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t V •« y 'i m/ ' 4 t ‘ r ’ THIS BA1 BAKNWELL, SOUTH CAHOUMA ■ 1 it . JCtT tM . A- pm 3^t ^ EgzJaET ^OWn/ r'C VJUtt^ C.4^^1of TtjEltt t tDo^T MAVTJE- &2-^ I^C ^ILLV l >r •>> t. 3fCW- low Co^t !Ut £VE.1?S fAWt^ATf^V O'PTIHIS'T 15, VKM‘ IF 1*T5E4ikJ To "B E- c»JE.Tcx;/ X*AFF-? v Onc;i\*o>T-4*U^ Tou'?,T »^£l — TDom’t Jm-tettrutt t-He. Coukit maw—' CU«Mt, nime.trkj, OUT t SmatTi (i S6MATTE-1 "Poi^ r. SWAMP MicKael J. PMllipt Iilu4tratlonf fcy H«my Jty bmm Copyright MieKft«l V. PKillip* •A thru ruMlahara Autooajtar S*rvio* v • L"- v « CHAPTER I A FtUI Basakut 14 Another kttjtle drink wont do us any harm!” r 9 Tka two young man in the smail Oar aaug H togatkar, a ready tenor baritone. They we,-t> tent of tragedy. He waa trembling He made throe attempts to start car before he succeeded. The road at this print curved rather sharply as it followed the edge of the bluffs so plat little waa visible in frot but the taU trees. , They had proceeded but a short ing. they had i the “Running a stumbled to the ground, booze-truck, and without keep 'sober. See iy to their home tcwn. The hour was 1C «'clock spring evening. A moon filtered by thin fDumined tnb-coad naming well-lftmbered bluff lands. Eilow and at the right, the river shone with a subdued light. It could ha heard splashing about the rocks In the rapids. f The driver oi the title car brought K to a stop In the road. He had tkrit hair and eyas and regular fea- taras. Ha waa considered good looking, though there was weakness hi hia eyas and about the loose set of /j® “Come Across with that bottle,Fc- dU,'* ha commanded. He placed his hand against the side of the other’s |Baw hand and pushed violently. He was boiaterious and a title malicious. “Quit it. you nut!” commanded Edhon Forbes, knocking the other’s hand doom sharply. He produced a flask irom-tlM^4ower, outside pocket 9i his coat It was a litle over half full. He passed it to the other, who ctook it eagerly, he removed the cork, tilted the botle. The liquor gur- fcM down his throat Fwbadvjirkad it away. “Hey, what** the matter with you?” he half-laaghing, half-vexed. to-the* sflWie 'bT-ffie accident TA southbound truck was well on the wrong side of the road. It was in coUjiaion with a touring-car which, in an effort to avoid the trackpad dropped into a ditch which bisected the roadway. The ditch was planked only across the narrow surface of the built-up highway at this point The truck had forced the car down ward and back, so that its rear wheels wore in the ditch. The truck had partly telescoped it. The msmive wheels and forward end rested on the crushed in bonnet of the car. AM this Forbes and hn companion aaw as they stopped their own car and made a hasty survey. The moon had temponuiify conquered the clouds and now shown brightly. They I saw thsk the driver of the car, a woman, was dead. She had been crushed between the back of the car and the steering-wheel. She still sat upright, the nose of the truck against her body. — The driver of the truck was in his plaice. His arms were on the steer ing-wheel. His head rested on his arms. The truck windshield had been broken. This was the only dam age to the heavier vehide. It loomed, a shapeless bulk, under its closely fastened tarpaulin. The body of the truck - was tilted, from sense enough to lu what you’ve done?” He jefied the man roughly about so that he could see the havoc his reckless driving had created: The jfcle car, partly under the tnickj and voured by the ruthless moheter astride it: and the body in the tele scoped seat. “You’ve killed that woman.” Forbes looked at the driver savage ly. Libbey’g eyes opened wide. His jawe sagged spoilt. His nose, broken and twisted in some pest brawl, threw a grotesque shadow across his face. He backed away from the sight that Forbes’ hands forced him to look upon. “Lemme go, Eddie,” he urged huskily. “Lemme get aiway from here!” ' , Forbes was sinewy and strong. He was very little <taller than the driver and much lighter, but he held the bulbous Libbey easily. “Get away!” he echloed contemjgousty. “You’ll get away with about ten years for manslaughter. They’d ought to hung you!” - % v- . CHAPTER 2 The other’s shoulders slumped sul lenly. >His brief struggle bad reveal ed, apparently, that escape was impos sible. He was an