The Southern herald., 1922-09-29

to be in partnership with q man
named Jachin Fell, and I came out
here ON business"
To Gramonts astonishment the pls-
tol was lowered instantly. 1t was well
that he ceased speaking, for what he
had just said proved to be open to
misconstructiOn, and If he had said
any more he would have spoiled 1t.
For the man facing him was staring
az him In mingled disgust and sur
prise.
you're in partnership with the
boss w came the astounding words.
We'll, why in hi didn't you say all
that in the first place, instead O.
beefn' around? That's no way to butt
in, and me thinking you was some
dick on the job Got anything to
prove that you amt pullin' something
cute on me?"
"Do you know Fels wrting?" asked
Gramont, with difficulty forcing him
self to meet the situation coherently.
Jachin Fell-the boss
81 know his mtt, all right"
From his pocket GramOnt produced
paper-the memorandum or agree
ment which he had drawn up with
Fell the previous afternoon, relating
to the oil company. The other man
took 1t and switched on an electric
light bulb overhead. In this glare he
was revealed as ratty little lndi-
vidual with open mouth and teeth
hanging out-an adenoidal type, and
certainly criminal type.
1t crossed the mind of Gramont that
one blow would do the workout he
stood motionless. No sudden game
would help him here. The discovery
that Fell was "the boss" paralyzed
him completely. He had never dreamed
Of such contingency. Fell, of all
men
Jachin Fell the "boss" of this estab-
lishmentl Jachin Fell the man high
er up--the brains behind this criminal
organization 1t was a perfect thun-
derbOlt to Gramont. Now he under
stood why Chacherre was in the EN-
plOy of Fell-why no arrest of the
man had been possible! Now he per-
ceived that Chacherre must have told
the truth about coming here on bust
ness for Fell. Reaching farther back,
he saw that Fell must have received
the loot Of the Midnight Masquer,
must have turned it over to LuCie
Lcdanois-
Did she know?
"All right, Mr.. Gramont." The ratty
little man turned to him with evident
change of front. eve amt takin' no
chances here, y'understand. Got quite
shipment of cars comm in from
Texas, and we're tryin' to get some o.
these boats cleaned out to make room.
Bring out any ordersT
Gramonts brain worked fast.
BY overcoming this guttersnlpe he
might have the whole place at his
merCy-but that was not what he
wanted. He suddenly realized that he
had other and more important fish to
fry In New Orleans. Gumberts was
there. Fell was there. What he must
do demanded time, and his best play
was to gain all the time possible, and
to prevent this gang from suspecting
him in any way.
did you see Ben Chacherre2" he
countered.
"Uh-huh-seen him just after he
come Gumberts will be out day after
tomorrow, he said. The boss is framin
some sort of deal on guy that hi
wants laid away-sOme guy name o
Hammond. Chacherre is running 1t
He fggers on gettln' Hammond on ac
count of some car that's bein' hunted
! up"
Gramont laughed suddenly, for ther
was a grim humOr about the thing. S,
Jachin Fell wanted to "get something
on poor Hammond And Chacherr
had seized the golden opportunity tina
presented itself this afternoon-ir
stead of getting" Hammond for tn
theft of a car, Chacherre had COOL
fastened murder upon him!
\ "Ben is one smart man; expect h
thinks the gods are working for him.
said Gramont, thinly. $50 you don
know what happened today, eh2 Wei
\ it's great news, but I've got no tim
to talk about it. They'll tell you whe
\ they get back"
"Where'd they goT demanded IL
id other.
"HOuma. Now listen close! Oh
cherre did not know that was
to partnership with the boss, get me?
W didn't want to tell all the crowd
IS front of him. Between you and m
u the boss isn't any too sure abo
!! Ben"
er Say, get you there" broke in t
other, sagely. 81 tells him six mont
ne ago to watch out for that Creole guy
lr- Exactly. You can tell the bO
about me when they come back
e. don't suppose Ben will be with the
ID. Now, I've been looking over that pla
lie next door"
er "Ohw exclaimed the other, suddt
ly. "Sure! The boss said that one
res his friends would be down to"
st. 'I'm the One-Or one of them" a
l GramOnt chuckled as he reflected
Al