The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1912-09-06


over the hedge. neck and crop. d.
you hear me-?
"And If you dare to interfere with
an officer or his deputy in the dis
charge OF his duty, the authorities
will settle with you," was my calm re-
joinder. "Trot ahead, Jerry! His
bark's worse than his bite"
Jerry quick to obey. disappeared
on the instant around the corner Of
the bungalow, and Murphy, after q
pretended dash forward. halted on
the lower porch step.
"See here!" he demanded, cum
brously. What's all this, anyhow
You come here after gasolene, os
tensibly, and then declare you're
game wardens after a law-defying
Chinese poacher."
At last l saw him halfway amen.
able to reason. Now that he was out
Of the shadow, saw too, more clear.
ly, what manner Of man he was. His
head, as had already dlscerned 1t
through the gloom, was abnormal!y
large, yet not out Of proportion with
his herculean torso. His red hair,
frowsy, unkempt, was Of such abund.
ance that, in the dark, its outline had
given me grotesquely magnified i'm
preston. His red beard, too, was
thick, long, and untrimmed. What lit
tie Of his face showed, was sunburned
to what, in the dim light, seemed the
color of ripe russell apples. His eyes
were nearly indiscernible, deep set,
under bushy red brows.
''If you had shown the least bit Of
humanity to brother men In distress, .
l responded, in a half jocular vein,
I'D probably never thought of this
being your place, and you being you;
and the incident of the morning
might have been forgotten"
l thought heard mis- teeth grit to-
gether In his effort to suppress ris-
ing rage. l certainly saw his hands
clench; and then, with an assumption
Of indifference, he took a final puff
at his cigar and tossed it, sparkling,
among the weeds of his lawn.
1t was evident to me, now, that in
spite of the nonchalance he affected,
my reference to the Chinaman's
poaching, and his presence at Crag-
holt, had aroused his interest, and 50
hoping to draw him out, continued:
Your man told the lodge.keeper
that you sent him over to borrow a
rifle"
"You don't mean to tell me you'd
believe a Chinaman, do your" he re.
turned.
1T wasn't for me to believe or dis
believe. The lodge-keeper believed
him."
"And SO he borrowed rifle, and
then with one OF Cameron's own In
struments Of destruction proceeded
to destroy Cameron's game? Is that
it? What did he shoot? A deer or
one of those starved-looking white
dogs that Cameron has following him
about?"
Apparently Murphy knew much
more OF my friend than my friend
knew of Murphy
Neither, | fancy. In fact, I'm not
sure just what he did shoot In the
way Of game. But he seems to have
INDUCED in bit of target practice.
He found piece of an old portrait,
tackled 1t to tree, and shot holes in
1t. Rather silly, Ell? Foolish for him
to chance getting into trouble for
child's play of that sort"
"How do you know that?" he
growled, with an inadvertent drop
ping of his mask. There was no mis-.
taking, now, that had made captive
his attention.
81 saw the target" / answered,
simply.
That's like saying, 4 caught
twelve-pound bass. Here's the hook
and line to prove it,"
81 have a scale of the bass"
"a what%
Something your Chinaman dropped
beside the tree"
Phlegmatic though he was, some
thing very like start followed upon
my words. Then, as If to cover the
movement, he shrugged his shout
ders, and chuckled ponderously
"Hrs visiting card, suppose"
Nearly as good" supplied. "The
bowl Of his opium pipe"
At that moment Jerry came around
the corner Of the house and stopped
abruptly, stupefed by SURPRISE for
from the open mouth Of the giant
there issued roar of bass laughter,
that reverberated in weird discord.
ance through the night silences.
you bally idiot" he cried, his guf-
faw ended. II suppose no persons ex'
cept Cinnamon smoke opium, Ell!
And that being SO, no Chinaman but
my Chinaman could have made tar
get of a piece Of an old portrait and
dropped his pipe bowl at the foot OF
tree! Go on with you, you make
me sick!" And then, seeing Jerry,
who had quickly Joined me: Didn't
find him, Ell? Well, that's not strange.
Having lost the bowl of his pipe, he's
probably gone to borrow another
from a laundryman friend in Cos
Cob; and that, by the way, is about
the nearest place for you to buy gas.
olena."