The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1912-07-25
CHAPTER Xxx.

Dds amt no Joke, no lie at all"
went on the well-known voice. All
was In heah one night las winteh.
when dehe como an awful scream out
side. Kee Lung. do Chinaman. goes
an. Shed seen It. Shed seen q man
standin' outside in de yahd wivout no
haid-just his body all complete up to
de neck-a big, upstandin' Teller in
good clothes, he was. She done let
out one yell an fall agin de dooh.
Den dehe was q cihcus man, . mighty
fine young man he was, too. what goes
roun' de country In de summah, graft
in wiz de big-top shows. He was
Jest a ccmin' In heah when he seen
de same ting, ezackly Identical. Dat
nan mighty nigh tuhned homes den
and dehe, so he did"
Don yo' spose, SAM" Quavered a
voice from an adjacent bunk, "as how
all dis was a joke? Summun might
have been foolin' an projickin' roun'
jest to scahe folks silly, don yo'
Think"
mo ~indeedy," answered the voice
of big Sam. "Dehe was no joke bout
dis at all. Yo' jest ak Kee Lung.
One time when dat haidless ghos' done
brighten de Twin soul outen some peo-
pie comm In heah, Kee Lung runs out
wiz a lamp an a smokewagon. He
seen de same ting-de haidless man
stannin' right longside de DOORWAY.
Kee Lung frow a fit an bus de lamp
all oyeh hisseff tryin' to get back in
side"
"Madre de Dios," came a new and
trembling tone from the same bunk
whence the voice of the negro had
just issued, 81 am YER sorry | mex en-
trance here. / care not, not me, to see
ghosts. Ay de mil hat de good rea-
son!"
The air thickened again with the
smoke OF opium, and the voices died
down to soft, uncertain whispers.
Brockett wriggled from the bunk, and
SOlano was just e%Xtricating himself
from the narrow limits of the smok-
1ng-den, when there came the sound of
a sudden struggle only a few feet
away. Humping blows, hoarse cries
of surprise and rage, and the cracking
of the woodwork under agitated feet
and hands made up a startling mixture
Of noises. Heads protruded from the
half dozen hunks around the room;
the Chinaman and the mulatto woman,
rising from their chairs, came hurry
inc tnuorI Tho fnor, nF tro,Ilo n,I
then the curtains of one bunk were
violently burst asunder. A writhing,
fighting heap fell heavily to the floor,
and a huge black man, e~Xtricating him.
self with a great heave of knees and
shoulders, rose up gigantic in the
smoky Round his knees chung
a smaller man, striving frantically to
drag the giant down. Big Sam, with
a beastlike snarl, drove his massive
fist upon the head Of the clinging en-
envy, but did not break him from his
hold. The smaller man tugged mad
ly; big Sam, caught off balance. fell
like a severed tree, and before he
could rise something flashed in the
blue murk Of the room. Big Sam,
with a hoarse gurgle, Strengthened out
upon the floor. The little man sprang
up, a knife In his blood-spattered hand
and reached quickly into the clothing
% his victim. AS he fumbled In the
negro's pockets, the Chinaman struck
him with a billet of wood, and the
mulatto woman caught his knife-hand.
The three dusky fighters rolled and
grappled, upsetting the miserable fur
niture Of the room, while another
hideous uproar began outside tho
threshold. and a scream Of Tho
ghost! The ghosti" mingled with in
sistent beatings on the panels.
Stepping clear as best he could
from the struggle on the floor. Solano
tore away the bolt. A man and woman.
whits-faced. shrieking. stumbled into
| the room-and at their heels~ came