The Argosy, Vol. 90 No. 1 — page 74: what you’re looking at

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

68 day when he saw her first and she blushed under his gaze. If he could make her blush again? If she were with him, there in the velvety gloom, feeling— Suddenly every muscle stiffened. She was in the house. He heard sounds like the cautious fall of her feet cn the bare floor. He listened. But he smiled in the dark. She had seen that the house was dark. She kad taken it for granted that he was away. She had cone on one of those excursions which he was sure she made to the house when she believed she would evade him. He started to rise noiselessly, his fancy busy with the excitement of catching her trespassing. He would make her give an account of herself. She must tell him where she had disappeared to so suddenly when he rode after her. She would blush when she found herself his prisoner. Some one bolted across the porch. He was Struck by the flying feet of the one who. came from the house. . With an oath a big form came down on him. Ben gripped and clung. CHAPTER VII. THE LOCKED DRAWER. DoOwN the five steps they rolled. The momentum of their fall and the efforts each made to secure the advantage carried them out onto the ground. Suddenly, Moore felt cold steel press against his throat. His grip on the brawny shoulders relaxed for a second. His unseen adversary took advantage of the moment’s chance. An instant later, he was gone. Moore sat up on the short grass and stared into the blackness of the night. Moonless, starless heavens seemed to have settled down, a black pall over the earth. He rose. Instinctively, he -moved warily and silently back to the steps. The man who had clinched with him might be anywhere in the impenetrable gloom. Up the steps and to the door Moore crept. He listened intently. He was sure he heard bare wisps of sound, sounds like the slipping of papers or the stealthy tread of a light creature. THE ARGOSY. For an instant caution held him still. There was positively some one or some- thing in the room. Could it be possible that the rush of the man had been planned to get him out of the way while an accom- plice busied himself inside? Then his judgment decided against the idea. The man had made no effort to hold him on the ground. Rather his recourse to the kniie had indicated that he wanted to make as short work as possible of their encounter. Probably the presence of some one inside had prompted the other’s flight. Moore reached into his pocket. He ‘pulled out a box of safety matches. Grasp- ing the whole bunch firmly, he struck it against the side of the box. A brilliant glare illuminated the room. With her hands clutched against her breast and her frightened eyes wide, he saw Fan Fleming. She looked as if the light had congealed her. He made a step toward her, then stopped. She stood beside the roll-top desk which he had supposed belonged to Fleming, but which he had never seen Fleming use. It was open. Papers were tossed about; some thrown on the floor in front of it. “I thought you were away on a visit,” he said. ‘““ T came—back.”’ She was frightened or embarrassed or both. His eyes measured her coldly. In a soft little frock of pale green she was exquisite. But she was doing some- thing that he ought to have had explained to him. It was the first time he had seen her in anything but riding things since the memorable morning of his arrival. She looked charmingly feminine. But he jerked his mind away from the thought. She was doing something she was ashamed of. More and more she gave him reason to believe her in the wrong or to blame for something. She was silent and uneasy. “You thought I was out of the house!” he said accusingly. She only blushed and glanced at the scattered papers as if she knew how con- victing they were. “Did I cough or snore?” he asked. ‘ I—don’t understand,” she barely whis- pered. comicbool< CO