Evening star., 1923-09-20
Continued from Yesterdays STAR

Houston turned on his side. 'oh,
,.Here--my COATS right near my pill
up-here.'
Quick. as a flash. ePte searched his
and matches. He was none too soon.
for the shadowy form of Browning's
outstretched hand was not twelve
inches from him when he met it with
| the cigarette and match.
| Browning's fingers closed upon
, them. Thanks. Ern," he mumbled,
] placing the cigarette to his mouth.
You're always a handy man"
Then striking the match with a
thumb nail he made cup OF ms
/ hands. lit his cigarette, and threw. the
dead match away.
"Thanks?" Houston questioned in
! surprise. What are you thanking
me for? l can't find my coat, either"
| er fumbling about with his hands
| in the darkness.
! ".oh, well, he'll, I've got the ciga-.
r@ette; @ any how. Ern..I Browning
you for that, / don't want to smoke
your coat. You damn lawyers
mans even got to, specify what he's
! thanking you fort"
| This ended the dialogue, and none
! too soon for to Pets's excited senses
4 it seemed that every one in both
! rooms was turning and twisting at
once He felt as though he had been
| holding his breath all night as now,
| with the talking evidently over, he
| took a quiet, slow breath of relief
and settled down to rest while
Browning smoked. What seemed to
| him to be hours afterward he noted
the even regular breathing of Hous-
ton, and heard Browning lean far over
| the side of the cot and extinguish the
I butt of his cigarette on the floor.
! The coast clear once again Pete
continued his stealthy maneuvering
! across the floor, this time gaining the
kitchen without further Interruptions
! Taking a half empty flour sack
in the large, sawdust- -filied powder
J box for the dynamite he knew was
J there. Stick after stick he tucked
| carefully into the flour. thinking that
safety of carrying the dangerous stuff
about in the darkness, although from
its frozen condition he felt that this
precaution was unnecessary. With
! tucked away he began his perilous
Tourney back through the rooms. He
I thought the darkness about him was
already beginning to pale and he
! ing the door to the outer sleeping
i quarters, he breathed easily again
and. STRENGTHENING. to his full length.
proceeded with wide stealthy strides
He lost no time now as morning
| was indeed breaking. But for the
| heavy falling snow it would already
hastily for the mouth of the tunnel.
! Grasping the huge bundle of stolen
clothing, and with lighted candle
hurriedly on, not stopping until the
very end of the tunnel was reached
! With trembling hands he began at
once making hole after hole along
| L. L. 1t h., IL AL 1Orrs &c
! roof above his head, continuing the
work until he had covered a distance
of nearly sixty feet.
! Feeling that he could spare no more
time with such work, he set about
placing dynamite. He had assisted
| Ham with what little powder work
! had been done, and he remembered u
now how easily dynamite could freeze
! beyond the point of usefulness. With
a pang of sudden disappointment he
] now anxiously felt the frozen sticks
and knew it would be Impossible TO
use them until they were thawed out.
For a moment he stood there calling
desperately upon the resourcefulneSs
that had favored him so generously
throughout the night. 1t did nos fail
him now. without a moments fur
ther hesitation he placed the bundle
of clothing against the wall of the
tunnel and touched lightei candle
to it. Then. as, soon as the flames
became sufficiently strong, he de!iber-
ately placed his bag of death and
destruction over them realizing full
we'll as he did so that any moment
he might be blown into eternity;
Nevertheless he kept his lpost. and
felt anxiously of the fast t-softenIng
sticks within the bag. as minute after
minute slipped by. In deadly earnest
he held them there, grimly grinding
his teeth together until the muscles
of his jaws fairly bnlged beneath
the skin!
Cold beads of perspiration trickled
down from his forehead before he
yielded and consented to place the
softened sticks between the small
Printing and fusing was but the work
of a moment; then, after cramming
| +ha rarn aiming sticks into his pockets.