Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-12-24
other get the gang. I'll try and g
S A P P E r
Copp7gM BY GEORGE H. DORM co.
ID. N. u. service

IHe next lHSldul he ndQ disappeared
into the underground And then loud
and clear the boot of an owl thrice
repeated. 1t was message for her,
she kneW-not senseless piece of
bravado: message to tell her that
he was all right. But the call at the
end was the urgent call of the gang,
and though he was safe at the mo-
ment she knew there was no time to
be lost. And with a little prayer that
she would choose the right direction,
she broke into the steady run of the
girl who beagles when she goes
beagling, and doesn't sit on the top
of hill and watch. Hugh had never
let her down yet: it was her turn
now
To what extent it was her turn,
perhaps it was as well that she did
not realize. Even Drummond was
ignorant of the nature of the odds
against him. He had not the slightest
idea how many men were in the house
and while it remained dark he didn't
much care In the dark he felt con-
tident of dealing with any number, or
at any rate of eluding them.
But since the inmates were ignorant
OF what they were up against, they
somewhat foolishly decided on instant
action. They came streaming across
In body, and by so doing they played
straight into the hands of the man
who crouched in the shadows close by
them. Without a sound he faded
away from his hiding place, and
emerged from the underground ten
yards nearer the house. Then with
his collar turned up, and his shoulders
hunched together, he joined the group.
And a man-eating tiger in their midst
would have been a safer addition to
the party.
Slowly the line of shadowy men
moved forward through the under
growth, and creeping behind them
came the man they were out to kill.
And gradually he edged nearer and
nearer to the wire fence, until he was
following the outside man of the line.
lie saw him pause for a moment peer
ing round a bush, with his revolver
ready in his hand. And then the ter
ror started. The beaten next to the
victim had 1eeting vision of a huge
black object springing through the
darkness: muttered curse and a CUR
gle-and a dreadful strangled scream.
And the outside beaten was no more.
He had been hurled against the live
fnnRn hn Il
the exhibits had been increased by
one
With hoarse cry of fear the man
who had been next him turned and
ran toward the house, only to find
himself seized from behind with
grip of iron. 1t was Franz, and as he
stared into the face of the man whom
he knew to be drowned he gave
squawk like trapped rabbit. But
there was nothing ghostly about the
hands round his neck, and as he felt
himself being rushed toward the fence
of death he began to struggle furious
ly. But Drummond was insane at the
moment and though Franz was a pow
erful man he might have saved him
self the trouble. A terrific blow hit
him on the face, and with grunt he
fell back against the fence. The ex-
hibits were increased by two, and
through the darkness rang a cheerful
laugh, followed by the hooting of an
owl.
And now the line was broken. and
men were crashing about in all direc-
tions shouting hoarsely. Here, there
and everywhere they heard the boot
ing Of an owl: they formed into
lunches of twos and threes for pro-
lection, they blazed away with COM
pressed-air revolvers at harmless rho
dodendron bushes, and sometimes at
their own pals. And every now and
then a great black figure would leap
silently out of the darkness onto some
straggler: there would be below of
fear land pain-followed by an omi-
nous silence, which was broken Sec
ond or two later by the hooting of
an owl twenty yards away.
And at last they could stand it no
longer. They had no idea how many
men Iney were up agalnSt, and COM
plete panic set in. With one accord
they rushed for the house, and a
hooking peal of laughter followed
them as they ran. For Drummond had
gambled on that. and he had won. In
the position of knowing that every
man was his enemy, he had been at
an advantage over the others, who
were never sure who was friend.
He began to thread his way swiftly
and silently in the direction Of the
drive, reached the edge without Incl
dent, and started to skirt along it
away from the house. At last he saw
the gate, and turned deeper into the
underground. He wanted to examine
it at leisure, before making up his
mind as to what he would do. AS
far as he could see from the outline
he could make out against the road,
it was an ordinary heavy wooden gate,
-sNs -vsSs -s,o. s.1s -. 49, - &c. -