employee of a booze-ring which was smuggling con- trabrand liquor into the United States by the shipload, and so was admit tedly within the shadow of the law. Forbes himself had, only an hour drivej gone. “Someone’s comang, 1 ' an nounced Forbes. ^That’s a car climbing Waterman’s hill. Move the flivver to ope side, kid, so they can drive up/’ He retained his grip on the driver of the booze-truck. The dark-eyed youth climbed his car. There was no passing left, or easit, side, since the ditch was* there, and the vehicles in collision. But on the 'right side one might with care negotiate The crest of /the bluff. > This the young man did, driving urgently but carefully until he wag in the highway on the Scottdale side. There was a level space a few rods below where he might have parked. But he did not stop there. Instead, the engine whirring ur gently, he wheeled to the left into a byroad. This connected with the main highway, a mile to the east He turned off the light as he fled. The moon furnished sufficient il lumination and the way was reason- Forbes' Up curled at his compan ion’s cowardice. He made a quick inhalation, as if to shout, but thought better of it. After all, the fellow might as welle go. Thor would be explanations to make. The fewer to tell how they came to be on the river road that night the better. Scottdale was a small and Puritanical city that hated* and loath ed the booze traffic and illegal drink ing. It visited its displeasure on those who drank. His companion was safely away when the Ught of the ear which had shone a few moments before sumjounted the hilL He turned his head to watch its approach, and the next instant was on his back in the deep ditch. Libbey had no re lish for facing trial for taking a hu man life. He had struck with sur prising quickness and force, con sidering his rolypoly body and his semi-drunkenness. Fear had so bered him; that was evident from the the speed he showed getting sway. He ran across the road. As Forbes scrambled up he plunged recklessly over the side of the steep bank toward the river. It was a long and steep descent, but one not particularly perilous. The surface was grassy and soft with the melt- of fists and bullets is all that keeps them at all faithful. Savage sdf-comtempt possessed Forbes. This tragedy had ended the temporary extylaraifion of the adnotyli he had co/hsmned. His' knees trembled; his stomach rose. Pandering to his cursed appetite had lighted the powder-train that ended in this—the snuffing out of a useful and blameless life. The car from the south had ( drawn up and stopped, unheeded by him. He was deep in his own whirlwind. He drew the bottle from his pocket and hurled it into the ad joining field. A shining arc was cre ated that glittered in the moonbeams and in the light of the automobile. A grave, bearded man, dressed in the garb of a farmer, left the ve hicle and approached him. ^The new comer was followed by a younger man, from his general resemblance to the other, his son. .“What’s thia?” de manded the man with the beard. He aJl right. But 1 haven't **m*m^ m oy*\ at % blood- driver but phone and head him off before he jumps a traSm” The two men considered. The Kxlder turned to his companion and said: “Stephen, you go over there and find what hethrew away.” The youth climed the rail fence. His , search was brief; the bottle was easily seen against the brown earth of the field. He handed it accu singly to his father. “You’ll have to come with me,” said the elder, coldly. “I’m Con- stable of Weston Highlands township. “Why should I go with you?’* asked Forbes, in surprise. “You just threw away a half of a bottle o’ liquor. You’ve been drinkin’. And your face is all bloody. I'm/^ \ going to turn you over to the eheriffV as the driver of the truck.” “But J told you—’k began Forties, ^ impatiently. “Yes. And if you find the man you said has run away, then you’re seen an y stained face of Forbes. “A booze-runer ran into that car and killed the woman,” was the dull reply. He was still hearing the cla- mor only of hoe own mental battle field. The two men surveyed the wreck verified his assertion, and came back to confront him. ‘Where’s the driver?” asked the spokesman. Forbes waved hia hand toward the west, “He ran away just be fore you came. We better tele- (CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.) Wm. McNAB