Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-05-16

interrupted before the man could an
swer. "There's another man here
who saw him after you did, and be-
sides nobody but himself is charged
with ShannOn's death. Tell the bulls
what you told me, and let it go at
that"
"Him an me was hittin' the pipe
together night before last" Cracker
replied in low tone from the middle
of the room where he had stopped at
Holderness's command. "We was at
Lee Meng's joint till most noon, yes
terday. Shadow was purity near all
in. We was both broke, an the chink
wouldn't give us any more dope. /
had tub help him home, he was that
near chuckin' it, an wasn't much
better'n that myself.
"He said he had some pills there,
but he didn't-anyhow, he couldn't
| find 'em. He was shakin' like a leaf
when | lit out, an that was two
o'clock. / know, cause / saw the
clock in drugstore window where
| stopped for a minute wonderin' if
/ couldn't work the doc inside. An
that's + all l knows about it, so help
Shaughnessy thrust himself for
ward and seized Cracker by the
shoulder.
"You lie, Cracker, and you know
you do" he half shouted, shaking
| the man roughly. "Why don't you
| tell the truth about it ?"
81 have told the truth about it,"
rVen t With d t2sgsng reply ra h!h0qS Se
first time that Shadow an me have
| hit the pipe together, either. He
didn't do it with nobody else, cos he
said he didn't dast to-"
and he jerked Cracker around and
seated the shaking victim of opium
| forcibly upon a chair. "You lie, |
| tell you! Shannon wasn't in the city
| at all yesterday forenoon. We three
happen to know that much about
him. He was out of town, and we
know where he was"
"He wasn't outuh-town, cos he was
with me, tell YOU" Cracker persist
ed.
"Do you mean to call me liar,
| Cracker"
The menace in, that question and
| in Shaughnessy's attitude was in
tended to be terrifying, but Cracker
who had managed TO catch Crewe's
eye, replied with logged tenacity:
"Nope. But you amt tellin' the
truth when you say that the Shad-
ow wasn't with me all yestady morn
in, cos he was"
Shaughnessy, in rage that
seemed unnatural under the circum
stances, seized Cracker by the collar
and ierked him to his feet. Then he
whirled him around and hacked him
up against the bar and cuffed him
brutally with the fiat Of his other
hand But before he could deliver a
second blow, as was plainly his in
tent, Crewe caught the officer by the
wrist and twisted it so that he
turned him half around.
"That will do for you, Shaughnes-
sy," he said quietly but forcefuly.
81 don't permit that sort of thing in
here, whether you're bulls or guns
and you know it,"
"What the blazes do you mean,
Crewe, interferin' with an officer?
You go way back and sit down, or
I'll run you inw Shaughnessy
roared-but he did not offer to re-
new the attack upon Cracker.
ooh, no, you won't. And III in
terfere with you every time you try
any of your third-degree stunts in
my place." -
"You will, will you ?" Shaughnes-
sy pulled a pair of handouts from
his pocket, turned, and snapped
them upon Crackers wrists. "You
will, will you" he said again, whirl-
ing toward Crewe and striking out
viciously with his fist
But Crewe sprang lightly to one
side, and out of his reach, even as
| Holderness attempted also to seize
upon him from behind. Then, SEEM
| ing barely to rest his weight upon
his hands, as he touched the bar he
vaulted it, ducked beneath it, and the
| next instant the room was in total
darkness.
There was the noise of hasty exits
| A chair was overturned with clat-
ter, table was moved scrapingly,
| but not an oath nor the sound of a
human voice was to be heard, save
only the harsh orders of Shaughnes-
sy delivered to his colleagues:
| Front door, Holdy, and quick
Back door, Mari. Keep as many of
the bunch here as you can. I'll teach
'em to interfere with me- Cracker,
if you move till find that switch
I'll hammer you to a pulp. And
Crewe, if you know what's good for
you, you'll save me the trouble of
looking for that switch"
And Crewe did so-or somebody
did it, for instantly the room was
brilliantly alight again.