The Ely miner., 1921-10-28
CHAPTER Ix-continued.

after q 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 a
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 few hot-headed
Missionaries and paid blackguards to
their so-called Utopia. Starvation,
misery. ruin, utter and complete,
iurked in his mental picture; specters
disguised as great ideals, but grinning
sardonically 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
lswarms of cock -chafers over No Mans
Land, now whistled down the streets
between rows of squalid houses. !. :.
And once again fly pinged past his
head.
With gesture of annoyance he
waved his arm. 1t was hot-insuf-
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 bolted. What
on earth could Peterson do to him in
ia room at the Ritz? But he had prom
fsed the detective, and there it was
curtains drawn, window bolted, door
locked. Moreover and he smiled grim
iy to himself as he remembered it, 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. =.
1t had only been a tiny movement,
more like the sudden creak of a piece
of furniture than anything else-but
1t 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 a noise. was moving
in a dark room; a 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 OF 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 if Peterson had introduced some
of his abominable menagerie into the
room? ;. Then, once more, the thing
like fly sounded loud In his ear.
And, was it his Imagination, or had
he heard faint sibilant hiss just be-
fore? '#
Suddenly it struck him that he was
at a terrible disadvantage. The thing,
whatever it was, knew. az any rate
approximately, his position: he had
not the slightest notion where it was.
And 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; 1t 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
ly Not sound could he hear; the
thing, whatever it was, had become
motionless at his sudden movement.
For an appreciab1e 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 have some idea
of what 1t was and where it was. Now
lIe 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, if
he switched it 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 his 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 is in blackness far more i'm
penetrable than the blackest night, for
the man in front is dazzled He can
only shoot at the torch: wherefore
hold it to one side and in front of
you. =.
The light flashed out, darting round
the room. Ping! Something hit the
sleeve of his pajamas, but still he
could see nothing. The bed. with the
clothes thrown back; the washstand; ;
the chair with his trousers and shirt
everything was as It had been when he
turned in. And then he heard a sec
ond sound-distinct and clear 1t came
from high up, near the ceiling, and
the beam caught the big cupboard and
Travelled up. 1t reached the top. and
rested there, fixed aad steady. Framed
In the middle of it, peering over the
edge, was little hairless. brown face,
holding what looked like a tube in its
mouth. Hugh had one glimpse of a