The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-23


 in tone of a1thority said:
 Nov that I've SD, ycr am s~reTher. | hereby order y-Uu in my capacity ss an official of the State and county. to close up your stores an consider your selves organized into . posse. You win close mp inrnretateEy an' report to n>e here, ready for active work" ! shortly after ton O >rocs a xr-cu, of | fifteen Or eighteen men moved silently away from JacksonAs efxar~store. leJ 1 by their comn.ander-sn-eA chief. He was 1 1anked on one side by Bin Repeal the orawny blacksmith. and on the oshsr 1 by Sim Jackson who Aa opened to { possess 2 revolver
 ! After the posse had tarned into the unrelieved shad of Maple Street, M~. Crow halted every few yards anA sasa: ~Shis
 | He had related a portion but not all of his experiences, winding up with th. tatement that poor Mrs. Smith had been terribly frightened by the snys- terioos prowier and that it was ,hefr duty as citiEens 10 put an end to Ats activities if possible.
 Her description of hfm Aonr nr l'snybody livin' ,u this town.~ he AaS sald during the course of his narratfyN We amt got anybody who on Jannr hfrty foot. or who esn shin op a ohsn, bly, like squirrel You never say | anybody as quick as be is efthen Sup 'os'n' you think you see htH stanair ght beside you Eipl Before yo
 ould blink an eyA he's ovsr there sr 'ont of Mort's stors-jlsf like tha IT up tree! Sp~yest ouss ! ever iai yes on. Made me think of a ghost :" At the corner of Maple and siek,4 streets, s few hundred feet from th, Nixon cottage, the eavaloade reeefvs,d whispered order 10 halt The Mar shai. enjoining the utmost stealth, fn- strncted his men where to place them selves about the grounds they werx soon to invest from various approaches Tn course of time the poase success- fully debouched upon the lawn and occupied crouchtng positions behind various objects of nature. Lights werc cleaning behind the yellow shades ot the downstairs window In the cottage; through the Japanese curtains envelop- ing the veranda a dull. restricted glow forced it's way ous upon the bordering flower-bed
 Suddenly out of what had become an almost sepulchral silence. came she sound of a woman's voice The words she uttered were so startling that the listeners felt the flesh on their bones creep.
 TBut wouldn't poisoning bs shs surer and quicker wayf Slip a few drops of prussic acid into his food, and death would be instantaneous Marshal Crow cfutched Bill KepsaPr arm. Did you hear shatr' he whis- pered. She had spoken In hushed quavering tones.
 Then came a msn's voice from the porch above, low and suppressed:
 Why not wait till he is asleep and let me sneak up to him and put the revolver to his head--r
 Stealthy footsteps. as of one tiptoe- ing. were heard by the listeners below the porch. Then. a moment later. the sound of q woman sobbing.
 The foregoing conversation was dis- tinctly heard by at least half os Marshal Crows posse. Three of the watchers, crouching- not far from Am derson Crow and his two supporters, abruptly left their hiding places and started swiftly toward the front gate. The Marshal intercepted them.
 Where are you goinss2" he whis- pered, grabbing the foremost. who happened to be Elmer K Pratt. the photographer.
 T was sure I saw that feller you were telling about skipping down to- ward the street" whispered MT. Pratt. his voice shaking. I'm going after him. I--s
 Keep stiill Stay where you are 'em up here. quiet as possible We got to prevent this terrible murder. You heard what they were plottin' to dc Surround the house. Close every ave nue of escape Three or four of us will bust in through the porch an You stay with me. Sim, an you too. Bill. Get your pistol ready. Sim. When give the word-foller me! Where's Alf? Is he surrounding the house. 5h! Don't speak!"
 Shadowy figures began scuttling about the lawn. darting from bush te bush. advancing upon the house.
 ''Now-get ready. Sim" whispered Anderson.
 The words were hardly out of his mouth when dull, smothered report. as of one riking the side of a barrel, reached the ears of the assembling forces. Then sharp, agonized cry from the lady in the veranda
 '-Too latei" cried the Marshal. and dashed clumsily up the front steps followed by four or five of his hench- men.
 Yanking open the screen door. he plunged head.ong into the softly lighted veranda Behind him came Sim la ackson. @randishing a revolver, and Bin Kepsai. ciutching the hammer he had brought from his forge.
 They stopped short. A woman in a flmy white gown. cut extremely low in the neck confronted them, an ex- pression Of alarm in her wide dark eyes She was very beautiful. They had never seen any one SO beautiful so striking or SO startlingly dressed. She had just arisen from the comfort able wicker chair beside the table. the surface of which was filtered with magazines. papers and documents ir an sorts of disorder
 What Is the meaning of this intru- sicne e- she demanded, recovering her Somposure after the first Instant ot alarm.
 Mfr Crow found hts voice. Sur render pes -ea bie." he said I've got YOU completely surrounded. Won't do any good to resist. My men are ~verywhers- Your partner win be shot town if he--
 "Oh. what stupendous situation!'