The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1921-09-24
CHAPTER Ix-continued.

-I4- |
He felt singularly wideawake, and'
after a while, he gave up attempting
to 20 to sleep. The new development
which had come to light that evening
was uppermost In his thoughts; anu
as he lay there, covered only with
sheet, for the night was hot the
whole vile scheme unfOlded itself De-
fore his imagination. The American
was right In his main idea-ot that
he had no doubt; and in his mlhds
ere he saw the great crowds OF ldIe,
foolish men led by a few hOt-headed
Missionaries and paid blackguards 10
their so-called Utopia. StarVatiOh'
misery, ruin, utter and complete |
iurked IN his mental picture; specters
dlsgulsed as great ideals, but grinnihg
aardonlcaily under their masks. Aho
once again ne seemed to hear the toe
roc OF machine guns, as he had hearu
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 IKE
swarms of cock-chafers over No Mans
Land, now whistled down the streets
between rows Of squalid houses.
And once again a fly pinged past mis-
head.
With q gesture OF annoyance ne
waved his arm. 1t was hot-insuf-
ferably hot, and he was beginning 10
regret that he had followed the earnest
advice of the American to sleep with
mis- windows shut and bOlted. what
on earth could Peterson do to him In
a room at the Ritz But he had prom
ased the detective. and there 1t was
curtains drawn, window bOlted, door
rocked. Moreover. and he smiled grim
IL % himself as he remembered 1t. he
mad 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
4ie room.
Il had only been a tiny movement,
more like the sudden creak Of a piece
aoe furniture than anything else-but
h was not quite like It. A gentle,
islIthering sound had preceded the
lcreak; the sound such as q 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
fenseiy. After the first moment Of
surprise his brain was quite cool. He
had looked under the bed. he haG
hung his coat In the cupboard, and
save for those two obvious places ther'
was no cover for cat. And yet. Will
The sort Of sixth sense that four year
Of war had given him. he knew tina
noise had been made by some human
agency. Human! The thought Of TIL
cobra az The Elms flashed into hi
mind. and his mouth set more grimly
What It Peterson had introduced som
of his abominable menagerie into tn
roOmf Then, once more, the thin
like a ny sounded loud in his cal
And, was II his Imagination, or ha
he heard a faint sibllant hiss just bt
6Oref
Suddenly II struck him that he wa
At A terrible disadvantage. The thini
whatever It was, knew. at any rat
npproximately, his position: he ha
not the slightest notion where 1t wa
And a blind man boxing man VIII
could see. would have felt just abo'
as safe. With Hugh, such concl'
sion meant instant action. 1t migl
be dangerous on the floor; IL most ce
talnly was far more so in bed. i
felt for his torch, and then, with OF
conclusive hound, he was standing |
the door, with his hand on the electri
light switch.
Then he paused and listened inter
". Not a sound could he hear; Il
thing, whatever It was. had becon
motionIess at his sudden m0vemer
For an appreciable time he stood thei
MS eyes searching the darkness-b
even ne could see nothing. and
cursed the American comprehensive
under his breath. He would have Civ
anything for even the faintest ct
light. 90 that he could have some i'd
az what 1t was and where Il was. NJ
lie felt utterly helpless. while eve
moment he imagined some slln
crawling brute touching his bs
feet-creeping up on him. -.
pulled himself together sharply. LIS
was essential, and at once. But.
ne switched 1t on, there would be
moment when the thing would. I
him before ne could see the thins
and such moments are not helpf
There only remained his torch; q
on the Ancre, on one occasion, he
eaved his life by It's judiciOus use.
man behind one Of those useful Inn
snents is in blackness far more
penetrable than the blacklist night,
fha man IN front is dazzled. He
only shoot at the torch: whereof
mold Il 70 one side and in front
sou. -
The light flashed out. darling TO
che room. Plngl Something hit
sleeve OF his pajamas, but still
could zee nothing. The bed, with
clothes thrown back; the washsta
the chair with his trousers and shil
everything was as II had been wheE
turned 10. And then be heard
ond sound--dlstinct and clear. II Ct
from high up. near the ceiling,
the beam caught the big cupboard
travelled up. 1t reached the top,
rested there. fixed and steady. Fra
u tha middle of IL peering over