The Forrest City times., 1913-05-02

one or them resting against a conven- 'iohal American milk can. On the lneater's right was a laundry. dim and eVii-looking. two pe-smoking celes- tlais decorating its low step. And be- yond this was the wide opening to basement, above which, in white homan lettering on a black ground, I read the legend: Hip Sing Tong"
 Again and again my gaze persisted In returning to this sign and the dim ly lighted cavern beneath 1t. The place held for me the inexpressible, unfathomable charm of the mysteri- ous, beside which the heathen;sh racket of the theater across the way, the sinister aspect of the dismal laun- dry and its pair of pipe-smoking guar dlans. even the constantly changing procession of varied types in roadway and on sidewalks, exerted but meager allure
 From time to time dark, silent fig ures glided vaguely into view only to disappear within this maw of mystery. Once, while l watched, had seen a figure issue forth to be lost again in- stantly in the distant gloom of the curving street. Now, reverting once more to this magnet, after moments truancy, my eyes were rewarded by sight of another slowly emerging form, silhouetted nebulously against the dusk.
 At the head of the steps 1t paused, uncertainty, and then, instead of glid- ing swiftly away in the direction of Pell street as did the other, 1t turned in my direction, passing almost at once into the comparatively glowing radius of the street lamp opposite.
 l saw then that 1t was a man, thin to cancellation, round-shouldered, and crooked limbed Whether some one jostled him, or voice from the road way startled him. don't know. But for some reason he turned his head suddenly. and the light from the lamp fell full upon a face, stubble- bearded, deep-lined. and repellent. the face not of a Chinaman but of a white man; face into which I had looked but twice, and then but for a brief mo- ment; yet a face as indelibly fixed In my memory as were the grim fronts of the buildings now behind 1.-the face of Peter Johnson, the pretended castaway.
 l think I must have had 1t In mind to pick him up bodily and carry him away with me that l might by inquisi- torial torture wiring from him a con- fession. Otherwise l should have adopted a less eager and more subtle method of bringing the miscreant to book than that which I rashly at tempted Before I considered the sit uation l was across the street and at his heels. My finger tips, indeed, were at his shoulder. In the fraction of second I should have had him gripped and have been hustkhg him through the crowd as my prisoner. But at the instant of seeming success, he eluded me. In some strange way he caught alarm and, shrinking be- meath my hand, iarted sinuously off. between this pedestrian and that, with the flashing speed of lizard.
 But, though he escaped my clutch, my eyes were more nimbie With them I followed him until I saw him drop between the cellar doors which gaped beneath the white bulk window of the quick lunch room. And where my eyes went. went after. Another brief moment and, without thought or heed, was plungng in pursuit down that short, steep flight of steps-plung- ing from a lighted, peopled, noisy pub lie street into the collied gloom and grim silence of low underground basement.
 And, as misfortune would have 1t. must needs catch my heel on the edge of one of the treads, and go sprawling on my hands and knees while a poignant pain shooting cruelty through my ankle told me that a sprain was added to my mishap.
 For a minute I lay as I had fallen, prone and motionless; and in that space I realized the foolhardiness of my whole course of action. My very intrepidity had contributed to disaster Instead of accomplishing a capture I had cast myself, disabled, into the mesh of the enemy.
 The inky darkness and profound si- lence of the place augmented, of course, my apprehension. In vain I strained my eyes to distinguish an ob- ject, my ears to detect a sound, yet I knew that the uncanny creature I had followed must be close to me; lurking, possibly, with raised or pointed weapon to mete out my fate once he made sure of my position.
 The minute-it could hardly have been more, though, as 1 think of 1t, 1t seemed infinitely prolonged-ended In sound above and behind me Very softly, carefully. some one was closing the cellar doors. Stealthily muffied though 1t was, the faint creaking of the hinges shattered the spell which held me, and in spite of my tortured ankle, managed to gain my feet. But by now the silence reigned once again and in the engulflng blackness I lost