The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915-01-28
CHAPTER TX.
The Leap In the Dark.

affairs. This was no time for love-
making; no time for silly, innocuousl
auarrels and chickering's, In which love-
must indulge or die. Florence no
longer rode horseback, and Norton
returned to his accustomed haunts.
where no one made the slightest at
| tempt upon his life. In his present
state of mind he would have welcomed
| It
whats the matter with Jim?'
asked the night city editor. raising his
| eye shade.
Il don't know" answered the copy
reader.
Goes around as If he'd been eating
| dope; bumped into the boss while
ago and never stopped. to apologize.
| perhaps he's mapping out the front
page for that Hargreave stun,
laughed the copy reader. Between
you and me and the gate post. don't
believe there ever was q man by the
name Of Hargreave."
"Oh, there was chap by that name,
all right. He's dead. A man can't
swim 300 miles in rough water. life
buoy or no. They ought to have
funeral services, and let 1t go at that"
"But what was the reason for that.
fake cable from Gibraltar saying that.
Orts was alive? don't see any sense
In that"
"The man who pulled It on did. 1
think, for my part, that both Orts and,
Hargreave are dead, and that the man
picked up by the tramp steamer Orient:
was riding some other balloon"
you're wrong there. The descrip-
ton Of 1t proved that 1t was Orts' ma
chine Oh, Jim probably has got q
mans size yarn up his sleeve, but he's
long time In delivering the goods.
He's beginning to NOPE good deal.
Woman back Of 1t somewhere. Haven't
held down this copy job for twelve
years without being able to make some
tolerable guesses. Jim's star man.
When he gets started nothing can stop
him. He covered the Chinese Boxer
rebellion better than any other CORE
spondent there. l wonder how old he
Isl"
20, / should say about thirty-one or
two. Here he comes now. 10. JIM;
"Hello! Where's Ford? He gave
me ticket to the theater tonight, and
I want to punch his head. What's
drama coming to, anyhow? Cigarettes
and booze and mismated couples,
Can't they find good enough things
out Of doors? Oh, know. They cater
to lot of fools who believe that what,
they see is an expression Of high life.
in New York and London. And It's:
rot, plain rot. It's merely the scum
on the boiling pot. And any old house
wife would skim it OF and chuck It.
into the slops. Life? Pime!"
| whats the grouch?"
Looking for the dramatic job?"
'No. I've just been wondering how.
far these theatrical managers can 60
without Sitting the golden goose"
Norton sought his desk and began:
rummaging the drawers. He was not
hunting for anything; he was merely
passing away the time. BY and by.
when the pastime no longer. served.
he pulled his chair over to the window
and sat down, staring at stars such
as Copernicus never dreamed of. Ships
going down to sea, ferries swooping,
diagonally hither and thither. the
clockwork signs; but he took no note
Of these marvels Of light.
"Not at home!" he muttered.
He had called. written, telephoned.
No use. The door remained shut.
Jones answered the telephone, and the
letters came back. He began to think
very deeply concerning the PerigoR
woman. Had she played trick? Had
that fainting spell been buncombe for
his benefit as well as Florence's? But
he had not shadow Of a proof. The
thing that puzzled him equally with
this was that all attempts against his
life had niraculously ceased; no safes
Numbered down In front Of him, and
no autos tried to carve him In two:
The only thing that kept him active
WAS TIE daily call of Jones by wire,
Miss Florence was well that was all
Jones was permitted to say.
Restlessly Norton spurned his chair
and walked over to the telephone
booth. It was midnight. He might or
might not be able to get Jones. But
almost instantly . voice said. What
is it?"
! "Jones?"
Eyes. Who is IT,"
/ Morton"
"why. you called me up not ten
| minutes ago."
/ mot To
ut was your voice. as plain as days
what did want?" keen all at once:
The reply did not come Immediately.
t'You are certain 1t was not you?"
"Wait moment and I'll call the
editor. He will prove to you that I've,
been here for an hour, and that this
As the first call I've made. Some one
has been imposing on you. What did
they ask you to do?"
You asked me to come down to the
office at once, and requested you
to come to the house, and you said you