
ming down between the lines OF ma
chiuery. followed by other figures half
revealed.
Boyd had pinned his antagonist
against the cold sides Of retort nj
last and with fingers clutched aDoul
bis throat was beating his head vio'
lently against the iron when by the
lanterns CLEAN he caught one glimpse
Of the fat. purple face In front OF MIN
and loosed his hold with startled en-
lamation Released from the grip
that had nearly made an end OF MIN.
Willis Marsh staggered to his feet.
The man was wounded. badly
wounded, rs he saw by the red stream
which gushed down over his breast
Marsh leveled trembling finger at
Boyd and cried Historically:
"Thcre he Is, men. He tried to muir
der me. I'm hurt. I'll have him
The seriousness Of the accusation
struck the young man on the instant.
He turned upon the group.
81 didn't do that. heard a tight
going ON and ran In here
Hes u liar" the wounded man In
terrupted shrllly. Hes stabbed me-
Seey He tried to strip the shirt from
his wounds, then fell to chattering ana
shaking. 10 God, I'm hurt! He
staggered to n packing case and sank
upon 1t. weakly fumbling at his sod
den shoulder.
~ didn't do that" repeated Boyd
81 don't know who stabbed him
didn't"
..rhen who didY' some one de-
manded.
What are you doing in here? You'd
q killed him in u minute. SAID the
man with the lantern.
We'll tix you for this.' third voice
threatened.
"I,isten." BOYD said In tone TO