Gunnison news-champion., 1923-02-16

window on The south As he tried TO
slip his Jimmy under the bottom o,
tie sash. the window. 10 his amaze
m"u'. opened silently upon Us hinges I:
It had not been locked The heavy
curtains within hung just IN front of
him. D" put out his hand and parted
them. Then hs started back In aston.
lshm"ut and crouchcd clOs- TO the
ground inside the room was man
moving about. flashing an electric
torch before him and then exploring
an lnsiunt In darkness and flashing
his torch again.
Patton had not been AT all prepared
for this. now he knew suddenly that
he ought To have been prepared for IL.
II the man within the room vas not
the one who had attacked him with
the motor. he was closely allied with
that man. and what he was after now
was the same thing Eaton wa. after.
He drew his pistol. and looslng the
safety. he made II ready 20 IRE; with
his left hand. he clung TO the short,
heavy Jimmy. He stepped into the
great room through tn. curtains. and
treadlng noiselessly In his stocking
feet, he advanced upon the man. NOV.
INK forward in each period OF dark.
ness between the flashes Of the cleo
tric torch.
Now. at the further side Of the
room. another electric torch flashed
out There were at least two men In
the room. working toge,her-or rather
one vas working. the other super
.isluc; FOR Eaton heard now a steady,
almost lnnudihlc grinding noise as the
second man worked. Eaton halted
again and waited: II there were two.
there might be others
His pulses were beating faster and
hotter. and he felt the blood rushing
10 his head and his hands growing
rull with his excitement. but he was
and cTept forward noiseIessly again
No other light appeared In the room.
and there was no sound elsewhere
from the darkness: but the man who
supervised had moved closer 10 the
other. The grinding noise bad
stopped Il vas followed by a sharp
click: the men side by side, we're
bending over something; and the light
of the man who had been working.
FOR n fraction uf second shot INTO
the face of the other He mutterei
some short, hunrse ImpreCatiun. but
before Eaton heard the voice, he had
stopped As n struck. and his breath
had gone from him
His Instant'S glimpse Of that face
nstouudtd. stunned stupefel him.
He could not have seen that man The
fact was impossible, He must have
been mad his mind must have become
unreliable 10 let him even imagine II.
Then came the sound OF the voice
the voice OF the man whose face he
had seen, II was he! And. In place
OF the paralysis OF the first instant,
now n wild. savage throe OF passion
seized Eaton: his pulses leaped so II
seemed they must hurst his veins and
he gulped and choEed He had not
flled in with insane fancy the fea.
lures Of the man whom he had seen !;
In the dark by the wall was he whom
Eaton-if he could have dreamed such
fact ms now had been disclosed
would have circled the world to catch
and destroy: yet now with the de-
structinn OF that man In his power
for he had hut TO aim and empty his
automatic pistol at Ave paces-such
4 81 ~, l.,
suffice; mere shooting that man would
be petty. Intellectual Eaton's fingers
frightened on the handle OF his pistol
but he held II now not as weapon
to fire but as dull weight with which
to strike. The grip of his left hand
clamped onto the short steel bar, and
with lips parted-breathing once, II
seemed, !1r Sach heartbeat and YET
Choking. suffocailng-he leaped for
ward
At the same lnstant-so that III
could not have been alarmed by Ea
toms leap-the man who had beer
working moved his torch. and tn,
light fell upon Eaton.
''LOnk OUT" the man cried In alarm
to his comnanion: with the word th'
torch vanished.
The man toward whom Eaton rushe'
did not have time to switch on hi
light: he dropped 1t instead; and a,
Eaton sprang for him. he crouchei
Eaton MS he struck forward. foun,
nothing: hut below his knees. EatoI
felt mans powerful arms tackiin.
him; as he struggled to free himself
swift. savage lun.e lifted him from
his feet: he was thrown and hurie,
backward.
Eaton ducsed his head forward an
struggled tn turn as he went down
30 that shoulder and not his hea'
or back would strike the floor firsi
He succeeded IN this. though In H.
effort no dropned the Jimmy. n
CLING With his right hand to the pisto
and as he struck the floor. the pis'r
shot -. The. drsh Of flame spurfe'
| toward 40 ce'ltn- Instantly the gri