The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-11-06

aenoted. he was a man of smallish
SIZE n he knew hat the human
tlsress below could strange him with
one Of her huge hands.
Scarcely realizing what he was do
ing, ne began to drag the corpse from
beneath the he'd. To remove the
Knife from wound was a work of
some difflculty and considerable re-
p~ugnance. blu once accomplished he
felt that he was at least better equip
ped when the time came for action.
His next operation was to place the
hody as naturally as possible within
the bed. and when this had been
managed to his satisfaction he paus-
cd to consider his next course Tip
toelns to the top of the staircase he
listened intently. The mulatto was
stun moving about below. n he was
turning doubtfully back to his bed
room when the door of the second
room on the landing caught his eye.
20 creep into the other room was but
the work of a second. He had no
light with him. but by his time the
moon was bright. and he had no diff
hculty in seeing within. He found
the contents much the same as the
other. with the exception that the bed
had an occupant. The woman had
and that she lived alone. Who, then.
told him that she had no husband,
was the sleeping man? The, sailor
held his breath and listened. The
room was unnaturally quiet; there
was no sound of breathing. Cautious
ly "Stumpy' crept toward the bed.
One glance at the occupant was suf-
fcient. AS he had more thar half
suspected. the man was dead-stab-
bed to the heart-having obviously
! been murdered in a similar n
RI the fret Hcrrifo- INV <hi. f,ocl>
discovery. the sailor passed into his
own room. and. still holding the knife,
crept under the bed, after blowing out
the candle.
About an hour passed and
"Stumpy." in spite of his terror, sank
into a half-doze. but was brought
sharply back to his senses by a creak-
ing on the stairs. In a he
was on the alert. with every nerve
along the passage! Peering cautious
ly from beneath the bed. he saw the
door slowly open n his amiable hos
tess appeared. with a CHASTITY smile
upon her lips, looking intently to.
ward the bed.
Suddenly. without the slightest
warning. she made a rush across the
room. In her right hand she held
4 long knife. similar to the weapon
the sailor had wrenched from the
body of the dead native. The dull
tlhud of many blows reached the trem-
bling Elsmore as he covered beneath
the bed. telling him with horrid
plainness the fate which would have
befallen him nae he been lying there
in lieu of the already murdered man.
Then came a pause: the giantess
was evidently bending over her VIC
tim. possibly in the endeavor to pull
the knife from the body. Seized with
a sudden frenzy of panic. Elsmore
wriggled from his hiding place. and.
leaping to his feet. tore across the
DON toward the landing. How he
sprang down the stairs. through the
never knew: for to this day the ad.
venture is a CHASTITY nightmare to him.
Once in the open air he fled down
the track like one possessed. He
could hear the mulatto screaming
curses as she dashed along close be-
hind him in hot pursuit. For a time
he gave himself up for lost. and. in
Imagination. he could feel the MUIR
derous knife between his shoulders.
of the mulatto told. and she dropped
behind. Presently the pursuit slack.
ened. but so long as he could hear
the screaming of curses and impreca.
tons. partly in English and partly in
"Stumpy'' kept up the kill
ing pace. Intense fear had given him
feetness, and presently the
human tigress behind "a up the
chase.
The sky nov; began to clear before
the dawn. but still Elsmore ran on,
his one idea being to place as many
miles as possible between himself and
that terrible house. Suddenly the sun
appeared above the horizon. and it
vas day. The sailor looked around
him. and. taking his bearings. found
to his relief. that he was only about
a couple Of miles from Colombo. Just
then a native wagner came in sight,
and Elsmore bargained for a lift.
reaching the landing stage in good
time to catch the 7 O'Clock boat back
to the Leviathan.
Once aboard, with his name licked
off. he made his way aft and asked
to see the commander. To him he
the story Of his nights adven-
ture. The commander was at first
but finally he took the
with him and went ashore to
communicate with the police. With
all Possible dispatch an armed party
ton had no difficulty in locating the
But the bird had flown! On every
side the police" found traces Of a hur-i
ried packing and a still more hurried
flight. No signs of the murderous
woman. however, could be
nor has she been traced to this,
day.