Evening star., 1921-09-22

West ,sretrscI hanger-on. to steal
| the money from him tHenderson). Skaf
.6o :n6 twS oCo ssisr it Is taken from
T., Henderson.
Continued from Yesterdays Star.) O.
It was silent in the house-only the
silence began to pound and throo' aho
. bacome a world Of riot ana c1smey'
: and make confused noises OF Its own
crouched against tho wall. Dave Hen
1! 6erson raised his hand to his 1ore-
head-and drew his hand away damp
| with beads Of moisture. There was
, an overmastering rage. a tigerish
ferociy upon him: but his brain. most
curiously, was deadly Geld in its COM
/ posure, and was working now swift
as lightning flashes, keen. alert,
: shrewd, active. The words he had
, just heard meant-murder. His muir
der! The very callousness OF the
! them. Also he knew Baldy Vickers.
il any further proof was needed.
Baldy vickers was, gangster 70
whom murder was trade; and Baby
Vickers with stakes In the Thousands,
when he would have committed any
crime in the decalogue with greedy
haste for a hundred dollar bill, meant
murder.
He was stopping now. silently, with
! the utmost caution. slipping on his
: came a faint sound. low creaking,
like the stealthy rending Of wood. He
knew what 1t meant: They were forc-
ing the shed door-to follow him in
assist If necessary in the work those
two were. waiting to perform In his
room, which he was expected to enter.
His face was set. drawn In lines as
hard rs chiseled marble. And yet ne
could have laughed-laughed out in
tho bitterest mockeries. The game
was up-even il he saved his life. He
would be wanted" for the theft OF
one hundred thousand dollars. He
could mot cover that up now. If he
escaped Baldy vickers and his pack,
he would still be fugitive from the
law And, worse still. he would be a
fugitive empty-handed, chased like a
NANCY dog who had risked his all for
in his flight. God. If he could only
get back there and get that money!
But there were footsteps coming now
his straining ears could hear them
they were coming nearer and nearer
into the rear of the house. Furt
surged upon him again: Skarvan!
Bookie skarvan! It was Skarvan.
not Baldy Vickers, not that miserable,
red-headed rat OF tout in there that
instant to settle, with. 1t was Skar-
van, the dirty Judas, not the others.
who, SNUG and safe. had planned his,
Dave HAnderson's, murder in delfber-
ate. cold d-blooded hellishness!
Well. II he. Dave Henderson, lived,
Bookie Skarvan would pay an
eve for. an eye that was God 8
law, wasn't It? 80 . well, as certainly
as God lived, Bookie skarvan would
pay - it was another incentive
The brain works with incredible
speed. Those footsteps had not yet
quite reached the. door leading into
and now his eyes fell upon the empty
black, handbag which. to facilitate his
movements in putting on his shoes.
he had set down, on the floor beside
him, and there came. flickering sud-
denly over the tIght-pressed lips. a
through: there was only one way to
get through-his car out there in
front-a dash for it. though it was
certain that there would be others OF
there. too: he might not get through.
but If he did, there was a way, too. to
save that hundred thousand dollars.
or, at least. to keep it from Bookie
Skarvan'S claws!
Into the dark. narrowed eyes there
came a CLINT Of humor-but it was
grim, deadly humor. They believed.
Of course, that he had the money in
the bag. since he would be credited
with no object for having already dis
posed of it, the natural presumption
being that, with the money once in
his possession. he would make a run
for it-and they must continue to be-
lieve that-be given no reason to be-
lieve- otherwise. 1t was dangerous,
fan unwarily into their trap. pre-
tended to be unconscious that there
was, for instance, blackjack waiting
for him in his room, their suspicious
would never be aroused-and neither
poct for an instant that the money
was not still in the bag as he dashed
from the house.
He was creeping forward again -si-
That was logical. They would ex-
pect that. They would expect him to
creep in silently and stealthily. on
account of Tooler upstairs-or,. II they
did not exactly expect 1t, 1t would ex-
plain itself in that very logical way
to them afterward.
Behind him now the door leading
into the. hall was being opened eau
tiously. 80 cautiously that he would
not have heard 1t II he had not been
lISt0uIuB LUZ IT. scApSSllu8 lIs OGI- AC
was just at the edge Of the jamb Of
his own door now He Strengthened
up, his hand reached out for the door
handIe,1 and, still retaining his grasp
upon, the knob and standing in full
view upon the threshold. he pushed
the door open to the extent of his out
stretched arm.. :.
The siickest crook In the United
States, they had said he would makei
He. would try and not disappoint
His eyes swept the interior in. a
Hash. A burly figure was crouched
low, down against the wall within
striking distance Of the door, an ugly
looking, leather-covered baton in his
h4nd-Runty Mott was not in sight
h was for the fraction, Of q second
that he stood there-no more-not
long enough for that crouching figure
to- recover from its surprise.
my God!" gasped Dave Henderson,
ins welI-simulated dfsmay: and, leap
ing backward, pulled shut the door
and dashed for the door to the street.
There was a yell from the room; it
was echoed by a shout. and the sound
Of racing feet. from the rear of the
hall Dave Henderson wrenched the
front door open-and slammed it be-
hind him. A figure rose before him
ON the steps. His left hand, free,
swung with all his body weight be-
hind IL, swung with q terrific blow
ID the point Of a. scrubby jaw that
blocked his wAy-And. the figure
crtfmplSA. and went down with q
CRASH on the doorstep.
lt-~aa but n yard To thu. curb. nd