Argosy, Vol. 147, No. 1 — page 53: what you’re looking at

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

: from a clod of earth. At Po ant = —~ = a pet oe SPY — »- om, » . * - 367 Tr ae 2S ee eS tee Oe nea shat something must be all probabilty “Quick action was imperative. The and devious f squirming humans underneath the bling aay pe > pulled out like worms reasonab ume Wer were being of them. ae All that had gone to the din that now The power to act Now came the question ¢ ee e eo - . % thre a Re ee wondered that the horrible beh of eae role ; alls of the iley was equally QUICK Mee nat roar did not split the very W importance of the decision. He mov ba seemed to have left er to Bruce. | : apa “It’s fifty-fifty,” he shouted, ‘1 Like one completely dazed he waited sted,” ae 3 ne impelling force that would drive . ges se on—it can’t be a i an this!” ss a Ah There was a crash at the street The negress had given up ™ ne, door—a battering in of the panels, the - Lom ge af we limbing | ; adder. Her grie _ pathetic breaking of glass, and finally the flash of a - lm game,” - Bruce’s res pons locust club followed by 4 bluecoated arm. Some one had turned in a riot call, and the police were tumbling through the door. Tt was the one thing that Connors had al- ways dreaded. Next to the shooting up of the Cracker Pot by the marauding sailors, it was the most to be feared. Bruce knew this, and faced the issue. How far did his respon- sibility to Connors go? Had he reached the limit? His mind began to assemble the scattered jackstraws of his game. One grave danger, at least, was over. The sailors were no longer intent upon the capture of the negress. Their traditional enemy had put in an appearance, and they were being clubbed into submission. Bruce stepped nearer to the excited Joie. “ What is it?” he shouted. “Come quick—all of you! 1 know the way out!” he answered. Peering down into the opening, Bruce saw by the dim light of a lantern that some one was standing below Joie at the foot of the ladder. It was Eddie Carbon, and his face had taken on the peculiar ashen hue that goes with a frightened negro. Bruce instantly grasped the situation. Just before the en- trance of the sailors Carbon had passed through the dance hall on his way to the street, and had not returned. Therefore, to have reached the underground room, he must have done so by an outside passage. Another revelation followed. This man Joie had known the place in the days be- fore Connors made it respectable, and in “. is . + ing toward the Then he stopped. The young ¥ or crowding down ahead of him. Int citement he had : personal violence was concerned, he why she should subject herself to the opening. forgotten her. 5 there was no vali reas certainties of what might follow u also knew that this was a road t There was only one other sound e permitting her apparent folly—she m have splendid reasons for wi shing to” the police. ies It took but a moment for t ne tions to sweep through Bruce’s t even so—the opportunity to restral She was at the foot of the la dder.: = Bailey and Bruce quickly follow down they went—all of them— stone chamber which was supposes bor the valuable cargo which Ca had sailed the seven seas to ge I Bruce hurriedly took in his s The room was about fifteen by fifte pile of straw in one corner; a heap of bo in another; a broken stool; sor blankets, and a queer-looking box sembled a Chinese tea chest, ex it was smaller and considerably The lid was off, showing its use ceptacle for food, as evidenced © of bread and several tins of canne There was no valued tree ere— neither sack, keg nor packet that nm contain strange wares or merchandise; | ~ micbooks .com ( q o}