The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1937-10-20

avoided. He could hear the MUIR
muir Of the crowd gathering at the
top of the street.
Neill tried to edge little further
away under cover of the dark. The
man heard him and fired again.
Neill ran for some yards in zig
gag course and dropped again. The
man had him pretty well placed
now, and came creeping towards
him, close to the ground. Neil
figured that he would have either
two or four shots left in his mag
azine.
"Here / am" Neill said, to draw
his fire again.
But he only kept creeping closer.
From far away Neill heard the
sound of a changing gong, rapidly
drawing near. S o m e b o dy had
phoned for the police. A new
anxiety attacked him, for he
couldn't afford to face an investi-
cation, even though he was the
innocent victim.
The police car stopped at the
head of the street. The crowd be-
gan to move down slowly. Neill
arose and ran again. The man fol-
lowed without attempting to shoot.
Neill could hear his hoarse breath
ing. NELL collided with an invis-
ible wire fence, and was flung back
on the ground. The man was
almost on him. There was no help
for it now. Rolling oyeT. NELL took
aim at his legs and fired. The man
stumbled forward and, falling
almost within NeilTs reaen, lay
there grooming. The gun had flown
out of his hand.
Barbed Wire Helps
NELL ran on as fast as he could
l y down the hill, parallel with
the fence. The police were now
spreading over the humnocky
ground. They had flashlights. They
were moving cautiously. A wild
anxiety lent Neil speed and sure
ness. If he were taken, everything
would be wrecked. Just as he was
beginning TO see light ahead.
The police heard him running
and began to spread down hill to
cut him off. Neill put his hands
on a fence post and, vaulting clear
Of the wire, ran straight away.
His pursuers were less nimble
in getting over the fence. He heard
them cursing as their uniforms
caught on the barbs, and he
gained on them. He then had the
notion of doubling and creeping
back towards the fence, lower
down. He wormed his way down
hill close to the fence until he
was stopped by a stream at the
bottom. Meanwhile the police
were searching the open ground
above.
He climbed the fence again and,
making his way upstream for a
short distance, came to a group of
dark buildings, a mill of some sort.
There was a dam over the stream
with a footway. He crossed it, and
struck into a road that climbed
the hill on the other side. Soon he
was among the streets of another
poor quarter Of the town. Abso-
lutely quiet over here. Across the
little valley he could see the flash
lights moving back and forth like
firefiies.
He kept straight on until he had
risen out of the slun1s into a better
quarter. Upon coming to a wide
suburban road, he turned into il,
heading towards town. Presently
a taxicab came bowling along,
having delivered a fare in the
suburbs. Neill hailed il and, sink
ing back in the seat. thanked God
for his luck,
He changed taxis once on the
way into town to battle possible
pursuers. He was still in some
anxiety because he could not tell
what the wounded man might say
to the police. Not the truth, any
how. To be on the safe side, he
kept away from his usual hauntS
and made no attempt to COMMUNE
cate with Mattingly who was still
waiting for him at the midtown
garage. gIa nay
In a drugstore on North avenue,
Neill took possessions of a booth.
and started phoning. From the vel
low pages Of the phone book it
was easy to establish that the only
banana importer in Baltimore who
ran his own ships was one A.
LanasSa. Neill called him up at
his home. and an Italian-American
voice answered. It was Mr.. Lanas-
sa himself.
After giving him an agreeable
spiel. Neill asked him who his
lawyer was.
The voice turned wary. "Whatl
! got ell kinds Of lawyers"
Well. who are they2"
mo information given over the
phone. Come and see me in the
morning. He hung up.
This was a setback. but not
fatal one. Neill had other leads 10
follow. He did more telephoning
and 4 satisfied grin began 70
spread over his face. The last
number he called was that given
him by Johnny Tingstrom, the
taxi-driver who had once shown
himself his friend He was obliged
to wait beside the booth until
Johnny came in from a trip and
called him.
fcssssas. 1857. = Rsaksrt Fses.s-1
Neln xets shock when he re-
tNsns 70 the AhFaham Eszessa.