Argosy, Vol. 111, No. 1 — page 151: what you’re looking at

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

TRACING THE SHADOW. and when he was rescued, he still remem- bered the fall, but nothing else concerning his disaster.”’ ‘“‘ Good enough, Norah, as a theory. But seems to me, in that case, he would have been sought and found by the people who had him in charge.”’ ‘“‘ Ah, that’s the point of it all! They don’t want to find him! They know just where he is, and all about him, but they won't tell, for it suits their base purposes to have him lost!”’ - ‘Well, you fave cooked up a scheme! And he killed Amos Gately?”’ ‘‘ Maybe; but if so, he did it unknowing- ly. Perhaps these people who are looking aiter him secretly hypnotized him to do it— ‘ Oh, Norah! Come off! Pray desist! Let up! Next thing you know, you'll be having him in the movies! - For you never thought up all that stuff without getting hints for it from some slapstick melo- drama!” ‘““Oh, well, people who are absolutely without imagination can’t expect to see into a mystery! But you won’t see any Mr. Rivers this morning—I can assure you of that!” She turned to her typewriter and I took up my telephone. I could not get Rivers at his home ad- dress, and I next called up Miss Raynor. She replied in agitated tones that Rivers had been to see her for a few minutes, and that he had left half an hour before. She begged me to come around at once. Of course I went. I found her in a strange state of mind. She seemed like one who had made a dis- covery, and was fearful of inadvertently disclosing it. But when 1 urged her to be frank, she insisted she had nothing to conceal. “I don’t know anything, Mr. Brice; truly I don’t,” she repeated. ‘I mean anything new or anything that I haven’t told you. Mr. Rivers was here this morn- ing for a very short call. He said that while his memory had not returned, he had a queer mental impression of being on a search for a paper when he fell through the earth.” 141 ‘‘ Did he go down into the earth to seek the paper?” I asked, thinking it better to treat the matter lightly. “No,” she returned in all seriousness; * but hie believes he was commissioned to” hunt out a valuable paper of some sort, and while on the quest he fell through the earth by accident. It was the shock of that that impaired his memory.” “ Sufficient cause!” I couldn’t help say- ing. Olive bristled. ‘‘Oh, I know you don’t believe in his fall-through-the-earth story— almost nobody does; but I do.” “So do I!” And Zizi was in the room. One could never say of that girl that she entered or came in; she just was there, in that silent, mysterious way of hers. And then, with equally invisible motions, she was sitting opposite me, at Olive’s side, on a low ottoman. ‘““T know Mr. Rivers very well,” Zizi an- nounced, as if she were his official sponsor, ‘‘and what he says is true, no matter how unbelievable it may sound. He says he fell through the earth, and so he did fall through the earth, and that’s all there is about that!” ‘‘ Good for you, Zizi!” I cried. ‘‘ You’re a loyal little champion! And just how did he accomplish the feat?” ‘“ It will be explained in due season,” and Zizi’s big, black eyes took on a sibylline expression as she gazed straight at me. If you were told on good authority that a man had crossed the ocean in an airplane, you’d believe it, wouldn’t you?” “Ves: but that doesn’t seem to be a parallel case,” I demurred. ‘““ Neither is Case Rivers a parallel case,” Zizi giggled; ‘“‘ but he’s the real thing in the way of earth fallers. And when you know all, you'll know everything!” The child was exasperating in her foolish retorts, and yet so convincing was the de- termined shake of her little black head that I was almost tempted to believe in her state- ments. ‘“‘ 'You’re a baby sphinx, Zizi,” and Olive looked at her affectionately. ‘‘ But honest- ly, Brice, she keeps my spirits up; and she is SO positive herself of what she says, that She almost convinces-‘me. As for Mrs. Vail, comicloool. CO