The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-01-17
CHAPTER v-fcontInuedl.

At last / saw him halfway amen.
able to reason. Now that he was out
OF the shadow, | saw too, more clear
ly, what of man he was. His
head, as ! had already discerned II
through the gloom. was abnormally
large, yet not out Of proportion with
his herculeah torso. His red hair,
frowsy, unkempt, was of such abund-
ance that, in the dark, its outline had
given me a grotesquely magniied i'm
preston. His red beard, too, was
thick, long, and untrimmed. What lit
tie of his face showed, was sunburred
TO what, in the dim Night, seemed the
color of ripe russell apples. His eyes
were nearly indiscernible, deep set,
under bushy red brsws.
IF you had shown the least bit OF
humanity to brother men In distress"
I 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"
! thought / heard his teeth grit to-
gether in his effort to suppress a ris-
ing rage. ! certainly saw his hands
clench; and then, with an assumption
Of Indifference, he took a final puff
at his cigar and tossed it, 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 sen him over to borrow a
rife"
You don't mean to tell me you'd
believe a Chinaman, do your" he re-
turned.
at 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, l 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 1t to a tree, and shot holes In
1t. 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 | had made captive
his attention.
81 saw the target" | answered,
simply.
That's like saying, I caught a
twelve pound bass. Here's the hook
and line to prove IT,"
Il have a scale of the bass"
"A what?"
Something you Chinaman dropped
beside the tree"
Phlegmatic though he was, some
thing very like a start followed upon
my words. Then, as II to cover the
movement, he shrugged his shout
Nders, and chuckled p~onderously.
His visiting card, | suppose"
HNaarIy nc rnnd - r 1,p,I;oj ssyrI~
bowl of his opium Pipe"
At that moment Jerry came around
the corner 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,
ance through the night silences.
You bally IDIOT" he cried, his guf-
raw ended. Il suppose no persons ex
cept Cinnamon smoke opium, Ell!
ana t$aat being so, no Chinaman but {
my Chinaman could have made a tar. '
get or a piece of an old portrait and
dropped his pipe bowl at the foot of {
a treel 90 on with you, you make I
me sick!" And then, seeing Jerry. t
who had quickly Joined me: Didn't Z
find him, Ell? Well, that's not TRANCE. v
Having lost the bowl of his pipe. he's c
probably gone to borrow another
from a laundryman friend In Cos {
Cob; and that, by the way, is about Il
the nearest place for you to buy gas. r
The next day l spent at my office. 4
In New York, busy with the hundred b
details that go to the making Of a v
periodical which aims to focus popu. a
lar sentiment to a righteous view k
concerning matters Of national "
and social import. For the time be- n
Ing my consideration Of Cameron and g
his strange problem was suspended. b
Now and then the subject required to b
me, dragged into the mental light on s
the train Of Evelyn Grayson; but al h
most Immediately 1t was buried be- S
meath a question Of editorial policy n
q debate regarding a contract for II
paper at an extortionate In. W
In price. "
When, however. my business day II
ended, and | had boarded the IL
for Greenwich, the whole in 81