The Argosy, Vol. 83 No. 1 — page 165: what you’re looking at

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

HIS MAD MOVE ON THE MOVIES. Then the door slammed, and Jimmy Barton and his bodyguard were trotting back quickly to the inner office, while Riley, having discarded coat and vest, stepped forward to take the longer coat and the gray hat. ‘““Now, one 0’ youse wants to make a quick break outen this side door—get me?” he said. “Duck right around into the main hall and wave your arms and holler, ‘He’s going out the front way!’ or some- thing like that, t’ give the ginks in the hall the idee the boss is leaving by the front door. And don’t start nothing till you hear me yell. Well—thanks for the thousand, boss; it’s a shame t’ take it. I guess you're out one coat, too,” grinned Mr. Riley, waving a careless hand. ‘So long!” He lounged away through the offices, with Hammond at his heels; while they were still in sight Mr. Hammond removed his coat and hat and laid them on a desk, tucking up his sleeves as he moved toward the farther door. “Y’ll dash out there and raise the false alarm,” said Thomas Morely. ‘That'll be safe enough, because I can go down by one of the regular elevators while the fun’s going on. I—” He stopped short. In the outer room a hum had risen; they caught several shouts of, “That’s him! That’s him!” They caught, too, the sound of a surging and of an impact, and a roar from Mr. Ham- mond and from Riley’s harsh throat a blood-curdling yell! And Thomas Morely was gone, and in the side hall they heard: ‘““He’s trying to get out the front! He’s trying to get away! Hey!” After that feet pounded suddenly, dozens of feet whose pounding was accom- panied by another, smaller tumult of voices. In the side corridor it became strangely still. Jimmy Darton turned to his lady love with rather pale lips. “T hate to think of what’s happening to Riley,” said he, “but he seemed pretty sure of getting out alive. If we’re going, we’d better go now, Sibyl.” 155 Even in the excitement he could not but admire her nerve and her resourcefulness. She noted that Jimmy was without hat or coat, and with no hesitation~at all she thrust the hat and coat of faithful Thomas Morely upon him as he drew her to the door. He gripped them and peered out, rather wild of eye; he found the corridor empty, although the sounds which came from the main hallway chilled him. There was not only shouting in that direction; there was scufiling and the thump of falling bodies and the thudding of fists! The chairman of the American Com- mittee, holding his breath and declining to look up the side corridor, dragged Sibyl Dane bodily to the bronze door of the last side elevator and pounded thrice; and without a creak the door slid back and— slid forward again as they entered the car; and they were safe! Or safe for the moment at least, Jimmy Darton amended as they slipped past the thirtieth floor and he drew breath again. There might be any quantity of people downstairs who would recognize him; again, there might not. Stepping suddenly into the damp empti- ness of the coming trust company’s eStab- lishment, he breathed. once more and steered toward the street door; only a stolid old cabinetmaker, polishing at one of the new rails, was there even to glance at them. Yes, and out by the curb stood the taxi- cab, quite as Tommy Morely—was he alive now?—had planned. The driver, glancing up keenly from his _ paper, snatched open the door at the sight of them and set his motor to humming; Jimmy Darton, late chairman of a com- mittee that had never existed, assisted Sibyl Dane into the vehicle and took one last look at that portion of New York. And in something less than one second he regretted even that pause, for up at the Broadway corner two other taxis were passing—two taxis, each with a man in it who gazed about eagerly—each with a man who saw Jimmy Darton and, seeing COMMICLOOOKS (C@