Argosy All-Story Weekly, July 7, 1928 — page 103: what you’re looking at

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

NOW WE'RE RICH. threatened with criminal trial. As yet the stock was untouched. ‘The climax was reached for Henry when, arriving home, he found no Laura and no mes- sage. He was calling the _ police station when he heard a car stop out front. ——___—__+-_—-- = CHAPTER XII (Continued). THE DOWNWARD PATH. MMEDIATELY, however, Henry’s stopped heart resumed. They were not bringing Laura home in quite the way he had thought at first. Wom- en, at any rate, were laughing out there, as they would hardly have laughed over the mangled, bandaged ruin he had just been imagining. He hurried to the door and opened it as the car rolled away. Laura was walking up the old flagged path. But she wasn’t walking in exactly the usual manner, as Henry’s quick eye noted. She was approach- ing with a suggestion of dance step! Henry frowned wonderingly; she was also humming quite loudly, which might have meant nothing in another woman, but which was astounding when done in the open street by cir- cumspect Laura. “Oh, hello, Harry,” Laura said quite jauntily as she entered. “Er—hello!” Henry “ Where have you been?” “ Out!” Laura said, with a gay little laugh, and passed him. Henry stood petrified, nostrils wide, sniffing, snif- fing! Then, scowling incredulously, he followed Laura. “ Hello, moms,” “Vou all right?” “ Of course I am,’ laughed Laura. Now she glanced toward the kitchen door, where Ina stood steamily in- volved in dinner; and of this most im- portant rite in the whole day’s program Laura spoke with an indifference no less than impossible: “Getting on nicely, Ina?” muttered. William cried. 248 “Oh, hello, mother. Yes, mother, These potatoes—”’ — “Thats ood, ‘said-~Lagta. and turned away. “‘ Where’s Marge?” Henry Morrow laid an extremely firm hand upon his wife’s arm—a hand that had turned to ice. “ She is taking a nap, Laura. You come upstairs with me,” he said. “ You want to get off your things.” Laura looked up with an inquiring half smile—but she was moving along upstairs beside him, and MHenry’s fingers tightened and his breath came hard. One glance showed that Mar- gey really was curled up and sound asleep. Henry led his wife to their own room, mercifully at the other end of the house, and closed the door softly. “T—I want to smell your breath!” he forced out. “My—what? I drank two cock- tails, if that’s what you mean?” Henry just missed reeling! “Where ?” “At the Country Club, of course. Mrs. Burgess took me out there for their tea dance. But please don’t—” “ And I'd thought you’d been hurt !”” Henry cried. “TI thought something had happened to you and I—I was just going to call up the police and find out whether—say! I’m going to get the doctor and have you pumped out, and —no! this’Il do as well!’ Henry panted and gripped her again and dragged her across to the basin, where he started the tap.. “ You come here with me!” “ Don’t—don’t haul me around like that, Harry! Don’t—” “You stick your head in that cold water!” Henry trembled. “If you don’t, believe me, I’ll stick it in for your: It was distinctly cold, too; Well- mont’s supply is drawn from the moun- tains. Presently Laura was permitted to emerge, gasping, sputtering, totter- ing under the hands behind the bath towel that was being rubbed over her bobbed head. She was startled; she EOPNICLOOKS (F@)