Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-07-26
JACK 0JUDGMENT !: By Edgar Wallace
Unusual Story of Gang and Author Of CIR
H. The Dafdn
CHAPTER I
Ths KnaVe Of Clubs

I,. had been shot In. his tracks on
~ % nf snow and storm. and none
hlsa, ,hs murder. When they got him to
~ ,nortnary and searched his clothes
,hey ,h found nothing except little tln
hor of white powder ywhich proved
"a he cocaine. ana A. playing card
he "jack' Of clubs. it
III. associates had called him Snow
E nI..ory because he was q dope fend.
usv cccoine is invariably referred to
"snow'' by all its votaries. He
n pombler, too, and he had been
.oc;oted with Colonel Dan Boundary
- certain of his business enterprises.
~ ~ =. WINS all, The colonel knew nothing
.T.be your< mans antecedents, except
49, he IsS been an Oxford man who
~ So,ne down in the world. The
~ s,orsI added few particulars de-
s,"uad. ne IL might seem to the impartial
sS.a,ver. TO prove thht he, the colonel,
IA S ever been an uplifting quantity.
There we're people who said that Snow
rv in bis more exalted moments
vs.,tsJ Too much for the c0lonel,s g COM
80 hi people were very ready to talk
S."t;,Jly of the colonel whose wealth
~ss nm offense and a shame.
", O. thew buried Snow Gregory. the
,rInown, and jury of his fellow
ssnntrymen returned u verdict Of will
I'll murder against some person or per,
ans unknown. aa-s
'I And there was the end of a sordid
| 4,..sdy. ii seemed, until three months
s..sr there dawned upon Colonel Bound
s,,'s busy life a brand new and alarm:
- ..lsIH... . .. e
~ One morning there arrived ut his
..i.tial apartment lin Albermarle Place
letter, This he opened because It
s.s marked Private and Personal.
\. was not letter at alias 1t proved
hut soiled and stained playing card,
the knave Of clubs. ~
He looked at the thing In perplexity,
a. rho fate ofl his erstwhile assistant
Ia long since passed from his mind:
Thsn he saw writing on the margin OF
NJ csrd and, twisting 1t sideways, read !:
tTsck o, Judgment" Nothing more.
"Jock o. Judgment!'
The colonel screwed up his tired eyes
n II TO shut out vision, ..,.. g,
"Faugh :" he said in disgust and
s,onncd the pasteboard into his waste
paper basket. ,,.
fS,For he had seen a vision, a wnite
hce, unshaven and haggard, lts hps
Varted in a little grin, the smile OF
hncw Gregory OIL the last time they
hd met .... ,,ds ond nm.
Sleasant, not to say disconcerting, nap.
penings, and the colonel, taking coun-
a with himself. determined to kill two
birds with one stone.
II was n daring and audacious thing
| 70 have done, and none but Colonel Dan
boundary would have taken the risk.
| IA knew better than anybody else that
Stafford King had devoted the whole
II his time for the past three years to
smashing the Boundary gang. He knew
| tNat this grave young man With the
Heady gray eyes. who sat on the other
a. Of the big Louis Nv table in the
ornate private Office of the Spillsbury
Syndicate, had won his way to the
c6hf position in the criminal intelligence
denartment by sheer genius, and that
Ne was, of all men, the most to be
feared.
No greater contrast could be imag-
| ined than that which was presented
between the two protagonists-the re-
| fined, almost esthetic, chief Of police
on the one hand, the big, commanding
6rnre Of the redoubtable colonel on the
other.
Boundary, with his black hair parted
| IN the center of his sleek head, his big,
weary eyes, his long. yellow walrus
mpstache, his double chin, his breadth
and girth, his enormous hairy hands
now laid upon the table, might stand
for force, brutal, remorseful. untiring.
He stood for cunning, tOO-the cunning
Of the stalking tiger.
Stafford was watching him with dis.
passionate interest. He may have been
secretly amused at the mans sheer
daring, but If he was, his inscrutable
hce displayed no such emotion.
II dare say, Mr.. King said the
colonel in his slow, heavy way, "you
think 1t is rather remarkable in all
the circumstances that should ask
you to call. I dare say" he went on,
my business associates will think the
zane, considering all the unpleasant
ness we have had"
Stafford King made no reply. He
ut erect alert and watchful.
"Give a dog bad name and hang
him." said the colonel sententiously
For twenty years I've had to fight
ths unjust suspicious Of my enemies.
scfrowfully-"I don't suppose there's
anybody been libeled more than me
ond my business associates. I've had
ne police nosing-I mean investigating
Into my affairs; and IN be straight
with you, Mr.. Stafford King, and tell
you that when it came to my ears and
the ears Of my business associates tina,
you had been put on the job Of watching
poor old Dan Boundary, was glad
Is that as compliment" asked
stafford, with the faintest suspicion
ofa smile.
Every way" said the colonel EN-.
Raatically. in the first place, Mr.
ning, know that you are the
s9aightest and most honest police
omcial in England, and possibly in the
world. All l want Is justice. My lift
an open book, which courts the fullest
inyestigation."
ne spread out his huge hands al
Mough inviting an even closer inspec.
uon than had been afforded him hitherto
mr.. Stafford King made no reply. HI
Anew, very we'll he knew, the stories
saich had been told about the Bound
sy gang. He knew little and guessed
ot about its extraordinary ramifica
IONS. He was well aware, at any rate
mst IT vas rich, and that this slow
;peaKing man could command millions
nut he was far from desiring to in,
sVrse the colonels inferred claim as t
w purity of his business methods.
ue leaned little forward.
! am sure you didn't send for MI
we! all about your hard lot, colonel, ;
~ said little ironically.
me colonel shook his head.
s,a wanted to get to know YOU" hi