Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

~ 680 “I don’t want to know anything about him!” cried Amalie desperately. ‘Well, if you are too sensitive to probe, I’m not!” Swift announced warmly. “TI shall see him and—” But even a mouse, cornered, will turn. Tf her own fears as to the status of her new lodger had not grown along with his own, she might not have asserted herself. But her very guilt gave her courage. It was her own house, after all, and although the mysterious stranger might be everything that the literary light had implied, he ad paid. “ But I’m sure you’re wrong, Mr. Swift. IT know he’s all right—quite. He mustn’t be bothered. He expressly said he didn’t want to be bothered.” “He did!” Philip Swift set his thin lips grimly. ‘‘ Well, that convinces me. For- tunately I’m sensible of my responsibility toward you. You may put this out of your mind. J shall attend to that gentleman!” With this vague but terrifying threat, he left her. Her lips were set stubbornly and a latent belligerence was in her eyes. But that scene was only the prologue to what was to follow. The debonair Carl was rabid. How he had heard of the mysterious stran- ger Amalie could not guess. “It’s preposterous!” he cried. ‘‘ Why didn’t you wait until I came home? For all we know, he may be an escaped convict or one of these Broadway bandits looking for a place to hide his loot.” “But I’m certain he’s not!” she pro- tested. “ Well, we'll soon find out. He probably thinks you’re alone — unprotected. He’k soon know better!” His exit gave the hovering Charlie Dew his cue. “My gosh—how do you know he ain’t a second story man just getting a layout of the house so he can make a haul here?” he demanded wrathfully. “But I’m sure he’s not!” firmly. ‘““What’s the guy’s name, anyway?” ‘* {—I don’t know.” “You don’t know!” He tore up the stairs, pounded peremp- torily on Carl Howe’s door. she said ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. ‘‘ She don’t even know his name,” he an- nounced. “ Who—what—-” “The guy that’s taken the ean room.” “ What’s this?” Philip Swift’s lean figure loomed in his doorway. “She doesn’t even know his name,” Carl took it from the agitated wire man. “You don’t mean—” Philip’s face was a mask of horror. “Nor anything about him,” contributed Charlie Dew. ‘‘ T suppose he intimidated her,” observed Carl thoughtfully. ‘‘ She’s such a little softy!” the wireman said with a reminiscent smile. But it’s outrageous!” blurted Philip. “He can’t get away with it,” declared Charlie Dew vehemently. “One of us will have to see him,” Carl added importantly. 3 * Or all of us,” appended Philip. may be a hardened criminal.”’ “Yeh,” the wireman agreed lightly, “but he’s an old boy. She said so.” ‘““But he may ‘have confederates,” sug- gested the cautious Philip. “Td like to know when we'can get hold of him. He'll probably sneak in and out at all hours,” Carl said thoughtfully. “We'll have to lay for him,” predicted the wireman. “We might inform the police,” proposed Philip hopefully. ‘“‘ But we ain’t got nothing on him yet,”’ Charlie reminded him. » : “ Best thing to do is wait and break into his room some night, get some evidence and then turn him over to the police,” Carl Howe decided portentously. ‘ But in the meantime he might rob the place or break into Mrs. Ladd’s room some night and—and murder her in her bed,” prophesied Philip Swift with some asperity. ** Thing for me to do,” the wireman re- solved, “is to put a push button at the head of her bed, connect it with a bell in niy room.” “That might protect her at night, but she’s all alone in the daytime,” Carl re- membered anxiously. ‘“* Well, we'll have to sort of keep tabs on the house,’ Charlie decided. L_] Eomichooks “ He (S@)