The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-03-22

darkness ia hallway.
To his left, the door swung open,
was I'M pnlighted room. Jimmy
judged that it might be living room
or, more probably, one Of those old
fashioned basement "parlors."
Just ahead of him, and to his right,
was flight of stairs with thin car
pct nearly worn through. And a lit
tie farther down the hall, and to his
left, u door stood ajar, letting a
broad beam Of light sift into the
darkness.
He Judged it was the room
through whose window he had first
seen the light and outside which he
had Just been listening. He heard
mans voice, higher pitched.
He had heard that first one. It
was Jensen. And he heard the la
bored, catchy breathing of a woman
trying to suppress her sobs.
Then carefully, his hand support
ing him against the wall, he tip
tocd down the hall and pcered into
the room, taking pains to keep clear
Of the beam of light.
There. sitting in chair, his back
TO the door, WAS Kid Divis. He had
taken off his coat, but his cap still
! pcrchcd on the back Of his head.
Directly opposite Divis was Olgh,
likewise sitting in chair. Her head
was down on her breast. Jimmy
could not be sure, but he thought her
:: position indicated she was held in
the chair, possibly by rope around
her arms.
And Jensen was standing. He
held in his hand a heavy glass tum-
bier, half filled with whisky, or what
Jimmy took for whisky. He drained
it and set it down. He turned to
Olga, his face brutal with drunken
ness.
"Stop your sniffin'," he growled.
He raised a heavy paw threatening
~.
Jimmy stiffened. If he should
strike her he would cast everything
to the winds and rush blindly in. 1t
was more than he could bear
But Jensen changed his mind.
His hand fell to his side and he
shrugged, poured himself another
drink.
"Go easy, Ike" said Divis. saint
va had enough YETI"
Jaw shut up!" came from Jensen,
Jimmy retreatcd slowly along Fac
wall. He found himself again before
the door that opened on the living
room. His foot-luckily, it made no
noise--came in contact with hard
object on the floor. He reached
down for it, half cropping, for he
could not distinguish it in the dark
ness.
He picked IL up, and to his touch
it felt like u heavy, round metal
knob, with crudely fashioned
handle. Holding it up toward tho
light that sifted from the other room.
he behcld what apparently was the
brokcn-off end Of heavy brass and
iron.
Then he carefully set it down
again and pulled off his ovcrcoat
and hat. These he laid on the floor
just inside the front room. He
picked up the broken andiron again
and held it firmly in his right hand.
He stood there in the hall, wonder
ing what he should do-what he
could do. He wished for Licuten-
ant O'Day's powerful presence.
Strange. thoughts flashed through
his mind the heroes Of those
boyhood detective thrillcrs how
feeble and incompetent he looked
beside them he was scared
scared stiff--yet he knew that . il
Jensen laid his hands OIL Olga again
he would dash maally, blindly, into
that room and strike out with the
crude weapon that he held in his
hand.
He graspcd the broken aniiron
more firmly. From the room came
Ia ~st%L hsnb rNSn
again, his words an indistinguish-
able blur as they floatcd through
the hall.
Then another sound---from up
stairs. He jumped ncrvously. Loud
and clear it came to his ears, the
ringing Of telephone bell. It sound
ed strangely foreign to this old
house. 1t came again, an insistcnt,
long ring.
He heard u chair scrapc in the
room where he had seen Jensen and
the others. Then Jensen's voice:
damn telephone. Nav, sit still.
Kid, I'll answer it. Probably
the big Teller wantin'>t o talk to me.
Damn nuisance, the phones up
stairs"
Jimmy heard Jensell's heavy foot
fails, saw his shadow move out into
the hall and lcngthcn Enthusiastically
on the carpet.
He stepped quickly into the friend
ly darkness Of the front room.
Should he swing the andiron as Jen-
sen passed to 60 up the stairs?
Swing at his head with all his might
and then. leap madly in at Divis:
He decided against it. There was
that telephone call. He wanted to
know who was calling-whom Jcn-
sen. had referred to when he spoke
Of the "big Teller"
He stood. where he was and let
Jensen pass. He could have taken
two short steps and reached out
with his hand and touched him as he
turned to mount the stairs. A sud-
den plan flashed through his mind
as he saw Jcnsen's broad back NOV
He waited until the. man had
reached the floor above, heard him
grunt "hello" into the phone, then,
his muscles taut, his nerves tense,
he softly tip-toed toward the lighted
room.
Divis was still seated in the chair
with his hack to the door, his feet
comfortably propped on the bare
table. He was slipping slowly from
the heavy tulnblcr that Jensen had
been using.
As silently as a cat Jimmy moved.
He could still hear Jcnscn's voice,
huff, %uffled by the distance at tho
Aud now he stood framed in the
doorway. There was Olga. her head
dropping YEARLY. She was tied in
the chair, Jimmy saw: He took one