Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-04-25
CHAPTER Viii.
Hello! What's that?"

startled out or his Gargantuan
slumber by the revolvers loud report,
Howard sat up with a jump and
rubbed his eyes. On the other side
of the screen, concealed from his OBJ
servation, there was heavy crash of
body falling with chair-then all
was quiet.
Scared, not knowing where he was,
Howard jumped to his feet For a
moment he stood still, trying to col
lect his senses. 1t was too dark to
discern anything plainly, but he could
dimly make out outlines of aesthetic
furniture and bibelots. All. he re-
membered now! He was In Under
woods apartment
Rubbing his eyes, he tried to recall
how he came there, and slowly his be-
fuddled brain began to work. He re-
membered that he needed $4,000, and
that he had called on Robert Under
wood to try and borrow the money.
Yes, he recalled that perfectly we'll.
Then he and Underwood got drinking
and talking, and he had fallen asleep.
He thought he had heard a woman's
vofce-a voice he knew. Perhaps that
was only a dream. He must have
been asleep some time. because the
lights were out and, seemingly, every
body had gone to bed. He wondered
what the noise which started him
could have been. Suddenly he heard
a groan. He listened intently, but all
was still. The silence was uncanny.
Now thoroughly frightened, How
ard cautiously CROPPED his way about,
trying to find the electric button. He
had no idea what time it was. 1t
must be very late. What an ass he
was to drink so much He wondered
what Annie would say when he didn't
return. He was a hound to let her
sit up and worry like that Well, this
would be lesson to hint was the
last time he'd ever touch drop. OF
course, he had promised her the same
thing hundred times before, but this
time he meant it. His drinking was
always getting him into some fool
scrape or other.
He was gradually working his way
along the room, when suddenly he
stumbled over something on the floor.
1t was a man lying PROSTATE. Stoop-
ing, he recognized the figure.
"Why-its Underwood" he ex-
claimed.
At first he believed his classmate
was asleep, yet considered it strange
that he should have selected SO un-
comfortable a place. Then it occurred
to him that he might be Ill. Shaking
him by the shoulder, he cried:
Hey, Underwood. what's the mat
teri"
No response came from the pros
trate figure. Howard stopped lower
to see better, and accidentally touch
Ing Underwood's face, found 1t clam
my and wet. He held his hand up In
the moonlight and saw that 1t was
covered with blood. Horror-stricken
he cried:
my Godl He's bleeding-he'a
hurt!"
What had happened? An accident
or worser Quickly he felt. the mans
pulse. 1t had ceased to beat. Under
wood was dead
For a moment Howard was too
much overcome by his discovery to
know what to think or do What
dreadful tragedy could have hap
pened? Carefully cropping along the
mantelpiece, he at last found the cleo
trio button and turned on the light
There, stretched out on the floor, lay
Underwood. with bullet hole in his
left temple, from which blood had
flowed freely down on his full-dresf
shirt 1t was CHASTITY sight. The
mans white, set face, covered with
a crimson stream, made repulsive
spectacle. On the floor near the body
was a highly polished revolver, still
smoking.
Towards first superstition was that
burglars had entered the place and
that Underwood had been killed while
defending his property. He remem
bered now that in his drunken sleer
he had heard voices In angry alterca
ton. Yet why hadn't he called TO,
assistance? Perhaps he had and he
hadn't heard him.
He looked at the clock, and war
surprised to find 1t was not yet mid
nixht He believed it was at least