The Southern herald., 1922-10-06
By H. BEDFORD-JONES
Copyright By Doubleday Page & Co.
CHAPTER XI-continued.

Is coming out day after tomorrow, is
bef That'll be Friday. HIM. | think
that I'd better bring Fell out here the
same day, If | can make It, 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?"
mot me" was the answer.
GramOnt scarcely knew how he te-
parted, until he found himself scram-
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 exnltatlOn wnS seething within
hm-exultatlOn as sudden and tre-
mendOus as the past weeks had been
uneyentful 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 viii
lagos along the gulf coast. And now
he knew definitely.
Lotteries have never died out in
Louisiana since the brave old days Of
the goyernment-ordained CANDLES,
laws and ordinances to the contrary.
No laws can make the yellow man and
the black man forego the get-rlch-
quick heritage Of their fathers. On
the Pacific coast lotteries obtain and
will obtain wherever there Is a 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
II not the great Gumberts, the un-
caught Memphis Izzy, the promoter
who had never been "mugged"
Here, at one stroke, stumbling on
the thing by sheer blind accident, Gra-
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 wholesaler And the man
at the head Of it all, the man above
Memphis Izzy and his crooks, was
Jachln Fell Of New Orleans.
Did Lucle Ledanois dream such q
thing? No. Gramont dismissed the
question at once. Fell was not an un.
usual type of man. There were many
Jachn Fells throughout the country
he reflected. Men who applied theil
brains to crooked work, who kept
themselves above any actual share il
the work, and who profted hugely by
tribute money from every crook il
every crime.
To the communities in which the!
lived such men were patterns Of al
that wealthy gentlemen should be. Sci
dom, except perhaps in gossip of tn,
underworld was their connection will
crime ever suspected And-thi
thought was SOLDERING to Gramont-
never did they come within danger o
retributiOn at the hands of the law
Their ramifcations extended too ia
into politics; and the governors o
some Southern states have unlimite
powers Of pardon
''This is a big dnyp reflected Gra
mont, dismIsslng the sinister sugges
tlOn Of this last thought. "A big day
What 1t will lead to, l don't know
Not the least of it is the financial en-
of 1.-THE oil seepage! That littl
irIdescent trlckle of oil on the wate
means that money worries IRE owe
both for me and for Lucie. I'm sorr
that ] am mixed up with Fell; Nv
enough money of my own to drill @
least one good well. and one is a
well need to hlng IN oh on that plac,
Well, wen see what turns up. VI
first job is 10 nuke sure Hammond
safe, and to relieve his mind I'll hay
tO leave him In Jail suppose"
Why did Fcil want to get somt
thing" IN Hammond? To this thcr
WIS no answer
lie drove 10 Ilouma TO ind lie tow
Rhuz1 with excitement, for tie new
OF the sherlr''s murder had stirred III
place wildly, Proceeding straight I
the courthouse Gramont encounterp
Zen Chaclerrc as lac was leaving III
car
"Ilelln. there" he exclaimed. "I.n,
my rund. Where's llnmnnnd?"
Neklacierre Ierkrd his head tOwar