Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-07-12
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE

is attracted by a girl, who later faints-
Dr. Long treats her, and looking into
her bag Is astounded to find a loaded re-
volver.
DR.. Long meets Ahmad Das, an ORR
entail, who conducts him to Southley
Downs, where he meets Mr.. Southley and
his son Ernest Southley, Mr.. Haywood
and his son, Villas, and then Josephine
Southley, who is the girl he had met
on the train. Josephine tells him the
story of Southley Downs and It's ghost,
which is not the ghost of a human, but
of a tiger.
DR.. Long has a quarrel with Villas Hay
ward over Josephine, and nnds that the
Haywards have a strange authority over
the Southleys. lie is ordered to leave
Southley Downs. The rain prevents
him leaving at once. DIR. Long and
Ernest go odt on the road In the ram
looking for the tracks of Il tiger that
Ernest says are there. Now read oil
| had no delusions about what he
would do with it.. The drawn face,
the smouldering eyes, told all too
p~lainly. He was too far for me TO
leap at him. So | struck out the
candle. The dark fell over US. The
sound of the storm obliterated his
breathing. 1t was the truce OF the
darkness truce remembered from
primal days.
don't know how long it had contin-
ued when Hayward and Southley came
their forms suddenly appeared IN the
door. and each of them carried can
dies. :.
Villas still held the pistol; and it
cleaned in the candlelght.
"Vilas!" his father called. Put
down that thing" (,
He fastened about the table, and
NV aged host leaped in front OF me.
| tried to push Inn away; and his an
swer was q laugh-one grim syllable
of laughter, ironical.
"He won't kill me-" he said. I'm
the goose-that lays the golden eggs.
He won't kill me-"
Villas screamed at us. The muir
d~er-madness was on him yet.
"He struck me-" he cried. THE
devil struck me. He's got to apollo
pize. He found me with Josephine,
and he struck me as if ] were a dog"
His father took the pistol from his
hands, and put it in his pocket. South
lev sighed a little, and placed his can
die on the table. The girl rose up
behind us, and was amazed at her
self control. 1t had all come back.
"He struck me-" Villas said again
and again. "What are you going to
do about it Southley? You've got just
ten minutes to turn him out OF the
house-or else I'll go instead"
sT AZ fAxDn4 ~ ~ thu plA man an
swered with utter WEAKNESS.
Forget nothing, Southleyv' ne ex-
claimed. "We've got to get to the
bottom of this. If my son was
struck. he's got to have satisfaction.
I lived long enough ON the continent
to know that, and so has he. And so
have you. 1t isn't the way it's done
over there. If a mans struck the
other pays"
"Your son is sufficiently able to
take care of himself, | hope" / sug-
gested. :,
"If he'd taken care of himself, you'd
be laying under this table now with
your blood spelling a good Oriental
rug" the older Hayward answered
with startling malice. "Pm not sure
but that he'd ought to have done 1t,
! believe it's up to you Long, to give
a satisfactory explanation"
II have nothing to explain liner
turned my back upon him, and faced
the broken old figure that was my
host. "Sir, if there is any explana-
ton to be made it will have to come
from your daughter"
1t was a curious expression that
came to the old mans face. Its
lines seemed to grow slack. There
was hopelessness in it, and the weak.
ness of long years, and above all
things else hopeless, utter impotency
1t seemed to me that the girl open
ed her lips to speak. But before the
words came, the elder Hayward hat
answered for him. ),
"What has this young pup to dt
with the relations between Joseph
inc and nv SOM" he asked, %queruous.
Nv. "They have already been settled
If that is the issue, it only makes i
more certain what course remain
They can't go on living here, guests
in the same house with this between
them. Tell him, Southley-that n
has two choices. One is to apollo
gize. The other is to leave the house
as that the truth?" | asked m.
host. :,
"Tell him it is II the truth" Hayward
indomitable words came on. III
tone was Of a threat-ominous, deter
mined. The eyes of the two eide
men met. =,
"She has nothing to explain" South
lev told me falteringly.
l looked at the girl, and no mar cal
measure or describe the anguish tina
was in her eyes. But she dldn'
look straight at me. First she glanc
ed at the strong, bulldog figure o
the elder Hayward. Then she search
ed her fathers time-dimmed eyes, an
here she found her answer.
"He's right, DR.. Long," she told me
"You must make your W explana
tons"
at seems the odds are against me,
| told them simply. "Mr. Southle!
I have only done what any America
man would have to do, and can
and won't apologize to anyone.
have carried out the obligation OF
guest to his host in the way my II
stincts, told me. Nothing will max
me believe that l did wrong. 1t
evident that you uphold what thes
otho, man sav-and your daughte