St. Tammany farmer., 1922-05-27

The trlpdOOr overhead. Ills exploring
4 feet found each tread Of the ladder
4 With the utmost caution. Near the
4 foot Of It he stopped to listen for any
!, sound that might serve to guide him.
s None came The passage was rs
I { noseless as it was dark.
Again he had that sense of cold
/ Anger-tips making keyboard of his
I spine. But he trod down the panic
l md set his will to carry on. He
Il Il cyept forward along the passage. Ev-
4 cry step or two ne stopped to listen,
s nerves keyed to an acute tension.
A flight Of stairs brought him to
what he knew must be the second
Aoor. To him there floated a murmur
of sounds. He soft-footed it closer,
reached the door, and dropped noise
lessly to knee. A key was in the
4 lock- on the outside. With infinita
pfecaution against rafting he turned
slid It out, and dropped it in his
coat pocket. His eye fastened to the
I opening. -"".."...@
81 Three men were sitting round q
table. They were making a bluff at
playing cards, bet their attention was
focused on a door that evidently led
Into another room. Two automatic
fey0lyers were on the table close to
the hands Of their owners. A black
Jack lay In front Of the third 1oan.
clay recognized him as Gorilla Dave.
The other two were strangers to him.
d Something evil in the watchfulness
q the three chilled momentarily his
Veins. These fellows were the gun
mel men Of New York he had read about
paid assassins whose business 1t was
~ sliIt tframe innocent men for the penlten-
uery or kill them in cold blood. They
were OF the underworld, without con-
4 5selel science and without honor.
y a soft step sounded in the corridor
]. oellnd el the man at the keyhoIe. He
5haa hot time to crawl away nor even to
sliSe1 5la before "a man stumbled against
him.
Why mad one big advantage over
sus exponent. He had been given
- instant Of warning. His right
M ~ went up around the neck
y nls foe and tightened there. His
~ hand turned the doorknob. Next
moment the two men crashed into the
!. veh together the Westerner rising
y :. a's u feet as they came, with the body
y y he other lying across his back from
nlp e Shoulder.
uorllla Dave leaped to his feet. The
s.ael Two gunner, caught at disad-
j ,,au'ase 9 few feet from the table,
: s'eu Iof their automatics. They were
- lale Clay swung his body down
y. salu Irom the waist with a quick,
:. s.lvae Jerk. The man on his back {
~ heels over head as though he
- oeen hurled from cutapult,
1.u .Aeu Iace up on the table, and
.ssea It over with him In his for
]. ss,1 plunge to the wall.
Delore any one else could move or |
.sas' ' Lindsay's gun was out.
lasy now." His voice was q eentle
!. Nv Y. That carried menace. Lem |
d ns,, " boss of the rodeo a while No. |
4 e, wouldn't p'ny with that club I
!, 4 4, was you. Tn sure h-l-a-mile
&. s guhstuff. Drop IT." The last
M NJ, oius came sharp and crisp, for
|Int... ie mug had telegraphed an un-
d,ys .onai warning OF his purpose to |
m m. :. the man behind the thirtv-
Il ts9llla ~ Dawes fingers opened and
n \ I, oaek1ack dropped from his hand t
ny, ae,n.. ene love o Mike, who is this
q ~, uemanded one of the other men.
q ,,,,rs = the fifth member Of our little
. ~ y explained Clay.
,bn., WI tell do. youse mean? And
aief? - 'uea IN most KILN the
The mon w. ,
he ,ah, un VINO had been flung across |
n, n aole turned over and croaned,
Inonp s0a1o : ~ have known that face
7 Durand. u II belonged to Jer-
MI gIItthont ne IN at the wrong door and
att,em. a''houncin myself" said the
ndolan l' = almost l;.zily, the unhurried
oi his manner not shaken.