The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1922-01-19

iae feif utterly helpless. uhne every
mameu, be imagined some shiny.
crawling brute touching his bare
feef-rreeplnr up 90 him lie
pulled hiHseif together sharply. Light
ass essential and ht once Bot. II
- switched & ga there would be a
moment nheu the thing would see
bin before he could $50 fhe thing
and such moments are not helpful.
There only rmained his torch: and
- fhe Ancre. on one occasion. he had
snred his life by It's luflcious use The
man behind oue y those useful nipple
iBeHfs + e. hiaekness far more I'm
renetrable than The hlaekesi night. for
The mar 10 front Il dazzled lie can
only shoot A. fhe torch wherefore
hold Il 10 ope side and IN front OF
sou.
fhe Ilghi flashed out darling round
the room Ping Something hit the
sl~etp of his paiamas. but still he
could see nothing The bed aith the
clothes thrown back: the washstsnd;
the chair with his trousers and shirt
everything was ms d had be,u when he
turned IN And then he heard a sec
ond sound-dlsunct and clear II came
from high up. near the ceiling and
The beam caught the big cupboard and
travelled up II reached the top. and
rested there fixed and steady Framed
in the middle % Il. peering over the
edge was a little hairless, brown face,
holding what looked like a tube in It's
mouth Hugh had one glimpse Of a
dark skinny hand putting something
IN the tube, and then he switched of
The torch and ducked, Just as another
ny pinged over his head and hit the
wall behind
one thing AZ any rate was certain:
the other occupant of the room was
human. and with that realization all
his nerve returned There would be
time enough later on 10 find out how
he got there and what those strange
plnging noises had been caused by
Just NJ that moment only one thing
WAS on the program: and without
sound he erept round the bed toward
the cupboard 10 put that one thing In
to effect In his usual direct manner.
Twice did he hear the little whis-
Ting hiss from above, but nothing sang
past his head. Evidently the man had
lost him aud vas probably still aim.
ne az The door And then with hands
thai barely touched ii, he felt the out
lines Of the cupboard.
II was standing an inch or two from
the wall and be slipped his fingers be-
hind the back on one side. He lis
tened for moment but no movement
came from above. then. half facing the /
walt he put one leg against IL. There
was one quick, tremendous heave a
crash which sounded deafenlng then
silence And once again he switched
on his torch
Lying on the floor by the window |
was ore Of the smallest men he had |
ever seen lie was native OF sorts. |
and Hugh turned him over with his
foot. he Was quite unconscious, and |
the bump on his head where II had |
hit the floor vas rapidly swelling TO
the size Of a large orange. In his |
hand be- sim clutched the little tube,
and Hugh gingrriy removed II. Placed
In position al one end was long |
splinter Of wood, with sharpened I
point and by the light OF his torch
Hugh saw that IL was family dis
cOlored with some brown stain.
lie was still examining IL with In
terest when a thunderous knock came
on the door He strolled over and
switched on the electric light; then he
opened the door
An excited night-porter rushed in,
followed by two or three other people
In varying stages OF undress, and
stopped In amazement at the scene.
The heavy cupboard, with a great
crack across the back. lay face down
ward on the floor; the native still lay
curled up and motionless.
''One OF the hotel petsf" queried
Hugh pleasantly. lighting cigarette.
"lf it's all the same to you, | wish