10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 71: what you’re looking at

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

the pit of his stomach. Then it wandered up into his throat, like in- digestion. Like the lump in his throat when he first sneaked a quarter out of the teacher’s purse in school. Lefty wriggied uneasily. This was a new one on him. 3 ~- Concrete pillars made a gray blur outside the windows, then took on shape. They were at a station. Feet shuffled sileepily to the doors. Lefty’s heart did a pole vault into his throat. Would the pink old gent get out? Lefty looked anxiously. The wrinkled old eyelids half opened. The plump chin tried to rise. Then the old gent sucked in a deep breath, went back to sleep But what was this? The guard, a rawboned man with a tired face, was swaying toward them. And his eyes were boring into Lefty’s. Lefty swal- lowed apprehensively, tensed himself to make a dash for it. The guard planted big feet firmly in front of him. Lefty felt the hot blood rushing to his face, felt the two stolen wallets bulge like footballs in his hip pockets. And then the guard reached down to the floor, turned a valve handle. “Gotta keep the temperatoor legal,” he explained. Lefty slumped back weakly. Temperature—yes, it was a cold winter, Coldest in fifteen years, the papers said. And Florida was only a day’s journey away! Lefty could see eoconut palms and hibiscus flowers, feel the warm air from the Gulf bathe his face, see the swanky crowds promenading in front of the Roney Plaza. And then his eyes flickered up to the car card, and he saw the old man and the snake. Inside him, a small voice pleaded, “Let the old gent go, Lefty! Don’t be a snake!” But another little voice shrieked back, “Don’t be a sucker, kid! Get what you can, That’s what they all do!” Lefty shivered at the sound of RATTLESNAKE TECHNIQUE——-—_———_—-69 that nasty little voice. But he listened to it. Opposite him, a tired laborer slum- bered, chin cupped in his- hand. A young fellow in a leather jacket - chewed gum and read the ads. Nobody was watching. It was ideal. -Lefty gritted his teeth painfully, swallowed the last flickerings of con- science, crossed his hands on his chest, ready for work. The car hurtied through the tunnel. Twelve blocks to the next station, Lefty knew. The red-faced guard stared out the window. The rattle of the wheels became a roar. The cars pitched and swayed. The lights grew yellow, flickered. They were rounding a sharp curve. Clickety, clickety, click went the wheels. Clackety, clackety, clack rang the echo. Lefty’s forehead broke out in sweat. It was now, now, now! HE car lurched. The passengers swayed. Lefty tensed, leaned hard against the old gent, bent for- ward. Left hand under the coat lapel. Supple fingers sliding down to the breast pocket. Easy. Ah, they had it now. Fat. Easy. Lift it a few inches —now a lurch against the old gent. Ah, it was up his own sleeve. Lefty relaxed against the backrest. “Sorry,” he muttered, “sorry to. bump you.” But the old gent slept on peacefully. It was remarkable how he could sleep. And Lefty’s heart sang. There was a -train for Miami in two hours. No need to rush away. Wait a few minutes. Slip out at a crowded station. Pay a nickel. Take an express train the other way. Easy. There was a grunt by his side. Lefty’s tired heart skipped a beat. The old gent was rousing himself, rousing like a hippopotamus coming up from the bottom of a lake. The thin eyelids struggled. Lefty was paralyzed. But the watery blue eyes smiled apologetically at him, “Been nap- ping,” the old gent muttered..He thought a minute, reached nia § a