Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-08-06

on the table; and the latter, after
an instant's hesitation, was added to
the horde in the, valise. He closed
and locked the valise. There re-
manned now but the empty tray. He
stared at this ruefully.
II hate to lose that trunk, upon
my soul, | dol" he muttered. but
can't afford to take any chances OF
lspilling the beans by trying to get
it out of here!"
away the canvas bottom Of the tray,
then broke the frame work into a
dozen pieces. The lid of the trunk
itself was innocent of fastenings. or
Of any evidence that 1t had ever
concealed a tray; and the tray itself,
when the Hawk was thru with it,
was an unrecognizable debris Of
splintered wood and ribbons OF torn
canvas. He made a bundle of this,
tying 1t together with strip of the
canvas.
The Hawk now emptied his peck
cts and proceeded to change his
clothes. Ii he We're destined to sac
rifice the greater part of his ward
robe, he at least need not ltnger long
in indecision over the choice OF what
should be preserved! There was an
exceedingly useful and ingeniously
devised pocket concealed in the back
lining of a certain one of his coats,
The suit, OF which this coat was an
integral part, was trifle worn and
threadbare. not in quite as good re-
pair as any of the rest OF his cloth
ing. and for that reason he had not
worn 1t OF late; but one could not at
all times afford to be fastidious!
What he left behind would be min
utely searched and examined. The
secret of that pocket, little inven-
ton Of his own. was worth preserv-
ing from the vulgar eye, even at the
expense of sacrificing a better suit
Of clothes for the sake Of it, He
resurrected the suit in question from
the bottom of the trunk, and put ii
| on. And into the concealed pocket
he tucked away his mask and his
bunch of skeleton keys. A side coat
pocket, more, instantly accessible
served for his automatic--the other
pockets for his various other be-
longtngs, including the, steel jimmy
The Hawk made final and COM
prehensiye survey of the room, then
closed and locked the trunk, and
again consulted his watch. It was
FIVE piputes after ter and No. is
|sqhednlsd Selkirk at ten twenty. The
HaNk nodded. 1t was time to go
just. tpe. He took from his Jocket
hts automatic, tested and, examined
ats mechanism critically. 9 nd re-
stored it to his pocket He crossed
the room, turned out the light, un-
losksd the door without opening it,
and took his handkerchief from the
, keyhole. Without a sound now the
Hawk moved back to the bed, picked
up the valise, tucked the bundle of
what had once been sthe tray under
his arm, returned to the door; open
sd It silently, and stood ,peering out
Into the dark hallway--ahd the next
instant. the Hawk. stealing like a
shadow down the stairs. gained the
street and in another had swung
around the corner into the lane.
II was only the length of O block
to the station, but here in the lane
the Hawk found means of dispostng
Pf the irks0me bundle under his arm
bY the simple expedient of dropping
Pieces Of the wreckage in the various
refuse barrels as he went along. Nor
had the Hawk. evidently, any inten-
ton either Of hampering his move
ments with the care of the valise or
Of risking the valise's contents in the
nights work that lay ahead of him.
The Hawk was. perhaps. possessed
Of q certain ironical sense of humor.
Since his possession of the loot
which the valise contained was due
I'm q more or less intimate degree to
the railroad, 1t seemed eminently
fitting that 1t should be restored to
the railroad for safe keeping tempo
rsafalV The Hawk, as he entered the
station, nonchalantly exchanged his
IyAHse for parcel -room check, paid
down the dime for the service to be
rendered. and passed on into the
general waiting room.
He glanced at the news counter on
HIS way thru to the platform. Its
Ifull opmBlement of two attendants
were present now; but. contrary to
all precedent, it being an ALL night
stand, obvious preparations for clos
ing 1t for the night were in progress
the two men were engaged in re-
moving the magazines, newspapers,
and various small wares from the
outside ledge of the counter, and in
pulling down the large sliding win
dows that enclosed the place. The
Hawks dark eyes flashed CLEAN of
grim appreciation. 1t was then liter
ally mobilization Of the Wire Dev-N
iis 70 the last man tonight! A half
million In gold-was a half million
in gold!
The Hawk bought a mileage book
IN lieu of ticket to any Nspecific
destination, both because his imme-
date destination was peculiarly his
own private concern, and because In
the very near future he expected to
put considerable quantity of mile-
age to excellent use He strolled out
to the platform, and along to the
east end of the station.
2