Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-09-06
The Tigers trail
Alexander gritted his teeth.

saNS' ~ Uub sOu ic IlBnt al idSt-
Their real name is Strumburg.
They are crooks themselves. The ell
der S~trumburg was a confederate in
crime in Southley's own youth. /
use the word guardedly, Long, and
! think it is true. | haven't any
doubt but that Southley's early life
wouldn't bear Investigation. But
that doesn't matter now. It's a joy,
my boy, to come to the aid of one who
has come to his own aid. Southley
rose above that other life"
81 think that he escaped after a
particularly reckless crime. 1t was
not a crime that benefited him fin
ancially, he says; but yet the hue
and cry that was raised scared him
from his criminal ways. A man was
shot, and though there were extenu-
ating circumstances, he certainly
would have gone to prison for TWEEN
ty years at least, according to the
way men were sentenced in those
days. First he went in India and AT
RIGA, made his fortune. Then he
anne to America, as Andrew Lasson.
And all the time he lived in deadly
fear that the long arm of the British
law would reach out for him.
"Then the elder Strumburg found
him out. He adopted the name of
Roderick, and sent out inquiries for
this Andrew Lasson. He offered a
huge reward to be paid a year after
we found him, and Of course Lasson
or Southley as we call him now
was to pay the reward. He came
here at last, with his vicious son,
and the work of blackmail began.
They told old Southley-in the gray
twilight of his days-what to expect
in case he didn't come through with
their demands.
"They said they had proofs that
would put him back in prison. The
terror of his long years came back as
ever before, and he didn't have the
strength and judgment to fight it
any longer. Old age vas upon him.
He gave way, again and again. And
even tody he wouldn't be free if it
hadn't been for the real hero of
Southley Downs-his servant, Ahmad
Das.
"Ahmad Das is a mystic. Long,
you're a doctor and you don't believe
in parental influence. You say it's
all bunk. Yet it is true that Ahmad
Das's mother was attacked by a tiger,
that the creature died when Ahmad
Oas was born-and it is true that
Ahmad has the most remarkable nat
ural, catlike grace of any man / ever
aw. Of course he just pretended
he rest-his p~ropensities toward
creeping on his hands and knees. 1t
all lent toward the effect. He's a
mystic, / tell you-perhaps a believer
in the theory of ~reincarnation of
iouls; and hat dark, oriental mind
# his conceived an idea that | don't
think most Anglo-Saxons would have
wen thought Of.
"He knew he couldn't kill the
Haywards. That was murder, and
would defeat their own ends in that
t might draw attention to the past
life of Southley. He knew that
Southley couldn't satiate their rap
acious appetites. They would cling
and stick till the last cent was gone.
Southley bought those clothes-paid
for their cars. Other things were
planned for this winter. SO Ahmad
Das conceived of the desperate
scheme of soaring the Strumburgs-
or the Haywards as they called them
selves-from the estate by means of
the tiger legend.
"Ahmad Das had all the material
IN the world to work with. He
knew it when he thought out the
plan. This %jaguar-a tawny streak
in the jungle, and leaving tracks in
the mud-was of course his greatest
card. His own natural feline grace
and Hayward's naturally supersti-
tious nature were cards too. Wick
ed men usually are superstitious. OF
Ahmad couldn't get the jag
uar into the house; but it was a
matter to rig up that tiger
skin Every day he put a piece of
meat out on a certain flat rock on
the hillside. 1t wasn't human blood
and flesh you saw there. 1t was
good red beef; and Ahmad Das got
blood stains on his shirt carrying it
down there. And it wasn't any time
until they got that big cat so that
he sayed around the jungle at the
base of the hill. The inside work
couldn't be done in the bright light,
so it was necessary to pretend that
the lighting plant was broken. The
faint light of candles gave just the
proper atmosphere.
"Tm crazy about the whole
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