Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 82: what you’re looking at

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

~ ane. 552 That was one thing the man who had stolen his unicorn didn’t know about him —nor did the police. if the police had known—if they had started in to analyze the contents—Arthur was sure they would have known much more about him than they did now—and equally sure he would not be in the chair, facing a .dimpling young Jady in-a dim light. She suddenly re- marked-in her indescribably piquant way: “Well, Sir Scientist, what have you to say: for yourself since I last talked at length with you?” “A lot more than I can tell you,” said Arthur. <“‘So I won’t begin at the begin- ning. PH begin with my bag. It was awfully kind of you—to put it very mildly and unscientifically—for it was clever as well as kind for you to switch the things in it, just before those men popped in on I don’t know how to thank you.” Felice leaned nearer. “If you'll get the things now,” said Ar- thur, trying to bridge over the grisly pho- tograph and its sinister connection with the secrecy of his employment, “ Ill give you back the other things—the boxing gloves, you know, and the broken fan. _ Then, to-morrow, Pll develop your picture.” More than a mild wonder touched her celestial lips. “Excuse my slang, my dear boy, but what in the world are you raving about? T didn’t see your bag—except when you came in. -And I’m sure I saw that Lyons man taking it with him when you were dragged. out. it!” I don’t know a thing about CHAPTER XIX. % - PERPLEXITY RAMPANT! Zo can say what you like,” averred _ Detective Lyons, when the inner ~ door closed upon himself, Cassidy ae the captain in charge of the miracle department, leaving Arthur Tower smok- ing in the anteroom just before his release, “ somebody besides-that guy out there is in on this. Somebody’s horned in on our game. Now, how could they— when even he didn’t know we was after ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. him so hard, and had been after him all night, and was ahead of him, when he got down to that gal of his?” He waved the broken ivory fan, as if he were Marc Antony, with exhibit A of the assassination of Julius Cesar, addressing an invisible. Roman populace. Cassidy gloomily picked up “ Who’s Who in Eu- rope.” Europe was nearly three thousand miles away—or thereabouts. The captain grinned. “You got your mam without getting much evidence. It’s no crime to have box- ing gloves. Now, Bill,” he chaffed the fretful Lyons, “ 2 you'd only thought to have planted a pair of ‘ knucks’ on him, like in the old days, it would be a clear case of open-and-shut. . You overlooked a bet. Tom, here, didn’t ask me for any evidence last nights. -Only wanted me to locate the fellow that owned a handkerchief. And you both told me that the tip was hot, didn’t you?” “Let me look at them reports,” gloomed Lyons. “ Ain’t there something that you can hang a charge onto in all that stuff? He must ’a’ been a busy guy. Whaddy know about that, Tom?” He pointed to the typewritten sheets, — _ “ That’s the trouble, boys,” smiled the captain. “ He’s always been a busy boy. If he wasn’t knocking all the theorems out of old man Euclid, he was running a mile in almost a record time; or showing up Hal Chase at the spot-one bag on the Schofield nine; or putting tittle niggers into some new soap in the Crescent laboratory that no emancipation proclamation can reach, they’re so small. Willing little niggers, too, according to what his boss says.” Lyons reddened. “ What are we going to do? We can’t go into court with any cock-and-bull story like we had to tell you, captain. They’d break us and send the three of us out among the goats. look like goats, don’t we?” ““'There’s only one thing to do,” said the captain. “Turn him loose. Then we'll throw the net over and around him. He'll probably go back to the girl. It surely looks as if he was up to something.” - “How do you figure that?” asked Cas- sidy, brightening up. Ol And we — cS (E@) ECOMmicboo