The Argosy, Christmas 1912 — page 223: what you’re looking at

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

WIZARD OR CROOK. grown white, her eyes wide with con- sternation. “Your cousin?” she gasped. CHAPTER VIII. WITH MASKS OFF. For a moment there was silence in the room. Then the girl lifted a face become suddenly drawn and haggard. “You know,” she faltered, “ who lam?” “T can guess,” he answered. “ True,. you are wearing a wig, and you have done something — I don’t know just what—to your eyebrows; but any man who had once seen your photograph ought to have been able to place you. Even Brady and Schmitz, slow as they are, ought to have—”’ But she evidently was not listening. “Oh, you are cruel, you are dastard- ly,” she broke out, “to have tracked me down thus, and tricked me by play- ing on my sense of gratitude. No won- der that you said you came here under false pretenses. ‘ “ But you have not got me yet!’’ she exclaimed fiercely. “I will never go back, I tell you! There is surely an asylum somewhere for such an unhappy girl as I!” As she spoke she sprang toward the door, and in another moment would have been out of the house and flying down the street. But quick as she was, Ramsdell was quicker. When she reached the door, he was there ahead of her, with his back to it, in full con- trol of the situation. “Hold on, now,” he counseled in his thin, schoolmaster voice. ‘“‘ Don’t do anything rash. Before we go any farther, suppose you run up-stairs and ask Cousin Sylvia just what sort of a fellow Iam. She will tell you whether or not I am the cad and cur you so evi- dently believe me.” The girl flashed him a quick look of startled surprise. “Your Cousin Sylvia? She is not here,’ she attempted to deny. 209 ““ Come, come,” he scoffed; “ no fib- bing. You and I both know that at this minute she is sitting up in your second-floor hall-bedroom.” whe hesitated a second or two longer ; then overcome by feminine curiosity, admitted that he was right. “But how did you ever guess it?” she demanded. “ Are you Mephistoph- eles himself, that you know every- thing? Why, Sylvia only came to town a half-hour ago in response to an ur- gent telephone call from me, and she was so disguised that I, myself, wouldn’t have recognized her if I had not been expecting her.” Ramsdell, however, eager questions. “Tt doesn’t matter so much how I know that she is here,” he said, “‘ as that I do know it. And since the most im- portant thing now is to look out for your interests, I suggest that instead of wasting time in talk, you run up and bring her down, so that we can all three discuss the situation intelligently. “You may not know it, my dear young lady,” he added, speaking. more gravely, ‘‘ but you are in rather serious danger.” “In serious danger?” The color which had partially returned to her cheek fled once more. “ You mean that some one besides yourself knows of my whereabouts?” | ‘No, that 1s not it. I did not mtend to tell you when I came here, but I have decided now it 1s better that you should be warned. The truth is that you are apt to be arrested at almost any time.” ‘““ Apt to be arrested?”’ She stared at him. “ For what, pray?” “On a charge of stealing old man Poe’s $75,000 Bible.” ““ But that 1s absurd.” she protested. “Why, there’s not a grain of evidence against me.” “That don’t make any difference. The theory of the detectives is that you are the one person open to suspicion, and they may take a chance on arrest- ing you in the hope of forcing a con- fession. In fact, I have an idea they parried her oO cComicbooks CO