Adventure, July 1, 1928 — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

THE DUKE AND THE DUCATS “Just what do you mean?” he asked quietly. “Just that you do nothing, nothing at all, and say nothing, now or later. I agree to do likewise. We're alone. We can talk freely.” “Suppose I should tell you that Tex knows as much as I do?” Ivers’ face did not change. “MacDowell will not bother us.” -. It was said as coolly as if he were speak- ing of a business deal. Daly lounged against the desk. “T can’t afford to have my life ruined by this business,” he said calmly. “Pretty slick layout, worth a couple of hundred thousand dollars to you and Derringer, eh? Say, you must hate old man Mac- Dowell.” Ivers’ eyes were on his desk. “Fifteen years ago,” he almost whis- pered, “I swore I’d get him some day.” “What was the matter, and why doesn’t he know it? I should think—” It seemed that Ivers took warning. His eye lids raised suddenly. “None of your business. And re- member this: You can be shot and shot quickly as the identified murderer who tried to escape. Every excuse will be ours. You’re having a favor done you when we offer to let you go.” Daly moved like a striking rattlesnake. His gun came down on the head of that mound of unclean flesh, and Ivers slumped, unconscious. The Duke had learned all he could. And he had no doubt that neither he nor Tex would live to tell the tale if Ivers had his way. He ‘ had swapped his own knowledge to get at Ivers’ plans, and it behooved him to get out of Verona without delay. His plans were complete. scious man securely. He must take a chance on getting a start of a few minutes. He was not thinking of his per- sonal safety. He was thinking of Mac-. _ Dowell. He could climb the partition between the office and the storeroom outside. The c: A TRICE he had bound the uncon- 33 bandit had already locked the door, as a gesture to protect Ivers. Possibly no one would enter during the night. Derringer and his men were busy. ‘He turned out the light, after taking a gun out of the desk drawer, and scaled the partition with the aid of a chair. He walked out boldly, using the back way. He found a horse tethered to the rear of the building. That was lucky, saved him from borrowing or stealing one on the main street. A horse would make better time than a car. Circling the town only lost him a little time. He did not even see the main street, but he got the impression that a veritable mob of milling men were in excited con- clave along its entire length. Riding like the wind, he sped through the mesquite toward the field. He covered the two miles in a few minutes, and by that time his plan of action was settled in his mind. He rode toward the field behind the barrier of the canvas hangar and left his horse there. Undoubtedly those guards had been carefully instructed. Ivers must have figured on the possibility of the ship’s being used should Daly by any chance get free. They would have orders to keep him out of the air by some method or other. He ran through the mesquite toward the hangar. The noise of drills, working within a quarter of a mile of the field, drowned out any sound he might make. He got to the back of the canvas hangar, which seemed to have one light in it. As he crept around to the corner, the De Haviland came into view. Four men were sitting around it, plainly visible in the moonlight. “A couple of ’°em must be flyers,” Daly thought. They were not more than fifty feet from the front of the hangar, if that. “Thank God I brought the other gun,” he thought as he got it out. Both guns cocked and ready, he broke into a run. “Put up your hands!” he shouted, “Don’t make another move!” The surprise was complete. He looked comlicloooks.com