WHITE LAUGHTER
A Dramatic Serial Story of Love and Sacrifice_of the dark knight
Carl and Bogo Clash in a Death Struggle for the Favor of Toto ....
INSTALLMENT ELEVEN
Work ceased in the field a little
earlier than usual that afternoon.
Carl went by the cabin where Hot
shot now lived with big Sally. He
found the little man, shoes off and
feet up on the porch rail, puffing
contentedly at his corn cob pipe.
“What cha say there, boy!” he
greeted Carl. “Fust time you bin
’roun’ my shack, ain’t it?”
“Better late than never,” Carl re
sponded pleasantly.
“What’s on yo’ min’, Carl?”
“Oh, nothing much.”
“You ain' kiddin’ me none,” Hot
shot responded.
“Well—I—I wondered what I should
wear tonight,” the youth explained
with a grin.
Hotshot Props a Hint
“Wear some overhalls lessen you
wants ev’vbody to shonuff think
you’s hinckty,” Hotshot suggested. "Is
yo’ lady frien' gwine be ’mongst them
present ternight?” he asked slyly.
“Well, she told me that she would.
I’m not taking her.”
“Humph!”
“She said that after that—”
Hotshot spat into the yard.
after that why she gonna be with
you.” he finished dryly. “I spect she
got to pick Bogo clean ’fo he goes. ’
“Is he going?” Carl asked in sur
prise.
“De Kunnel done tole him to leave
here arter de scronch case he’s mek
in’ whiskey and de Kunnel he don’
wan’ too much likker ’roun’ here,”
Hotshot explained. Then he added,
“You wants t’ be careful t’night. Bo
go think he got th’ best go with Toto,
and he'll be full a likker sides.”
“I’ll be on the lookout,” Carl prom
ised.
As dusk fell the youth bathed and
sh d with more care than he could
remember since his first date with
Antoinette in his junior year at col
lege. He had taken her to a fra
ternity dance, and had been highly
elated at the privilege because the
girl belonged to the set of which he
hoped to become a member.
He chuckled now as he viewed the
white shirt he had obtained that day
from the supply house. However, he
proceeded with his dressing with
great care. Not until his hair was
gleaming from a thorough combing
did he desist, and his preparations
completed, seat himself in the door
way to wait until things got going
in the scror.ch.
Carl is Nervous
He felt an odd bashfulness at Join
ing his fellow workers in a social way,
and he knew that the word had gone
around that he and Toto had become
lovers. Tonight would be his first
* appearance with her, and he thrilled
with something curiously like pride
at the thought. He tried to scoff,
telling himself that he was only go
ing to a plantation party, but the
quiet, throbbing happiness of expec
tation glowed steadily within him. He
felt as he thought a prospective
bridegroom must feel a few minutes
before his marriage to one dearly
loved. , .
When the strains of the banjos
and the shouts of merriment became
apparent, he arose and sauntered
very slowly through the woods. He
idled along the way much as a bash
ful small boy who dreads to make
his entrance at a party night have
done. The night was dark, and true
to the old woman’s prophecy, the sky
held a hint of rain.
WHAT OCCURRED IN THE LAST INSTALLMENT
Sfvss ssysst tarasr -"*■
Site„tK.S SaW?b^ncl*AUrf'&e plantation Sather aronnd. An oid lady
makes an ominous prophecy of rain. __
Breathing heavily, and
with the red urge for
blood burning through
him, Carl crept like a
jungle savage toward
his fallen foe.
At last Carl reached the scronch
ing grounds. Around the bright fire
many couples swayed in close em
brace as One-Eye and a companion
drew barbaric music from their in
struments. There was much laugh
ter and gaiety; much shouting and
rough play among the men.
Carl wandered through the dense
crowd seeking Toto with an eager
ness which he tried to hide. She was
not among those who danced, nor
was she among those who sat near
the fire eating the redolent viands.
The youth decided that she had not
yet arrived. He walked carelessly ov
er to the long tables, above which oil
lanterns swung, casting a flickering
light over the intent gamesters.
Someone moved away at the dice
table. Carl eased into his place and
stood for a few minutes watching the
play. Just as he was about to back
out of the crowd he raised his eyes.
and there, directly across the table,
was Toto, standing close beside the
giant Bogo. One of her arms was
around the big man, and she was
smiling up at him with a sweetness
which turned Carl sick with sudden
jealousy.
