Charlevoix county herald., 1921-01-21
&C O n t in u e d.

Both Of them breathed hard in the
quiet room. 'Cranston was trembling
now, shivering just a little In his arms
and shoulders. Don't get me wrong
LennOx," he warned.
"And don't have any delusions In re-
gard to me. either" Lennox replied.
1--WE stood worse pain from this acci-
dent than any man can give me while
! yet live, no matter what he does. III
you want to get on me and hammer
me In the approved Cranston way,
can't defend myseIf-but you won't
get civil answer out of me. I'm used
to pain. and can stand II. I'm not
used to fawning to coyote like you,
and can't stand IT,"
But Cranston hardly heard. An idea
had famed In his mind and cast red
glamor over all the scene about him.
1t was instilling a poison in his nerves
and a madness in his blood, and II was
soaring him like fire, in his dark
brain. Nothing seemed real. He sud-
denly bent forward. tense.
"That's all right about you," he said.
"But you'd he little more polite If 1t
was Snowbird-and Dan-that would
have to pay"
Perhaps the color faded slightly in
Lennox's face; but his voice did not
change.
They'll see your footprints before
they come in and be ready" Lennox
replied evenly "They always come in
by the back way. And even with a
pistol Snowbird's a match for YOU"
did you think that was what
meantT Cranston scorned. 81 know
way to destroy those letters, and I'll
do it-in the four seconds that | said,
unless you tell. I'm not even sure I'm
goin' to give you chance to tell now;
it's too good a scheme. There won't
be any witnesses then to yell around
in the courts. What If choose to set
fire to this house?"
"It wouldn't surprise me great
deafs It's your own trade" Lennox
shuddered once on his place on the
floor.
81 wouldn't have to worry about
those letters then, would I? They are
somewhere in the house, and they'd be
burned to ashes. But that isn't all
that would be burned. You could may
be crawl out, but you couldn't carry
the guns, and you couldn't carry the
pantry full Of food. You're nearly
occupied house, with two pair Of
snowshoes for the three of you and
one dinky pistol. And you can't walk
at all. 1t would be nice pickle,
wouldn't it7 Wouldn't you have a fat
chance Of getting down to civiliza-
tionY
The voice no longer held steady. 1t
trembled with passion. This was no
idle threat. The brain had already
seized upon the scheme with every In
tention of carrying 1t out. The will
derness lay stark and bare, stripped of
all delusion-not only in the snow
world outside but In the hearts of
these two men. its sons.
II have only one hope" Lennox re-
piled. 81 hope, unknown to me, that
Dan has already dispatched those let
ters. The arm of the law is long,
Cranston. It's easy TO forget that fact
up here. It will reach you in the
end"
Cranston turned through the door,
into the kitchen. He was gone long
time. --LennOx heard him at work (;
the crinkle Of paper and then a pour
ing sound around the walls. Then he
heard the sharp crack of match. An
instant later the first wisp of smoke
came curling, pungent with burning
oil, through the corridor.
"You crawled from your couch to
reach that gun," Cranston told him
when he came In. Lets see you crawl
out now."
Lennox's answer was q curse-the
last, dread outpouring Of an unbroken
will. He didn't look again at the gilt
tering eyes. He scarcely watched
Cranston's further preparations: the
oil poured on the rugs and furnishings,
the kindling placed at the base of the
curtains. Cranston was trained In this
work. He was taking no chances on
the fire being extinguished And Len
nox began TO crawl toward the door
He managed to grasp the corner Of
the blanket on the divan as he went.
and he dragged II behind him.. Pain
wracked him. and smoke half-blinded
him. But he made II at last. And by
the time he had crawled one hundred
feet over the snow crust the whole
structure was In flames. The red
tongues spoke with q roar.