Putnam patriot., 1915-01-22

certain. that understood the en-
 tire truth,
 Goembs was no plantation overseer, but d mere Texas bully. The very ap- pearance of the man to.l that, and those neglected weed grown fields were another proof. What was he here for. then: And Sallie' Lord. could desrise that Texas rough, but the suaky eyes of the woman made me shiyer and look nbout apprehen- sivelY. Then there was the dead man. There was wrong somewhere surely roWardlv crime murder,
 With the first return of daylight would seek out Coombs, tell him what l had seen and compel him to confess the truth Then l should know how t0 act. how to approach her and ex- plain. My nerves steadied as l sat there in the silence. and my mind l.sifted to the woman sleeping across the hall Then l also fell asleep ill the chair
 The gray of dawn was on the win dows when l awoke. my body aching
  loaded pistol i'll my pocket l slipped into the hall. The faint light revealed its shabbiness, the grimy rag carpet and discolored walls. Some spirit of adventure led me the full length until my hand was upon the latch of that last door. I could not resist an i'm pulse to look upon the dead man again
 A.. s,1f .Rf the reality of what seemed only a dream All was exactly as l recalled it to memory-the stained walls. the dirty floor, the table filtered with cards. the overturned chair and the motionless body of the dead maa. From the womd in the head a dark flow of blood stained the floor. and as bent closer 1 noticed the eyelids were lowered over the dead eyes. Shot as he had been. killed instantly. the hand of the assassin must have performed this act Then surely this killing had been no common quarrel, but plan ned assassination, the continuation of some prearranged pot
 This knowledge. while it set my heart throbbing in realization of new danger, yet served also to stiifen my nerves. My thought was not SD much concerned with myself and my own danger as with that of the young wo- man whom was bound to protect.
 l closed the door on the silence and stole quietly downstairs. There was no movement. no sound in the great house The front room, hideous in its grimy disorder, was vacant. and l opened the front door noiselessly and stepped forth into the spectral gray light of the dawn. The first glimpse about was depressing enough. The house itself. big and glaring as it was. was nevertheless little better than ruin. Several of the windows were broken, and the steps sagged and treh- bled under my weight The front yard. full half acre in eXtent. was il tan gled mass of bushes and weeds. a high, untrimmed hedge shutting off ali view of the road From the foot of the steps narrow passage tramBled into the dirt circied the corner of tht house disappearing within Il few feet
 Convinced tiIat this must lead to the rear and possibly the negro cabins where Coombs slept. followed its tormous winfnss. although half afraid to desert my guardianship of the house even for this purpose Still there was little to be feared so long as Mrs. Der nard remained securely locked in her room. Perhaps by the time she arous- ed and appeared below stairs l could find reasonable explanation of all this mystery something to smile over, rather than fear.
 emerged into a somewhat clearer space of ground at the rear. The kitchen was an ell. constructed of rough boards, but with sningle roof The door stood ajar, and 1 glanced iI. only to find the room empty, the pots and pans used the night before still unwashed
 (To Be Continued)