The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-02


 gave me new horror And Coombs {: gdspecting him, as l did. it would be. the heightsof folly to seek him out yon- der in the dark There was nothing left but to await daylight, to remain on watch. endeavoring alone to formulate soRne plan of future action.
 God only knows how glad was to discover the open door to my own room again. There were matches there on the table. but my hand tFemhled 90 I; struck three before the wick of the lamp caught Hra.
 CHAPTER Nl.
 Get Into che Garnes
 sW SAW the affair now from . new
 viewpoint I was not so sure, so
 certain, that I understood the en-
 tire truth.
 Coom6s was no plantation overseer, but a mere Texas bully The very arl- pearance of the man told that, and those neglected. weed grown fields were another proof. What was he here for. then7 And sallie: Lord, could despise that Texas rough. but the snaky eyes of the woman made me shiver and look about apprehen- siveIy. Then there was the dead man. There was wrong somewhere surely cowardly crime. murder!
 With the hrst return of daylight I would seek out Coombs. tell him what had seen and compel him to confess the truth Then I should know how to act, how to approach her and ex- plain My nerves steadied as sat there in the silence, and my mind drifted to the woman sleeping across the hall Then I also fell asleep in the chair.
 The gray of dawn was on the win dows when I awolze, my body aching , from its unnaturafs position. With loaded pistol in my pocket l slipped into the hall The faint light revealed It's shabbiness, the griny rug carpet ard discolored walls. Some spirit of adventure led me the full, length until my hand was upon the latch of that last door. could not resist an i'm pulse to look upon the dead man again by daylight and thus assure myself of the reality of what seemed only dream. All was exactly as l recalled it to memoty-the stained walls. the dirty floor, the table filtered with cards. the overturned chair and the motionIess body of the dead man. From the wound in the head a dark flow of blood stained the floor, and az bent closer noticed the eyelids were lowered over the dead eyes. Shot as he had been. killed instantly, the hand of the assassin must have performed this act Then surely this killing had been no common quarrel, but a plan ned assassination. the culminat lion of some prearranged plot #
 This knowledge, while iB set my heart throbbing in realization of new I danger, yet served also to s6ffen my nerves. My thought was not so much concerned with nnyseIf and my own danger as with that of the young wO- man whom was bound to protect
 closed the door eon the silence and stole quietly downstairs. There was no movement, no sound in the great house The front room, hideous in its grimy disorder, was vacant. and 1 opened the front door no1selessly and stepped forth into the spectral gray light of the dawh. The first glimpse about was depressing enough The house itself apig and glaring as it was. was nevertheless little better than a ruin. Several of the windows were broken, and the steps sagged and treTn- bIed under my weight The front yard. a full half acre in extent, was a tan Il l high, untrimmed hedge shutting off all view of the road. From the foot of the steps a narrow passage trampled into the dirt circled the corner of the house. disappearing within few feet.
 Convinced that this must lead to the rear and possibly the negro cabins 1 where Coombs slept, I followed its tortuous windings, although half afraid to desert my guardianship of the house even for this purpose. Still there was little to be feared so long as Mrs. Der nard remained securely locked in her room. Perhaps by the time she arops- i ed and appeared below stairs could find a reasonable explanation of all this mystery -semething to smile over, rather than fear.
 emerged into a somewhat clearer space of ground at the rear. The kitchen was an ell, constructed of rough boards, but with shingle roof. The door stood ajar. and glanced in. only to find the room empty, the pots and pans used. the night before still unwashed
 There was nothing there to interest me. and I crossed a, narrow space of grass to where broken picket fence r,T