The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-11-18

rhyiiis alone. And so he decided on h.
no"'ronise If when daylight came
no one had been up to the room hi
then. UNIV
AND he was just going to tell PHYLLIS
"na' lie mad decided, when he heard q
souhd that killed the words on his
nps' A door had opened below. and
"'eh voices came floating I'D the
stairs. Up '"'
Lie down, darling" he breathed In
"er ear "and pretend to be asleep"
without a word she did as he told
ner' While Hugh tiptoed over toward
.ne ooor. There were steps coming up
'ne stairs, and he flattened himself
"s".ist tiie matchmaking. The period
VI hdecision was passed; unless he
was very much mistaken the time of
ar.ioh nad arrived. How it would pan
oul-"hether luck would be in. or
whether luck would fail was on the
zap Of the gods.
Inc steps paused outside the door.
ana he heard muttered ejaculation in
Italian. Apparently he was concerned
over something, and 1t suddenly
ua"hed Oh Drummond that it was the
absence from duty Of the lone-armed
Dlrd that was causing the surprise. In
me excitement of the moment he had
forgotten all about him, and for one
awful second his heart stood still. Sup
pose the Italian discovered the body
before he entered the room, then the
game was up with vengeance. Once
'he alarm was given he'd have to run
the gauntlet of the whole crowd over
ground he didn't know.
But his fears were groundless: the
nohdiscovery of the watcher by the
door took the Italian the other way
Ills first thought was to make sure
that the girl was safe, and he flung
open the door and came in. He gave
a grunt Of satisfaction as he saw her
lying on the bed; then like a splitting
cat ne swung round as he felt Drum.
monds hand on his shoulder.
with every ounce of weight in his
body behind the blow. Hugh hit the
Italian on the point of the jaw. With
out a sound the man crumpled up and
pitched on his face.
And now there was not moment
to be lost. AT any moment one of his
pals might come upstairs, and every
thing depended on speed and finding !
the key. Hugh shut the door and |
locked it; then feverishly he started to
search through the Italians pockets. |
Every thing up to date had PANIED out |
SO wonderfully that he refused to be- |
lie7e that luck was going to fail him
now, and sure enough he discovered |
the bunch. Phyllis was free, and he
heard her give little sob of pure ex-
element
He heaved the Italian onto the bed,
and snapped the steel bracelet onto his
arm. Then he slipped the keys into
his own pocket, and crossed to the
window. The engine was still hum
ming gently; the thudding noise was
still going on; nothing seemed in any
way different. No light came from the
room below them, everything had
worked better than he had dared to
nope. He had only to lower Phyllis
tut of the window, and let her drop
INTO the flower bed and then follow
himself. After that it was easy.
"COme along. darling" he said ur-
,ently, I'm going to lower you out
irst-then I'll follow. And once we're
Town, you've got to trice up your
kirts and run like a stag across the
avn till we're under cover of those
ushes. We aren't quite out of the
woods yet"
They were not indeed. 1t was just
S Phyllis let go, and he saw her pick
hat he heard a terrific uproar in the
ouse below, and several men came
ounding up the stairs. He vaulted
yer the windowsill himself, and low
red himself to the full extent of his
rms. Then he too let go and dropped
nto the flower bed below. And it was
s he was picking himself up, pre-
aratory to following Phyllis-whom
e could see family across the lawn
aiting for him. that he heard some
ne in the house shout an order in a
parse voice.
switch on the power at once, you
ID fool: switch it on at once"
ITO RE CONTINUED