Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-01-07
CHAPTER XIX.
Ga MORT."

That my legs, without conscious eff
fort or my own, SHOULD carry me up the
avenue and around the corner after
the cab in which L had seer Godfrey
was a foregone conclusion, and yet it
was with Il certain VeXation of spirit
that l. found myself racing along, for i
realized that Godfrey had not been en-
tlrely frank with me Certainly he had
dropped no hint of his intention to fol-
low Armand; but, / told myself, that
might very well have been because he
deemed such q hint Unnecessary.
might have guessed, in spite of his
seeming u~nconcern, the he would not
allow the cabinet to pass from his
sight; II he had been willing for me 70
turn 1T over to Armand, it was only
because he expected developments Of
some sort to olloW that transfer.
And it suddenly dawned upon me
that even | did not know the cabinets
destination! 1t had not occurred to me
to inquire where NJ. Armand proposed
to take 1t, and he had volunteered no
information.
SO. after a moment. l took up the
chase more contentedly, telling myself
tina Godfrey would not have waved to
me If he had not wanted me alone. and
L reached the corner in time to see thu
van turn n~orthward into Sixth avenue.
AS soon as it and the cab which fol-
lowed 1t were out of sight, / sprinted
along h sidewalk at top speed. and.
on arriving at the corner, had the sat-
as1actlon of seeing them only a little
way ahead. Here the congestion of
traffic was such that the van could
proceed but slowly, and l had no diff
Guilty in keeping pace with it. without
the necessity of making myself conspic-
uouS by running. Indeed, L rather hung
back, burying myself in the crowds on
the sidewalk, for fear tina Armand
might chance tn p1a nCa oJp,,r,1 o,,,1 SG.
me in pursuit.
l saw that Godfrey and Simmoads
had the same fear, for the cab in which
they We're drew up at the curb and
waited there until the van had got
some distance ahead. At Sixteenth
street 1t turned westward again. and
then northward into Seventh avenue
What could Armand be doing in this
of town, [ asked myself? Did he
propose to leave that priceless cabinet
IN this dingy quarter? And then | paus-
ed abruptly and slipped into an area
way, for the a had stopped some dis
lance ahead and was backing UP to the
curb.
Looking out discreetly, I saw the cab
containing Armand stop also, and that
gentleman alighted and paid the driver.
The other cab ratified on at a good pace
and disappeared up the avenue. Then
the two porters lifted out the cabinet,
NAa' "ASh iid oloWIllS lIlGI1 the
way, carried 1t into the building before
which the van had stopped.
They We're gone perhaps five minutes,
from which l argued that they We're
carrying 1T upstairs; then they reap
peared, with Armand accompanying
them. He tipped them INC went out
also to tip the driver of the van. Then
the porters climbed aboard and it rat
tied away gu of sight. Armand stood
for a moment on the step, looking up
and down the avenue, then disappeared
indoors.
An instant latter, 1 saw Godfrey and
another mar whom I recognized as
the street and dash over to the house
into which the cabinet had been taken.
They We're standing on the doorstep
when 1 Joined them.
1t was a dtngy building, entirely typ
ical Of the dingy neighborhood. The
dry which the sign on the front win
dow declared to be French: and the
room which the window lighted extend
ed the whole width of the building ex-
cept for a door which opened pre-
sumably on h stairway leading to the
upper stories.
Godfrey's face was flaming with ex-
element as he turned the knob of this
door gently-gently. The door was
locked. He stopped and applied an eye
to the key hole.
The key is In the lock- he whis-
pered.
Eimmonds took from his pocket a
pair of slender pliers and passed them
over.
Godfrey looked up and down the
street, saw that for the moment there
was no one near, inserted the pliers in
the keyhole, grasped the end OF the key,
and turned it slowly.
"Now!' he said. softly opened the
door n slipped inside. I followed.
and Simmonds came after me like q
shadow. closing the door carefully be-
hind him.
Then we all stopped. and my heart,
at least, was in my mouth. for, from
somewhere overhead. came the sound
of q mans voice talking excitedly.
Even in the semi-darkness, I could
see h look of establishment and alarm
on Godfrey's face. as he stood for a
moment motoinless, listening to that
voice. I also TODD with ears a-strain,
but Il could make nothing of what II
was saying; then suddenly / realized
that 1t was speaking in French. And
yet 1t was not Armand's voice-of that
I was certain.
Fronting Va was q narrow stair
mounting steeply to the story overhead,
md after that moments maze hesita-