The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1922-07-01

mans face. The man struck back
q heavy blow on the side Of Aims
head which dlzzied him bu: left him
strength to strike again, and his
knuckles reached the mans face once
more. but he got another heavy blow
In return. The man was graphing
no longer: he swung Alan to one side
and OF Of him. and rolled himself
away. He scrambled to his feet and
dashed out through the library. across
the hail, and into the service room.
Alan got to his fee.: dizzied and not
yet familiar with the house. he blum
dered against wall and had to feel
his way along II to the service room
as lie slipped and stumbled down tho
stairway. door closed loudly at tho
end Of the corridor he had seen at
the foot Of the stairs. He ran along
the corridor to the door: It had closed
with spring lock. and seconds passed
while he felt In the dark for the catch
he found II and tore the door open.
and came out suddenly Into the cold
air Of the night In paved passage
way beside the house which led In one
direction 20 the street and In the
other to q gate opening on the alley
He ran forward to the street and
looked up and down. but found 1t emp
ty: then he ran back 10 the alley. Al
the end OF the ALLEY, where 1t inter
sected the cross street. the figure Of
the man running away appeared sud
denly out Of the shadows, then dis
appeared; Alan. following IN far as
the street. could see nothing more Of
him: this street too was empty.
He ran a little farther and looked.
then he went back to the house. The
side door had swung shut again and
latched. He lie. himself In at the front
door and turned on the light In the
reading lamp In the library. The
electric torch still was burning on the
floor and he picked 1t up and extin-
Euished It: he went upstairs and
brought down his shoes. He had seen
wood Ore set ready for lighting In
the library. and now he lighted It and
sa. before 1t drying his wft socks be-
fore he put on his shoes. He was still
shaking and breathing fast from his
struggle with the man and his chase
after him, and by the strangeness Of
what had taken place.
When the shaft Of light from the
torch had flashed across Alan's face
In the dark library. the man had not
taken him for wha: he was-a living
person: he had taken him for spec
ter. His terror and the things he had
cried out could mean only that. The
specter OF whom? Not Of BENJAMIN
Corvet: for one Of the things Aim
had remarked when he saw Benjamin
Corvets picture was that he himself
did not look Mt all like his father. Be
sides. what the man had said made II
certain that he did not think the spec
ter was Ben: for the speeter had
"got Ben" Did Alan look like some
one else. then? Like whom? Evi.
IDENTIFY like the man-now dead. fos
he had a Khost-who had got" Ben.
In .he big mans opinion. Who could
that be?
Alan got up and went to look at
himself In the mirror he had seen In
the hall. He was white. now that the
flush Of the fighting was going: he
probably had been pale before with
excitement. and over his right eye
there was a round black mark. Alan
looked down. at his hands; q little
skin was of one knuckle. where he
had struck the man. and his fingers
were smudged with q black and sotty
dust. He had smudsed them on the
papers upstairs or else In feeling bis
way about the dark house. and II
some time he had touched his fore.
head and left the black mark. That
had been the bullet hole"
The res: that the man had said had
been q reference to some name; Alan
had no trouble to recoilect the. name,
and. while he did not understand Il
At all. 1t stirred him queerly-"the Nj
waka." What was that7 The queer
excitemen. and questioning that the
name brought. when he repeated II
to himself. was not recollection: for
he could not recall ever having heard
the name before; but It was not com
pletely strange to him. He could de
fine the excitement 1t stirred only In
that way.
Sheriff. had believed that here In
this house Benjamin Corvet Ind left
or might have left-n memorandum. q
record. or an account of some SORT
which would explain to Alan. his SON
the blight which hung over his life
Sheriff. had said that 1t could have
been no mere intrigue, no vulgar per
sonai sin; and the events Of the night
had made that very certain; for. plain
ly, whatever WAS hidden In that houst
involved some one else seriously. des
perately. There was no other way q
explain the intrusion Of the sort Of
man whom Alan had surprised there
an hour ago.
The fact that this other mar
searched also did not prove that Ben
jumin Corvet had left record In thu