The daily morning oasis., 1920-11-06
The -.
Dark
Mirror
k
Louis Joseph Vance :
Asfhor of~7he False Faces
~The Lone Wolf" Efe.
Illustrated By
mWM MYERS
VII. eARNEHAN.
illustrated By
mWM MYERS
IIIIIIIIIIiIIIIIIIlIII IIIlIIIIisIIiIIsItIhIiIt
copyright, 1920, by the AgthSrl

D.
Office. She COULD only shake her head
IN dumb fright with piteQys eyes
With a grunt OF impatience the
gangster released her, flung across the
room in two cat-like bounds, stopping
TO peer In through the doors to bed
chamber and bathr0am and satisfy
himself that Mario was skuiking IN
neither.
:" he came back at slow prowl. with
. staring heAacss IN pig sEas ard
Enirthless grin. ""Where y he% dc
seized her arm in q grasp Intentionally
savage. sWRyH't yon answer mer
Pain ppsealed pale liPe An which
per whisper rushed: # dent know"
tThat's a liep
Her wrist suffered q mnre violent
wrench. She cried out Ia protest
rPlease, Redl ! don't know-hones'
don't know whore he's gone. He
went out just minate age"
"What for?"
"He-he said he'd get me some dry
things to put on. Mines all soaked"
"Well"-a grimaee made the mans
face terrible -i;"tben heH he back be
Fore iornagl ri waiitMHthahks II
.s;For Gods sake. Bed"
sAh, shHt yonF trapI" He cast her
arm free yipleRtlF and. stood back.
$50 you thought you could gyR Red
carnehap and get sway With Isl You
little foali"
she attempted no reply. The first
spasm of eensternation passing, the
faculty Of concentrated thQpght re-
turned. She entertained net the faint
est hope Of escaping her fate at the
hands of Red Carnehan. Whether she
lived Dr died. she Conceived, didn't
matfer. But It was otherwise with
Mario. Him she must save somehow,
by some heroic exercise # wit and
spirit {. >:
Fet In the beginning she cast about
in vain for ruse or vile that might
serve. Alone, defenseiess, in the nnm-
pany of q man armed and determined
murder in heart and mind: a man in
sane with jealousy and hatred, alike
bred of sheer fear, the fear OF the as
sassin living moment by moment In
the shadow Of arrest; what could she
do against such oddss' TN ''''i'' q.
she could think Of nothing. pesltIy!e
~ nothing. And yet, she knew, there
must be some way opt, + only she
could end 1t
She knew herself to he clever. faF
eieyerer than Red-as she had once
boasted to his face. !. Her wits bad
vet to fail her. however extreme et
exigent the occasion. Give her timt
TO think and she could circumEenI
him. But now that one essential ele
ment, time, was lacking. Impossible
to guess how soon Mario might return
And then there was Reds impatienct
ID be reckoned With .t..' f'''' '''"'s
her look of trapped animal faded
In its stead her face reelected cen
centration Of thought ameanting Al
most to abstraction. She seemed Il
consider Carnehan out Of fathom
less composure, as she might one FAC
tor in an engrossing problem in whos'
solution she was vitality Interested.
This change In her annoyed the mar
intolerably. Not 0nly was any sep
blance Of indfaerencs extensive. Bq
he bad learned to distrust the girl:
moments Of thoughtfuiness. II his In
teiligence was not OF a high order, h,
had at least cunning. with acume,
enough to feel and fear the finer met
tie Of her mentality. Instinctiveiy h
sought an outlet for his exasperatio'
In a burst Of lurid blashphemy.
"whyn't you say somethin'f' he con
: GUIDED gesticnIatirg. wildly With tn
pfstolt "What you standirf there f0l
dumb's q cat. Whyn't yOa try to com
clean by iyin'T .
She responded quietly; "What'
the usef Even II ! told you the trut
it wouldn't do any good. You've mad
up your mind"
"You said Il. I'm wise. and Pv
got you where I want you. II 20
think you can put anything over Q
me nowMwsli, try It. Thafs mp; Il
It. ] wish you w0ud.'
She shrugged wearily, then inquire
in tone OF moderate curiosity
"Where's Inez waiting for your
allow d'you know He was OF
viousIy posed. whats Inez got
do-T ..
you know well enough It was he
that told you was here"
iHNWell -. What IF she didf'
rNothing- only she brohght ime hsr
Arstr " -''' '''
like h-l@
sYes"-the girl ignored the inte
ruption-T didn't even know whel
ne lived, no more'n ] knew vhePe
look for you. So lnez framed m
Just Co put me in bad with you"
"Ah, tell! to Sweeney"
"Ask Charlie. z you don't belies
me-ask him after he comes to [,
Sing Hos tomorrow. He'll tell You
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