Time justified his faith, in a small way, and now McGuire's store was
famed for leagues and leagues about, for he dared to take chances with
all manner of novelties, and the curious, when their pocketbooks were
full, went to McGuire's to find inspiration.
Business was dull this night, however; there was not a single patron
at the bar, and the store itself was empty, so he went to put out the
big gasoline lamp which hung from the ceiling in the center of the
room, and was on the ladder, reaching high above his head, when a
singular chill caught him in the center of his plump back and radiated
from that spot in all directions, freezing his blood. He swallowed the
lump in his throat and with his arms still stretched toward the lamp
he turned his head and glanced behind.
Two men stood watching him from a position just inside the door. How
they had come there he could never guess, for the floor creaked at the
lightest step. Nevertheless, these phantoms had appeared silently, and
now they must be dealt with. He turned on the ladder to face them, and
still he kept the arms automatically above his head while he descended
to the floor.
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