The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-04-07

thing within measurable distance ~
what they saw In the next few mir
utes. Slowly. inexorabiy. the Germans
arm was being twisted, while he ut
tered gasplng cries, and beat impo-
tently at Drummond's head with his
free hand. Then at last there was q
dull crack rs the arm broke, and
scream Of pain, as he lurched round
the chair and stood helpless In front
of the soldier, who still held the Gig
arctic case In his left hand.
They saw Drummond open the Gig
arctic case and take from 1t what
looked like tube Of wood. Then he
felt in his pocket and took out a
matchbox, containing a number Of
long thin splinters. And. having fitted
one Of the splinters into the tube he
put the other end In his mouth.
With quick heave they saw him
jerk the German round and catch his
unbroken arm with his free left hand.
And the two bound watchers looked at
Hugh's eyes as he stared at the moan
ing BOche, and saw that they were
hard and merciless.
There was sharp, whlstling hiss.
and the splinter flew from the tube
into the Germans face. II hung from
his cheek, and even the ceaseless move
ment of his head failed to dislodge
1t.
Il have broken your arm, Boche,"
said Drummond at length. ''and now !
have killed you. I'm sorry about it;
wasn't particularly anxious to end
your life. But II had to be done"
The German, hardly conscious Of
what he had said owing to the pain in
his arm, was franticslly kicking the
Engllshman's legs, still bound to the
chair; but the Iron grip on his wrists
never slackened And then quite sud-
denly came the end. With one dread
full, convulsive heave the German
jerked himself free, and fell doubled
up on the floor. Fascinated, they
watched him writing and twisting,
until at last, he lay still. !. The
Boche was dead. -.
what was that blow-pipe AFFAIR.""
cried Sinclair hoarsely.
'"The thing they tried to finish me
with In Paris last night" answered
Hugh grimly, taking a knife out Of his
waistcoat pocket ''Let us trust that
none Of his pals come In to look for
him."
minute later he stood up, only to
sit down again abruptly. as his legs
gave way. They were numbed and
stiff with the hours he had spent in the
same position, and for while he could
do nothing but rub them with his
hands, till the blood returned and he
could feel once more.
Then. slowly and painfully, he tot
tered across TO the others and set them
free as well. They were In an even
worse condition than he had been I;
and 1t seemed as If Algy would never
be able to stand again, so completely
dead was his body from the waist
downwards. But, at length, after what
seemed an eternity to Drummond, who
realized only too well that should, the
gang come In they were almost as help
less In their present condition rs II
they were still bound in their chairs
the other two recovered.
"All fit now? Good! We've got to
think what we're going to do, for we're
not out of the wood yet by two or
three miles"
Lets get the door open," remarked
Algy, "and explore"
Cautiously they swung 1t open, and
stood motionless. The house was ir
absolute silence; the hall was de
serted
switch out the light" whispered
Hugh. well wander round"
They crept forward stealthlly in the
darkness, stopping every now and then
to listen. But no sound came to their
ears; 1t might have been house OF
the dead.
| Suddenly Drummond, who was In
front of the other two, stopped with q
warning hiss. A light was streaming
out from under door at the end of q
passage and, as they stood watching
it, they heard a mans voice coming
from the same room. Some one else
answered him and then there was
silence once more.
At length Hugh moved forward
again, and the others followed. And
It was not until they got quite close to
the door that strange, continuous
noise began to be noticeable-a noise
which came most distinctly from the
lighted room. 1t rose and fell witt
mOnotonous regularity; at times 1t re
sembled a brass band--at others II
died away to a gentle murmur. And
occasionally 1t was punctuated with Q
strangled snort.
"Great Scott" muttered Hugh ex-
citedly, 1.-THE whole boiling bunch are
asleep, or I'll eat my hat"
"Then who was 1t Spoken said Algy
AT least two Of 'em are awake right
enough"
And, as IL In answer to his question
there came the voice again from in
side the room.
"Wal, Mr.. Darrell, I guess we car
! pass on, and leave th.: bunch"
With one laugh of joyful amazement
1 AI,. aw.l HrVfVaf