The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-10-01

L
utes. Slowly, inexorably, the German.
arm was being twisted. while he ut
tered gasping cries, and beat impo
tently at DrummondS head with his
free hand. Then at last there was 8
dull crack as the arm. broke, and 8
scream of pain, as he 1urched rounC
the chair and stood helpless in front
of the soldier. who still held the Gig.
arctic case in his left hand
They saw Drummond open the Gig
looked like tube of wood. Then he
felt in his pocket and took out a
matchbox, containing a number OF
long thin splinters. And, having fitted
one of the splinters into the tube he
put the other end in his mouth.
With quick heave they saw him
jerk the German round and catch his
unbroken arm with his free left hand
And the two bound watchers looked at
Hugh's eyes as he stared at the moan
ing Boche. and saw that they were
| hard and merciless.
There was sharp, whistling hiss,
and the splinter flew from the tube
into the Germans face. 1t hung from
his cheek, and even the ceaseless move
ment of his head failed to dislodge
| 1t.
II have broken your arm, BOche, "
said Drummond at length, land now l
have killed you. I'm sorry about it 4;
l wasn't particularly anxious to end
| your life. BuQ it had to be DONE"
The German, hardly conscious of
| what he had said owing tO>the pain in
his arm, was frantically kicking the
Englishman's legs, still bound to the
chair; but the iron grip on his wrists
never slackened. And then quite sud-
denly came the end. With one dread
full, conclusive heave 1.-The German
jerked himself free. and fell doubled
up on the floor. Fascinated, they
watched him writhing and twisting,
until at last. he lay still. The
Boche was dead.
"What was that blow-pipe AFFAIR."
cried Sinclair hOarsely.
1.-THE thing they tried to finish me
with in Paris last night" answered
Hugh grimly, taking knife out Of his
waistcoat pocket. LET us trust that
none of his pals come In to look for
him"
A minute later he stood up, only to
sit down again abruptly, as his legs
gave way. They were numbed and
stiff with the hours he had spent in the
same position, and for while he could
do nothing but rub them with his
hands, till the blood returned and he
could feel once more.
Then. slowly and painfully. he tot
tered across to the .thers and set them
free as we'll. They were in an even
worse condition than he had been;
and it seemed as if Algy would never
be able to stand again, so completely
dead was his body from the waist
downwards. But, at length, after what
seemed an eternity to Drummond, who
realized only too well that should the
gang come in they were almost as help
less in their present condition as if
they were st.ll bound in their chairs.
the other two recovered.
"AlI fit now? Good! We've got to
think what we're going to do. for we're
not out of the wood yet by two or
three miles,"
LET'S get the door open," remarked
Algy. land explore"
Cautiously they swung/it open. and
stood motionless. The house was in
absolute silence; the hall was de-
serted.
switch out the fight" whispered
Hugh. well wander round"
They crept forward stealthily in the
darkness, stopping every now and then
to listen. But no sound came to their
ears; it might have been a house of
the dead.
Suddenly Drummond, who was in
front of the other two, stopped with a
warming hiss A light was streaming
out from under door at the end of
passage and. as they Stood watching
it. they heard mans voice coming
from the same room. Some one else
answered him and then there was
silence once more.
At length Hugh moved forward
again, and the others followed. And
it was not until they got quite close ITO
the door that strange. continuous
noise began TO be noticeable-a noise
which came most distinctly from the
lighted room. 1t rose and fell with
monotOnous regularity: at times it re-
sembled brass band-at others 1t
died away to gentle murmur. And
occasionally it was punctuated with a
strangled snort.
Great Scott" muttered Hugh ex-
citedly, "the whole boiling bunch are
asleep, or I'll eat my hat"
"Then who was 1t spoken" said Algy.
AT least two of 'em are awake~right
enough" ~
And. as if in answer to his question,
there came the voice again from in
side the room.
"Wal. Mr.. Darrell, l guess we can
pass on, and leave this bunch"
With one laugh of joyful amazement
Hugh flung open the door, and found
himself looking from the range of a
yard into two reyolvers.
II don't know how you've done 1t,
boys he remarked, "but you can put
thnca. Oy,nS ouay IT hate lonl-inp of