Argosy: The Short Story Magazine — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

ei aa “TRUST LITTLE soy ie aoe © a . Brindow. was wrong. On the contrary, someone was coming out. 2 | I must have been so engrossed in watching that I had no- attention to spare for anything else. ‘That was a mistake. 4 The smallest sound behind me; and the impression that the ¥ corner-stone of the hotel had fallen on my head. ‘ I came back to life to the noise of thudding. A lot of it was _ inside my head, but some of it was actually happening, too. Someone was knocking on a door. On my bedroom door. a, I was in my room at the hotel. Just fora moment I thought _ that the whole of the events of the night before had been a crazy dream. Then I put my hand up and felt the back of my head. It was no dream. Someone had knocked me cold and hadthen brought me back to Velden, taken off my coat and shoes, and _ tucked me nicely up under the coverlet before leaving me. a The only way to stop the knocking was to say, “Come in.” The manageress came in. She was normally completely poised, but some of her composure seemed for the moment to _ have deserted her. “ I trust you will remember,” she said, “ that the bus leaves at three.” hoe: buat *; “The bus for the train. If you miss the four-o’clock train at Klagenfurt you will not catch your connection at Schwarzach.” I looked at my watch. My God, it was nearly two o’clock. “Come in,” I said, “‘ and shut the door.” I sat up on the bed. ‘‘ Who brought me home last night? ” “The police. You fell in Klagenfurt and hit your head.” I ignored this. ‘“‘ You must get them at once,” I said. “ It’s desperately urgent. It doesn’t matter about me. But Herr Baker has disappeared.” * Disappeared ? ”’ | “Kidnapped, I fear.”” The woman simply stood there, staring at me. Then I heard it, too. From the next-door room. The unmistakable sound of little Al’s snoring. | We caught the train with nothing to spare, and it wasn’t until we were alone in our carriage, turning north towards Innsbruck, that I said, “‘ I think the time has come for some explanations.” Neither of us was feeling or looking our best. I had to carry my cap, and still found it wiser not to move my head more than necessary. Alex looked as if he was suffering from the hangover of alltime. “ ‘There’s nothing to explain,” he said sulkily. . “That won’t do,” I said. “ I want to know what happened last night. Who coshed me? And who brought me back to the © hotel? Where is Trude? And what happened to you?” I thought for a moment Alex was going to sulk; then a smile comlichooks.com »