Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1919-10-02
now. sweet the crowd.

"rfl be out here somewhere In tho
Darkness. he tosd them grimly as he
backed away. land the Elrst man tnat
steps across the threshold III drop the
way I'd drop q mad dog!-
They stared az him. dcgged srllen.
bat without q word-until they could
no longer see him-and then they On.
swered him with catealls. boots. pro-
family and brave defiance. But no
man crossed the threshold.
He moved backward cautiously. max
Ing no sound. edging always In q side
wise direction-and suddenly. to his
own surprise and relief. where he had
expected 60 encounter q fence or some
other obstruction. found instead that
the rear Of Drink-House SANS gave
evidently onto only vacant ground. fol-
he had now come out onto what was
either n street or q Lame.
But while his escape was now a.
sured. wallen was in no happy frame
OF mind. He had yet 20 square &C
counts with Drink-Ho Sam. He
had accomplished not only no part Oh
the purpose for which he had come.
but had. worse still. probably put the
man thoroughly on his guard. But the
night was stu yonng and Drink-House
Sam was still therei
He was not through with Drink.
House Sam yet the I'll luck Of his first
attempt changed matters not at all ;
he would never be through with Drink.
House Sam until-that murderous
sweep Of passion was on him again
until he had not only forced the secret
out OF the other but had paid the score
between them as WELT And this time
he would see to 1t that the privacy Of
their interview was Of his own making.
Wallen made q wide circuit Of the
place. which. owing 10 his ignorance
OF the neighborhood. In which he lost
himself several times, consumed fully
half an hour.
But at the expiration Of that time
he was stealing along the opposite side
Of the street In front Of Drink House
Sans again; and, grateful now for the
dinginess Of the surroundings and the
absence Of lights. slipped into q mar.
row areaway. or more properly q
space some three feet wide between
two buildings facing Drink-House
Sans, and lay down upon the ground.
BY and by Drink-Hou Sam would
60 to bed. by and by that light In the
barrOom would 90 out. by and by the
hangers-On would be dispersed. and By
and by somewhere In that house be
would get Drink-House Sam alone.
Wallen lay there. his eyes On tho
barr00m door across the street. lOcca,
sionally someone struggled In, occa.
sionally someone struggled out; but n
was many hours. while he grew stir
and cramped, before the place began
to empty out-before Drink-House
Sam himself no the doorway was eject
Ing. with some force and more profan-
ity. what appeared to be the last Of
his guests.
And then the light In the barroofn
was extinguished.
1t was very late; but precisely what
time It was Wailen did not know, only
that he had lain there for IN intsrmi-
nable space. Well. hs had waited 10
long he could afford to wait still an
other hour-until Drink House Sam
and whoever else was In the place had
got to bed and got to sleep. This time
he would leave nothing to chance.
A light appeared suddenly in the
end room on the veranda over the bar
ro0m-and Wallen's lips parted In q
twisted smile. Luck again! That was
Drink House Sans rooml The man,
silhOuetted against the light. was open
Ing the veranda door. for air probably.
The room obviously then had two
doors. for Marie had entered II from
the interior of the house. Wallen
smiled again. He would enter from
the veranda. Luck was coming now
In greater measure than he had dared
to hope.
The light In the room went out.
The minutes passed. q quarter of an
hour. half, three-quarters-and then
Wallen sat up. unlaced his boots and.
tying them together with their strings.
slung them around his neck.
Like a shadow, q little blacker than
the surrounding blackness. he was
across the street. and quickly. agilely.
silently. was swarming up one Of ths
veranda posts.
He paused as he reached the ran 20
listen-the rail was old and Il had
creaked a little. not loudly. but-who
knew 1T might have been heard.
There was not sound.
He swung over onto the veranda and
moved cautiously forward. In q mo-
ment he was at Marle's door. Again
he listened. Nothing-not a sounds