Under His Thumb — page 79: what you’re looking at

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

70 we UNDER HIS THUMB. “T didn’t say it was.’’? Then Croly added, after a brief pause: ‘‘I think you and I can do better than try to ‘pump’ each other.”’ “So we can. And another thing, while we’re talk- ing. This game must be played fairly. Neither of us wish to win by fraud; although I promise you that I shall give no points. You are a younger de- tective than I am. But age doesn’t count in this — business, any more than size does. If you win, it will be because of superior skill. If I am the victor, it will be the fruit of riper judgment and experience. Are you satisfied with this rating of our abilities?’ ‘‘T am satisfied.” | “Then good-night.’’ ‘“Good-night. ’’ They again clasped hands; and the next moment Croly knew that he -was alone in the passage. ~ He groped his way to the other end of the alley, and peered cautiously forth. As he did so, he saw something white, like a slip of paper, flutter past his face and alight at his feet. He stooped and picked up the object. It wasa narrow strip evidently cut from the ip of a newspaper. Hastening to an adjacent lamp, he examined the ~ slip. It bore the following ae in a coarse scrawl: ‘“‘T spin a web to catch fly-cops in. ‘““SPIDER.”’ Croly read the queer message; and_then pretended to study it closely by the light of the lamp. But in reality he was glancing upward through his spectacles at a small, dark, oval object that pro- - truded over the edge of a low, flat roof close at hand, comicbooks.co _s “a ~- ft . « ore i 3