White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-02
CHAPTER X.

The voice was strange to Grnmont,
yet he had n vague recollection Of
having Mt some time heard II before.
II was n jaunty and impudent voice,
very self-assured-yet II bore a
startled and uneasy note, as though
the speaker had just come
upon the man whom he addressed.
"Howdy, sheriff !" II said. Didn't
see you In there-what you doin' so
far away from Houma, chr
why, I've been looking over the
place around here" responded an
other voice, which was dry and grim.
Il know you. Ben C~hacherre, ard |
think III take You along with me. Just
come from New Orleans, did your"
Me? Take meg' The voice OF
Chacherre shrilled up suddenly In
alarm. Look here. sheriff, 1t wasn't
me done IT. It was Gramont-"
There came silence. Not a sound
broke the stiffness of the late after
noon.
Gramont. listening, lay bewildered
and breathless. Ben Chacherre come
here? Gramont knew nothing of any
tie between joachim Fell md Cha
cherre: he could only lie In the grass
and wonder at the mans presence.
What place was it that the sheriff
of Houma had been looking over? And
what was 1t that he, Gramont. was
supposed TO have done?
Confused and wondering, Gramont
waited. And, as he waited, he caught
a soft sound from the marshy
ground beside him--a faint "plop' as
though some object had fallen close
by on the wet grass. At the moment
he paid no heed to this sound. for
again the uncanny silence had fallen.
Listening. Gramont fancied that he
caught slow, stealthy footsteps amid
the underground, but derided the
fancy as sheer Imagination. His brain
was busy with this new problem.
Houma, he knew, was the seat of the
parish or county. This Ben Chacherre
appeared to have suddenly and unex-
pectedly encountered the sheriff. to
his obvious alarm. and the sheriff had
for some reason decided tn arrest
him 50 much was clear.
Chneherre had nothing to do with
the ~''place'-dld that mean the ada
cent property. or the Ledanois farm?
In his puzzled bewilderment over this
imbroglio Gramont for the moment
quite forgot the trickle of oil at his
feet.
But now the deep silence became
unnatural and sinister. What had
happened? Surely, Ben Chacherre
had not been arrested and taken away
In such silence, Why had the voices
so abruptly ceased? Vaguely uneasy.
startled by the ~prolongatlon of that
intense stiffness, Gramont rose IN his
feet and peered among the trees.
The two speakers seemed to have
departed; he could descry nobody IN
!, sight. A step to one side gave Ora
!, mont a view of the land adjoining the
!, Ledanols place. This was cleared OF
all brush. and under some immense
oaks to the far left he had a glimpse
Of n large summer cottage. boarded
up and apparently deserted. Nearer
at hand, however, he saw other build
lngs, and these drew his attention. ne
heard the ~throbbing pound of a motor
at work, and as there a no power
line along here. the place evidently
had It's own electrical plant. lie
scrutinized the scene before him ap
praisingly.
There We're two large buildings
here. One seemed to be a large barn,
closed, the other was Il long. low
shed which was too large to be a
garage. The door of this was open,
and before the opening Gramont saw
three men standing In talk he reeog-
nized non of them. Two of the talk
ers were clad in greasy overalls, and
the third figure showed the flash of n
collar. The sheriff, Ben chacherreS
and SOME other man. thought Ora
mont. He would not have known Cha
cherre had he encountered him face
to face. To him. the man was n name
only.
The mention Of his own name by
Chacherre impelled him to 40 forward
n demand some explanation. Then
1t occurred TO him that perhaps he
had made a mistake; Il would have
been very easy. for he was not certain
that Chacherre had referred 10 him.
There could be other Gramonts, or
other men whose name would have
much the same sound In n Creole
mouth.
I'D better attend to my own bust.
ness thought Gramont. and turned
away. lie noticed that the motor had
ceased its work. "Wonder what rich
chap can be down here ut his summer
cottage this time of year, May be
only Il caretaker, though, I'd better
give all my attention 20 this oil, and
let other things alone"
He retraced his steps to The bayou
bank and turned back toward the
house. As he did so, Hammond ap-
nQarn1 snmfnn tAurorJ hin lntfN Ia