The sight of the woman for whom
he had conceived such a sudden, de
vastating love, standing beside Bogo
brought a rush of hurting disgust to
Carl. "Unsteadily he pushed back out
of the crowd without having been
noticed. For a few minutes he stood
motionless at the outer edge, sick
with jealousy. Hie feeling was new
to him. Never before in his life had
he known that he could be so affected
by what before he would have con
sidered an unimportant event. But
now it was important!
He strode away through the crowd
unseeingly, his heart bursting with
its sudden ache. He tried to t*’l him
self that he was being silly—was act
ing like a love-sick boy—but such
mental abjurations relieved him no
whit.
Around the fire the throng of dan
cers had increased. They formed a
dense, closely-packed mass of slowly
swaying couples who moved as though
in hypnotized rythmn to the throb
bing, barbaric strains of the muted
banjos. Welded together by the spell
of the music, their emotions whipped
I to a froth of desire, they seemed to
have forgotten everything, so en
grossed were they in the ecstasy of
the moment.
Carl watched them with bitter de
tachment, while in the back of his
mind he was trying to decide what
to do. He felt that he could do no
good by staying, and yet he was
loathe to go. He mulled the problem
over in his mind, but came to no de
cision.
Someone touched him on the arm,
and Hotshot’s cheery voice broke wel
comely into his frenzied thoughts.
“You looks like a lost sheep, Carl,”
the little man told him jovially.
“What ails you?’’
Carl shrugged his shoulders. “Guess
I’m just out of luck,’’ he muttered
drearily.
“Cause why?"
“Oh, Toto was to meet me here
tonight."
“An’ she ain’ here?”
“Yes, she's here all right,” Carl ex
plained with bitter resentment, "but
she's with Bogo over at the dice ta
ble.”
“Hush my mouf!" Hctshot exclaim
ed indignantly.
“Guess I’ll beat it on to my cabin.”
He faced his friend. “And I'm leav
ing in the morning!”
“I hates to leave my Sally," Hotshot
said with comic mournfulness, “but
ef you goes I goes too, pardner!”
“You're a brick, Hotshot,” Carl
cried, touched by his friend’s loyalty,
“but you mustn’t leave here just be
cause I do.”
“Say—lissen yere—why don’ you go
and ast Toto whut in tarnation she
mean by doin’ you like that?” Hot
shot suggested. “An’ ef that big
boogie man starts sumpin' why we’ll
try his jaw!”
Carl Plans Revenge
Carl pondered the idea. It appealed
to him because it would at least be
better than slinking off like a whip
ped cur.
“I got me a Smith and Wesson pis
tol, er ruther Sally’s got one. You
wait twill I runs down to my shack,
and then we shows Bogo sompin’!”
Hotshot cried. Before Carl could halt
him, he darted off eagerly through
the crowd at a rapid pace.
With a slow anger smouldering in
him, Carl made his way back to the
table, and pushed to a place-.opposite
where Bogo and Toto still stood en
grossed in the game.
Bogo was in possession of the dice,
and he was winning hugely. His
large, heavily lined face glistened
with perspiration, and his loud laugh
ter rang out triumphantly as he
raked a pile of bills and silver into
the mound of money in front of him.
Toto looked up and saw Carl. She
smiled quickly, and drooped one eye
as though to say: “Business before
pleasure,” but she was nervous. Her
agitation caused Bogo to glance up.
The big man smiled in malicious
triumph as he saw Carl’s hurt face.
He threw one of his tremendous arms
around Toto and pulled her to him
with an air of easy possession.
Up and down the table men halt
ed their gambling to watch this by
play. A whispered sibilance swept its
length, and a faint air of tension
caused the loud talk and cries to
CCftflC
“I see’s we got de weigher present
tonight,’’ Bogo said with a clumsy at
tempt at cutting sarcasm, and loud
enough to be heard by all at the ta
ble. “But I don’ spects he come heah
fo’ to gamble,” he added with a
glance at the woman at his side.
“Does you wants to shoot de
bones?” the gamekeeper asked Carl
respectfully.
Enters the Game
Carl’s hand was In his pocket, and
under the stress of his emotion he
had closed it upon the tight wad
of bills which represented his earn
Cea tinned rage Fire
UNDER WHAT ZODIACAL SIGN WERE YOU BORN? I
In this issue the Illustrated Feature Section begins a weekly astrological feature, conducted by “Phenomena,” one of the most distinguished
astrologists in the United States. Follow it every week and know yourself and your friends! (See p»ff« 5*