The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1912-07-18
CHAPTER xlv.-fcontInued1

SE'fNF GN
lie ran us seldom he had run be.
fore. straining and iaborlng. stumbling.
recovering and plunging onward And.
by the gods. wasn't It hot The
khamsin raved and tore like a spirit
OF hell fire through that narrow alley,
turning II into q miniature inferno.
But In the course of some minutes,
che end of the tunnel came In view:
o lighted rift between house walls,
giving upon the Illuminated street be-
yond. Tho sight brought forth fresh
burst OF speed from ORourke He
dashed madiy out OF the alley,
stumbled and ran headlong into
strolling Greek. who grapped with
aim, at first In surprise and then in
resentment. while the clamor of the
pursuing rabble shrilled loud and
near and ever nearer.
Exhausted as he was, the Irishman
struggled with little skill before he
mastered his own surprise; ana In the
end saw his fms written along the
blade OF a thin. keen knife which the
Greek mad whipped from the folds OF
his garments and jerked threateningly
above Ills head
II WAS falling when oRourke saw
II. In another breath he had been
stabbed. Unexpectedly the Greek
shriekcd dropped the knife as though
II had turned suddenly white.hot in
his hands, and leaped back from
oRourkc. nursing broken wrist;
while voice as sweet as the singing
OF angels rang I'm the fugltive's cars,
though the spirit of It's melody Was
simple and crude enough
"ORourke. be all tn powers. The
masther himself Glory, ye beggar.
ills sorry | am that ! didn't split the
ugly face of ye wild me sthck!
This way. yer honor! Come
wild met"
Blindly enough (indeed the world
was all awhirl about him) O'Rourke.
his arm grasped by a strong and conf.
dent hand. permitted himself to be
swung to the right and across the
street In a thought blackness again
was all aboat him, but the hand
sripped his arm. hurrying him onward:
and he yielded blindly to its guidance
without power. for that matter, to
question or to object; what breath
he had he sorely needed And as blind.
fy he stumbled on for perhaps another
hundred yards. while the voice of the
rabble made hideous the night be.
mind them. Hardly. indeed. had the
two whipped into the mouth of the
back-way ere 1t was choked by a
swarm OF pursuers. Dut-"Niver
fear!" said the voice at his side.
TITS ourselves that'll outwit them.
Here. now. yer honor, do We
10 straight on widout sthoppin' ontil
We come to an iron dure in dead wall
at the end av this. Knock there
vance. count tin. and knock again.
I'll lead EN- away and be wild ye again
IN a brace av shakes!"
Benumbed by fatigue and exhdas-
tfon. ORourke obeyed. He was aware
that his preserver with wild whoop
mad darted aside into cross-alley. but
hardly aware OF more. Mechanically
he blundered on until brought up by
q wall that closed and made q Guide
sac OF the way.
with trembling hands he felt before
him. fingers encountering the smooth,
cool surface Of a sheet of metal. This,
chen. was the door. AS carefully as
he could he knocked, counted ten, and
Knocked again--while the mob that
had iusted for his blood trailed of
down the side alley In frantic pursuit
Of his generous preseryer. And no
board with q smile. the latter's shrill