New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1914-08-05

8 He was a medium sized. wiry look
ing fellow. with olive skin and small
: mustache. dressed in brown corduroy.
j colored handkerchief wound about
i his head in lieu of a hat. AS he came
/. to the level where ! stood he stopped
3 suddenly, staring into my face.
a ''Sacre! thought eet vas Coombs.
tcWho are you. msieur?''
81 II came in last night" l replied eva
II sively, land was just looking about a
bit''
ii The black eyes searched my face.
# and l noted his right hand touch the
Is hilt Of knife in his belt.
81 "What water is this?" asked. ie~
~ noring his action. Bayou"
q "Oui, m'sieur.''
u Are we near the sea-"
SIS "Twenty-seex mile. You not know
d where you are? Ills odd you not
* know, m'sieur.''
81 l laughed. enjoying his bewilder
4 ment. yet not realizing how to turn it
8 to better account.
III "Oh, no. l came by train in the
u night and am little hazy as to loca
& ton. You live about here?'
81. Som time. Then off again-sailor.
q WHARF Coombs? You know, m'sieur?"
NJ mo. don't" acknowledged.
ID ASLEEP in his cabin likely"
n The creole, for such he undoubtedly
Il was made swift resolve.
/. "'Tis like, m'sieur. l find out. May
1be you come too.''
Is The last was more of an order than
question. l gave it no apparent heed
but turned in the direction of the cab
ms. l had no reason to avoid Coombs
Indeed, l desired to see him, and had
no intention of permitting this lad to
suppose that l feared his yelled
threats. Without SO much as glancing
back at him | advanced along the foot
path. my hands in my pockets. Yet
my mind leaped from point to point in
eager speculation. Little as l liked
Coombs this creole was even more
dangerous. The one was a&rough, the
< other venomous snake. So far as the
original purpose of my adventure was
concerned it had already largely faded
from recollection. The swift recur-
renee of more startling events domi-
mated.
ne right; turn to re right, m sieur."
said a voice behind me. and then |
saw Coombs standing before the door
of the second cabin.
What does this mean, Broussard ~
he growled savagely. where did you
! pick up that fellow"
AT the landing" the creole fastened
= to explain. How could l tell? he
# said he knew you, m'sieur''
0 "Oh. he did, hey? Well. all know
81 about him is that be blew in here last
night with a woman. Claimed to he
young Henley and took possession of
the place. | reckon it's about tifie T
saw some papers to prove what yer
are, young Teller, fore yer go snoopin'
round at daylight. What's yer game
enyhow?"
The mans buster gave me nv clew.
The thought suddenly occurred to me
tnat for some reason he was more
afraid of me than Of him.
You can see my authority. Coombs
any time you are ready to exhibit your
own" returned coolly, leaning back
against the side of the cabin and star
Ing MIN straight in the eyes. IF YOU
are the overseer here, then it is nv
money that is paying your wages. and
from the look Of things you'll not hold
the job long at that
Coombs did not cringe, but nv tone
brought him uneasiness.
!. : The niggers won't work. he re-
turned gruttly. Thar amt a niger
on the place.
apparently white men enough hang
ing around. What's the matter with
the negroes"'
Ghosts" and the fellow laughed.
Maybe yer've seen sum-"
l Strengthened up. stung by the sneer
in his voice.
mo. but I've seen something more
to the pOint-a murdered man."
"Whatr'
Just what said. There was man
Killed last night in that back room up
/ stairs. Shot in the head through the
window. | heard the shot and investi-
gated. His body lies there now"
AANAooAA u SudhY eyes 08S0
across toward COMBS face. but the
latter remained motionless.
Its d lie!" he calculated rough
ly There is nobody therev'
Easily settled. Come with me. and
I'll show you
Rather to my surprise neither Oh
jected to the test. and we tramped in
single file toward the house. Somo
precaution kept me at the rear. and I
~ followed silently to the room of the
murder
There was the furniture as remem-
bered it, the dirty walls, the opened
window. But the overturned chair
stood against the wall. the cards were
stacked on the table, and there was no
body lying on the floor Coombs let
out harsh laugh.
We'll. where's yer dead man? I