Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-11-10
THE KING OF
DIAMONDS
BY LOUIS TRACY.
TO-DAY'S INSTALLMENT.
Copyright, 1904, by Edward j. Clod

sI~A ANT | have a Hght?" said
Philip. with head screwed
round to ascertain if the doc
tor were following him.
Some sense, whether of sight or
hearing he knew not warned him of
movement near at hand an impalpa-
bic effort, a physical tension as of a
man labOring under extreme but re-
pressed excitement
He paid little heed to it, All the
surroundings in their weird dwelling
were so greatly at variance with His
anticipation that he partly expected
to find further surprises
DR.. Williams did not answer. Philip
advanced a hating foot, a hesitating
hand cropping for a door.
instantly a stout rope fell over his
shoulders, a moose was tightly drawn
and he was jerked violently to the
stone floor of the passage. He fell.
prone on his face, hurting his nose
and mouth. The shock Jared him
greatly, but his hands, if not his arms,
were free, and with the instinct of
self preservation that replaces all
other sensations in moments of eX-
IRENE peril he strove valiantly to
rise.
But he was grasped by the neck
with brutal force, and some one knelt
on his neck.
philip Arson" Missed mans
voice, do you remember Jocky
Mason?"
SO he had fallen into trap cum
nngly prepared by what fiendish
combination of fact and artifce be
mad yet to learn. Jocky Mason, the
skulkish criminal of Johnson's News
Was he In that mans power?
Under cIIph conditions &, ,,,,r
quickly. Philips first ordered thought
was one of relief. He had fallen into
the clutches of an English brigand
Money would settle theiS difficulty. If
all other means failed.
Yes, yes" he gurgled half
strangled by the fierce pressure on
his throat
You hit me once from behind. You
can t complain if do the same. You
sent me to living hell for ten years
mot your fault that il wasn't for.
ever. Lie still! Not all your money
can save you now. am judqe and
jury, and hell itself. You are dyino
-dying--dead!"
And with the final words drawled
into his ears with bitter intensity
Philip felt a terrible blow descend on
his head. There was no pain, no fear
no poignant emotion at leaving ali
Inc NoIlu neld so dear to him. There
was an awful shock. thundercloud
seemed to burst in his brain, and he
sank into the void without a groan
Now, in falling, the hard. felt hat
ne wore dropped in front of his face.
The first wild movement of his head
Tilted 1t forward, but the savage Jerk
given by his assailant brought the
RIM slightly over his skull again
In the almost complete darkness of
the passage, Mason could not see the
sllght protection this afforded to his
victim, and the sledge- hammer blow
ne delivered with a life preserver-
that murderous implement named So
utterly at variance with it's Durpose
did not reveal the presence of an
obstacle.
He struck with a force that would
nave stunned an OK; it must have
Killed any man, be he the hardest
Skulled aborigine that ever breathed.
But the stout rim of the hat, though
crushed like an eggshell. took off
some of the leaden Instruments ire
mIendous impact. Philip, though quite
lnsensible was not dead. His SEN
tient faculties were annihilated for
the time, but his heart continued its
NE giving functions, and he breathad
with fmperceDtible fIuttpripos