The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-11-03
By Fl. BEDFORD-JONES
Copyright by Doubleday. Page & Co.
CHAPTER xf--Continued.

beI Ihatl De friday. lin J l thin
that I'd better bring Fell out here IN
same day. If can make 1t. / proba
bly, won't see Gumberts until then
I'm not working in with him and h
doesn't know me yet-but I'll try an
get out here on Friday with Fell. Now
III have to beat 1t In hurry. An,
message TO sendT
mot me-" was the answer.
Gramont scarcely knew how he re
parted, until he found himself scram
bling back through the underbrush O
the LedanOis place
He rushed into the house, found m,
fire had died down beyond all danger
and swiftly removed the few things
they had taken from the car. Carry
ing these, he stumbled back to where
he had hidden the automobile. lie
scarcely dared to think. scarcely dared
to congratulate himself on the luck
that had befallen him, until he found
himself in his own car once more, and
with open throttle sweeping out
through the twilight toward Paradis
and Houma beyond. A whirlwind Of
mad exultation WIS seething within
! characterization as sudden and ire
mendOus as the past weeks had been
uneventful and dragging.
Gramont, In common with many
others, had heard much indefinite
rumor of an underground lottery game
that was being worked among the ne
groes of the state and the Chinese viii
lagos along the gulf coast. And now
he knew definitely.
Lotteries have never died out in
Louisiana since the brave old days of
the gOvernment-Ordained CANDLES,
laws and ordinances to the contrary.
No laws can make the yellow man and
the black man fOregO the get-rich-
quick heritage of their fathers On
the Pacific coast lotteries obtain and
will obtain wherever there Is China
town. In Louisiana the days of the
grand lottery have never been forgot
ten. The last two years of high
wages had made every negro wealthy,
comparatively speaking. The lottery
mongers would naturally find them a
ripe harvest for the picking. And who
would gravitate to this harvest field
If not the great Gumberts. the I'M
caught Memphis Ivy. the promoter
who had never been "mugged,'
Here, at one stroke, stumbling on
the thing by sheer blind accident, Ora
mont had located the nucleus of the
whole business
Gradually his brain cooled to the
realization of what work lay before
him. He was through Paradls almost
without seeing the town. and switched
on his lights as he took the highway
to Houma. Sober reflection seized
him. Not only was this crowd of
crooks working n lottery. but they
were also managing a stupendous
thievery of automobiles. in which cars
were looted by wholesaler And the man
at the head of ii all. the man above
Memphis Izzy and his crooks. was
joachim Fell of New Orleans.
Did Lucie LedanOis dream such a
thing? No. Gramont dismissed the
question Mt once. Fell was not an I'M
joachim Fells throughout the country.
he reflected. Men who applied their
brains to crooked work, who kept
themselves above any a,eual share in
the work. and who profted hugely by
tribute money from every crook in
every crime.
To the communities in which they
lived such men were patterns of all
that wealthy gentlemen should be. Sell
dom, except perhaps in gossip Of the
underworld. was their connection with
crime ever suspected. And-this
thought was SOLDERING to Gramont--
never did they come within danger of
retribution at the hands Of the law
Their qualifications extended too far
into politics; and the governors of
some Southern states have unlimited
powers of pardon.
This is big day." reflected Ora
mont. dismissing the sinister sugges-
ton of this last thought "A big day!
What il will lead 70. don't know.
Not the least of II is the financial end
of 1.-THE oil seepage. That little
iridescent trickle of oil on the water
means that money worries are over.
both for me and for Lucie I'm sorry
that am mixed up with Feii: I've
enough money OF my own to drill at
least one good well. ard one is all
wen need TO bring In oil on that place.
Well. wen see what turns up. My
first Job Is to make sure Hammond is
safe. and TO relieve his mind III have
to leave him in Jail, | suppose"
Why did Fell want to get some
thing" on Hammond? To this there
was no answer
He drove to IOuma 10 find the town
abuzz with excitement, for the news
of the sherif7s murder had stirred the
place wildly. Proceeding straight TO
the courthouse, Gramont encountered
Ben Chacherre rs he was leaving the
car.
Hello. there!" he exclaimed. Lost
my road. Where's Hammond?"
Chacherre jerked his head toward
the courthouse.
"In yonder. Say. are you going
no cl- IN tho cffv fOnfrbf ,"