The pioneer express., 1912-12-13
CHAPTER v-(contlnusd)


CHAPTER ~(contlnued).
At last I saw him halfway amen
able to reason. Now that he was out
OF the shadow, saw too. more clear
~, what manner Of man he was. His
head, as had already discerned it
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, it's outline had
given me a grotesquelye magnifed 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 russet apples. His eyes
were nearly indiscernible, deep set.
under bushy red brows.
III you had shown the least bit of
humanity to brother men in distress, %
l responded. in 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"
thought I heard his teeth grit to-
gether in his effort to suppress a ris-
ing rage. I certainly saw his hands
clench; and then, with an assumption
Of indifference, he took final puff
at his cigar and tossed 1t, sparkling,
among the weeds Of his lawn.
It 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 so
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 you?" he re-
turned.
':1t- wasn't for me to believe or dis
believe. The lodge-keeper. believed
him"
"And SO he borrowed rife, and
then with one of Cameron's own in
struments of destruction proceeded
to destroy Cameron's game? Is that
1t? 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
4,,n% ,hn$ H~
way of game. But he seems to have
indulged in a bit of target practice.
He found piece Of an old portrait.
tackled it to a tree. and shot holes in
it. Rather silly, eh? 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.
II saw the target" answered.
simply.
That's like saying. I caught a
twelve-pound bass. Here's the hook
and line to prove it,"
HdVe ucdJ0 VI the Da6S.
"A what7" Y# 4,
Something your Chinaman dropped
beside the tree"
Phlegmatic though he was, some
thing very like start followed upon
my words. Then. as II to cover the
movement. he shrugged his .shoul-
ders, and chuckled ponderously.
His visiting card. suppose"
Nearly as good" supplied. "Ths
bowl Of his opium p1pe.''''
! At that moment Jerry came around
the corner Of the house and stopped
abruptly. stupened by surprise; for
from the open mouth Of the giant
there issued q roar Of bass laughter,
that reyerberated in weird discord.
ance through the night silences.
You bally idiot!" he cried, his guf.
faw ended. Il suppose no persons ex-
cept Chinamen smoke. opium. .ebi |
And that being 90, no Chinaman but
my Chinaman could have made d tar
get sof iie piecs of IN old portrait and
dropped his pipe bowl ct the foot Of |
! treels 60 on With you, you make |
me sick" And then, seeing Jerry.
wh0 had quickly joined me: .sDidn't |
Ind him. oh ! Well. that's not strange.
Having lost tho bowl of his pipe. he's !
probably gone ~ bostow another
rom d i laplnIdlvn,sn ipd IA Co.'S