The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1918-11-21
Al last. however. the immin

some OF Ills strength. Stlll moClOn-
less, he inspected his surrounds
lngs with All attention so keen
that it seemed as if no detail
conld escape him. He would have
sighted the most indistinct shape
among the stones of the ruined
pile, OIL in the bushes, or behind
the tall laurel screen.
Seeing nobody, he came along,
supporting himself on his crltch.
He walked without tie least
sound of his feet or of the crttch,
which probably had a rubber shoe
at the end OF it. His, raised right
hand held a revolver. His finger
was on the trigger, The least eff
fort Of his will, or even less than
that, a spontaneous injunction Of
his instinct, was enough to put a
bullet into the enemy.
He turned to the left. On this
side, between the extreme end Of
the laurels and the first fallen
rocks, there was a little brick
path which was more likely the
top Of a buried wall. The cripple
followed this path, by which the
enemy might have reached the
shrub on which the jacket hung
without leaving any traces.
The last branches of the laurels
were III his way, and he pushed
them aside. There was a tangled
mass Of bushes. 70 avoid this, he
sklrted the foot Of the mound,
after which he took a few more
steps, going round Il huge rock.
J And then, suddenly, he started
back and almost lost his balance
while his crutch fell to the ground
and his revolver slipped from his
hand.
What he had seen, what he saw,
was certainly the most terrifying
sight that he could possibly have
beheld. Opposite him, at ten PAGES
distance, with his hands in his
pockets, his feet crossed, and one
shoulder resting lightly against
the rocky wall, stood not a man:
1T was not a man, and could not
be a man, for this man, as the
cripple knew, was dead, had died
the death from which there is no
recovery. 1t was therefore 81
ghost; and this apparition from
the tomb raised the cripple s ter
ror to its highest pitch.
He shiyered, seized with a fresh
attack Of fever and weakness. Ills,
dilated pupils stared at the ex-
traordinary phenomenon. His,
whole being, filled with demonia-
cal superstition and dread, crum-
pied up under the vision to which,
each second lent an added horror.
Incapable of flight, incapable
OF defense, he dropped upon his
knees. And he could not take his
eyes from that dead man, whom
hardly am hour before he had
buried iIS the depths Of a well,
under q s1iwoud of iron and gran
lite.
Arsene luapin's ghost!
A man you take aim at, you
fire at. You kill But a ghost! A
thing which no longer exists and
which nevertheless disposes of all
the supernatural powers! What
was the use of struggling against
the Internal Vaccinations Of that
which is no. naerc9 What was the
use. of picking up the fallen re
volver and levening it at the in
tangible spirit of Arsene Lupin?
And he. SAW an incomprehens-
lble' thing oceur: the ghost took
bus, hands out Of its pockets. One
OF them held a cigaret case; and
the. Cripple. recognized the same,
ggunmetal ease for which he had
hunted I'M vain. There was there
fore mot q doubt left that the.
creature who had ransacked the.
jacket WAS the very same who
NOW opened the case, picked out
a clgaret and struck a match,
takensfrona a box which also be-.
longed to the cripple!
O miracle! A real flame came.
from the match! Q incompatible,
marveli Clouds of smoke rose.
from the cigaret, real smoke, of
which the cripple at once knew,
the particular smell!
He hid his head in his hands.
tie refused to e more. Whether.
ghost or optical Illusion. an. e1ar
anation from another world, O u an.
image born of his ramorse and
proceeding from himself it should
torture his eyes no longer.
But he heard the, sound of q
step approaching Esn, growing
more and more distinct as -