Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1921-12-21


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 elseAhut
1t was not quite like it, A gentle.
slitherin@ sound had preceded the
creak; the sound such as a man would
make who, with infinite precaution
against making 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 a 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
ne heard faint sibilant hiss just be-
fore?
Suddenly it struck him that he was
at a terrible disadvantage. The thing.
Whatever it was knew, at any rate
approximately, his position: he had
not the slightest notion where it was.
AND a blind man boxing a man who
could see, would have felt just about
as safe With Hugh, such 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 a sound could he hear; the
thing, whatever it was, had become
motionless at his sudden movement.
For an appreciate 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 it was and where it was Now
he felt utterly helpless, while every
bn Uipo1 c01,on cliY1ou
crawling brute touching his bare
feet-creeping up on him. 4. 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 it's judicious use. The
man behind one of those useful nipple
ments is in blackness far more inn
penetrable than the blacklist night, for
, the man in front is dazzled He cal.
only shoot at the torch: wherefore
hold it to one side and in front of
you.
The light flashed out darting round
the poom 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 and steady. Framed
in the middle of it, peering over the
edge, was little hairless, brown face,
holding what looked like a tube in it's
mouth. Hugh had one glimpse of a
dark, skinny hand putting something
in the tube, and then he switched off
the torch and ducked, just as another
fly pinged over his head and hit the
wall behind
One thing at any rate, was certain:
the other occupant Of the room was
human, and with that realization all
his nerve returned. There would be
time enough later on to find out how
he got there, and what those strange
pinging noises had been caused by.
Just at that moment only one thing
was on the program; and without
sound he crept round the bed toward
the cupboard, to put that one thing in
to effect in his usual direct manner.
Twice did he hear the little whis-
Ting hiss from above, but nothing sang
past his head. Evidently the man had
lest him, and was probably still aim
Ing at the door. And then, with hands
that barely touched it, he felt the OUT
lines of the cupboard.
1t was standing an inch or two from
the wall, and he slipped his fingers be-
hind the back on one side. He lis
tened for a moment, but no movement
came from above then, half facing the