The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1921-09-23
CHAPTER Ix-cOntInusd.

ID
He felt singularly wideawake, and,
after while, he gave up attempting
TO go to sleep. The new development
which had come to light that evening
was upperm0st In his thoughts; and,
as he lay there, covered only with
sheet, for the night was hot, the
whole vile scheme unfolded itself be-
fore his imagination. The American
was right In his main idea--of that
he had no doubt; and in his minds
eye he saw the great crowds of idle,
foolish men led by a few hOt-headed
Missionaries and paid blackguards to
their so-called Utopia. Starvation,
misery ruin, utter and complete,
lurked In his mental picture; specters
disguised as great ideals, but grinning
sard0nically under their masks. And
once again he seemed to hear the toe
toe Of machine-guns, as he had heard
them night after night during the
years gone by. But this time they
were mounted on the pavement OF
the towns of England, and the swish
OF the bullets, which had swept like
swarms Of cock-chafers over No Mans
Land, now whistled down the streets
between rows of squalid houses. a. :.
And once again a fly plnged past his
head.
With a gesture of annoyance he
waved his arm. 1t was hot-lnsuf-
ferably hot, and he was beginning to
regret that he had followed the earnest
advice Of the American to sleep with
his windows shut and b0lted. What
on earth could Peterson do to him In
a room at the Ritz But he had prom
Used the detective. and there IL was
curtains drawn. window bolted, door
locked. Moreover. and he smiled grim
iy to himself as he remembered 1t, he
had even gone so far as to emulate
the hysterical maiden lady Of fiction
and peer under the bed. -.
The next moment the smile ceased
abruptly, and he lay rigid, with every
nerve alert Something had moved in
the room.
II had only been a tiny movement
more like the sudden creak of piece
Of furniture than anything else-but
At was not quite like It. A gentle,
slithering sound had preceded the
creak; the sound such as man would
make who, with infinite precaution
against making noise, was moving
In dark room: stealthy. uncanny
noise. Hugh peered into the darkness
tensely. After the first moment of
surprise his brain was quite cool. He
had looked under the bed, he had
hung his coat In the cupboard, and
save for those two obvious places there
was no cover for cat And yet, with
the sort Vt sixth sense that four years
of war had given him, he knew that
noise had been made by some human
agency. Human The thought Of the
cobra at The Elms flashed into his
mind, and his mouth set more grimly.
What II Peterson had introduced some
Of his abominable menagerie into the
roomf Then. once more, the thing
like a fly sounded loud In his ear.
And. was 1t his Imagination, or had
he heard a faint sibilant hiss just be-
foref
Suddenly 1t struck him that he was
at terrible disadvantage. The thing,
whatever It was, knew, at any rate
approximately. his position: he had
aot the slightest notion where II was.
And a blind man boxing a man who
could see. would have felt just about
as safe. With Hugh, such a conclu-
sion meant instant action. 1t might
be dangerous on the floor: It most GER
tainly was far more so In bed. He
felt for his torch. and then, with one
conclusive bound. he was standing by
the door. with his hand on the electric
light switch.
Then he paused and listened intent
iy. Not a sound could he hear: the
thing, whatever II was. had become
motionless at his sudden movement.
For an appreciable time he stood there.
his eyes searching the darkness-but
even he could see nothing. and he
cursed the American comprehensively
under his breath. He would have given
anything for even the faintest grey
light. so that he could hare some idea
OF what n was and where IL was. Now
he felt utterly helpless, while every
moment he imagined some Shiny.
crawling brute touching his bare
feet-creeping up on him. :. He
pulled himself together sharply. Light
was essential and at once. But II
he switched Il on, there would be
moment when the thing would see
him before he could see the thing
and such moments are not helpful.
There only remained bis torch: and
on the Ancre. on one occasion. he had
saved his life BY Its judicious use. The
man behind one Of those useful imple-
ments Il In blackness far more Inn
penetrable than the blacklist night, for
the man In front 10 dazzied. He can
only shoot at the torch: wherefore
hold it to one side and In front Of
you 49,.
The light flashed out, darling round
e.. rror, pln~t co~nefhlnr hit the