Evening star., 1928-10-10

ri DO this 10 you, TOO, Won HOeScn-
~ en-" said Ahlborg coldly. II
have a debt to settle with your
4 people-and have told you too
much"
There came a sound like the burst
seconds a brilliant blue light rendered
every ,crevice in the wall visible. 1t
died down presently, leaving only reek-
ing fumes and strange, huddled heap
that had once been Won Roeschen.
Ahlborg pocketed his gun and
walked toward the sea. For some mo-
mentS he stood stock still, gazing down
at the swirling waters.
Suddenly he threw both arms aloft
and laughed horribly.
This is the beginning" he cried to
the stars. The time for talking is
past. I shall destroy the worldl"
The moon passed behind a cloud,
taking the silver from the sea until
it resembled vast expanse of molten
tar with bands of foam showing ghostly
white. A cold, desolate wind rustled the
grasses where Marney lay and. he Shud-
dered from head to foot.
Ahlborg had gone.
He was mounting the flight with
queer, jerky strides, the glow from his
cigar denoting his progress to the top.
Presently it vanished altogether.
Marney crawied to his feet.
He spoke to the stars, too, but his
remark was in the nature of a query
to which he expected no answer.
"Say!" he muttered, conscious all the
while of the grim heap below; what
d'you know about that?"
On the way back to the house in the
Via Emilia, Marney dropped in at Cafe
Liguria.
It was the restaurant he most usually
frequented, comfortable, we'll ordered
place, with a patent coffee machine, an
array of bottles forming an immense
pyramid behind the polished counter,
and the prettieSt barmaid in Rapallo.
Beyond q group of four soberly clad
tradesmen engaged in game of cards,
he had the room to himself. He sat
down at his accustomed table by the
radiator and pressed his numbed fingers
against the pipes.
Pima, creeping from behind the bar,
watched him with an amused smile.
"The Signor Americana is cold!"
Marney looked up sharply.
II am" he admitted I'm as cold
as charity. Get me coffee and some
cognac, per piacere, and I'll love you
for ever and ever!"
The girl flushed, then burst into d
peal of merriment
Perhaps I don't want you to love
mel"
Marney's face puckered up into a
myriad of tiny wrinkles.
"You don't. eh, Pima? Well, can't
say that blame you. They tell me
folks with cold hands have warm
hearts. If there's any truth in that
my heart must be boiling overl"
She favored him with quick glance
that Marney was unable to interpret.
A second later she was hidden behind
the coffee machine and water was bub-
bling, piping hot, into a cup.
The hot drink thawed his brain into
working order. Before that he had
been too cold to think. What a diff
ference that hour had made! He had
gone to the Casino, turning vague
theories over in his mind-and had
come back stuffed so full of solid facts
that he wanted the rest of the night to
digest them!
Ahlborg was madl He had suspected
it before, and now he was sure of it. A
madman in the possession of a secret
like the Blue Death was not overpleas-
ant to contemplate.
"The time for talking Is past!" he
had shouted when he had believed there
was no one around to overhear. There
was no madness in that. Marney tolc
himself 1t was probably the sanest
sentence he had uttered that evening
No government was going to discus;
| terms with lunatic!
He picked up newspaper from the
adjoining table and held it in front oi
him as a screen against Pina's restless
eyes. He could see she was bored, and
wanted to talk to him, but Marney
was in no mood for conversation. He
had to sort all these facts into their
proper pigeon-holes before meeting