The Argosy, Vol. 82 No. 4 — page 54: what you’re looking at

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

620 She was filled with amazement and dis- may. What could the man want? She let the lace curtain fall into place, holding back with one finger one edge suffi- ciently far to give her a peep-hole. She saw Batterson assume the position in which Tom had discovered him, with head thrown back, and gaze fixedly upon her window. She wondered if he had seen her—if he knew she was looking at him from her coign of vantage. Then, after a time, she saw him turn on his heel, and walk away. She had begun to breathe with greater ease when her heart leaped again as Tom hove into view, and without a glance toward the house went on in Batterson’s wake. Now her fears transcended anything she had felt before. That something was amiss, and had been amiss all that miserable night, she felt was certain. And her wonderfully acute prescience warned her that the end was not yet. Her first impulse, when Tom passed the gate, was to open the curtain wide and call to him, But Batterson was then standing under an electric light examining the object he had taken from his pocket. To call Tom was to give Batterson warn- ing that Tom was trailing him. That would lead to further danger in the future. She watched them, with her slender neck stretched from the window, till Batterson turned a corner, and, Tom following, both were lost to view. The excited and now thoroughly alarmed girl drew back from the window, and stood with her hands clasped tight over her heart, her eyes staring at the curtain, her brain on fire. “Lamartine Avenue! The job!” she whispered. ‘‘ What does it mean?” Flashing with searing heat through her brain went the memory of Tom’s often re- peated words: “Tl kill him. Some day or other I'll have to kill Batterson.” “God give me help and strength to do what’s best,” she murmured, and then be- gan hurriedly to dress. But she did not put on any of her pretty and becoming morning gowns. Instead, she dressed for driving, and added a heavy veil to her outfit. Her movements were quick, but without noise. More from habit than for any reason in her mind, she put her purse in the pocket THE ARGOSY. of her coat. Hanging at a corner of her little desk, was a key to the garage. The chauffeur, a young man who would have died in her service, slept up-stairs in the garage building. But she*would not waken him. This was her own business, and alone she would attend to it. The night before she had received her monthly allowance from her father, and money of her own was in her purse. She took the key, and crept softly down the servants’ stairway, thus avoiding the necessity of passing the room where her father and mother were asleep. Letting herself out the kitchen door, locking it from the outside, and taking the key with her, she sped to the door of the garage and un- locked that. She knew that to get the red car out without waking any one, especially the young chauffeur, was practically impossible. But she was determined upon her errand, and once determined it took much to make Joyce Kendry falter in her purpose. She got the car outside, and no one in the house heard. But the chauffeur, half dressed, came bounding down the stairs with an automatic in his hand. “Here, you!” he cried, “I'll blow a hole—” “Hush,” Joyce said. ‘Don’t make a noise. I was wakeful, and felt that a morn- ing spin would do me good.” “Great Scott, Miss Kendry! Is it you? I thought it was one of those automobile pirates who have been stealing cars all over Tremont.” ““Tt’s all right,” she said. want to disturb any one.” “But—shall I go with you? It is dan- gerous for a girl—a young lady— to be out alone at his hour.” “I’m not afraid.” This was true enough. She was not afraid. But there flashed into her mind the thought that. there might be a man’s work to do where she was going, and Jimmy Wade could be trusted. He loved Tom, she knew that, and knew that whatever he could do for her he would do with full heart and fervor. “Get dressed as quickly as possible— don’t waste a second,” she said. “And bring your pistol.” The words, especially the final command, and her quick, breathless manner of speak- “Only I didn’t ing made the chauffeur open his eyes. But he made no reply in words, EO DOOKS AMUG (C@