The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1915-09-09

fy-specked bottle on a shelf behind
her, handing it to him with the re-
mark:
Il guess you'll do! You're jolly
one for the drink yourself-or the
woman wouldn't have rumpled your
hair all over your head like that Four
marks is the price, and better drink
amt to be had in Hell's Quarter"
Christopher Poe gave her a knowing
wink, took the bottle, and paid her;
still holding out his hand after she
had taken the money.
| What do you want now?" she
growled, expressing the gruff good-na-
ture of her kind. More drink"
mo. The key!"
She looked at him for a calculating
| second. Evidently he passed muster.
She handed him the heavy iron key,
and indicated the rickety stairs at the
| end of the room. Way in the back,
right-hand side, last door," she told
him.
AS Poe rolled out toward the stairs,
| Frau Klittenlein suddenly leaned far
| over the bar, and had good look at
his back. The American cut to his
clothes could not be mistaken. Fool a
German on clothes! Her nose twitched
| in establishment. He was a rum one!
| the moment Poe had begun dumping
up the stairs. Her finger was on her
hard, colorless lips as she approached
the tableful of loungers, and said some
thing in hoarse whisper; whereupon
| three of her loutish guests lurched
from their seats, and sneaked silently
up the stairs after the man with the
seafaring manner and the American
| clothes.
Christopher Poe turned the key
noiselessly in the door to which he had
been directed, stepped into the bare
room, and as quickly and silently re-
placed the key and locked the door on
the inside. All the time his eyes were
watchful The room was black; Poe
succeeded in igniting his cigar-lighter,
and transferring the light to a candle
his cropping fingers had sought out on
4
A low cultural cry burst forth as
| the light shone out A mass Of white
clothes upheaved, and an ugly black
face with drawn lips showing cleaning
teeth, and terror-rolling white eyeballs
bursting out above, stared at Poe as
| though he were the devil himself.
There came startling humping and
clawing from the little closet close be-
side the bed The black man trembled,
reached covertly along the wall, and
had his hand in the catch to the closet
door when Poe walked quietly toward
him and said in French:
Don't open that door and let your
daughter, Babo, out. Let her stay
there safely. I noticed the nice little
hood and shawl on the foot of the bed
there as entered"
There came grooming cry from
within the closet.
Flows your foot?" inquired Poe, as
the black man cringed back among
the coarse bed-clothes, and glared with
CLASSY eyes, teeth chattering.
who are you? What you want?"
cried the man in French, very broken
French.
Il am from Haggerup & Co. 1 just
came to get Babo back. We miss her"
"You don't know what you're talk
ing about. / never"
But tell me about that foot, Jock!"
Poe insisted At the same time he
took from his pocket the object he had
removed from the dead crocodile's
mouth. The handkerchiefs were
bloody; the black man watched with
glowing, fascinated eyes, as Poe
opened out the linen on his palm, and
suddenly revealed to the Mortified eyes
of the man on the bed two mangled
tees and snapped-off footbone. What
skin showed was black, matching
Jocks.
Poe dropped the disgusting exhibit.
It had served its purpose. The black
man went gray and screamed; at the
same time he shot back the bolt to
the closet-door, and as Poe sprang for
his throat, he received full in the
stomach a vicious seaman's kick which
sent him bounding back against the
outer door, breath-sapped.
There came .snarl and a sudden
scream; piercing animal cry; the
room revolved in dimly outlined
mass of kicking, struggling legs and
arms.
A maze of curses burst forth. The
clatter and din was hideous. Poe had
lurched to his feet, and stood for
moment staring fixedly at the scene
of jumhled confusion within the small
room. Yes, there it was-at last.
He saw it. Through the dim light
those gripping teeth cleaned, that
hairy, horrid-eyed head arose Babo,
the huge ape, was loose. Babo chung
there tense to the bedstead, protect
ingly above his master, and his huge
hairy fist shot cut like a steel spring,
and grasped the foremost of the