WHEN THE EMPIRE CRASHED

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12753, 24 September 1919, Page 4

WHEN THE EMPIRE CRASHED

►J« By ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT

4, , Author of A .mi. ' 1 was Czar ” Sf. £ The Man Without a Memory.'* T Y otc., stc. J *s• . Y*. *s*

CHAPTER, SSVI. A FIGHT FOE “ THE WGiIAX.” pa-fed r in Se r ttinS oUt of the touse 1 parsed to recover my wind. T was all 0 pieces q.s the result of the 'stnm' T l Q and was still a little dizzy and sfee" humdn at d U:ig h ;‘ rd lvhcn Pravik cmho httle di?+?n' IVn T h6 St2eet - at a T 9 distance by some half-dozen men I was telling him what had occurred and to r £ - ) VlleU t , ho otb ™ came up, J? my l“tonse chagrin one of them Lt red-haired ruffian, Garski,, who f°, ae bls ° est to make trouble for 1216 112 the priaOJi to doTuoT V# tilat 516 intended 1 So you want to da'tuQ leader, do you?” he siwerod as be swaggered up. as ha " Th r ? ru }. °° neod to talk in i way, Garski, said Ivravik. “I +<> id him r U 1 had , bee o arrested and c him to do what he’s done.” Afind vf„ ,ließr £ ay . Same, curse von. Alind iour own business another t e he cried fiercely. r tai “ e ’ “ D^vl qU . eerins youx same, man.” 1 m l tf ° get * UTi oi ifc with lies, von Im V 6 - , A ha th ” dsv il are to +v Z ° S Q °w> to say who’s to have this or that woman? This h f e 1S mine”; and be flunk ®. towards tho house; ” and I’d Use to s» tho man »ho &’«, to to., f " to look. Gar. a d„ic e S “ii e “ 0 d f ff 1? ,£j S . andtt?m he 3mi of th = “use and the men came out with Avola Jr 18 created a diversion. The police uniforms ronsed the men to {“yanl UVr“‘ - "-Ik. had at feato?? *£ kicSd 'S co "‘ r H’ ***& *>A .Si.; 11 generally rough-handled in Str ng w^ Meanwhile Avola had rushed- back the house, followed bv Gar-ki Kravik, and ono or two other- Si when I could get in. she l-£ X a ened raC T ag I the i U T ith her revolver i, i i 1 shut, the front door behind * o J US] T e + d throU S b to where GarI Stood. It was-to be a‘ tu«l« hi. or Ce ?ll' IS hif n ? lt - Was a S° od omen*that .Or ail bi s cursing and budvinv &e S ’ I nkf d mort t- Iy / fraid sbe would -wihl \ yed °S. hls fear at once. Gar-Sif?aid S “ y hcre land 1 and now, woman, and so do I cdaim ! fc Ws good hv t-ii-i-nr, °i y f Q he your claim gooa oy taking her now.” rented h f llad no stomach for the nsk

