Evening star., 1924-03-09

| Innate penalty. With nothing to gain
we can hardly hope that he will dis
close the hiding place of his loot. But
IL his life is prsmised to him, he
agrees to surrender lA'operty Of great
value. Also the state will be spared
She great expense of q contest. What
do you say, Mr.. Pelham"
Il am a private detective. with pri-
vate clients to serve" replied Pelham.
IF the acceptance of such q plea
is satisfactory to you, 1t is. of course.
all right with me-"
| The Gray Ghost hurled himself from
his chair: sobbing, he prostrated him
self before his opponent. 1t was one
OF the most painful moments in Pei
hams whole life.
| He turned his back upon the other
men. walked to a window and stared
at the street below. He could not
help hearing Ballantyne's hystericai
tale, but he could avoid looking long
er upon this painful disintegration of
character.
Well. come clean" he heard Jerry
say.
| II would. not deceive you, Mr..
Tryon," whined Ballantyne. you
gentlemen are so good and kind to
me that I wouldn't lie to you"
! where's the stuff" demanded the
district attorney
| AT Rolling Meadows" replied the
Gray Ghost
Where Is that?" asked the district
attorney.
! But Jerry Tryon answered the ques-
tion. 'In Westchester, about ten miles
north of White Plains" he cried.
You're kidding us"
'Why should do that?" countered
Ballantyne
| There are no storage warehouses
in village like Rolling Meadows -
/ asserted Jerry. Imagination had never
been Tryon's strong point
| X X y y
! SOMETHING of the old spirit sound
ed in the Gray Ghosts voice.
warehouses are owned by people
] who ask inconvenient questions, Mr..
Tryon. But IL South American mil
lfonafre purchased an estate in West
chester, no one is surprised If vans
| occasionally drive up to his house.
Many Of the treasures I acquire have
no merchantable value. I took them
for my own pleasure. They would give
me no pleasure stored in a room
| somewhere. But in my own drawing
room. on the walls of my library
Pelham glanced over his shoulder.
\ 70 i'm, thot aIxyx 6
| there new vigor in the prisoner
voice, but the shrunken figure seem
ed to have taken on flesh. But as he
looked again he decided that his eyes
and ears had been mistaken. For Bal
lantyne's attitude was again cringing
and his voice whined.
"All you've got to do" said the
Gray Ghost, "is to go up there to
Rolling Meadows, surround the house
of Mr.. Rafael Anatolia, and I shall
have earned my life
iPelham could stand no more. He
ignored the prisoner as he spoke to
Jerry.
Make your arrangements" he said,
land call for me. I'll be at my
rooms
He strode from the office and out
of the criminal courts building, en-
crossed in his own thoughts.
"Why hadn't the Gray Ghost gone
down fghting?"
He put the question to Jerry Tryon
later on that evening. Jerry laughed
at him. "All crooks are rats" de-
clared Jerry.
rats fight when cornered," OBJ
jected Pelham.
Not human rats" argued Jerry.
Pelham shrugged. What do We
do?" he asked.
Jerry looked at his young-old part
ner. There was an almost reveren-
tial affection in the ex-policeman's
blue eyes. Also there were traces OF
worry in them. Pelham did not look
as At as the man who loved him
liked to see him. At a time when he
should be jubilant Pelham seemed
depressed and nervous.
The thing for you to do is to go
to bed," said Jerry. ''The only thing
left to do is to mop up the debris
and we won't need you at all. You've
been under a terrific strain for
months. and tonight's the night when
you begin a long vacation"
Pelham's thin lips curled family in
a smile. He brushed his nervous
muscular hand over his high fore.
head.
whats the idea, Mr.. Tryon, Of the
bulge over your right hip?"
Jerry's ruddy features took on q
deeper blush. well, there might be
a little trouble"
"And so you wish me to be snugly
in bed If occasion arises for you to
use that cannon in your pocket, eh?'
well, I don't see any necessity fol
you doing the rough work. said
l larry ohsfinately 'sBeSidesR the