Mexico weekly ledger., 1922-11-09

4 q WOULDN'T 81 9I anu 4 want "
tell you that maullng darby heads
with a piece Of iron Is hard work. l
looked about for you but couldn't ind
you, and knowing that you knew how
to take care OF yourself. l began 10
snin for q way to get out. found q
hole In a wall. ducked through and
scooted. That was all natural enough.
Anybody could have done that But
now comes the i~nsplrational part /
got around into Royal street and met
a steamboat captain who asked me to
have q drink. and l needed II, for l
had been hard at work.
$50 / went In with him. And then
up l hops to a gambling house with
the money you'd paid me for intro
duclng you to Nadine la Vitte. The
poker tables were full, 30 I nipped in
modestly at the faro-bank. That's not
a very swift game, but sometimes 1t
Is as SURE as buying houses and lots, II
you've got the patience. l invested
cautiously till about daylight, cashed
in exactly two hundred, and here !
am as refreshed as a horse grazing on
clover"
Colonel, 1 congratulate your said
Drace.
The two breakfasted together, and
then Drace set ont to find, again the
house at the scene Of the rtot-the
house at the window Of which he had
seen the face Of Nadine la Vitte. At
length he found himself In the side
street where he had taken refuge the
night before, and turning out Of this
he came to the tree from the limb Of
which he had cut down the half
strangled victim Of the mob. There OPP
posite was the house and there was
the window at which he had seen Ma
dimes face; but across the window.
boards had been nailed! The other
windows, too, and the doors. were
nailed up; the place was deserted.
Could that face at the window have
been only a creature Of his imagina-
ton?
An old negro in nondescript livery
came down the walk from a house a
few doors away. He might have been
footman to q harlequin. But when
BRACE spoke to him, the dignifled
change In his c~ountenance appeared
to alter ever the aspect Of his attire;
and now he might have been usher to
n nrnrnrnnr 1rhfo nfrtaH nhonda h0h
been brought about by his intuitive
discovery that brace was a man Of
consequence.
"Do you know anything about the
people who lived across the street,"
Drace asked.
"wall, no sab: da wus po' folks,
sah."
"Then you don't know where they
went"
"No sab. My 'ployment is ter look
after folks OBJ er higher 'dition, sab.
An den ter preach or Sunday"
"Oh, you are a preacher"
"Called, sab, wild er blast from de
trumpet"
"Does your church ever need
money!" In q moment he lost his
dignity.
"Look yeah, boss, whut's er Niger
church fur eff 1t amt ter need money!
Co'se 1t need money. But what you
gwine do erbout lit
"Yassuh." he said, when Drace had
warmed him with a greenback, II
reckon dey done moved away. There
was err kind Of rumpus last night. And
I reckon they-all thought 1t wasn't no
place fob dem no mo-; dey lef' mighty
suddenlike, uhly dis mawnin'."
And that was all BRACE could learn ;
no one In the vicinity would admit
that they knew them or their, destina-
ton. Disliking to call too much at.
tention to himself, brace walked away
he~avy.hearted. For q long time he
wandered the streets. He came to the
levee, and the French market. He
went into the old st. Louis cemetery
and looked upon the novel sight Of
bodies sepulchered In q wall will
doors like a furnace. These compart
ments, he learned, were rented by the
month to the poor; and a short tenan
try 1t was for many a son and daugh
ter of penury answering Eternity'i
call, for when the grim agent failet
to collect the pittance promised b!
sorrow, the shrouded renter was evict
, ed-an old Spanish custom, Drace wa
; told.
l Recalled by these grim surrounding
to the purpose that had brought hin
to the South, Drace now determines
to give himself wholly to his quest 70
I Stepho la Vitte. He returned to tn
hotel, and found Shottle nervous in
: cloud Of smoke. The floor was COY
cred with burned matches and tn
I stubs Of cigars.
= Glib, I'm crushed" announced Dract
? $50 am /. But how does 1t happe
: that the dust-cart drove over you too?
Nadine is gone. The place is naile
!, up"
'That's tough, all right. But whs
y are you going to do about it2 Are yo
: going to come to your puritanic sense
and give the whole thing up, or do 70
expect"
. II expect to fulfill my sacred mil
: sion. I must find Stepho la Vitte."
Shottle got up and shook hands wit
n his friend. He swore that he woul
y make the search the aim Of his liz
d Suppose you hire me by the day." /
suggested. "a man doea better wol