The Dolores star., 1923-04-06

that man, and what he was after now
| WAS the same thing Eaton was atter.
He drew his pistol. and loosing the
safety. he made It ready to fire: with
his left hand. he ciung TO the SHOT,
heavy Jimmy. He stepped into the
| preot room through the curtains, ana
tre,ding noiselessly In his STOCKING
| feet. he advanced upon the man, mov-
Ing forward In each period OF dark-
ness between the flashes Of the eiec-
tric torch.
Now. at the further side OF the
| room another electric torch flashed
| out There were at least two men III
the room. working together-or rather
| one was working, the other super
yising: for Eaton heard now steady
almost inaudible 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 ana
hotter, and he felt the blood rushing
to his head and his hands growing
cold with his excitement: but he was
conscious Of no fear. He crouched
and crept forward noiselessly again
No other light appeared in the room,
and there was no sound elsewhere
from the darkness; but the man VINO
supervised had moved closer to the
| other. The grinding noise hau
stopped: It was followed by sharp
click; the men, side by side, were
bending over something; and the llght
of the man who had been working,
for a fraction of second shot into
the face Of the other. He muttered
some short, hoarse imprecation. but
before Eaton heard the voice, he had
stopped as If struck. and his breath
had gone from him.
His instant's glimpse Of that inre
astounded, stunned stupefied MN.
He could not have seen that mani The
fact was impossible! He must have
been mad: his mind must have become
unreliable to let him even imagine It.
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 a wild, savage throe Of passion
seized Eaton; his pulses leaped go It
seemed they must burst his veins. and
he gulped and choked. He had not
filled In with insane fancy the fea.
lures of the man whom he had seen;
the voice witnessed too that the man
in the dark by the wall was he whom
Eaton-lf he could have dreamed such
a fact as now had been disclosed
would have circled the world to catch
and destroy; yet now with the de-
structlOn OF that man in his power
for he had but to aim and empty his
automatic pistol at five paces-such
destruction at this moment could not
suffice; mere shooting that man would
be petty, Intellectual Eaton's fingers
tightened on the handle of his pistol
but he held 1t 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. 1t
seemed, for each heartbeat and vet
choking. suffOcatIng-he leaped for
ward.
At the same inStant-so that he
could not have been alarmed by Ea-
tons lcap-the man who had been
working moved his torch, and the
light fell upon Eaton.
Look out !" the man cried in alarm
to his companion; with the word the
torch vanished.
The man toward whom Eaton rushed
did not have time to switch off his
light: he dropped 1t Instead; and as
Eaton sprang for him, he crouched.
Eaton, as he struck forward. found
nothing; but below his knees Eaton
felt mans powerful arms tackling
him; as he struggled to free himself,
a swift, savage lunge lifted him from
his feet; he was thrown and hurled
backward.
Eaton ducked his head forward and
struggled to turn as he went down.
so that shoulder and not his head
or back would strike the floor first.
He succeeded in this, though in his
effort he dropped the Jimmy. He
clung with his right hand to the pistol,
and as he struck the floor, the pistol
shot off; the flash of flame spurted
toward the ceiling. Instantly the grin
below his knees was loosed; the ,nan
who had tackled him and hurled him
back had recoiled In the darkness
Eaton got to his feet but crouched
and crept about behind a table, aim.
Ing his pistol over 1t in the direction
In which he supposed the other men
must be. The sound Of the shot had
ceased to roar through the room: the
gases from the powder only made tho
air heavier. The other two men in
the room also waited, Invisible and
silent. The only light, In the great
curtained room, came from the single
electric torch lying on the floor. Tbi,
lighted the legs of chair, a corner
of desk and a circle of books in tho
cases on the wall AS Eaton'a eve,
became more accustomed to the da r,,.
ness, he could see vague shapes of
furniture. If man moved, he might
be made ont hut ~ ba r,.u, -,