The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1917-02-22

| DdCk IoIllOFrOW. IL uOu l, lHe hex
day-or as soon as l possibly can
Meanwhile, please consider yourself
lord and master here. Sum Fat will
take good care Of you. Anything you
want, just ask him. Now I've got tt
get into waterproofs-it's raining like
all get-out, but I can't wait for let
up"
| BY the time Whitaker was ready fol
breakfast his host had splashed off tC
his motor car.
The wind, freshening and driving
very respectable if miniature rollers
against the beach, came in heavy gusts
| alternating with periods Of steady
strong blowing. At times the shining
lances Of the rain seemed to drive
almost horizontally. Whitaker poked
his head into the kitchen. In that i'm
maculate place, from which every
hint of breakfast had disappeared as
If by magic, Sum Fat was religiously
cleaning his teeth-for the third time
that morning, to Whitaker's certain
knowledge.
When he had finished, Whitaker put
a question:
"Sum Fat, which way does the wind
blow, do you know"
Sum Fat flashed him a dazzling
smile.
Easily" he said in cheerful,
clucking voice. II think vely fine
three-day blow"
"At least" said Whitaker, you're a
high-spirited prophet of evil. 1 thank
you"
He selected book from several
shelves stocked with a discriminating
taste, and settled himself before the
fire.
The day wore out before his patience
did, and with every indication of full
filling the prognosis Of Sum Fat; by
nightfall the wind had developed into
an enthusiastic gale, driving before it
sheeted rain and great ragged wastes
Of mist.
And the second day was like unto
the first. The third day broke full of
the spirit Of the second; but toward
noon the rain ceased. In the evening,
weary of the sedulous attentions of q
cloud of famished mosquitoes, Whita-
ker sat in darkness, not tired enough |
to go to bed, too tired to bestir himself |
and seek distraction from tormenting
train of thought.
A pool Of limpid moonlight lay like |
milk upon the floor beneath a window |
md held his dreaming gaze while men,
'ry marshaled for his delectation
pageant Of wasted years, infinitely des-
)late and dreary in his vision.
How long he sat unstirring, preoccu-
bed with fruitless inquiry, he did not
suess. But later he reckoned it could
lot have been long after ten o'clock
When he was disturbed. The sound of
football, hushed and stealthy on the
'eranda, reused him with a start, and
Utmost at the same instant he became
ware Of a shadow that troubled the
'ool of moonlight, the foreshortened
hadow Of mans head and shoulders.
lie sat up, tense, rigid with surprise
nd wonder, and stared at the silhou-
tied body at pause just outside the
window. The fellow was STOPPING to
eer in. Had Drummond hunted him
own to this isolate hiding place? On
ne thought he leaped up, ins two
tribes slammed out through the door.
Il say!" he cried loudly. But he
Red, apparently, to empty air. The
ian was gone-vanished as strangely
nd as quietly as he had appeared.
Pausing and glaring round the clear
g in complete bewilderment, he de-
cted or else fancied a slight move
ent in the shadows on the edge of the I
woodland. Instantly,
,edless of the risk he ran If the nan
ere indeed Drummond and II Drum {
ond were indeed guilty of the assault I
w four nights old, Whitaker broke 7
r the spot. 1t proved to be the en- ,
ance to one of the woodland paths, b
d NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. or no his imag- {
alton were in fault-there was no
dy waiting there to be caught.
But If anyone had been there, he had
questiOnably fed along the trail. S
hitaker in a rage set himself to fol- G
v. Before he realized he could have
yered half the distance, he emerged d,