The Argosy, Vol. 84 No. 1 — page 164: what you’re looking at

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

154 serted Crofton, and bowed the young man out of the office rather sourly. The afternoon waned, and as dusk ap- proached the colonel made ready to pro- ceed stealthily to the cover of his club. He gathered his array of gifts together disgustedly after telephoning for a taxi- cab and took up his huge fur coat. The weather had turned unseasonably sultry and the coat seemed ponderously uncomfortable. He threw it on a chair and resolved to go to the club as he was. He had a light top-toat in his room there, and that would do nicely for the next day. | Outside the office Jack Spencer stepped quietly from the elevator and reconnoi- tered. Under orders as a scout, he had been sent into the building by Flora to learn if the office sheltered the man who was supposed to be business-bound in Montreal. . He paused outside Crofton’s door and listened for a while without result. Pres- ently, however, his ear caught a rustling sound, then a muffled footstep. He start- ed hastily for the elevator, to descend and make his report, but a backward glance showed him a shadow looming large upon the glass panel of the door. . He wished least of all to be surprised at his scout duty by the enemy, and he dashed down the corridor, looking fran- tically for the stairs. He came upon a narrow staircase, but it led upward, evi- dently to the roof of the building. There was no time to pick and choose, and he darted up the steps, through a sort of hatchway, and out upon the broad gravel-paved roof. Toward his left loomed the great shaft of the Metropolitan Tower, and in front of him the Flatiron Building rose like the bows of a giant ocean liner. He braced himself against the brisk breeze, held his hat firmly, and contemplated the impos- ing scene while he waited a safe interval. Meanwhile Colonel Crofton stepped into the corridor and balanced his burden of parcels on his left arm while he locked the door. He stepped quickly to the ele- THE ARGOSY. vator door to ring the bell, and was grati- fied to perceive that the car was ascend- ing. It rose more slowly as it neared the top, and through the upper part of the steel grill-work, the colonel was amazed and horrified to discover the saucy, pi- quant face of his daughter. {t would never do! He had no time to retreat to his office and lock himself in, so he fled wildly down the corridor and up the narrow stairs to the roof. There he paused and listened for sounds of pur- suit, but nothing happened and he felt comfortably certain that his escape had been successful. He had never been on the roof before, and he found it vaguely interesting in its ugliness and practical simplicity, so rad- ically different from the elaborate ele- gance of the floors below. He rested his parcels upon the gravel pavement and sauntered up and down, feeling a bit chilly without his overcoat. Flora evidently had heard from some one that he was in town, he reflected. She would find his office securely locked, and in a short time she would go away, convinced, perhaps, that the report was false. He went to the high cornice at the edge of the roof and tried to peer over the cop- ing, to see if Flora’s car was waiting in the street; but it was perilous to lean far over, and he could get only a panoramic view of Madison Square and the south- ward reaches of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. With watch in hand he waited ten min- utes. Surely the most curious and per- sistent woman would not have patience to remain in the building longer than that, he decided. Darkness was coming on apace. A metal door clanged ominously somewhere, but he gave littlé heed to it. He gath- ered up the parcels grudgingly and began to grumble again as he bore them to the staircase. There a startling surprise awaited him. The hatchway, which had stood so con- veniently open at the time of his hurried GOmIicbooks (C@)