Evening star., 1921-09-29
FROM NOW ON
BY FRANK L. PACKARD.
Copyright, 1871, by Public Ledger Co.
Copyright, 1921, by 4. II. Davis Corp.

I
word?" Doa
Henderson evenly. .a
Then take mine!" Skarvan raspeo.
"I'll go now and tell the waIuem yto -
wouldn't say anything. II you try 70
nut a crimp in me by reporting my
offer. I'll say you lied. l, don m.no
taking chances on my word being oe.
lieved against the word OF a CONVEX
and a thief who is known to pc Play
ing tricky! You get that! Anu amer
that-God help you.
The man was gone.
Presently Dave Henderson found
himself back in the carpenter shop'
! The band saw was shriekfng. screeGh
| ing insanely again. He had smiieu
in there in the visitors room sn d,
| debonair and facetious-he WASH
, that way now. He could mask his face
! from others; he couldn't mask ms
soul from himself. 1t seemed as
though his courage were oetne
place were coming sense OF hnal:
crushing defeat Barjan's bioW OF
last night had sent him groggy to the
ropes: but the blow Bookie Skarvan
! had just dealt had smashed in under
his, guard and had landed on an even
| more vital spot.
Skarvan's veiled threat hadn't
veiled anything. The veil was only
too transparent! God help your!
meant lot. 1t meant that. far more
dangerous to face, even more difficult
to outwit than the police. there was
criminal element of San Francisco.
1t meant Baldy Vickers and Runty
Mott. and Baldy yickers' gang. 1t
meant the men who had already at
tempted to murder him. and who
would be eager. enough to repeat that
off r@, fob hun
tdred thousand dollars. With the po-
lice it would have, been. more than
anything else, the simple thrust and
parry of wits; now. added to that.
was a physical british force whose
danger only fool would strive to
minimize. There were dives and denS
in the underworld there, as he knew
well enough, where man would dis
appear from the light of day forever.
! and where tortures that would put
the devils ingenuity to shame could
be applied to make man open his
lips. He was not exaggerating! 1t
was literally true. And if he were
once trapped he could expect no less
than that They had already tried to
murder him once! Naturally, they
had entered into his calculations be-
fore while he had been here in prison:
, but they had not seemed to be "a
very vital factor. He had never fig
, ured on Bookie Skarvan setting that
machinery in motion again--he had
only figured on getting his own hands
on Bookie Skarvan himself. But he
saw it now: and he realized that. once
started again, they would stop at
nothing to get that money. Whether
Bookie Skarvan would have abided by
his offer, on the basis that he would
get more out il it that way. or
whether 1t was simply a play to dis
cover the whereabouts of the monev
Il If1,;I Io 1,ytf hi al
completes, did not matter; it was GER
tain now that Bookie Skarvan would
be content with less rather than with
none. and that the underworld would be
unleashed on his, Dave Henderson's
trail. The police-and now the UNDER
world! 1t was like pack of wolves and
a pack Of hounds in chase from con-
verging directions after the same
quarry: the wolves and the hounds
might clash together. and fall upon
one another-but the quarry would be
mangled and crushed in the melee.
The afternoon wore on. At times
Dave Henderson's hands cienched over
his tools until it seemed the tendons
must snap and break with the strain;
at times the sweat of agony ooZed out
in drops upon his forehead. Bookie
Skarvan was right. He could not get
that money alone. No: No. that was
and he would get it. and then fight
for it. and go under for it, all hell
would not hold him back from that,
and Bookie Skarvan and some of the
others would go under too-but he
could not get away with the money
alone. And that meant that these
five years in prison. five years of
degrade ton, of memories that naus-
eated him, five years that. he had
wasered out of his life, had gone for
nothingI God, if he could only turn
to some one for help! But there was
no one. not soul on earth, not
friend in the world who could aid him
except MillElan.
And he couldn't ask Millman-be-
cause it wouldn't be fair to Millman.
His face must have grown haggard.
perhaps he was acting strangely. Old
Tony over there had been casting
anxious glances in r direction. He
took a grip upon his. :: and smiled
at the old bomb-thr, :. The old
Italian looked pretty uad himself
that pasty whiteness about the old
fellows face had nasty appearance.
CONTINUED in Tomorrow's Star.)