The Washington herald., 1921-04-17
IDENTIFIED

ears navlng talieo 70 fcBistcf tue move
ments Of the other. he drew In slow
hoping to hnd In the air some telitale
odor of the other person.
II came when the intruder passed the
chair in the thick syrup of the blackness;
1t was the smell Of wet wooden clothing.
of soaked leather. of stale rain water.
seasoned with the prickly smell Of some
spice. perhaps cloves. "A moment or two
later the one who had passed collided
with. the wall at the front end of the
living room.
There was an imprecation and later .
sigh; the newcomer. feeling way
through the mud Of the dark. had evi-
IDENTIFY been assured that, the apartment
was empty. From that moment the
movements showed that caution had been
laid aside. Crossing the room diagonaliy.
the moving feet eollided with q leather
couch and then went on carelessly until
their owner had found the wall again.
The sound of fingers feeling along the
grass cloth paper stopped at the wide
entrance to the front hall Of the apart
ment. and then there came whisper as
II the voice Of the person had said. Hal"
Las IT,. indeed, goal had been reached.
A chair was moved and then the intruder
sat down; the cushion gave forth q sigh
as airw expelled from 1t under the
sudden application Of weight.
The man, who had subleased this apart
ment, waited impatiently. He wondered
no doubt why the other person had gone
to SO much pains to break In IL he were
to be satisfied to sit down in q comfort
able chair and relieve q passing weari-
ness. II one came to do something, let
him do It! Bub the other merely sighed
and made q sound like that of wet
tongue moving across dry lips.
To, be crouching behind o chair unable
to move q muscle without risk of dis
closure would become unendurable. The
man who was doing 1t felt the ache of
strained position slowly saturate his
sinews and then eat into the marrow of
his bones. Twenty minutes passed. He
could stand 1t no longerI
Slowly. painfully he rose from his
crouching. He extended his left hand
behind him until 1t touched the wall.
The fingers of his hand crept along. the
wainscoating to the door jamb; they crept
cautiously back until they came in con-
tact with a familiar plunger of an elec-
trio switch. He pressed 1t. An explosion
of light! =;
One fraction Of q second was enough to
shown by this flood, this bath, this as
room. So
The stranger who had come in like q
bird of evil omen from the storm was
seated facing the door. and the light
caught an EXPRESSION on his face which
was suggestivesof the grim mood Of one
who patiently waits for his prey. His
was a lean and angular frame. and lean
arms were resting on sharp angled ell
bows All his angularity was empha-
sized by the fact that his clothing was
watersoaked and the dark blue serge of
an old suit was clinging closely to his
lean, strong limbs and his lean. strong
body. In his long fingered right hand he
held an Instrument of battery. persuasion
and Inconsistencies often called life
preserver."- 1t was made. of black leather
with a knob filled with bird shot. and 1t
dangled like the limp neck of poison
Gus and death dealing asp for the mo-
ment relaxed in sleep. -
When its owner turned, his face ap-
peared white. haggard. of exaggerated
length. Its wrinkles were deep-deep in
the high forehead. deep around the eyes,
deep at the base of the long nose and
around the mouth with its thin red lips
part d in a smile, either sad or vicious,
which appeared as fixed as II the lower
part of the countenance were nodded in
plaster paris, and therefore gave to the
man a strange appearance Of inscruta-
biIity.
Throw that blackjack. on the noor."
commanded the other man. I've got you
covered. my fine visitor"
The Intruder stared into the toothless
mouth of blue steel revolver barrel and
without changing q line of his unread
able face he relaxed his fingers and his
implement of attack fell onto the hard
wood floor.
II a third pair of eyes could have
stared in upon these two men who met
each others gaze, 1t would have seen in
the setting of a large room filled with
new rich furniture and new rich hang
ings. a remarkable contrast between two
individuals. This contrast was almost
amusing because superhcially the. men
were alike. Both were lean and tall.
both had long faces and high foreheads,
both had deep set eyes and heavy brows,
both were without boards except for the
uncut stabble which had -blackened the
mouth and chin Of the one In the chair.
The foremost difference between them
was in their comparative activity. The
lessee OF the apartment was eternally in
movement; his face twitched. his mouth
squirmed, his eyes shifted as II every
thought disturbed their position, and at
every half dozen breaths he snuffed his
nose as II there were some hard and
bony growth obstructing the free intake
of air. His free hand moved its. long
fingers. The thumb rubbed imaginary
pellets against the nervous tips of the
digits.
The other man. the visitor from the
storm. was like carved wooden thing.
His deep set eyes stared without ex-
preston; his body was motioniess. Even
the cords on his neck, showing above a
flannel shirt collar, remained rs they had
nxed themselves when he turned his