Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 28, 1928 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

440 letter to old man Hamilton had been written. Now he stood on the sidewalk in front of the great Atlas Building, his opportunity ahead of him. Though it was an extravagance he could ill afford, he hailed a taxi. “To Fotheringham’s,” he told the driver. “And I’m in a hell of a hurry.” A few moments later he burst into Mr. Fotheringham’s outer office, kissed Jane, much to the amusement of the office boy, and sat on the edge of her desk, scattering Mr. Fotheringham’s private correspondence to the four winds. “ Hamilton saw me,” he said. “ He has given me a chance. Oh, Jane!” And he gripped both her hands tight- ly in his. “ Look here, let’s get out of this. Come to lunch.” “ But, my dear boy, I can’t go to lunch for an hour yet. Office rules.” “ ‘To the devil with office rules. I’ve got to talk to you. Tell ’em your grand- mother died.” “ But, Barry—” “Tane, it’s a really big chance. I’ve got to talk to you about it.” She got up from her chair with a smile. “T’ll probably lose my job.” . “ What of it? Jane, in a few weeks we'll be rolling in wealth.” Out on the street he hailed another cab, despite Jane’s protests. He gave the address of a restaurant some dis- tance away. “ But why should we go there, Bar- ry?” she asked. Her hand was clasped tightly in his as they settled back in the seat. “ About a year ago,” he explained, “IT met you and we went to this place for scrambled eggs. Remember? That was an epoch. “To-day marks another epoch, and we're going to have scrambled eggs at that same table if I have to bust some one on the nose!” Fortunately the table was vacant. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. After he had ordered, Rand lit a ciga- rette and leaned eagerly forward to tell his story. He told her about his talk with Ham- ilton, about the fur robberies, about Morris Korbeck, the man who was too clever for the police force. “Tt was the greatest opportunity that could have come my way,” he said enthusiastically. “I’m not fitted for any business, Jane. I haven’t had the necessary training, and I haven’t any aptitude for it. I loathe it. “ But Dhave a normal amount of in- telligence, and I have plenty of nerve. (’'m going to beat this bird Korbeck if it takes a leg. And then—” “But, Barry dear—’ There were little lines of worry about Jane Camp- bell’s eyes. “ There’s danger. It’s not going to do us any good if you get yourself killed.” Rand thought it unnecessary to em- phasize the danger element. “Nonsense,” he said. “ I’ve stood up against a battery of anti-aircraft guns, and I’ve had a run-in with a machine- gun nest. You don’t think a bunch of East Side housebreakers with pea shooters and lead pipes are going to worry us, do your” Jane was silent for a moment, think- ing. ‘Barry, how are you going to get this man Korbeck ?” “IT haven’t made any plans yet. I came straight to you. Of course I'll have to go down and get the lay of the land.” “But see here,” Jane objected, “just watching him won’t do you any good. From what you’ve told me, both the police and the honest furriers know he’s the cause of their trouble, but they can’t get anything on him. Isn’t that true?” Rand nodded. “You'll have to worm into his or- ganization somehow and find out what the flaw is in his operations.” “Good idea,” agreed Rand. “ But it would be difficult for an in- COMMCOOOKS (C@