The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-02-24


Potts was upstairs"
"Good Lord !" spluttered Darrell,
by now very wide awake, what do
we do, sergeant-major?
1--WE take 1t in turns-two at a
time-to sit up with Potts" Hugh
glanced at the other three. "D--n it
you blighters-wake up"
81 don't know what 1t u.s." Mrrell
said, rubbing his eyes. II feel most in
formally sleepy"
"Well, listen to me-confound You
TObyW
Sorry, old man." With a start Sin
clair sat up In his chair and blinked
at Hugh.
"They're almost certain to try and
get him tonight" went on Hugh,
Having given the show away by
leaving a clue on the wretched secre-
tary, they must get the real man as
soon as possible. It's far too danger
Gus to leave the--leave the" His
head dropped forward on his chest
a short, haIf-strangled snore came
from his lips. 1t had the effect Of
waking him for the moment. and he
staggered to his feet.
The other three sprawling in their
chairs were openly and unashameIly
asleep; even the dogs lay in fantastic
attitudes, breathing heavily, inert like
logs.
wake up" shouted Hugh wildly.
"For Gods sake " wake upi We've
been druggedl"
An iron weight seemed to be press
ing down on his eyelids: the desire
for sleep grew stronger and stronger.
| For few moments more he fought
against 1t, hopelessly, despairingly;
while his legs seemed not to belong
to him, and there was a roaring noise
in his ears And then, just before
| unCOnsciousneSs overCame him, there
| came to his bemused brain the sound
of whistle thrice repeated from out
side the window. With a last stu
pendOus effort he fought his way to-
ward 1t, and for a moment he stared
lllO lllt uuIhIltoS. lHCiC NClt VIM
figures moving through the shrubs,
and suddenly one seemed to detach
itself 1t came nearer, and the light
fell on the mans face. His nose and
mouth were covered with sort Of
pad, but the cold, sneering eyes were
unmistakable.
darlington |" gasped Hugh, and
then the roaring noise increased in
his head; his legs struck work alto
gether. He collapsed on the floor and
lay sprawling, while darlington, his
face pressed against the glass outside,
watched In silence.
"Draw the curtains" Lexington
was speaking, his voice muffled be-
hind the pad, and one of the men did
as he said. There were four in all,
each with similar pad over his
mouth and nose. "Where did you put
the generator BrownlowT
an the coal-scuttle." A man whom
Mrs. Denny would have had no diff
Guilty in recognizing, even with the
mask on his face, carefully lifted
small black box out Of the scuttle from
behind some coal, and shook 1t gent
ly, holding 1t to his ear. ITS fin
Ished," he remarked, and Lexington
nodded.
IAN ingenious invention Is gas"
he said, addressing another Of the
men. 1--WE owe your nation quite a
debt of gratitude for the idea"
A cultural grunt left no doubt as
to what that nation was, and Laking-
ton dropped the box into his pocket.
go get him." he ordered briefly,
and the others left the room.
Contemptuously darlington kicked
one of the dogs; 1t rolled over and
lay motionless in Its new position.
Then he went in turn to each of the
three men sprawling in the chairs.
with no attempt at SentlcncSs he
turned their faces up to the light, and
studied them deliberately; then he let
their heads roll back again with a
thud. Finally, he went to the window
and stared down at DrummOnd. In
his eyes was look of cold fury, and
he kicked the unconscious man saw
agely In the ribs.
"You young swine" he muttered.
"Do you think I'll forget that blow
on the jawT
He took another box out of his
pocket and looked at 1t lovingly.
"Shall II" With a short laugh he
replaced it. "It's too good a death
for you, Captain Drummond, D. S. o.,
NJ. C. Just to snuff out in your sleep.
No, my friend, think l can devise
something better than that; some
thing really artistic"
Two other men came in as he
turned away, and darlington looked
at them.
"Well," he asked, "have you got the
old womanT
Bound and gagged in the Kitchen"
answered one of them lacOnically.
"Are you going to do this crowd in?"
The speaker looked at the uncon-
sclous men with hatred in his eyes.
"They cucumber the earth-this
breed of puppy"
"They will not cucumber 1t for
Ionow said Iakinpton softly "Rut