The Democratic advocate., 1909-05-07
ROBINSON'O DETECTIVE WORK

! was telephonlng Randall about
business detail that had popped into
my head Just as | was leaving the
theater, when the thing hnppended
Il am sure that number IL not busy"
! assured the operator. and there fol.
lowed the usual provoking silence.
Plague take g." / muttered when
| heard something IKE moan
through the phone.
My God. they'll klii mel"
almost dropped the receiver 10
surprise, The words. uttered in a
low tone evidently wofnan's, had the
effect Of coming from blank space
The shock set me 20 Qnlyering.
They'll be back IN moment.
They'll have no mercy. Help me. for
Gods sake"
The words came jertily over the
phone, cut into sentences. and were
spoken In q repressed fashion as n
the speaker were trying TO conceal
them from someone. But they began
to grow louder and more chargd with
emotion.
They can't be gone much longer /
think | hear them on the stairs now.
Good God, they're coming! Help met
help me- They're"
IL was RandaIl's blatant voice that
broke In. Hello" he said Hello.
Well?'
Hang up your receiver" shouted.
This Is me. Robinson. Hurry, you
idiot. Something terrible's happen
ed"
II took an andlesB time 10 make him
understand. The moment he did cut
r.m 4 rtn 10 owl he.
ceiver-holder OF my phone In an ef-
fort to attract the operators attention.
There was a snap somewhere. The
phone suddenly became absolutely
dead. II took me some time TO realize
this: then ! jammed IL down on the
desk and ran 10 the door.
AS / opened II. cab was creeping
by. Hailing the driver, jumped In.
GO like the devil" ! said. and gave
him the address OF the west exchange
with which knew my phone was
connected
fairly gnawed my nails to the
quick as the driver whipped his horse
along at top speed The words we're
ringing in my ears Help mel Help
mel" What had happened7
Around the corner we whlrled and
the lights OF the exchange flashed into
sight. Wait" shouted to the driver
as | leaped out and dashed up the
stairs. A girl pointed out to me the
manager.
THE forces have just been chang
ed" he said The operator on your
line has gone home"
But can't anyone else tell me what
phone | was connected with2" | ex-
claimed,
He said they couldn't.
Then another resort came Into my
mind. Where does the girl live? I'll
go to her home"
He asked each separate girl and
none knew. I was growing desperate
when the boy who did odd jobs said
he thought she lived with her aunt on
Queen and Oak streets in the Mills
worth suburb. The next instant was
in the cab, driving like fury. The
Millsworth suburb was six miles
away II was three o'clock when we
reached there. The girl and her aunt
had moved back within the city fully
ten miles from where we were. AS
soon as possible | changed cabs, for
the horse had been using was utterly
done up. Drive for all you are
worth, said TO my new cabby.
The words ! had heard over the
phone kept running through my
brain: Help me, help mel" Perhaps
1t was too late.
There was a growing light In the
east when we stopped before small
frame house. Aching In every joint
/ from my hard drive, | ran up the
steps. Bur-er, went the bell There
was a wait the patter of feet, then
the gas In the hall was lighted
! shouted who I was and whom /
wanted to see.
The door cracked and head done