The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1921-01-13

CHAPTER XII


teeth were bare. The Pearl
hunter knew the yellow
teeth meant exactly what they
seemed to mean. Louis Solo
mons three guardsmen had a rep
utation along the Wabash. For an
instant the wild notion seized him to
spring upon the fellow, try to dis
arm him, and take his chances in
the struggle that would follow. But
that would ok his guilt and he felt
SO secure in his Innocence and so
confident of his ability to prove it.
when the time came. that he dis
missed the impulse. His great dan
ger lay in the fact that the tnfu-
rated Jews might Kih him before it
came to proof. The reward for the
Red Mask was the same whether
dead or alive. Still, his death would
not bring them any nearer finding
the pearl. He pinned his hope there,
and shook his head.
The Jew jammed the revolver
against his temple. The cold rim of
the muzzle almost cut the skin.
Where Is it?"
Nothing less than death burned in
the bloodShot eyes. Another shake
Of the head wouldn't do. The Jew
wanted an answer, and he meant to
have it.
"Pm not the Red Mask. 1 didn't
kill Louie Solomon And don't know
where the Blue Moon is"
The answer was not convincing.
Nothing he could have said just then
would have been. Whether the Jew
believed II, or any part of it, his face
gave no sign. He backed away two
steps and levelled his revolver full at
the PearlhunteT's breast, like a man
about to pistol another and deliber-
ately planning to make a clean job
of it. The Pearlhunter believed that
was what he was about to do. And
who along the whole stretch OF the
wabash but would have said he did a
righteous deed? And the reward for
the Red Mask would unquestonably
have been his.
The instant came when the Pearl
hunter believed the grimy finger was
about to press the trigger and he
was almost in the act of Diving be-
meath the muZZle when the Jew mo-
toned to one of the others and said
something in Yiddish.
The man spoken to darted away
through tho bushes toward the boat
landing. The Pearlhunter breathed
again.
The man soon reappeared, carry
ing a piece OF rope. One at q time,
he took the Pearlhunter's hands,
drew them behind his back and
bound them securely together. Even
then, 50 great was their dread OF the
man he was supposed to be that one
of them constantly held a gun on
him.
After that they made another very
careful search for the pearl, exam
lining again the Pearlhunters cloth
| ing, the clothes Of their dead mas
| ter, the ground, even lifting up the
rocks lying about and looking under
them.
clenched fist before the Pearl
| hunters face and bluntly told him
they would kill him then and there
only that they were saving MIN lof
with the knife still sticking in the
dead mans breast, they carried MN
down to the boat, driving the Pearl
hunter before them. There Lhey
| loaded them in, the dead and the
| living, and roWed back up the river
To the village-the second time that
day; the same trip; the same boat;
| the same ave men. Then, greal
day opening; the greatest trade ever
made among pearl fishers along the
| Wabash in prospect; now, the day
| nearly done; the pearl lost; one Of
the men dead; another likely soon tc
be! - o,,,y
that met them at the wharf! Agar
driving their prisoner before them
the three grim henchmen carried TN
dead man up the hill to a small plo
OF open ground west of the Mu'
Hen and laid him down \upon Tn
grass. -, ~,
village emptied its houses TO NEE
them, Women came this tlme-olI
women with scared faces; girls VIII
blooming cheeks; and children. Har'
men that had drunk to the Pearl
hunter barely two hours ago cam
ont Of the Mud Hen and stood star
ing AT him in sullen silence. Me-
from the stores and shops came run
. ming. Men that had neither store
nor shops struggled in from ever
quarter OF the village ana JoS ..ni
about in the eVer-groWlns' oiulhou'i
, muttering circle. a.. .,,,o
suddenly. and UNEXPECTEDLY, two
r the henchmen caught the Pearlhuhtt
/ and held him while the third tled VI
] rad mask over his eyes. Bound as .
> was, he had flung them loose IN an II
1 atant and raked the mask OH asalIl'
' hIa shoulder. But that one oE1et m'
{ rnent was enough. The mischief W.
: 5one. Women screamed, men mu
o tered and swore, but all shranK Oae
2 widening the circle. ,.o. -,
s Who started it, who said II nrsI WI
s never be known. Nobody knows no
enc rnoin forms--a low humble, a quiC
= flare into frenzy, mild eyes grown vii
. stolld faces afire-a rabble, c.aIno
4 reason down, blood lust up.
3 "Hang i'm! Hang 'im!'
EVEN the women took up the cry,
u great was the terror Of his name-tl
. Red Mask name that might ha'
stampeded the village. The nj
1. charged him. Bound as he was
dashed at them. A butt OF his shol
!, 6er caught the foremost man, bur
blacksmith, on the jaw. He went dov
ike a beef under the mallet. dri
I of his head to the pit of the stoma
NJ crumpled up another. A well-direct
N nick laid out third.
l. He fought as the man OF his bio
1t had always fought. But what can o
X man, with his hands tied, 40 agar
" many? They, had his blouse ripp
off his shirt in shreds and a hundr
r -, a. ,,il itchingr IN get at him TIL