Under His Thumb — page 24: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

UNDER HIS THUMB. | Te Mr. Blain and the deputy coroner made simulta- neous signs to the policemen, which the latter failed to observe. Then the former himself sprang to in- tercept the foreman. He caught the latter around the waist; there was a momentary struggle, then Dyer flung off the grasp . of his employer and darted through the gate-way leading from the desk-room to the outer office. One of the policemen bounded in pursuit, and thus occurred the scene which had so mystified Steve Lawton, the young apprentice. Neither Mr. Blain, nor the coroner passed the guard at the entrance of the passage. They were confident the policeman would overtake the fugitive. ‘“What can the fellow mean? It cannot be that he is the guilty one! No, no!”’ It was Mr. Blain who said this, and his tones ex- pressed sudden anguish, for George Dyer was a trusted employee. At that moment his glance rested for the first time on the slender spectacled man, whose mysterious maneuvers had excited the curiosity of Steve Law- ton. This individual had left the window, and was in the act of passing through the railing gate-way, be- yond which lay the victim of the tragedy. Blain and the doctor followed. The latter said, in an undertone: “That is Croly, the new detective. Rather cranky they call him, but he has worked up one or two ex- traordinary cases, it is said.’’ They saw the spectacled man examine the revolver which had been taken from the hand of the corpse. Then he inspected the fatal wound, scanned the floor, the ceiling, and the walls in turn. (E(@) mn Gcomicbooks