Argosy All-Story Weekly, August 9, 1924 — page 86: what you’re looking at

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

There should be other customers in the place, Ropes considered. Certainly some of those people he had passed during his walk had been going to the Mermaid. He didn’t understand. He waited five, ten minutes. The man in the dark coat and white trousers didn’t reappear. ‘Then he remembered that the man who had gone to talk with Mrs. Ware on that other eve- ning hadn’t returned while he was in the house. He had a great desire to know more about Mrs. Ware—more about the teahouse as well. He drew back from the window and examined the building. It was, to all appearances, just a simple white-painted cottage of two stories, with a high-pitched roof. There was no light in front on the second floor. He walked around the corner. At the rear, as he had supposed, were the pantry and kitchen; he saw a waitress pass before a window. And back of the house were woods. Nothing here that was at all out of the ordinary. He shook his head; and then he saw some one coming out of a rear door. White trousers against the black trees. Ah! So the customer chose to leave the teahouse by this unobserved way. Ropes drew back into the shade of the pines. The precaution was unnecessary, for the other man, without looking to right or left, proceeded into the woods. He had no light, but he seemed to know his way, which argued that there must be a fairly well defined path. After a few moments Ropes: followed, careful to make no noise. Yes, here was a path, carpeted with pine needles. It led straight into the woods back of the tea- house, and a short progress along it, fifty yards or so, brought Ropes to a building. The white trousered man had disap- peared; presumably he had gone into the building. Ropes stepped to one side and looked at the place, plain enough in the starlight. It was long, with two rows of windows, those on the ground floor unlight- ed, those above illuminated, but shielded by shades. Certainly it was not a dwelling house, nor a barn nor storehouse. What possible purpose had such a building in the midst of the woods? ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. At the faint scuffle of feet behind him Ropes stepped back of a tree. A man passed close to him, and Ropes could see that he held a white card in his hand. The man went to the door of the building and rapped several times. The door opened; there was a short, indistinguishable colloquy; and the man went in. The door was closed again. Evidently there was a password, evident- ly a card of admission. But if one might not enter at the front door, one might ac- quire knowledge in other ways. The night was warm, and some of those lighted win- dows on the second floor were open, their shades blowing in the breeze. Ropes, cau- tiously making his way to the rear of the building, saw how he could climb. A window ledge gave support to his feet, and from there he swung to the bough of a sturdy oak. A step higher, and he found himself opposite the wpper windows and so close that by stretching out his hand he could touch a shade. Steadying himself and making sure that the bough which he had straddled would bear his weight, he reached forward, and the next time the breeze blew the shade out toward him he caught the cord in his fingers and gently drew it upward. He was looking into a long and brightly lighted room, in which a score of people were gathered around several tables. <A glance was sufficient to explain their pur- pose there. Roulette, vingt-et-un—he coulda not at this distance distinguish what games they played—but each table had its banker . and its piles of chips. There were a few women and some men in evening dress, others in summer mufti. All, Ropes supposed, belonged to the smart: colony at Freehaven Point. There were the humming voices of the croupiers and the low buzz of excitement. A woman at the nearest table had won and was laughing loudly, while the croupier pushed her win- nings toward her with his little rake. An- other game began, and there was a strain- ing of faces and shoulders forward. Ropes let go of the cord and the shade swung back into place. A few moments later he stood on the ground again. He had seen enough; he knew the secret of the teahause!, COMmiCclboo (") SH CO) nn