The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1921-08-26

him, so also was this entirely new t,
him.
Flowers took a ring of heavy key
from the hand Of the jailer, and LEI
the way down a whitewashed corridor
1t was not ys: bedtime, and the Othel
prisoners were still up; some Of then
were reading newspapers, others were
trying to mend their clothing, still
others were doing nothing. A few Of
them called out boldly and babe thu
new prisoner welcome-and each OF
these received a gruff order from the
sheriff to keep quiet. Dale paid no at
tentiOn whatever to his would-be
tormentOrs.
At an iron door at the end Of the
corridor. the officer halted and faced
about.
If there could be such a thing as
a comfortable cell here" he said In
low and kindly tones, "it's this one"
He went on earnestly: Nov I want
you to believe me when I tell you that
1t is with real regret that ! put you
behind a door Of iron. But If l didn't
do 1t, somebody else would do 1t; and
It's possible that I can be a little more
Decent about 1t than another officer
| would be-"
Il realize all that, y'knOw," replied
Dale, land I'm very much obliged to
you, sheriff."
Flowers unlocked the door, and Bill
Dale walked in. Flowers locked the
door and went away.
Dale began to inspect his quarters.
To all appearances, they were at least
clean. There was a narrow bed COW
cred with a pair Of gray blankets, a
stool and a soapbOx. and nothing more.
The light In the corridor behind him
made snaky black lines of bar-shadows
on the brick partition walls and the
outer wall Of stone Dale s%huddered
in spite Of himself. He put up one
hand and turned on q small light,
which d~issipated the uncanny shad-
Ows-and showed him q line from
nante's Inferno" that to him seemed
very miserable; some former occupant
OF that cell had written it with char
coal on the whitewashed outer wall.
Then Dale sat YEARLY down on the
narrow bed, leaned his head upon his
hands, and began to think.
He had always wanted difficulties
to overcome, barriers to surmount. a
work to do, a fight to fight for him.
self. In full measure he had found
them every one He did not doubt his
ability to overcome the difficulties. sur
mount the barriers, do his work well
and fight his fight as a good man
fights, and win-if 1t were not for the
of having shot and killed Black |
Ball! It seemed to him now
that must end all that was worth
while for him. For that was more |
than a difficulty, more than a barrier. |
He. firmly believed that 1t had been
his bullet that had finished the earthly
existence of the giant hillman. True,
t had been an accident. But how was
to convince q jury that it had been
IN accident? Would the jury take his
vord~f for 1t? The jury would not, Of
The mysterious third shot, that had
from a little distance-but he
not reasonably expec. deliver
lnce from that source. If only he had
leld down his abominable, savage tenn
'er; If only he had
Major Bradley interrupted his I'M
train Of thought.
~"NO-trOOding there, my boy"
Dale booked up. The old attorney,
8 neat in appearance as though he
ad not even seen a saddle that day,
vaS standing just outside the hate
vi o Of bars. Beside him stood a
'hiteclad negro boy with a big tray
t steaming food on n hand and a
OF Of steaming coffee in the other.
The jailer came and unlocked the
DOR; also he very considerably D..
another stool and fresh water. 6
he major entered the cell, and the ,
egro followed. +,
An amused twinkle. appeared in .
ale's eyes as Bradley put the tray ;
own on the soapbOx. There was )
Rough for FIVE threshing-machine :,
ands! The black boy was sent to the ;
ont door to wait. I
81 thought you'd be as hungry as
am, and I'm as hungry as poor old
Y Heck ever was!"' laughed the e
ajor, a. he sat down and began to n
'ur the coffee. Riding always made c
e as hungry as a bear in April. Light v
ght into it, Dale. There's nothing y
a good steak, for any meal, when e
fellow is half starved ;-eh, Dalea v
" that one, won't you? I told Massen- a
lie I'd aus his beheadment IL these a
eaks weren't perfect. Massengale," he
lded, runs the hotel here, the Eu- II
ka Funeral Parlors, and the One I,
ice Clothing Emporium" Il
Il wonder" smiled Bill Dale, "what IL
does with his spare timer" W
Bradley laughed, his eyes twinkling al
srrily. Dale found that he too was st