Evening star., 1921-10-02

steel jimmy. with which to force that
shed door; nor had he dared to &C
anywhere and buy a revolver with
| which to arm himself, and of which
he stood desperately in need. He
had only few dolfars. but he knew
where, under ordinary circumstances.
he could obtain those things without
any immediate outlay Of mOney-only
it was a moral certainty that every
move he made was watched. II he pro-
cured, say. a chisel. if he procured. say.
a revolver, he was not fool enough sto
imagine such facts would be hidden
long from those who watched. They
! would be suspicious facts. 1t would be
his play now to create no suspicion. He
could make no move until he had def
nitely and conclusively identified and
placed those who were watching him;
and then. with that point settled, it
should not be very hard to throw the
watchers off the track long enough
pigeon cote and. far more important.
his one vital objective now. old Tony
Lomazzi's friend-Capriano.
His jaws locked He meant to
force that issue tonight, even il he
could not discriminate between shad-
Ows and realities out there through
the window! He had a definite plan
worked out in his mind-including a
visit to Square John Kelly's. He
hadn't been to Square Johns yet. To
have gone there Immediately on
reaching San Francisco would have
been a fool play. 1t would have been
not only risky for himself. but risky
for Square John; and he had to pro-
tect Square John from the searching
and pertinent questions that would
then have certainly ensued. He was
going there, tonight. casually. as
simply to one of many similar places
that was part of his plan.
And now q smiled in mingled hit =
terness and menace. The underworld
had complimented him once on be-
ing the possessor Of potentialities that
could make of him the slickest crook
! in the United States. He had not for
gotten that. The underworld. or at
least section of it In the persons of
Baldy Vickers and his gang, was
! leagued against him now. as well as
| the police He would strive to merit
the underworld's encomium!
! He turned suddenly away from the
| window. walked in the darkness to
the table in the center of the room.
! and cropping for his hat. made his
| way to the door. He had not >ex-
pected much from this vigil at the
| window. but there had always been
the possibility that it would be pro-
| ductive. and the earlier hours of the
evening could have been employed in
no better way. 1t was dark enough
now to begin his nights work in
earnest. 1t must be between half
past and 10 O'clock
There was dim light in the cor
ridor hut. dim though it was. it did
J not hide the ragged. threadhare state
| of the carpet on the hallway and
| stairs. nor the lack of paint. or
even of soap and water. on doors
and woodwork. Pelatt's Hotel made
| no nretentious claims. 1t was us
shabby as the shabby quarter in
which it was located. and as shabby
as the shabby patrons to whom il
catered. But there were not many
places where man with close
| grouped hair and wearing black
clothes of blatant prison cut could
go. and he had known Pelatt in the
| old davs. and Pelatt. ir lieu of bag
J gage. hadn't demanded any cash in
advarce-he had even advanced Dave
/ Henderson a little cash himself
Dave Henderson reached the ground
! floor and gained the street through
| a small. dingy office that was for the
moment deserted. He paused here
! for moment. the termination strong
uDon him to cross the street and
| plunge into those shadows at the sid q
Of that porch lust opposite to him.
His lips grew tight. The temptation
| was strong. almost overpoweringly
! strong. He would much rather fight
that way!
! And then he shrugged his shoul-