The vidette. (Iuka, Tishomingo County, Miss.) 1912-1967, 1915-10-21


zine page: the item that had offended
| Horton
Il may not have good manners,
Mister Farbish. but where come from
we know how to handle varmints." He
! dropped his voice and added for the
plotter's ear only: Here's a little
matter on the side that concerns only
us. 1t wouldn't interest these other
gentlemen" He opened his hand, and
added: Here, eat that"
Farbish with a frightened glance
at the set face of the man who was adj
vancing upon him, leaped back, and
drew from his pocket pistol-it was
an exact counterpart of the one with
which he had supplied Samson.
With a panther-like swiftness, the
Kentuckian leaped forward, and struck
up the weapon, which spat one in
effective bullet into the rafters There
was a momentary scufTle of swaying
bodies and crash under which the
table groaned amid the SCATTERING
of glass and china. Then, slowly, the
conspirators body bent back at the
waist until it's shoulders were
stretched on the disarranged cloth,
and the white face, with purple veins
swelling on the forehead, stared up
between two brown hands that gripped
it's throat
Swallow that" ordered the noun
talneer.
For just an instant, the company
stood dumfounded, then a strained.
unnatural voice broke the silence.
Stop him, he's going to kill the
mani"
The odds were four to two, and
with a sudden rally to the support of
their chief plotter, the other conspira-
tors rushed the figure that stood throt-
Ting his victim. But Samson South
was in his element. The dammed-up
wrath that had been smoldering dur
ing these last days was having a tenn
pestuous outlet. He had found men
who, in a gentlemen's club to which
Ire had come as a guest, sought to
use him as catspaw and murderer
AS they assaulted him, en- masse,
he seized a chair and swung it fail
like about his head For a few mo-
ments, there was crashing of glass
and china. and a clatter of furniture
and>a chaos of struggle.
Samson South stood for a moment
painting in a scene Of wreckage and
disorder. The table was Uttered with
shivered glasses and decanters and
chinaware. The furniture was scat
tered and overturned. Farbish was
weakly leaning to one side in the seat
to which he had made his way. The
men who had gone down under the
heavy blows Of the chair lay quietly
where they had fallen.
Wilfred Horton stood waiting. The
whole affair had transpired with such
celebrity and speed that he had hardly
understood it, and had taken no part.
But, as he met the gaze of the dis
ordered figure across the wreckage of
a dinner-table, he realized that now,
with the preliminaries settled, he who
had struck Samson in the face must
give satisfaction for the blow Horton
was sober, as cold sober as though he
had jumped into ice-water. and though
he was not in the least afraid, he was
mortified. and, had apology. at such a
time been possible,
1t. He knew that he had mis-.
his man. he saw the outlines of the
plot as plainly as Samson had seen
them, though more tardily.
Samson's toe touched the pistol
which had dropped from Farbishs
hand and he eontemptuously kicked it
to one side. He came back to his
place.
Now, Mr.. Horton" he said to the
man who stood looking about with
dazed expression, IF you're still of the
same mind, / can accommodate you
You lied when you said / was saw
age-though just now it sort of looks
like | was. and''~-he paused, then
added-"and I'm ready either to fight
or shake hands. Either way suits
me-"