The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1922-05-18


stripped off his shoes, and ran out
into the hail to the head of the stairs,
where he looked down and listened.
From here the sound of some n NOV
ing about came 10 him distinctly; he
could see no light below, but when he
ran down to the turn of the stairs, 1t
became plain hat there was q 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 ii was th&t was moving
about downstairs, even II he was not
one who had a 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 IL down ~brusqnely
and with a violence which suggested
great strength under a nervous strain /;
a shade, which had been pulled down,
flew up, and the man damned II as
| though ii had startled him then. after
an instant. he pulled IL down again.
Alan crept still farther down and at
last caught sight Of him. He was a
big, young-looking mar, with broad
shoulders and very evident vigor;
Alan guessed his age ar t~hirty-five: he
was handsome-he had a straight
forehead over daring. deep-set eyes;
his nose. lips and chin were power
e,,II,, enrpand nnd hn unc aynnnciVpIy
and very carefully dressed. The light
by which Alan saw these things came
from a fat little pocket s~earchlight
| that the man carried in one hand.
which threw a little brilliant circle OF
light as he directed 1t; and now, as
the light CHANGED to fall on his other
hand-pOwerful and heavily muscled
Allan recollected the look and size
Of the finger prints IN the chest of
drawers upstairs. He did not doubt
that this was the same man who had
zone through the desk but since he
had already rifled the desks, what did
he want here now? As the man moved
ont of sight, Alan crept on down as
far as the door to the library: the
man had gone on into the rea o
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 il. he was tumhling
over IFS contents and examining them.
III ,.,opt tbrouUb nna affar onothar nf
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 quns-
tioningly. hen he started toward the
front room.
He had. as yet. neither seen nor
heard anything to alarm him. and rs
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! DIN Benr p 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 IL. he gathered up
the letters. One suddenly caught his
attention; he began reading 1t closely,
then snapped ii back into the drawer,
crammed the rest on top OF 1t, and
went or 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 it
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.
The effect of this upon the man 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 q 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 II 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 eyei The bullet got you!
And now you've got Benz But you
can't get met Go back to hell! You
can't get mel I'll get you-Tn get
You You-can't save the Miwakar,
He drew back his arm and with all
his might hurled the nashlight At
Alan. II missed and crashed some