The St. Charles herald., 1922-06-03

Alan stopped quickly, unlaced and
stripped off his shoes, and ran out
into the hall to the head of the stairs,
where he looked down and listened.
From here the sound of some one NOV
ing about came to him distinctly; he
could see no light below, but when he
ran down to the turn of the stairs, 1t
became plain that there was a very
dim and Pickering light in the library.
He crept ON farther down the stair
case. His hands were cold and moist
from his excitement, and his body was
hot and trembling.
Whoever it was that was moving
about downstairs, even If he was not
one who had right to be there, at
least felt secure from interruption.
He was going with heavy step from
window to window; where he found a
shade up, he pulled it down brusquely
and with a violence which suggested
great strength under nervous strain;
shade, which had been pulled down,
flew up, and the man damned it as
though it had startled him; then, after
an instant, he pulled it down again.
Alan crept still farther down and at
last caught sight of him. He was
big, young-looking man. with broad
shoulders and very evident vigOr;
Alan guessed his age at thirty-five; he
was handsome-he had a straight
forehead over daring, deep-set eyes
his nose, lips and chin were power
fully formed; and he was eXpenSively
and very carefully dressed. The light
by which Alan saw these things came
from fat little pocket searchlight
that the man carried in one hand.
which threw a little brilliant circle OF
light as he directed 1t; and now, as
the light chanced to fall on his other
hand-powerful and heavily muscled
Allan recollected the look and size
Of the finger prints on the chest Of
drawers upstairs. He did not doubt
that this was the same man who had
gone through the desk; but since he
had already rified the desks. what did
he want here now? AS the man moved
out of sight. Alan crept on down as
far as the door to the library; the
man had gone on into the rear room.
and Alan went far enough into the
library so he could see him.
He had pulled open one Of the draw.
ers in the big table in the rear room
and with his light held so high as to
show what was in it, he was tumbling
over its contents and examining them.
He went through one after another Of |
the drawers Of the table like this:
after examining them, he rose and
kicked the last one shut disgustedly;
he stood looking about the room ques- |
tioningly, then he started toward the
front room.
He had, as yet. neither seen nor !
heard anything to alarm him, and as
he went to the desk in the front room |
and peered impatiently into the draw |
ers. he slammed them shut, one after
another. He Strengthened and stared
about. "D-n Ben! D-n Benz" he /
calculated violently and returned to
the rear room. Alan, again following
him. found him on his knees in front |
of one Of the drawers under the book
cases. AS he continued searching
through the drawers, his Irritation be-
came greater and greater. He jerked
one drawer entirely out Of its case,
and the contents flew in every direc- !
ton; swearing at 1t, he gathered up
the letters. One suddenly caught his
attention; he began reading II closely,
then snapped 1t back into the drawer.
crammed the rest On top Of 1t, and
went on to the next of the files. He
searched in this manner through half /
a dozen drawers, plainly finding moth
ing at all he wanted; he dragged some
of the books from their cases, felt be- |
hind them and showed back some OF |
the books but dropped others on the
floor and blasphemy burst from him.
The beam Of light from the torch In
his hand swayed aside and back and
forth. Without warning, suddenly 1t
caught Alan as he stood in the dark
Of the front room: and as the dim |
white circle Of light cleaned into Al
ans face, the man looked that way
and saw him.
1uc elect OI lIIlS upOu Tue uuu was
so strange and so bewildering to Alan
that Alan could only stare at him.
The big man seemed to shrink into
himself and to shrink back and away |
from Alan. He roared out something |
in a below thick with fear and hor- |
ror; he seemed to choke with terror. |
There was nothing in his look akin to
mere surprise or alarm at realizing |
that another was there and had been
seeing and overhearing him. The
light which he still gripped swayed
back and forth and showed him Alan
again, and he raised his arm before
his face as he recoiled.
The CONSERVATION of the man was
so complete that it checked Alan's rush |
toward him; he halted, then advanced |
silently and watchfully. AS he went |
forward. and the light shone upon his |
face again, the big man cried out |
hoarsely:
"D-n you, d-n you. with the hole |
above your eye! The bullet got you |
And now you've got Ben! But you |