The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1916-04-29

| Anu SO-l1anfaTQ SWOre ST1mly-
even so would he strike. now that It
was his turn. In this temper be ar
rived. past one in the morning. under
the walls OF the Omber place.
Now If it were violation of the ten
cts OF his craft to revisit premises
once successfully entered. he showed
them at least the prudent Difference OF
selecting a fresh point of attack-one
chosen earlier. In the course Of his
first circuit Of the walls. 1t hadn't es-
capped him then that this brick-and-
| plaster construction was in bad re-
b, pair; he had marked down several
/ places where the weather had eaten
| the outer coat OF plaster altogether
away. At the first of these. midway
between the avenue and the junction
Of the side streets, he hesitated.
AS he had foreseen, the mortar that
bound the wall together was crumbling
1t was no great task to work loose one
OF the exposed bricks. establishing a
| foothOld to position whence his other
| hand, gloved. could seize the top of the
wall, cast the ulster neatly over the
/ giass-toothed upper curbing and, thus
| protected. swing himself bodily atop
| the thing.
But there, momentarily, he paused
! in doubt. In that singularIy exposed
| and comfortless position, poised ten
feet above the lifeless street on the
one hand and with the black mystery
| OF the neglected park on the other, he
was seized and shaken by a sudden
| and unpresaged reYulsion of feeling in
no way colored by any sort of alarm.
He was afraid of himself-he, the
grim and deadly thing that walked by
night, the Lone Wolf, the creature Of
| pillage and rapine, the scourged slave
Of that self which knew no law. And
for little longer he fingered there in
| trembling, not knowing whether he
was to go back or go forward.
Then slowly that terror passed like
the lifting of a nightmare from the
brain of a sleeper, and with a start.
with little SILVER and a sigh, Ian
yard went forward as one driven.
Dropping to the ground with an i'm
pact muf1ed by the soft, damp turf.
he made himself one with the shadows
of the park, as silent, as intangible, as
fugitive as they. until presently he
came out beneath the stars on the
open lawn running up to the wing that
housed the library.
From one of the library windows a
shallow stone balcony jutted out eight
feet above the lawn-a height so insig-
nifcant that. with one bound. grasping
its stone balustrade, the adventurer
was upon it in a brace of seconds.
Nor did the windows-long French
windows, opening inward-ofer any
considerable obstacle; a penknife ex-
peditiously removed the old. dry putty
round one of the small, lozenge-shaped
panes. then dislodged the pane itself;
his hand through this opening readily
found and turned the latch; a cautious
pressure created an opening between
the two wings wide enough to permit
the passage of his body. and-he stood
inside the library. refasfening the
latch
He had made no sound and, thanks
to thorough prior acquaintance with
the combination Of the safe, he needed
no light. The screen of cfnnabar af-
foTded him all the protection he re-
quired; and because he meant TO &C
cOmplish his purpose and be out Of the
house with almost uncomfortable swift
ness, he didn't even trouble to explore
the household-beyoHd a swift and
casual survey Of the adjoining salons.
The clock in the reception hall
chimed the three-quaFters as he en-
sconced himself between screen and
safe and grasped the combination
knob
But he did not turn it. That mellow
music died out slowly and left him
unstirring in the silence and gloom, his
eyes staring wide into blackness at
nothing, his jaw set and rigid. his knit
ted forehead damp with sweat, his
hands so tightly clenched that the
nails bit painfully into the flesh Of his
palms, while he looked back over the
abyss that yawned between the Lone
Wolf of tonight and the man who had.
within the week, knelt before that safe
in company with the woman he loved.
bent on making restitution Of his theft
that his soul might be saved through
her faith in him.
He closed his eyes to shut out the
accusing darkness, and knelt on IN
stirring, save as he shuddered now and
again with the sickness of strong
man rent IN the conflict Of mans dual
nature.
Minutes passed without his knoBl-
edge in the crisis Of that struggle.
But at length he grew more calm;
his hands relaxed. the muscles of his
brow smoothed out. ne breathed more
slowly and more deeply, his set lips
parted and through them a profound
sigh escaped, whispering through the
stiffness.
a great WEAKNESS was upon him as
he rose slowly and heavily from the
floor and stood erect. no longer the
slave OF self, but it's master. free at
last and for all time from that ancient
evil which SO long had held his soul in
bondage.
And then, In that moment Of victory,
through the deep hush reigning in that
house, he heal the sound of an incau-
tious football on the parquetry Of the
hallway.
CHAPTER X%VIfI