The Argosy, Vol. 84 No. 2 — page 139: what you’re looking at

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

DARING THE DANGER ZONE. see if anything could be gleaned in regard to the mystery. After slipping his note-book back into his pocket, he rose and put on his coat preparatory to leaving for the evening. He grinned as he smoothed out his coat collar. 3 “Too bad Gerry’s father has turned crabbed; but it is funny to think of the old boy as actually working.” It was a wise man who said, “ There is something about the misfortune of our friends that is not altogether displeasing to us.” Just. as he slid down the roll-top of his desk his door opened and Corrigan of the investigation bureau tramped heavily in to report. “We got that Eppsteen gang to rights,” he said. ‘‘ Sadie put me onto the place where the stuff was and we nabbed them when, they came in.” “Good enough!” commented Carring- ton. ‘“ Tell me all about it in the morn- ing! I have to hurry along now. Oh, by the way, Corrigan, you used to work on the coast, didn’t you?” 74 Yep.” “Well, I just received a letter from a friend out West with some pipe-dream about an organization of ‘ Vampas’ or something of the sort. Did you ever hear of such a thing, or has some one been stringing him?” Corrigan’s heavy face lighted with in- terest. “You bet I did! That’s why I left. I didn’t want to increase the undertaking business. If you like that friend of yours I would advise him to forget all he knows about the Vampas as soon as he can put it out of his bean. Why, these here Black Hands and things ain’t in it with them. From somewhere or other they have plenty of money, and they have an or- ganization that’s a bird. “The time I run into them I was look- ing into some dynamiting game down in New Mexico and I got a clue that took me up to Frisco. I came to one morning with four knife wounds in my ribs and 9 ARGOSY 321 the evidence which I had carried in my pocket gone. The trouble is you can’t get any real dope on the organization, and any individuals that are caught swear that there is no such thing as the Vampas. After they most got me for the third time I quit.” ‘““Do you suppose that they have any connections here in New York?” “Never ran into any; but it’s highly possible.” ‘Read this, will you?” said Carring- ton, handing him Derby’s letter. ‘‘ Begin here at the middle of the page.” Corrigan read slowly. When he came to the description of Mr. Gale he sniffed scornfully. ‘“That’s a great description all right. It doesn’t give the color of his eyes, shape of his nose, or any peculiar feature by which you could tell a man. People al- . ways hand you the worst lemons anyhow when they try to describe how a man looks. I’ve never yet seen a man who looked the way any one told me he did. As for this, it might be the description of every third man in New York.” The detective finished the letter and handed it back to Carrington. “T guess we can’t do much on that,” he observed. ‘‘ However, I will take a look round in the morning at the hotels where those Western chaps usually stay. I'll look over the records and see if we have any disappearances that correspond; but there ain’t much use, as I guess you know.” “Well, take a try at it anyhow!” urged Carrington. ‘ Derby is a good friend of mine. Good night!” After parting from the detective, Car- rington hurried to the elevator, and was soon fighting his way into a subway ex- press. As he tried to find elbow-room enough to open his paper he once more found himself envying Gerard Derby with his life in the open country. “He may think he is working,” he meditated, “‘ but as a matter of fact he is probably having the time of his life out ina great country with a pretty girl who COMMICLOOOKS (C@)