The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-08-11

against his temple. The cold rim or
the muzzle almost cut the skin.
Where iss it?"
Nothing less than death burned in
the bloodshot eyes. Another shake of
the head wouldn't do. The Jew want
ed an answer, and he meant to have
it.
TN not the Red Mask. I didn't kill
Louie Solomon. And I don't know
where the Blue Moon isl
The answer was not convincing
he could have said just then would
have been. Whether the Jew believed
1T, or any part Of it. his face gave no
sign. He backed away two steps and
leveled his revolver full at the Pearl
hunters breast, like man about to
pistol another and deliberately plan
ming to make clean job Of 1t. The
Pearlhunter believed that was what he
was about to do. And who along the
whole stretch OF the Wabash but
would have said he did a righteous
deed? And the reward for the Red
Mask would unquestionably have been
his.
The instant came when the Pearl
hunter believed the grimy finger was
about to press the trigger and he was
almost in the act of diving beneath
the muzzle when the Jew motioned to
one Of the others and said something
in Yiddish.
The man spoken to darted away
through the bushes toward the boat
landing. The Pearlhunter breathed
again.
The man soon reappeared, carrying
piece of rope. One at a time, he
took the Pearihunter's hand, drew
them behind his back, and bound them
securely together. Even then, so great
was their dread of the man he was
supposed to be, that one of them con-
stantly held gun on him.
After that they made another very
careful search for the pearl, examin-
ing again the Pearlhunters clothing,
the clothes of their dead master, the
ground, even lifting up the rocks lying
about and looking under them.
The three henchmen appeared to be-
moan the loss Of the jewel more than
the loss of the master. The man en-
guard took a fiendish pleasure in
seeing just how close he could come
to shooting without actually pulling
the trigger. The leader of the three
swung his clenched first before the
Pearlhunter's face and bluntly told him
they would kill him then and there
only that they were saving him for the
rope.
With the knife still sticking in the
dead mans breast, they carried him
down to the boat, driving the Pearl
hunter before them. There they
loaded them in, the dead and the Ev-
ing, and rowed back up the river TO
the village;-the second time that day;
the same trip; the same boat; the
same five men. Then, a great day
opening; the greatest trade ever made
among pearl fishers along the Wabash
in prospect; now, the day nearly done;
the pearl lost; one of the men dead:
another soon likely to be!
What a difference in the crowd that
met them at the wharf! Again driving
their prisoner before them, the three
grim henchmen carried the dead man
up the hill to a small plot of open
ground west of the Mud Hen and laid
him down upon the grass.
For the second time that day the |
village emptied its houses to meet
them. Women came this time-old |
women with scared faces; girls with
blooming. checks; and children. Hard |
men that had drunk to the Pearl |
hunter barely two hours ago came out |
of the Mud Hen and stood staring at |
him in sullen silence. Men from the |
stores and shops came running. Men |
that had neither stores nor shops |
struggled in from every quarter of the
village and jostled about in the ever
growing, ominously muttering circle.
Suddenly, and unexpectedly, two of
the henchmen caught the Pearlhunter
and held him while the third tied the |
red mask over his eyes. Bound as he |
was, he had flung them loose in an
instant and raked the mask off against
his shoulder. But the one brief mo-
ment was enough the mischief was
done. Women screamed; men NUT
tered and swore: but all shrank back.
the circle.
Who started it. who said it first,
will never be known. Nobody knows
how the mob forms-a low humble; a
quick flare into frenzy; mild eyes
grown wild; stolid faces afire; a rab-
BILE; clamor; reason down, blood lust
up.
Hang inn Hang 'im!"
Continued tomorrow