The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1922-10-06
BY H. BEDFORD-JONES
Copyright by Doubleday. Page & Co.
CHAPTER xl-continued.

is coming out day after tomorrow, is
be? That'll be Friday. Hml / think
that I'd better bring Fell out here the
same day, if / can make 1t. proba-
bly, won't see Gumberts until then
I'm not working In with him and he
doesn't know me yet-but I'll try and
get out here on Friday with Fell. Now,
I'll have to beat 1t in hurry. Any
message to send?"
"Not me-" was the answer.
Gramont scarcely knew how he de-
parted, until he found himself scran1-
bling back through the underbruSh Of
the Ledanois place.
He rushed, into the house, found the
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. He
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 was seething within
him exultation 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 vii
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 Izzy, 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 Paradis, 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 lottery, but they
were also managing a stupendous
thievery of automobiles, in which cars
were looted by wholesale! And the man
at the head of it 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 at once. Fell was not an un-
usual type of man. There were many
Jachin Fells throughout the country,
he reflected. Men who applied their
brains to crooked work, who kept
themselves above any actual share in
\ the work, and who profited 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 ramifcations 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 it will lead to, don't know.
Not the least of it is the financial end
Of 1.-THE oil seepagel That little
fridescent 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 Fell; I've
enough money of my own to drill at
least one good well. and one is all
we'll need to bring in oil on that place.
Well, we'll see what turns up! My
first job is to make sure Hammond is
safe, and to relieve his mind. I'll 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 Houma to find the town
abuzz with excitement, for the news
of the sheriff's murder had stirred the
place wildly. Proceeding straight to
the courthouse, Gramont encountered
Ben Chacherre as he was leaving the
ear.
Hello, therer he exclaimed. Lost
my road. Where's Hammond?"