Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1915-04-20
my pocket. Wait. till I strike a

dHu lHey sat GOWN one on edcn sue
of the dusty mahogany table. The
man fs.cing me was Spencer. the other
sat with his back my way.
We'll play till the hands point to.
three" announced Spencer. taking out
his watch and laying it down where
both could see it. do you agree to
that?-unless win and your funds
go a-begging before that hour"
Il agree" The tone was harsh; it
was almost smothered. The man was
staring at the watch; there was
strange set look to his figure; paus-
ing as of thought--of sinister thought,
I should now say; then / never
stopped to characterize it; it was fol-
lowed too quickly by loud laugh and
a sudden grab at the cards
You'll wini | feel it in my bones"
came in encouraging tones from the
rich man. II you do"-here the storm
lulled and his voice sank to an en-
couraging whisper-"you can buy the
cid tavern up the road. It's going for
a song; and then we1l be neighbors
and can play-play-"
The bills had all gone one way.
They fell within Spencer's grasp. Sud-
denly hard upon a rafting peal which
seemed to unite heaven and earth,
heard shouted out:
'Half-past two! The game stops at
three"
Damn your greedy eyes!" came
back in a growl Then all was still,
fearfully still, both in the atmos phere
outside and in that within, during
which / caught sight of the strangers
hand moving slowly around to his
back and returning as slowly forward,
al under cover of the tabletop and a
stack of half-empty bottles.
Il can buy the Claymore tavern,
can L? Well, I'm going to-" rang out
into the air as the speaker leaped to
his feet. Take that, you cheat! And
that And that" And the shots rang
out-one, two, three!
Spencer was dead in his Folly. I
had seen him rise, throw up his hands
and then fall in a heap among the
cards and glasses.
Then the man who stood there
alone turned slightly and 1 saw his
face. I have seen it many times
since; have seen it at Claymore tav-
ern. He put the weapon back in his
pocket and began gathering up the
money When every bill was in his
pockets he reached out his hand for
the watch. Then saw him smile. He
smiled as he shut the case, he smiled
as he plunged 1t in after the bills.
Next moment l woke to realiza.
tion of myself and all the danger OF
my own position. had the instinct
70 make leap for the window over
my head and clutch at its narrow sill
in a wild attempt at escape.
But the effort ended precipitately
He was coming toward me-a strain
ing, painting figure-half carrying, halt
dragging, the dead man who topped
aside from his arms. My senses
blurred and l knew nothing till on a
sudden they cleared again. and / woke
to the blessed realization that the
door had been pushed against my slen
der figure, hiding it completely from
his sight, and that this door was now
closed again and this time tightly
and | was safe--safe!
The relief sent the perspiration In
reek from every pore; but the icy
revulsion came quickly. AS l drew VI
| knees to get a better purchase on the
sill, heavens torch was suddenly Lii
I'D, the closet became a pit of dazzling
/ wilderness amid which l saw the bio
of that dead body, with head proppeC
against the wall and eyes
Remember, / was but fifteen. The
| legs were hunched up and almos
touched mine. The door-the door
there was my way-the only way
| which would rid me instantly of any
proximity to this hideous object
dung myself at it--found the knob
turned it and yelled aloud--my foo
had brushed against him. / knew the
difference and it sent me palpitatint
over the threshold; but no farther
Love of life had returned with my es
cape from that awful prison house
and | halted in the semidarkness int
which l had plunged, thanking HEAVIER
for the thunder peal which hat
drowned my loud cry.
For 1 was noe yet safe. He wa
still there. He had turned out al
lights but cae. He had not seen MI
and was going. could hear thu
sound of his feet as he went STUN
bling in his zigzag course towards thu
door. Then every sound both on hi
part and on mine was lost in swool
of down-falling rain and l remembe
nothing more till out of the blacknes
before me, he started again into view
within the open doorway where in tn
glare of what he called heavens car
dies he stood, posing himself to NEE
the gale which seemed ready to cato
him up and whirl him with other IN
consequent things into the void o
nothingness. Then darkness settle
again and / was left alone with Mul
der-all the innocence of my yout
! gone. and my soul very ciiatne
house.
had to re-enter that closet; had {
take the only means of escape pro
fered. But went through it as we
through the horrors of nightmare.
l simply did 1t and escaped all
lightning flash and falling limb, an
I the lasso of swirling winds-to I'm
. myself at last lying my full lengt
along the bridge amid a shock of ell
, ments such as nature seldom sport
with. Here / chung. for l was breatl
, less. waiting with head buried in m
, arm for the rain to abate before l
temuLed a further escape from To
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