Evening star., 1921-10-30
VII.
The Man With the Flashlight.

The silence seemed like some un-
canny. living, breathing thing. 1t
seemed to beat and pulsate. until the
ear drums throbbcd with it. Il
seemed to become some mad. dis
Cordant chorus. in which every human
emotion We'd with every other one
that it might prevail over all the
rest; a savage fury, and triumphant
love; mighty hope. and a cruel dis
may: joy, and a chill. ugly fear. And
the chorus rose and claShed. and ii
seemed as though some wild. incoher-
ent battle was joined, until first one
strain after another was beaten down
and submerged. and put to rout. until
out of the chaos and turmoil, domi-
nant, supreme. arose fury. merciless
and cold.
Dave Henderson crept along the
upper hall. The pocket tiashiight in
his hand. one of his purchases ON
the way east, winked through the
blackusSs, the round. white ray dis
closing for a seconds space the head
OF the stairs: and blackneSs fell
again.
He began to descend the stairs eau
tiously. Yes, that was it-fury. Out
of that wild riot in his brain that
was what remained now. 1t drew his
face into hard. pitilesS lines. but it
left him most strangely cool and de-
Hberate-and the more pitileSS. 1t
was Dago George who was the object
Of that fury. not Nicolo Capriano.
That was strange, too. i'll way! 1t
was Nicolo Capriano who had done him
the greater wrong. for Dago George
was no more than the others satel-
lite: but Nicolo Capriano's treachery
seemed tempered somehow-by death
perhaps-by that slim figure that he
had left standing fhTTH in thp
darkness perhaps: his brain refused
70 reason it out to a logical conclu
sion; it held tenaciously to Dago
George. 1t seemed as though there
were 4 literal physical itch at his fin
ger tips to reach a thrcat-hold and
choke the oily. lying smi." from the
Suave. SNUG face of that ny -ucritical
bowling figure that had offere,- sim
glass of wine, and. like Il damaable
hound, had drugged nim. and
Was that sound. sound of move
ment. of some one stirring below
there. that he heard-or only an ex-
aggerated imagination: He wa-
half way down the upper flight of
stairs now, and he stopped to listen.
, No. there seemed to be nothing-only
that silence that palpitated and made
noises of its own: and yet, lie was
not satisfied: he could have sworn
that he had heard some one moving
about.
hut still more cautiously now. There
was no reason why there shouldn't
be some one moving about, even at
ths hour. 1t might be Dago George
himself Dago George might not have
gone to bed again yet. 1t was only
an hour. Teresa had said. since the
man had come upstairs and stolen the
money. or it might be some accom-
plIce who was with DaSo George
He remembered TereSa's reference to
bA hu Of W n
Dago George was in command: and
he remembered that some one had
come down the stairs behind her and
pago George. But Teresa herself
had evidently been unseen. for there
had been no attempt to find or inter-
fcre with her. 1t had probably there
fore been-well. any one!
1T presented possibilities.
It might have been an accompllce;
or prowlng guest, if there were
other guests in this unSavory hos
telry: or servant. for some unknown
reason nnSing about, if any of the dis
reputab bls staff slept in the place ar
nieht-tlsr cook, or the greasy
waiter or the bartender, or any of
the rest of them; though, i'll place
like this. functionaries of that sort
were muclr more likely to go hack 70
3 their homes afters their work was
over. 1t would notsbe at all unlikely
that Dago George. in view oflhls out
of the staff about the place at night
Dave Henaerson's jaws closed with
vicious snap. Useless speculation
of this sort got him nowhere! He
would find out soon enough, If Dago
George were not alone. there Were
still several hours till daylight; and
he could wait his chance with grim
patience. He was concerned with
. only one thingA-to square accounts
with Dago George in a way that
would both satiate his fury and force
the man to disgprge the contents OF
his safe.
His jaws frightened. There was but
one, single. disturbing factor If any
thing went wrong. Teresa was still
spect the stage was set-for any
eveutuality. He had even taken the
precaution. before doing anything
else, to get their valLses, hers and his.
out of the place, since in any case
they meant to steal away from this
accursed traphouse of Dago George.
1t had been simple enough to dispose
and through the yard, and down the
Jane, where the valfses had found n
temporary hiding place in shed.
whose door. opening on the lane. he
had discovered ajar. and simple
enough, with Teresa's help in regain
ing the fire escape from the ground.
to return in the same way; but he
had been actuated by more than the
mere idea of being unimpeded in
tight if critical situation subse-
uuently arose-though in this, his ul-
terior motive. he had failed utterly of
success. Teresa had agreed thor
oughly in the wisdom of first remov-
ing their belongings; but she had