The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1912-12-26
CHAPTER v-(continued).

He n 70 cal on Murphy ana - epn1l aaad
lntractions OF the game laws.
CHAPTER v-(continued).
At last I say him halfway amen.
able to s Now that he was out
OF the shadow, l saw too, more clear
ly. what manner Of man he was. His
head, as I had already discerned it
through the gloom, was abnormal!y
large, yet not out Of proportion with
his hereulean torso. His red hair,
frowsy, unkempt, was Of such abund-
ance that, in the dark, it's outline had
given me a ~grotesquely magnifed i'm
preston. His red beard, too, was
thick, long, and untrimmeds 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"
1 responded, in a half ocular 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 I heard his teeth grit to.
gether in his effort to suppress a ris'
ing rage. l certainly saw his hands
clench; and then, with IN assumption
Of Indifference, he took q final pun
at his cigar and tossed 1t, 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 so
hoping to draw him out, I continued:
"Your man told the lodge-keeper
that you sent him over to borrow q
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 a rife, 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 a bit Of target practice.
He found a piece Of al old portrait,
tackled it to a tree, and shot holes in
it. 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 l had made captive
his attention.
II Saw the target" I answered,
simply.
That's like saying, I caught a
LWClVS-QOUuu UdSS. Here's the nook
and line to prove it,"
II have a scale Of the bass"
"A what?"
Something your Chinaman dropped
beside the tree"
Phlegmatic though he was, some
thing very like a start followed upon
my words. Then, az If to cover the
movement, he shrugged his shout
ders, and chuckled po~nderously.
His visiting card. I suppose"
NEARLY as good" I supplied. THE
bowl Of his opium pipe"
At that moment Jerry came around
the orner of the house and stopped
abruptly. stupefied by surprise; for
from the open mouth Of the giant
there issued a roar of bass laughter,
that reverberated in weird discord.
.anoe through the night silenoes.
You bally idiot" he cried, his GUT
faw ended. Il suppose no persons ex.
cept Cinnamon smoke opium. eh!
And that being so, no Chinaman but
my Chinaman could have made a 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,
-~A> LII