Evening star., 1921-10-27
CONTINUED from Yesterdays star.)
vi.
Half an Ally.

vi.
e.. Half an Ally.
Motionless. save that his lips
twiched queerly, Dave Henderson
pillaged dress-suit case. And then
his hands clenched slowly-tightened
and grew white across the
knuckles.
The money was gone! The agony
of those days and nights. when.
wounded, he had fled froEs - police.
the five years of prison torment
which he had endured, seemed to
view before him-and to mock him,
and to become a CHASTITY travesty.
The money was gone!
The pillaged dress-suit case seemed
to leer and mock at him. too. He
might have saved himself that little
debate. which he had not settled, and
which was based upon a certain ele-
ment of ethics that involved the sug-
gestion of charity. 1t was settled for
him now. He owed Millman now one
hundred thousand dollars. only the
choice as to whether he would pay it
or not was no longer his. and
Damn it! The money was gone!
Could he not grasp that one, single,
cOHCEelS, vital ldClp dIlu dCl uPoh IL,
without standing here, with his brain.
like some hapless yokers, agog and
maundering? The money was gone!
Where? when? How? He could
only have been asleep for short
time. surely. He wrenched his watch
o'clock. 1t was o'clock in the
morning! Five hours! He had been
asleep five hours. then! He must have
slept very soundly that any one could
have entered the room without arous-
ing him!
His lips hardened. He was alert
enough now. both mentally and physi-
cally. He stepped over to the door.
1t was still locked. His eyes swept
around the room. The window, then!
What about thewindow?
He felt suddenly for his money-belt
beneath his underclothing, as he
started across the room. The belt was
there. That, at least, was SAFE. A
twisted smile came to his lips.
Naturally! His brain was exhibiting
some glimmer of sense and cohesion
now! 1t was evident enough that no
one, since no one know anything
about it. had been specifically after
that package of banknotes. 1t could
only have been the work of sneak
thief-who had probably stumbled
upon the greatest stroke of luck in
his whole abandoned career. 1t was
undoubtedly a quarter of the city
where sneak thieves were bred! The
man would obviously not have been
fool enough, with a fortune already
in his possession. to have risked the
frisking of his, Dave Hendersons.
sleeping person. Was the man, then,
an inmate of the Iron Tavern. say,
that greasy waiter. for instance; or
had he gained entrance from out
side: or. since the theft might have
taken place hours ago. was it
predatory hanger-on at the bar who
had sneaked his way upstairs,
and
was queer. Both window and door
locked. How had the man got in
and got out again?
Mechanically, he unlocked and
raised the window-and with quick
jerk of his body forward leaned out
platform of a fire escape that ran be-
tween his window and the next? But
his window had been locked!
He stood there hesitant. Should he
arouse Dago George9 He could de-
pend and trust kDago George, thanks
to Nicolo Capriano: but to go to Dago
George meant that condolences must
be led up to which he desired to give
to no man. His brain seemed sud
denly to become frantic. The money
was gone-his, or Millman's. or the
DEVILS, it didn't matter which now
the money was gone, swallowed up in
the black of that night out there,
Without a clue that offered him a
suggestion even on which to act. But
he couldn't stand here inactive like
q fool, could he? Nor-his brain
jeered at him now-could he go out
and prowl around the city streets. and
ask each passerby If he or she had
seen a package of banknotes whose
sum was one hundred thousand dol
lars! What else was there then, to
do, except arouse Dago George? Dago
George. from what Nicolo Capriano
had said. would have many strings to
pull-underground strings. That was
it-underground strings! 1t wasn't
a police job.
He turned from the window, took a
step back across the room. and halted
again abruptly. What was that? 1t
came again-a faint, low. rustling
sound. and it seemed to come from
the direction of the fire escape.
In an instant he was back at the
window, but this time he crouched
down at the sill. A second passed
while he listened, and from the edge
Of the sash strained his eyes out into
the darkness, and then his hand crept
into is side pocket and came out with
his revolver. Some one, a dark form,
blacker than the night shadows out
there. was crawling from the next
window to the fire escape.
, Dave Hendersons lips thinned. Just
a second more until that some one"
was halfway out and halfway in,
and at a disadvantage and-now!
With a spring. 1.-the and
quick as cat, Dave Hen,
derson was through the window, and
the dark form was wriggling and
squirming in his grasp. and a low
cry came-and Dave Henderson swore
sharply under his breath.
It was a woman. A woman! Well.
that didn't matter! One hundred thou
sand dollars was gone from his dress
suit case, and this woman was crawling
to the fire escape from the next room
at 3 o'clock in the mornng-that was
what mattered!
They were on the iron platform now.
and he pushed her none too gently
along it toward the window of his own
room-into the light. And then his
hands dropped from her as though sud-