Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-24


TIME LIZARD, with gray velour hat
set at dissolute angle and eyes
flashing hatred through those
L circles of amber tale!
Dighton was fairly got this
CHANGING downward, with much the
same curiosity as a man might display
toward a dental forceps being removed
from a glass tray or surgical lnStru-
ment about to be employed Oh him UNI
der an anesthetic that was purely local
and left the senses alert, he recognized
the stump barrel of Ahlborgs deadly
pistol and the twisted wires which trailed
away from 1t to his assailant's pocket.
He had felt it jab into his stomach
fraction of a second only after realizing
who it was who had surprised them.
In that moment of electrical silence
quite ordinary sounds seemed queerly
magnifed; the chafinn Of fretful waters
80 feet away had devcupvo into an
angry roar; his own heartbeats were like
the humping of a blacksmith's ham,
n1er, mingled with the more Staccato vi
brations of his watch. Mafalda, NUT
tering under her breath, might have
been believing in his ear.
"Dio!" she moaned. What bandit Is
this? What does he want with us?"
not scream Her shrill alarm echoing
and re-echoing among the rocks. could
have served no useful purpose. One OF
them-both, perhaps-would be blue
powder by the morning. Possibly, when
the fumes had died down, their assassin
would steal back for Mafalda's rings,
the crescent of diamonds on her frock
and the triflng things he carried In his
pockets. There would be little, II any
thing, by which to identify them, and
the italian police would draw the same
falda, of course, would be missed. The
hotel people would wonder what had
happened to him. Marney would guess
presently and Taverner would cast
around him for fresh investigator:
He tried to think how the chief would
answer Greta's queries.
It was odd how these things piled
themselves up-thoughts enough for a.
week compressed into space so in.
flnitesimal that it would have staggered
him had he timed them by his watch.
sHe wondered why the Lizard waited
and why he had not ordered him to
hold his hands above his head That
first lab in the pit of his stomach had
set his arms swinging sideways, and
they had remained in that position, pre-
cisely as If they did not belong to him
or had been provided with invisible sup
He souinted down at that gun again.
The Lizard was going to blot him out,
to make him share the fate of Corlitt
and Mile. Laroche, but memory OF that
smash he had given him in Taverner's
study compelled him to prolong the
agony Shooting in his estimation, was
too good for Dighton. He wanted MIN
-. @Ia. %@N%,vy ~
The odd thing about 1t all was that
Dighton was not suffering.
There were three rounds left IN the
weapon, he remembered: he had seen
the effect of one of them, and the
other two had been fired while he was
there Surprising, a sudden thought
suggested, there had been other TRACE
dies of which he had no knowledge
These would have been hushed up as
the others had been and he would never
have heard of them. Supposing again,
the Lizard was ignorant of the resources
of the stolen weapon?
Fran hopes these, but drowning man
will overrate the life-saving possibilities
of the frailest spar.
That feeling of numbness was pass
ing OF; it needed an effort now to pre-
vent his arms from dropping to his
sides. Nerving himself for one desperate
effort at self preservation. an angel
came to his assistance in the shape OF
Mafalda Pasouali. Tearing her rings
from her fingers in feverish haste, she
held them cupped in her two hands, to-
gether with the gold cigarette case, and
slipped between the two men.
This sudden action. carried out with
the sole object of satisfying the demands
of a common freebooter. produced con-
sequences which she could never have
foreseen. It was evident, too that she
had no knowledge of the invention OF
the man under whose protection she
lived. The Lizard, daZzled and discon-
certed by the glittering pile held under
his nose. stepped back sharply. knock
ing elbow against the Jagged edge OF the
recess. Dighton, on the other hand, APP
palled at the danger which threatened
the girl rather than himself, grabbed at
the others pistol arm with both hands
and forced the point of the weapon up
ward
Compared with the insigniflcance OF
his stature, the strength of the Lizard
was colossal Thrusting him into the
open was like moving an iron pillar.
plant wrist brought the pistol inches
downward, and the first kissing round
from the Pocket Death passed over
Dighton's shoulder, setting his ears sing
ing. It dawned upon the adventurer OF
the moment that it had killed Mafalda
She had been thrown roughly aside In
the struggle, with her scattered trlnkcts
making a succession of metallic sounds
on the concrete platform. He believed
she had been Immediately behind him
at the time of the discharge.
A second struggle ensued in which
the Lizard sought to transfer the pis-
tol to his other hand. Dighton, frenzleo
ut Mafalda's supposed fate, brought
every muscle into play. The fingers OF
one hand had closed on the weapon
itself and, berserk as he had ever beer
in raid into No Mans Land, ne
schemed to blot out his antagonist BY
the very means that he himself en-
ployed. If he could only turn one OF
the two remaining rounds upon the
Lizard half his troubles would be at ar
end. The course to his goal would bt
straight without any of those dlscon
certing side issues that this masked as
sassin was always liable to entail. He
would have avenged Corlitt, the French
girl and Mafalda, and the sea would
swallow up most of the traces OF TIT
crime
They had reeled to the edge Of tina
concrete base. with Dighton gaining tn
ascendancy and the other fighting will
all the low tactics of desperate saw
age. A knee taking Dighton in tn
region of the belt, all but winded him
aching points along his shins testlfle'
to the activity of the Lizards boots
Somewhere in the midst of this extraor
pungent fumes into the blue-and then
tripped by his adversary, Dighton fel
heavily. His head struck projectin
srlIr forcing him to loose his hold TIL