The Elbert County tribune., 1918-01-04
not failed to draw against next weeks

boyish desire to -cail" his opponents
rather than be called" by them.
Cleans of avarice narrowed the eyes
of the players. Jimmy was eiabo-
rately unaware of the fact. But he
was not at all unaware of the fact
that the game was getting" him too.
The zest for gambling has way of
taking possession of the votaries of
| chance.
Suddenly Jimmy called and won.
That would do for now-the three
gamblers meant to break him when
the stakes were higher and his all In
the pot.
The winner reached for the chips
which represented his winnings. His
sleeve caught on n projecting corner
of the table and pushed up his elbow.
| Now, Mr.. Barton had not been given
long hours in which to prepare an
elaborate makeup. And the walnut
stain which made him look like the
son of a warm southern cline had
been applied no further than his
wrist.
| Suddenly there was the scraping
sound of chairs pushed back. Jimmy
! L.
flashing all about him. For one sec
0nd he was puzzled, and then he be-
held his own arm. From finger tips to
wrist his skin had heavily bronzed
look. From wrist to elbow 1t was
white
There was need of immediate action
but more immediate was the neces-
sity of finding weapon. Jimmy
seized n chair and flung 1t at one of
his opponents. The creature automat-
ically jumped out of range, and the
chair thudded against the wall. AS II
by magic a panel opened and slid
back.
Jimmy wasted no time in analyzing
the situation, but devoted himself to
disposing of the men between him
and that beckoning exit and getting
through 1t and out of the neighborhood
of flashing knives and cleaning teeth
and eyes. Nor did he linger In the
room In which he suddenly found him
self to wait the coming of his foe.
The better part of discretion
seemed flight, and Jimmy considered
this the time to be very discreet. He
rushed on into another room and
turned and locked the door through
which he had come.
At table In the center of the room
sat mana typical Italian fruit ven
dor-working at queer black object
which appeared in no way connected
with the trade which seemed his by
right of suitability. Mr.. Barton looked
for weapon and his eye fell suddenly
on the black object on which the hal-
ian had been working when he came
into the room.
He seized It and prepared to fling
IL at his opponents head. Then a
surprising thing happened. The Ital
ian fell on his knees and screamed out
a plea for mercy. "Datta bomb /
maka him-don't throw-he killa us
| bcthi"
Jimmy lowered it slowly, but con-
tinued to threaten the maker who con
tinued on his knees in deadly ter
| ror. As yet there was no sound of
pursuit. Jimmy crossed the room and
began climbing ladder which he had
seen leaning against the window. He
was still holding the bomb glngerly,
but he managed to convey to the kneel-
ing enemy that he should be destroyed
| If he moved. There was a sound of
blows on the door beyond.
Jimmy reflected that he was Just
about In time and that he might have
/ to fling his weapon ut the whole
bunch. Hardly had he gotten to the
/ top when black and evil faces ap-
peared at the base.
! Jimmy wasted no time in parleying,
| but dashed across the roof, still hold
Ing his bomb.
AS he went he reflected that the
| newspaper game certainly offered him
liberal educatlon-but that he had
to know a few tricks to hold his
end of 1t too. "When 1 get out of
| this" he vowed. "I'll look up nice
| friendly sailor and learn how to go
up a rope hand over hand-though
what really need is to learn how to
| do it with one hand and one foot I"
But however light-hearted his refec-
tlons, Jimmy was not light-headed
enough to loosen his hold on the bomb.
On and on he rushed. At last he
noticed ahead of him roof in the
center of which there was large sky
light. He made a mental note of 1t
and of the fact that he would have to
make wide tour to avoid falling
over 1t.
Back of him he could hear the shout
of his pursuers. He looked back to
gauge the distance between himself
and his pursuers-and then indeed he
"fell down" ON his story. The sky
light he had meant to avoid seemed
almost to leap out of ambush and get
into his way. He tripped over 1t and
the bomb flew out of his hand and ex-
ploded ten feet ahead of him as he