The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-09

hand in the shepherds business and that their affairs might not concern me at all. Anyway, determined to make the best of it for the moment. It would have been madness to have gone out while the tempest was still raging, and I argued that the same storm which kept me indoors might keep the others from the hovel.
 The our-faced woman particularly thrust her civll1ti=s upon Ene She indicatet rude ladder in one corner of the apartment, and suggested as plainly sq7 sns could that | should be better in the room eisaFs. T,sa man. for his FzEt, had opened one of the bottles of his coarse wine and filled a tumbler for my benefit. It would have been unwise to have refused to Grink, and, for that matter. the liquor was not unpalatable. So I nodded cheerily to him and drained the tum- bier to the dregs, and afterwards mounted the staircase as the woman desired, and found myself, a little to my surprise, in a bedroom which was just as neat and cleanly as the room downstairs had been filthy.
 Possibly-and I have. often thought since that this must have been the case-these people were in the habit of receiving master srnugglers to spend the night with them But however it was, there was a bed with clean sheets and a washstand Nith water, and little ribbon-looped cur tains which denoted the careful housewife. Not only this, but cheap crucifxes and images of the Saints declared a religious faith which should have given the traveller con fdence.
 made a note of them, and telling my host as clearly as I could that I would pay him well if he would ac- company me to the town in the morn tng-for I feared to show my money -I thanked him for his hospitality and bade him good night
 You may ask why l took this step. Be sure that I had no intentions whatever of trusting myself to a bed in that habitaton. Adventure makes us quick thinkers, and had tried to estimate all the risks of the situa- alton while the woman was talking to me. A memory of ancient TO- nance reminded me that I should have a far better chance at the head of a flight of stairs than on the ground floor, where an enemy could surround me, My pistol was loaded and if there were but six Germans I might even yet deal with them. Then again it was possible that the couple below would betray them . Selves in the interim; or as a last al ternative that I should climb down from the window, which was ten feet from the ground, and take my leave without so much as a word spoken.
 My Suspicious Aroused.
 All this was in my head when l closed the door of the room and set the candle upon the ash-handstand One fact discovered very quickly and that was that the floor consisted of the Crudest beams with chunks be- tween through which you could have dropped a matchbox. The people below must have been foolish indeed If they did not realize that I could see them almost as plainly as though I were still in the room with them. Yet such was the fact, and, so fas- Cinating did I find the occupation, that blew out the candle to give me a better view, and, searching for the biggest chunk, l sat there to watch.
 The occupation was not without it's reward That the pair were talking g of me from the start I had no doubt whatever, and presently the man made a sign to the woman, and. pass ing his hand rapidly across his throat cheerfully betrayed an inten- ton which was not kindly. So I was right after all. I had, then, been the person for whom they were wait ing. They were expecting the Ger mans, and when they came the lot of them intended to cut my throat Why that did not matter. Whether it wa my silence or my purse they most desired was imnaterial to me.
 Going to the window, I discovered that the tempest had abated as sud denly as it arose. The moon had be- gun to show again, though the thick clouds scudded occasionally across it. I had a glimpse of the distant sea and of the lights of ships upon it, opening the window with all the caution I could command. I dfscov- cred that the height was not un- friendly. The very fashion of the cabin helped me to get down, and a certain dread of the novel forbade hesitation.
 A Race for Life.
 For an instant perhaps I became the victim of panic, and, fearing to remain an instant longer in the cot tage, I climbed over the sill and drop ped lightly to the muddy ground be- low Unfortunately it was not SC lightly that went undiscovered. Al most instantly I heard a loud shout from the man and a cry of alarm from his ferocious wife. Then I raced for my life across the sodden grass no thought of destination in my head only the desire to get down to the sea
 I am a good runner, and years ago the fact was recognized in the in sCriptiOns upon silver pots but to run upon a Pyrenean hillside, where the l wet grass, sQueIches at every steI i and the soil has become as heavy as | London cIay-this is no Varsity han ] dicap, believe me. Nevertheless hac some contempt for the shepherd, and l would have wagered a hundred ot | the best upon my chances - would | have done so, say, but for a chance | which a hundred guesses would not | have put into my thoughts, and one | I think, that would have affrightec | the best of us.
 Suddenly above the silence I heard | the paying of a hound. Any man who | knew anything about dogs woul5 | have said in an instant that it was z ] bloodhound, and its cry echoing annie | the hills that night was the weirdes