The Winslow mail., 1924-02-15

Malopo
by
VICTOR
ROUSSEAU
ooPyREoar ~ VIC Chaplain

AA@OA
Witt had laid his scheme well.
| The fury that filed him at the reali-
zation Of his predicament momentarily
! paralyzed him. He lay perfectly still
| One Of his assailants stopped over him
and looked into his face.
"You knocked him out for fair, Rob
erts," he said. "This will mean pro
motion for us."
oAnd De With pay through the
nose. He'll have to-" answered the
other meaningly.
There was some papers we was to
look for" said his companion.
The two were off their guard as Win
ton sprang. But he rather seemed to
fly from his supine position to his feet
| with an instantaneous coordination of
movements Before the amazed police
could meet his onslaught he had
snatched the baton from the one who
had struck him down, and brought 1t
crashing down on his skull. The man
dropped upon his hands and knees,
moaning, and began crawling with ap-
parently aimless movements, this way
and that.
The second policeman, who did not
lack pluck, had time to draw his
truncheon and attack Winton, who
lodged In under blow which glanced
harmlessly OF his arm, and landed his
fist full on his mouth. The man Stun
bled and fell, and Winton turned and
ran like the wind, making for one Of
the dark alleys that led out to the
road. As he ran he heard the crack
of revolver shots behind him, followed
by the police whistle, and cries for
help. The man had picked up Ned
Burns revolver and fired, but the bull
lets did not go anywhere near Winton,
and the pOliceman's act in firing, and
his delaying the pursuit to summon as
sistance gave the fugitive time to dart
/ out of sight around the corner.
WintOn had been something Of a
sprinter at college. He knew he could
probably outdistance the best of the
police force. But he heard answering
! whistles before him and ShOutinga He
inferred that he was running toward
the police station. He saw another
alley mouth open beside an empty ped
dlers wagon, and darted down.
The street was empty, but the moon
now rode high In the sky, lighting up
the town more brightly than an install
lation of electric lights might have
done. Winton had baff1ed his pursuers
for the moment, but they were all about
him; the trap had been well set, and
in fact pairs of police had been sta
toned at the ends of all the streets
leading into the desert. He was like
trapped rat, rushing blindly from
alley to alley, and, what was worst,
the foreign population of the district
was waking from the early sleep in
duced by it's activities of the day. AS
Winton ran an Indian fred deliberately
at him from a window. The wind Of
the bullet whistled upon his neck. And
the shouts were growing louder on all
sides.
Winton was reeling from weakness
as he ran. He had not realized how
strong an effort he had made to pull
himself together after the two stun
ming blows. Something was dripping
into his eyes; he put his hand up and
was amazed to find 1t covered with
blood.
At last he halted, breathless. He
was in an alley blocked now at the
end behind him by his pursuerS. They
had not seen him as he ran in the
shadow of some booths, but the yells
of the Indians apprised Winton that his
course was accurately known. Before
/ him a street ran at right angles, and
somewhere In this another group was
racing to cut him off
He looked up in despair, and then
discovered that he had run round the
circumference of a large circle. In
front of him was the square which he
had passed Immediately before the at
tack on him. He was approaching
from the third side of it, and his only
chance of escape lay into the desert,
bright as day under the hard moon
light.
AS he stopped he saw a woman
emerge from one of the single-story
houses and peer out from the door.
Her attitude was indicative of terror.
Realizing that she would be in danger
from any chance shooting, WintOn
gathered his failing strength and STUN
bled on, meaning tO pass her He was
almost at her side when a cry broke
from her lips. He looked at her; it
was Sheila SeatOn.
She seemed to take in the situation
in a moment. She grasped at him. and,
as he reeled from weakness, dragged
him into the tiny house with all her
strength Then she shut the door soft
| ly and blew out a candle.
Neither spoke. WintOn had sunk to
the ground. but, half fainting as he
was, he could hear her frightened
breathing as she stood over him, and
-hen the cries of his pursuers as they
swept down the street and met rhe
..,.ry INNING IN The a i.p..