Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1916-12-22

have got me going. They make me see
what a dub l am"
4 don't want to speak to you about
the Red Circle. Allen told him.
Come on into the office and have a
smoke. l want you to drop these
cases for a while and go to work on
the Gordon affair. The Farwell cor
poration will pay heavy blood money
to get him back. You're the man l
want on it,"
I'd like to do anything you ask
me to, chief he declared, sincerely.
but l can't handle this Gordon case.
Because I'm going to stick to the
Red Circle until I solve it."
There was a knock at the door. The
chiefs secretary came in from the
outside Office.
The two men you sent down to
Surfton on the Gordon case are out
side. They'd like to see you at once
very important"
Lamar reached for his hat. The
CulSl lulSl puScu.
NO. | want you to stay and hear
what they have to say. Maybe it will
arouse your interest sufficiently to
make you change your mind. Send
them in, Harry
The two detectives rushed into the
doorway, each desperately anxious to
tell the exciting story.
Didn't get a trace Of him down
at Surfton,' Boyle. the taller of the
two, burst out as he crossed the
threshold. Must have had a pal
| down there who warned him.
And we were coming back to town,
Disguised with our luck" intercepted
Jacobs, when all of a sudden look
| out of the window and see this fellow
Gordon, standing plumb on the side
walk, as bold as you please. or course
Bill and | got Off that a in double
quick time; but before we could steal
up on him Gordon sighted us and
And made for an alleyway," the
first detective broke in. ~jealously, I'VE
chased him down the alleyway-it was
n running alongside a lumber yard.
We got a patrolman to stand guard
over the entrance to the yard while
we investigated farther down the
alley-but nothing doing
Did you search the yard?" asked
Lamar quietly.
Jaw, how can you search a lumber
yard?" scoffed Jacobs. "A guy could
have you playing hide-and-seek all
week in one of those things. We put
the patrolman there so he couldn't
make a getaway"
The chief looked at Lamar.
WELL" he asked slyly, does 1t
change your mind?"
Max shook his head.
Sorry. But It doesn't. Good!by.
I'm not going back to the Office just
yet. I'm going to take a brisk walk.
Maybe when l get back some Of these
cobwebs will be cleared out of my
head. I'm not going to walk past any
lumber yards, either" he added as a
parting shot.
The four men-all Interested In the
man hunt for the little embezzler, Cor
don-laughed heartily. II only one Of
them had looked out Of the window
of the chiefs office at that minute he
would have seen a weary, bedraggled
creature holding a small, white card
in his hand, wander past, looking for
an address.
The weary, bedraggled creature was
Charles Gordon, fugitive attorney,
who, after a night spent on a damp
park lawn, was seeking Max Lamar to
throw himself on his mercy.
The sight of a blue uniform with
brass buttons on the street corner
ahead of him made him dodge rapidly
into a convenient doorway. Heavy,
regular footsteps approached his hid
ing place-the measured pacing Of the
patrolman on his beat, known so well
to evaders of embarrassing situations.
The blue, well-fed figure get abreast
Of the spot-passed it, unseeing. The
coast was clear.
Gordon jumped from tho doorway,
skirted the building, keeping close to
the wall, and turned tho corner There
he drew a free breath and pushed his
hat back en- his forehead.
The second large doorway from the
corner had BLACK Building carved
In the stone up over the arch. Gordon
looked at the card in his hand.
The penciled line under Lamar's
name read, 1912 Black Building" He
walked through the huge glass door
and started to mount the stairs. A
man sneaking from the laws hands
does not trust himself to elevators
or rather people who run them.
At the top Of the fourth flight he
turned down the hallway to his left
and locked for the door with that
number on it. He found 1.-THE door
slightly ajar.
Very cautiously Gordon pushed 1t
wider.
A graceful woman, prettily gowned,
was seated in a chair beside the desk,
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