Charlevoix county herald., 1918-12-20


! could see its shadow falling across
the street stood on as the sun struck
ii slantwise to east and north. l won
dered what Connel might be thinking
of now, and IL he had held Reich and
Greek Annie until this hour or turned
them loose, as he had threatened.
A step sounded behind me. and !
whirled. But l faced nothing more
startling than young man, nattily
clad, even to a small, swagger cane
which he carried. He was of a round
! headed, florrid type, with stubby
mustache over full red lips. and close
ly cropped, reddish-brown hair. All in
all. he reminded Inc of an English type
of manhood and his words seemed to
confirm the surmise.
Pardon me, miss" He lifted his
hat with neatly gloved hand. Are
you acquainted up here? You see.
was looking for the Chinese telephone
exchange. and / can't understand the
beastly pidgin these chaps speak at
all. / rather wanted to see the place.
They tell me it is unique in it's way
for this side"
Inwardly I laughed at my nervous
starting. The mans manner was def
erence itself. l pointed back up the
way / had came.
"You can hardly miss It," / replied
IF you'll just go up nearly to the
corner"
The man ! was directing lurched
against me. Apparently in seeking to
turn and follow the line of my hands
indication he had slipped or stumbled
He staggered diagonally forward and
struck me SO that !, in turn, lost my
balance, and must have fallen save
that he caught me quickly, even as he
recovered himself.
And in that moment, as he seized
me and seemed to be dragging me
back to a secure footing saw a small
er figure rush forward, dragging a
Tapping something from underneath
it's blouse.
1t had all come so quickly 1t was
so totally unexpected that for just a
moment l did not understand. The
shock of the mans impact against me.
the lift of his hands as they held me
upright. the darling attack of the
smaller assailant, seemed for an in
slant to deprive me of the proper pow
er Of action of which l stood in need.
And by then it was too late.
The Tapping object which | had
seen swung up and DESCENDED in the
choking, smothering folds of a cloth
about my head and face.
| sought to ward it off, and found
that my arms were held beyond free
ing. | sought to cry out, and tense
fingers gripped my throat felt my
self lifted in muscular arms and borne
swiftly upward. A door slammed
smartly shut The sound of board
flooring came to my ears as l was
carried onward.
There was a pause, another door
shut more softly and 1 felt myself low
cred into sitting position with strong
hands on my shoulders, holding me
fast. Got her, all right" said voice.
speaking in English.
Tally" said some one else with
chuckle. 1.-The score stands even."
A singsong broke in with rapid
chatter.
"And that's right, too" said the
first speaker. 1--WE haven't any time
to stand here chinnin', an this amt
the place for it. This dame goes to
the chief for little third degreein'.
Wait a mo-"
The cloth was showed up from my
face slightly so that faint glimmer
of artificial light came to my eyes
from below its edge. Some one forced
my mouth open and slipped cloth
gag into my jaws, tying it behind my
neck. The cloth was pulled down,
some one seized my wrists and secur-
ed them behind me, thrust hand un-
der my arms and lifted me to my
feet.
Come on" directed voice short
ly Mind the steps,"
We went forward and downward,
along what seemed to me like steep
flight of stairs. Presently we reached
the bottom, and / felt earth beneath
my feet. knew that once more / was
in the underground tunnel through
which we had come last night, or at
least in a similar one. The man who
held me walked forward quickly, and
almost dragged me along.
/ suppose you think that now l was
really frightened. But, strange as 1t
may appear. l was perfectly cool.
Hardly had felt the hands upon me,
felt myself lifted and carried away,
than it came upon me that this was a
part of Semi Duals design.
Something within me seemed to cry
out: This is the thing that was to
happen. Thus shall you serve the end
desired"
And / remembered the words Dual
had spoken. BE of good courage to
the end" Also recalled what he had
said of appearing to be overreached
while overreaching. 1t certainly looked
to me as though his plans were work
ing as he wished, for most surely
those who had seized me must regard
my capture as a most important
move.
AS a result / went forward along
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