rax, HEALTH AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE COMPANIES. Parma! attention given all burtnaa offlea in Harrison Block, Main Bt & C cm j/roraarS'*? I n Ho raised the bottle and looked at it femarously, trying to determine the •xaet quantity' against the moon. “Come home <to your drunken old fntlMr!” was his tfddrasa to the bot tle. He too tilted it The liquor was Canadian whiskey, tat n reproach to the name when oooapared to that imported before the paesage of the Eighteenth Amend ‘nwttk For this had been manufac- « * » • « tured for an illicit, eager, not too di*- 'Omninating trade. It had passed through several hands before import ation. Each middleman had done aotnerthdng to cheapen and degrade •, It before passing it on.. ^ The stuff was strong wWj the strength of vitriol and it lapped at the throat and stomath-linti'ng like Xqttid fins. The young men gasped sad coughed, the barbaric stuff brought welter to their eyes, and all tag choked them. There was an in stant and savage kick to it. “little close harmony now, old the ckrk youth, Forbes on the shoulder, ig into a favorite of the quartets: “Farwwel, ftuwwell, tny own true sobered by the spectacle! He stood by and wrung his hands ineffectively. Forbes climbed into the seat of the truck and raised the driver’s head. The man opened his eyes. It was apparent that he was partially dazed we th the shrouding canvas, and sell ham a bottle from its contents. “What’ll ipflored the earing from the upset to his nerves; “try to get her out?” “We can’t until help comes,” but few prejecti nr ^' r ‘ 5 do, .> Eddie?” im dark-haired youth, shiv The moon had temporarily conquered the clouds and now shone brightly. They saw that the driver of the car, a woman, was dead. a > farewell—” nteatn of mortal then a crash and H cut across the song illy. * queried the tenor, ahead,” “Ufc’a r>.” by the por- by the shock. But there was raw liquor on his breath. “Wha’s the matter?” he mumbled, stupidly. “I thought so!” snarled Forbes. Ha (turned to his companion. “It’s Scoots Libbey. I bought our booze from him at Burley.” Retaining his grip on the man’s collar he becked off the sea/t, dragging the bulky, feebly resistant libbey with him.' “You fool!” he baid fiercely, when returned Forbes. The river road was little used, except by the few farmers living along it. That is the reason the booze truck, making the long run to Detroit, had chosen the byway. These arjuiems avoided chance encounters whenever possi ble. “The coroner must see this jam before we move anything.” A light flashed through the tops of the trees above them and was rocks. The river at this point was not formidable^ The broken white water of the rapids was swift but no* very deep. « Even as he stood on the brink and peered after the hurtling figure, Forbes visualized the man’s destination—across the river to the railroad only two miles beyond where from one of the small towns nearby, he could catch a train that would land 'him in Detroit or Chi- cagoi He decided that it was not worth while to chase the fugitive. • The telephone would be faster and surer than his own. legs. A message 4a^ * Lancaster and Loomis would re sult inevitably in Libbey’s being picked up. .* He turned back to the wreck. He tried to wipe the blood from his face. "But his nose was bleeding co piously from the chauffeurV blow and he succeeded only in smearing it about considerably. He felt a sense of responsibility for the accident. It was evident that the driver had de cided to 'become hig own customer. But thia waa only after Forbes had persuaded him to break into the case of whiskey at Burley. A restraint bad been removed when the guard had N habitually traveled with the truck. Barney Oik had been taken ill and compiled to go to bed at Burley. This left Scoots Libbey in sole charge of the cargo. And moral laws have little force with the drivers of booze track? By the very nature of their calling they are not of high calibre. Fear ER:- Fte- _ .-S’ ™ *■ " -i pleasant, harmless Sub stitute for Castor OH, Paregoric, Teething Drops and Soothing Syrups, especially pro pared for Infants in arms and Children all ages. To avoid imitations, always look for the signature of Proven directions on each package. 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