Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-30
CHAPTER VIII
The Door on tho IAne

,Y,As that a shadow cast by the pro-
w ;ection OF the door porch out there
across the street. or was 1t more than
: shadow? II was true that. to res
rsrkable degree, ones eyes became
sncnstomed TO the murk, almost akin to
Slsckness, Of the i'll lighted street; but
ho mind did not accommodate itself so
,ssdily--a long and sustained vigil, the
main spurrcd into abnormal activity
and under tense strain, produced men
toi ounlity of vision that detracted from,
rather than augmented, the dependence
10 bc placed upon the physical organs
n sight. It peoplcd space with its own
imaeinations; it created, rather than
deserted. Dave Henderson shook his
head in grim uncertainty. lie could not
bs sure what it was out there. With
the black background of the unlighted
room behind him lie could not be eeen
At the window by any one on the street,
which was two stories below, and he
had been watching here since it had
rown dark. In that time he had seen
dozen shadows that he could have sworn
were not shadows--and yet they were
no more than that after oil. He was
only sure OF one thing-that out there
somewhere, perhaps nowhere within eye
range of his window, perhaps even half
A block away, but somewhere. some one
was watching. He. had been sure OF
that during every hour Of his new
found freedom, since he had reached
Frisco that noon. lie had been sure
Of II intuitively; but he had failed Sig
nally to identify any one specifically as
having dogged or followed him.
Freedom. , lie laughed little
harshly. There weren't any stone walls
any more; this window in front of him
wasn't grated, nor the door of the room
steel barred. nor out there in the cor
ridor was there any uniformed guard
and so 1t WAS freedom.
The short, harsh laugh was on his
lips again. Freedom! 1t was curl
Gus freedom. then! lie could walk Mt
will out there In the streets-withln
limits. But he did not dare go yet TO
that shed where Mrs. Toolcr's old pig
con cote was. The money probably
wasn't there anyhow-Millman almost
certainly had won the first trick and
had got away with it; but 1t was abso-
lutely necessary that he should be sure.
He had freedom; but he had dared go
lowhere to procure steel Jimmy, FOR
/ Instance, or substitute for a steel
Jimmy. with which to force that shed
door: nor had he dared to go anywhere
and buy revolver. with which to arm
himself, and Of which he stood des-
perately in need. He had only n few
dollars but he knew where. under or
dinary circumstances, he could obtain
those things without any immediate out
lay OF moncy--only 1t was moral ccr-
tanty that every move he made was
watched. If he procured. say, chisei
II he procured, say, a revolver, he was
not fool enough to imagine such facts
would be hidden long from those who
watched. They would be suspicious
facts. 1t was his play now to create
no suspicion. lie could make no move
until he had definitely and conciusively
identified and placed those who were
watching him and then, with that point
settled, 1t should not be very hard to
throw the watchers of the track long
enough to enable him to visit Mrs. Too
ler's pigeon cote, and, far moro i'm
portant, his one vital objective now,
old Tony Lomazzi's friond-Capriano.
His jaws locked. He meant to force
that issue tonight. even IL he could not
Discriminate between shadows and re.
sities out there through the window !!
He had definite plan worked out In his
mind-including visit to Square John
Kelly's. He hadn't been TO Square
johns yet. To have gone there imme.
djately on reaching San Francisco would
have been fool play. 1t would have
been not only risky for himself, but
risky for Square John; and he had to