igSIS^S “ e ed. ” y Z r m afra L d ’ f*y *>>'’ 1 taunt. n>eU enough to'' hit vou uWlumrod coward,” I add J b^h aud S addcd sa ?’ M he shouted. QfalJ .rWet.. 10 " of P r °fane abuse ■ -natocrats in senenT Gnri la-,-,!/-, in partirnloT tu- stuera i an d Avola rniKn U Ihl!5 was intended to louse the temper of the rest and tv^ ( the men murmured in approval ,/°i th ® deuce with all that,” i i- iiot^ Urniß r. them viciously. “This Ivent Gar ? W mrl ■» ,, ’;i.M l ufisassiu myself a 5 fv oslor's tae victim of Avola’s tren betrayal, and to base mv claim mull. \ la niora] groundfS miirder and mstifiable revenge For the benefit of my audience 1 lauded the speech with oaths a* freely aa Garski could have done and coS I .m/w 7 to a burlesous of his I out-heroded Herod in vulgar blaphemy to impress the men; but at the same time I 'disgusted Avola'' who winced and tremWld at my every curse I- S i P l aiu that, like the rest X smi'-v* «« ss rhrn-if IS -I '? : -6 desperate cut-tnroc-fc and foul-tongued ruffian mv la n™ a„d mannel suggest Garski himsair was quite a« .-n-nb 'inff' ea t C< ? aS res f ad finding I < oul d autfopt him m profanity and vioi’-it nd hls manner underwent' a ■ cattily change, “Now, Garski i you ve got tho pluck of a imme go \n • e , tlle woman aou say j a Vu ,r rs ’ oned < contemptuously. ,V ’ J “ Get her weapon'' away from her for he growled. ’ ( dhat s just what I do mean.” I hen qo it yourself.” 1 the challenge aWir. me that rsvolv T er ” T +„ i v stepped forward a pace or twj" to tSS ae° U ' d It a f d i wlthoEt the rest hearing elle Von 3 r OIU - 7 , ciia nce, mademoinan’s a rtevi? “ t i n - at - yourself - This nv ■ if 1 whispered, as I p U r •n> foot on the stairs. > J-e hesitated; but my exhibition of , ffiuiikmpias too recent for her belief * my dss i re to befriend her. The wea Sd rs S nf ; f L lev f ed + Iraisht1 raisht Z lading She retreat€d t0 the-hali-i a i sD n KSe f ed; and “ it was evi™at my chance of saving her do midca upon success, I np X 4. ras dead silence for the mment; but when I was half-wav up, anl'clo^^ g +w her tactics suddenly tohetS Sd m " 2zle ot tbs leTOlre '' “ ttr6e: gm - If you’ll give that up to me, I can save you. For God’s sake!” I whi° pared earnestly. << hrst,” she said firmlr. i , tetter so than fall into his pSsri b "eV s^. d ° " othiDE if J™' the space of perhaps a minute. “As 1; ' J said I loudly enounli to reach the others, and. with a shrug of Btr e n i Uld b , pret . ended to give up the Btruagie, as if t<) gQ down _ Biotinf r l ? tc !- trap, and with a °f relief slightly lowered the weaP°n. The next moment I rushed up and. gripped her hand. IShe pulled the out the bullet went wide, and the revolver fell to the floor. A shout from the rest greeted mv success; and under cover of it I said what I could to reassure her and urge h®v to keep up a pretence of struggling. With a great parade of bmt<uity, 1 dragged her down to the hall, ineaning to take her straight out .of the bouse, but Garski stopped that. Now that she was no longer armed, he plucked up courage again, renewed his claim, blustering something about my having cheated him. I stood this for a moment, at a loss what to do, and presently one of his friends muttered a suggestion that We should fight fob her. He liked this: a big, strong brute, he thought he could easily settle me; and when I hesitated and.Kravik declared it wasn’t fair, he replied with a sneer about my being afraid. A second’s consideration showed that it . would b© th© best way out of the thing, and,.as the room at the back of the house was unfurnished and big .enough for a fight, I agreed, and accepted bis condition that the winner Should,; have “ the woman.”

Two of the men stayed to see that Avola didn’t escape, and the others followed us into the back room. Big as he was, I was pretty confident that it I could prevent his closing, I could lick him, and there was space enough to dodge his rushes. He was just as confident, being convinced that if he could once get a clinch, he could squeeze the life out of me, his opened with a furious rush to grip me; but 1 slipped aside and drove my fist against nis ear as he passed with a punch which sent him staggering against the wall. Roaring out curses, lie came at me again, ibis time with Ms head down, his big arms spread like the sails of a windmill, and I let him hove- one on the back of his nead with all the force I could put into it. -Down he went all asprawl, and, as lie cadn t rise at once I hoped he had But he got up; and as he tried to keep one hand concealed I knew he had had enough. drawn his knife. He crouched like a wild boast preparing to spring, but I saw the haft of the knife in his hand,