Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-11-14

give Florence time to play Hop
o'-Thumb' 8 game, it was bound to
lead you straight to the mouth
of the we'll, to the clods of turf
which l dabbed across it, last
month, in anticipation Of this
wind fall.
Remember: The snare is
laid And a snare after my own
style, Lupin; one of the best! Oh,
l love getting rid of people with
their kind assistance. We work
together like friends and part
ners. You've caught the notion,
haven't you2
81 don't do my own job. The
others do It for me, hanging
themselves or giving themselves
careless injections-unless they
prefer the mouth of a we'll, as you
seem to do. My poor old chap,
what a sticky mess you're in!
never saw such a face, never, on
my word! Florence, do look at
the expression on your swain's
mobile features"
He broke off, seized with a fit
of laughter that shook his out
stretched arm, impaired the most
savage look to his face, and set
his legs jerking under his body
like the legs of a dancing doll.
His enemy was growing weak
er before his eyes. Don Luis s
fingers, which had first gripped
the roots of the grass, were now
vainly clutching the stones of the
wall. And his shoulders were
sinking lower and lower into the
we'll.
We've done it'll" spluttered
villain, in the midst of his convul-
sions of -merriment. "Lord, how
good it is to laugh! Especially
when one so seldom does. Yes,
I'm j. wet blanket, I am /; a first
rate man at a funeral! You've
never seen me laugh, Florence,
have your But this time it's real
ly too amusin,. Lupin in his hole
and Florence in her grotto; one
dancing a jig above the abyss and
the other at her last gasp under
her mountain. What a sight!
Come, Lupin, don't tire your.
self! What's the use of those
grimaces? You're not afraid of
eternity, are youi A good man
like you, the Don Quixote of
modern times! Come, let your
self go. There's not even any
water in the we'll to splash about
in. No, it's just a nice little slide
into infinity. You can't so much
as hear the sound of a pebble
when you drop it in; and just
now | threw a piece of lighted pa.
per down and lost sight of it in
the dark. Brrrr! 1t sent a cold
shiver down my back! .
Come, be a man. It'll only
take a moment; and you'v We been
through worse than that!
Good, you nearly did it then.
You re making up your mind to
1t. l say, Lupin
Lupin! Aren't
you going to say good-byef Not
q smile, not a word of thanks 1
Au revoir, Lupin, au revoir-''
He ceased. He watched for the
appalling end which he had Sc
'cleverly prepared and of which
all the incidents were following
close on one another in accord.
ance with his inflexible will.
1t did not take long. The
shoulders had gone down; the
chain; and then the mouth con.
vulsed with the death grin; and
then the yes, drunk with terror
and then the forehead and the
hair: the whole head, in short
had disappeared.
The cripple sat gazing wildly
as though in ecstasy, motionless
with an expression of fierce de.
light, and without a word that
could trouble the silence and in.
terrupt his hatred.
At the edge of the abyss moth.
ing remained but the hands, the
obstinate, stubborn, desperate
heroic hands, the poor, helpless
hands which alone still lived, and
which gradually, retreating to