Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1919-12-04

pocket and closed over his automatic
They we're crowding down the room.
closing IN around him now.
He glanced quickly over his shoulder
30 locate precisely the position Of the
rear door, should Il come to a row
and instlnctively stepped back pace
as a baking, rawboned fellow, half
drunk and carrying bis liquor bellig
erently, lurched forward.
"Hif e says that, wot we says IL
that 'e's a bloody himpostor an
nounced the man truculently. "An'
wot's more, we doesn't like the looks
Of I'm when he comes in-does we,
mates1 An wots more-tyke thsti"
He made a sudden, wicked pass at
Wallen's face.
A yell Of applause greeted the act
But the blow never reached its mark
wallen had dealt too long and too In
timately with the forecastle not to rec
ognize the breed around him that was
the forecastle's curse and the curse Of
the better men who honored 1t. With
a quick sidestep he evaded the blow,
whipped his left In lightning drive
to the others chin, and, as the man
staggered backward into the GROVE
wallen leaped for the rear door he
hind him.
He reached Il, but not before they
were upon him like . pack Of wolves
snarling at him, tearing at him. theiI
breaths in his face, pounding Mt him,
trying to trip him up, to throw him to
the floor.
The place was now in pandemonium
Again and again Wallen's dubbed re-
volver rose and fell, again and again
his fist shot in and out and still he
! kept his feet; but he could not free
himself long enough to get the door
open-and then something seemed to
lend him added passion, added
strength.
The face Of Drink House Sami II
was just out Of reach-just out Of
reach.
He flung two men from him and
lunged forward. II he could only
mark that facet A below of fright
from Marie greeted the savage on
slaught-and wallen's fist had smashed
straight between the red little blink
ing eyes. The suddenness Of the at
tack brought an instant's pause-and
in that instant he had reached the door
and this time wrenched II open.
And then Walien laughed, not pieas-
antly, and his revolver, not cissbed
now, swept the crowd.
"Tll be out here somewhere in the
darkness" he told them grimly as he
backed away, "and the first man that
steps across the threshold TIL drop the
way I'd drop mad dog"
They stared at him, logged, sullen,
but without q word-until they could
no longer see him-and then they an
swered him with catcalls, boots, pro-
family and brave defiance. But no
man crossed the threshold.
He moved backward cautiously, max.
ing no sound, edglng always In a side.
wise direction-and suddenly, to his
own surprise and relief, where he had
expected to encounter a fence or some
other obstruction, found instead that
the rear of Drink-House Sans gave
evidently onto only vacant ground, for
he had now come out onto what was
either a street or n lane.
But while his escape was now as
sured. Wallen was In no happy frame
of mind. He had yet to square &C.
counts with Drink-House Sam. lie
had accomplished not only no part Of
the purpose for which he had come.
but had worse still, probably put the
man thoroughly on his guard. But the
night vas still young and prink-House
Sam v Is still therei
He Eas not through with Drink.
Houf Pm yet; the Ill luck Of his first
atte' changed matters not at all ;
he Y, never be through with Drink.
HOu sam until-that murderous
swee passion was on him again
untihatI not only forced the secret
out o on ner but had paid the score
betwtV lem as we'll And this time
he wrol see to 1t that the privacy of
their interview was of his own making,
Wallen made a wide circuit Of the
place. which, owing co his Ignorance
of the neighborhood, in which he lost
himself several times, consumed fully
half an hour.