The Odanah star. [volume] (Odanah, Ashland Co., Wis.) 1912-1916, 1914-06-19


| face was covered with growth OF
| straggly, coarse whiskers Enemy or
| friend l could not be sure, nor did l
| find opportunity to discover. We both
| fought like beasts. resorting to teeth
and nails.
His one object was to wrench him
| self loose, but my fortunate grip on
his hair foiled this effort. Yet both
his hands were free, the one clutching
my throat; but, in those first breath
less seconds, l could not locate the
other. He was lying on his side, with
right arm underneath. Fearful of a
weapon, let the fellow gouge at my
throat with long ape-like fingers,
while struggled fiercely to expose the
hidden hand. If it proved empty l
knew | could handle the man; that l
possessed the strength to draw him to
me, to crush him into subsection with
in the wise of my arms. Straining
every muscle l could bring into play,
| succeeded in forcing him over onto
his face. But he was a cat, wiry, full
of tricks. In some manner he twirled
his arm out of my grip. There was a
flash of reddish yellow flame soaring
across my eyes, an awful report, like
an explosion in my stunned ears.
Where the bullet went l will never
know, but l saw the mans face leap
out at me from the darkness-just an
instant of reflection, as though thrown
against a screen by some fash of light
the unmistakable face of a negro.
Yet startled as 1 was by this appari-
ton, his view of me had no less an eff
feet. Even in that single instant of
revealment, the hate in his eyes
changed to fear, to uncomfortable
panic; his lips gave vent to wild cry,
an exclamation in mongrel French,
and. before could stiffen in resistance,
or recover from my own shock, the fell
low flung his pistol at me, and jerked
free. The flying weapon tore cash
in my scalp, but his haste and fear
proved his own undoing. Half stunned
as l was by the blow, heard him
spring to his feet, the dull crash of his
head as he struck the hardwood slab
of the low roof, and then the thud of
a body on the tunnel floor. In his
haste, his desperation, his strange
fright, he had forgotten where ne was,
and attempted to spring erect. My
head reeled, the blood from this new
cut trickling down my cheek. The ne
gro lay motionless in the darkness;
could not even distinguish his breath
ing, although l hestiated, listening in
tently, half fearing some trick.
What had frightened the fellow SO?
What had brought that look of insane
terror into his eyes? 1t was as if he
stared at a ghost, the very sight OF
which had craZed him. / mastered my
own nerves, and crept forward along
the passage, feeling blindly in advance
with one outstretched hand, until it
came in contact with the mans figure.
With clinched teeth, l touched the
coarse hair with my fingers; then the
forehead The flesh retained some
warmth; yet the feeling was not nat
ural-it seemed lifeless For the in
slant this appeared impossible. Why,
he did it himself; he crashed his own
skull against the slab. Yet could not
| make the affair seem real, or probable.
And a negro! l had seen few of the
race, but had always been told they
were of thick skull; but If this man
was actually dead, his head must have
been smashed like an egg-shell. And
it was-I found the cash a moment
later, the jagged edge of bone. The
fellow was dead, stone dead; there
| was no heat to his heart, no throb to
his pulse. Still daZed by the disccv-
cry, l ran my fingers along the roof
| overhead, hoping to find something
there which would account for the
mystery No fiat surface could ever
have jabbed that wound. All! I felt
| 1.-THE sharp point of stake protrud-
| ing between the logs. The poor, fellow
| penetrate the brain.
conquered my adherence, and
searched him, finding tobacco, knife
an ugly weapon-f1int and steel, a
few coins, and some powder and rifle
balls. There were no pistol bullets,
| duu Tie luOuSnI OSSuAiCO W luc tudl
the smaller weapon probably did not
belong to him; he had appropriated it
| elsewhere I crept about, and across
the body searching for it in vain, but
I found the rifle, and took time to test
it's flint, and load it.
l was still engaged at this task,
blindly feeling about in the dark for
everything needed, and always con-
scious of that dead body beside me,
when l suddenly detected smoke-not
the puff of powder which still chung to
the passage, but the acrid, pungent
odor of burning wood. Even as j be-
gan to breathe the fumes they in
creased in intensity; the narrow tun-
mel filling rapidly with the smoke
waves, and setting me to coughing. I
realized at once what had happened.
] Mademoiselle's word Of warning COM
ing back to mind-they were burning
the cabin, and through some oriflce
the smoke was being swept down into
this underground passage. II there
were no outlet, no way by which 1t
! could escape again to the omen air 7