The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-04-23
z RUTH
DEWEY GROVES


without Formally, the mans initial
appearing to serve Is his full name.
Have q drink" he was asked an,
Stephen said he would have beer.
j The day had turned Unexpected,
warm. The light topcoat etephel
had donned when he left the Office
was uncomfortable indoors. He tool
1t off before seating himself at {
table with Lefty and ]. b. and threw
1t over . nearby chair.
| And In pocket Of it he had thrust
the keys to the car. Two others In
that room knew this rs well Is he
In q word and . gesture Lefty had
impaired the information to the bar.
tender as soon as he'd entered the
place.
A quick glance when the bartender
came for their order. q sly movement
with his foot. and the chair, with,
Sterhen's. coat, had been pushed aside
almost out Of his sight.
There was delay after that and
Lefty began to tell J. b. about his
new car, praising 1t to the sky.
Lets have 4 look at It," the other
said.
"sure," Lefty agreed, lin a minute
Here's Gungha Dhin."
They still fingered over their glasses
when few minutes later, the electric
player piano suddenly emitted Z
raucous burst Of sound. It filled the
air with deafening' clamor, drownina
out conversation, though Lefty went
right on talking. his voice raised ia
q high pitch.
The noise got on Stephens nerves
He looked In the direction whence II
came. celebrating . descent upon the
instrument with intent to demolish It
Lefty saw with Satisfaction that hi
mind was. for the moment ct least
taken oft the car 1T the curb. Another
thing he had seen with even greater
satisfaction-a small happening that
had escaped Stephens notice.
With q swift. sure motion Of one
hand. while with the other he placed
glasses on the table. the bartender
had managed to extract the key,
from the pocket Of Stephens top.
coat and drop them into the pocket
| Of his own jacket.
After that he had lost no time In
quitting the room. and when thu
piano was started up Lefty listened
anxiously for another sound to pene-
trate from the driveway to the rear
Of the house.
| But all the windows and doors were
closed and the covering noises were
effective. There was not even tt.
echo OF . suspicious sound to hint
at what was going on In front Of
the house.
Stephen grew restless as Lefty con-
tinued to put off showing the car Ia
j. B. Finally he glanced at his watch
and rose, making some remark about
the time being later than he THOUGHT
Lefty got up, too, as did j. B.
well, let's see what she looks
like" J. B. said interestedly. "Wisl1
you luck in her, Lefty, on your rext
trip. But I think the long distance
running Is about done for"
Yeah" Lefty grimaced, but thi.
baby will give them a run before they
take her"
\
| When they reached the front door
Stephen paused to put on his topcoat
Lefty and J. B. stepped through
ahead OF him. When he followed they
were standing surveying the drive
way with well-aSSumed surprise or
their respective features.
Stephen himself looked 1t It first
| with surprise untinged with any other
emotion, but in the next second o.
two a sickening fear spread alarm
to every thinking portion Of his brain
The driveway was emptyi The
cleaning, powerful thing Of beauty
and speed that he had left STANDING
there = half-hour before was gone.
He clapped his hand to his coat
pocket. His keys likewise were miss.
ing. Amusement and CONSERVATION
battled for the uppermost position In
his mind. CONSERVATION won.
Good God! The cars been stolen!'
he said hoarsely.
"sure looks like It," J. B. agreed
affecting uneasiness.
Didn't you lock 1t like told you7'
Lefty asked aocusingly.
| Stephen nodded. his lips now GRIM
" compressed. He MAS fast beginning
to realize that he was In bad POSI-
ton.
"Well, you got your, keys. amt you, =
Lefty pressed. 'for the insurance
people?"
Stephen wheeled upon him. sud-
denly bursting into anger. what
kind Of q Joint Is this?" he demanded.
Lefty bridled. "You didn't take the
bus inside with you" he answered
tartly.
"But I took my keys" Stephen told
him. and they were stolen from my
coat pocket"
Jaw he'll. you probably left them
in the lock-" Lefty sneered with 4
touch Of indifference.
But Stephen was not needing He
had dashed back into the house and
was making for the rear room. A
thorough search there convinced him
that the keys had not fallen out Of
his pocket to the floor.
He gave up looking farther for
them, knowing that he was using
valuable time.
where's your 'phone7" he snapped
ct J. T.. who had followed him. The
latter pointed t. IN instrument In the
corner Of the room.
- = :
In = trice Stephen had Yeached II
and was urging the operator 70 give
him the nearest police station With
CIT d4lnY When tn c0nneotio0 WnH