The vidette. (Iuka, Tishomingo County, Miss.) 1912-1967, 1923-02-15
house Il the wIbidow q wbrcb he had

AShsth Ac lOuhu ululSell IN the Slut
street where he had taken refuge the
night before, and turning out of this
he came to the tree from the limb Of
which he had cut down the half
strangled victim of the MOI Thess or
posite was the house and there ~ns
the window at which he had seen Ma
dimes face; but across the window,
boards had been nailedl The other
windows, too, and the doors, were
nailed up; the place was deserted
Gould that face at the window have
been only creature of his imagina-
tion?
An old negro in nondescript livery
came down the walk from house q
few doors away. He might have been
footman to harlequin. But when
BRACE spoke to him, the dlgnified
change In his countenance appeared
to alter even the aspect of his attire;
and now he might have been usher to
governor. This quick change had
been brought about by his intuitlve
discovery that BRACE was a man Of
consequence.
do you know anything about the
people who lived across the street~
BRACE asked.
"Wall, no sab; da wus po' folks,
sah"
"Then you don't know where they
went"
mo sab. My 'ployment is ter look
after folks OBJ err higher 'ditlon, sab.
An den ter preach on Sunday"
"Oh you are a preacher"
Scaled sab, wild er blast from de
trumpet"
"Does your church ever need
money!" In a moment he lost his
dignity.
Look yeah, boss, whut's er Niger
church fur eff 1t amt ter need money?
Co'se it need money. But what you
gwine do erbout It?
"Yassuh," he said, when brace had
warmed him with greenback, ~
reckon dey done moved away There
was er kind of rumpus last night. And
I reckon they-all thought it wasn't no
place fob dem no mo-; dey lef' mighty
sudden-like, uhly dis mawnin'."
And that was all brace could learn;
no, one In the vicinity would admit
that they knew them or their destina-
ton. Dlsislng to call too much at
tentlon to himself, BRACE walked away
hno cd n tI,nn a
wandered the streets. He came to the
levee, and the French market. He
went into the old ST. Louis cemetery,
and looked upon the novel sight of
bodies sepulchered In a wall with
doors like a furnace. These compart-
ments, he learned, were rented by the
month to the poor; and short tenan.
try it was for many son and daugh-
ter Of penury answering Eternity's
call, for when the grim agent failed
to collect the plttance promised by
sorrow, the shrouded renter was evict-
ed-an old Spanish custom, BRACE was
told.
Recalled by these grim surroundings
to the purpose that had brought him
to the South, BRACE now determined
to give himself wholly to his quest for
Stepho la Vitte. He returned to the
hotel, and found Shottle nervous in
cloud of smoke. The floor was COW
cred with burned matches and the
stubs Of cigars.
lib, I'm crushed" announced brace.
$50 am l. But how does it happen
that the dust-cart drove over you too?"
Nadine is gone. The place is nailed
up"
THAT'S tough, all right But what
are you going to do about It? Are you
going to come to your puritanic senses
and give the whole thing up, or do you
expect"
II expect to fulfill my sacred mig.
sion. l must find Stepho la vitte."
Shottle got up and shook hands with
his friend. He swore that he would
make the search the aim of his life
Suppose you hire me by the day." he
suggested. "a man does better work
by the day. He always has fresh slim
illus every time the sun rises"
every well-ten dollars a day."
'That's liberal, Virgil, and I'll take
1t. And let's get Old Josh to help u.s.
He is more or less acquainted with
Stepho's habits"