The Carlisle independent., 1917-08-09

the same Instinct that had taken him to the platform now caused him to wait for the passengers.
 Sebastian and Leontine, descending from their carriage. were amazed to see Ravengar waiting for them. Leon tine looked on him with fear; Sebas- tian with frantic terror.
 "Welcome to Whites Village" said Ravengar, raising his bat
 What are you doing here?' demand ed Sebastian uneasily
 Seeking my fortune-the same as yourself, my dear Navarro" Ravengar answered.
 Before Sebastian could think of a reply his eyes lit on Louis Lamb who standing behind a post watched the party with dour grimace. He stag gered an instant; then, associating the presence of the two men with some conspiracy, he blazed into anger. He strode toward Louie.
 How do you dor P he said curtly. offering him his hand.
 Louie's eyes blazed. T don't know you. 1 tell you" he shouted. T never saw you in my life before-none of you"
 As Sebastian stood staring at him helplessly, One Lamp Louie sIouehed off in the direction of his shack; and. realizing that he had left it for nearly an hour he broke into terrified amble.
 Sebastian. looking back, saw Raven gar helping Leontine into the carriage.
 Once within his shack. Louie rushed to the place where he hid his gold and pulled up the board. He breathed sigh of relief. It was untouched.
 But the memory of the two strangers who had greeted him terrified him.
 He stared out of his little window. The sweat dripped from his face. In his arms he hugged the loaded shot gun. and he fancied that he saw an enemy beneath each bush, and in every quivering shadow.
 AS he crossed the floor his sharp ears seemed to tell him that somebody was near. He almost thought he heard a sound within the shack. He clutched his shotgun tighter and peered about him. But nobody was there
 Then suddenly, out of the shadows of the far corner of the room two lu minous eyes and two dead-white hands seemed to materialize themselves Louie's eyes Widened. He stared at the fiery eyes which fixed themselves on his.
 The eyes burned themselves into his brain. Louie began to stiffen like q eataleptic.
 And in his half-dead brain the fol- lowing words were registered:
 'sWrite out the statement you have to make concerning your forgery, on behalf of Sebastian Navarro, which sent Jerry Carson to the penitentiary for murder which he never commit ted.'
 Louie's hand went out automatically toward a pencil and a pad of paper upon the pine table in the shack. Louie there now. and it did net surprise him, because he was living upon plane where nothing is surprising.
 'I wish to confess my part in the forgery which ruined Jerry Carson, wrote Louie's hand, in obedieEce to his docile, subeonscious mind. Louis him. self sat rigidly at the table, motionless and stiff, except for the plant right forearm and fingers. Or perhaps it was the real Louie who wrote, and only the shell, with its history of crime and weakness, that sat stiff in the chair.
 The door of the shack opened. Se- bastian appeared. But Louie sat stiff and motionless, and his fingers slowly formed the words with the pencil.
 Sebastian, driven to desperation by Rayengar's appearance and Louie's strange behavior, had resolved to have it out with his partner that night.
 Peering over Louie's shoulder. to his horror Sebastian saw the complete con fession of the crime.
 50 that's your game. is it?" he de- manded through his teeth. T guessed something was wrong. You pitiful fool, why didn't you come to me? Who's backing you? Don't you know that if that gets out it will mean punishment to you as we'll as to me?"
 Louie stared into the mans face wonderingly. He had gone to sleep. as he thought, and now had awakened in the clutches of this stranger.
 ''Who are you?' he snarled. dodging out of Sebastian's grasp. What dc you want? My gold, that's what you want v
 With spring he had reached the loaded shotgun, and he clasped it in his arms as a child clutches a doll
 Sebastian leaped forward and tried to snatch the gun out of his hands.