The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1921-05-13

of him. Al 1ront
nave a few remarks of nv on
inahe' ne answered, "and tbon
might consider the interview c,osa,"s
ASK notnlng better than that the g,o1'.
should be off-though with your s,''
methods Of fighting, anything us
touch will get very dirty. As wv
say, am completely in the darl sou
your plans; but have pretty sbron,
. idea what I'm up against. Men whV
can employ thumbscrew on q MY
oe1enseless brute seem to mo -
several degrees worse than an ahora'
nal cann1bal, and therefore if ns
you down as one Of the lowest tvnos
OF degraded criminal 1 shall NOT hs
very wide Of the marx. There's
good you snarling at me, YOU swina'
1t does everybody good to hear Son.
nome truths-and don't forget if wos
you who pulled off the gloves"
Drummond lit cigarette; then his
merciless eyes fixed themselves again
on Peterson
! There is only one thing more" bo
continued. ''You have kindly warned
me OF my danger; let me give Won
| WORD OF advice in my turn. I'm goino
to fight you; if 1 can, I'm going 70
beat you. Anything that may hannan
to me is part of the game. But r.
! anything happens to Miss Benton dur,
Ing the course of operations, then. AZ
surely as there is a God above. Peter.
son, I'll get at you somehow and mur.
der you with my own hands,"
For a few moments there was 81,
lence, and then with a short laugh
Drummond turned away. "Shal wa
meet again soon?' He paused at the
| door and looked back.
Peterson was still standing by the
table, his face expressionless. "verv
soon, indeed, young man." he said
quietly. Every soon indeed. y
Hugh stepped out into the warm
sunshine and spoke to his chauffeur
Take her out into the main road
Jenkins he said, land wait for me
outside the entrance to the next house.
1 shan't be long,"
Then he strOlled through the gar
den toward the little wicket-gate
that led to The Larches. Phyllis
The thought of her was singing in his
heart to the exclusion of everything
else. Just a few minutes with her.
just the touch of her hand, the faint
smell of the scent she used-and then
back to the game
He had almost reached the gate,
when, with a sudden crashing in the
underground, Jem Smith Numbered out
into the path. His naturally ruddy
face was white, and he stared round
fearfully.
"Gawd! SIR" he cried mind out
Ave yer seen it?'
"Seen what Jem?" asked Drum
mond.
"That there brute. e. escanad:
and if e meets a stranger-'' He
left the sentence unfinished. and
stood listening. From somewhere
behind the house came a deep
throated, snarlng roar; then the
clang Of a paddock shooting home in
metal. followed by series of heavy
thuds as if some big animal was hur-
ing itself against the bars OF a cage.
"Theyve got it," muttered Jem.
You seem to have nice little
crowd Of pets about the house." re-
marked Drummond. putting hand on
TIE mans arm as he was about to
move off. what was that docile
creature we've just heard calling to
ifs yu;lnS?"
The ex-pugilst looked at him sui
lenly.
"Never you mind sir; it amt no
business Of yours. An if I was you,
| wouldn't make it your business to
find out
into the bushes, and DrummOnd was
left alone. Assuredly a cheerful
household, he reflected; just the spot
for rest-cure. Then he saw a figure
on the lawn of the next house which
banished everything else from his
mind; and opening the gate, he walked
eagerly toward Phyllis Benton.
FOUR.
II heard you were down here" she
said gravely, holding out her hand to
him. 1--WE been sick with anxiety
ever since father told me he'd seen
you''
Hugh imprisoned the little hand in
his own huge ones, and smiled reas-
suringly.
Don't worry, little girl" he said
Years ago was told by an old gypsy
that | should die in my bed of old
age and excessive consumption of in
valid port. AS a matter Of
fact, the cause of my visit was rather
humorous. They abducted me in the
middle of the night, with an ex-sol-
d1er OF my old battalion, who was, 1
regret to state, sleeping off the effects
OF much Indifferent liquor, in my
rooms. They thought he was your
American millionaire cove, and the
wretched Mullings was too drunk to
deny it. In fact, I don't think they
ever asked his opinion at ALL" Hugh
gr1nned reminiscently. "A pathetic