The Washington times., 1930-11-05
CHAPTER xxIn

DIaICu GL1AL SW6PI uys tLlS leaves
crimson and russet in the
bright Autumn morning sun.
A burst Of violent whistling
cut through the bathroom door,
and the two hard, vertical lines
between her eyebrows deepened.
She wished Goldie wouldn't
whistle, Or, if he had to- whistle,
that he would try to keep on the
key. And that he'd whistle
something other than the
Maine Stein Song.
It was harder to take than she
had thought 1t would be. The
-EdgeWater Kid had changed
everything for her. Now she
knew she would live always IN
misery. At least she had paid
off. That helped some. She
had paid off Kinky King with
six bullets, and Goldie Gorio--
The bathroom door opened
and Goldie sauntered out, still
-whiStling. He was grinnlng
lnerrily, his face a Santa Claus
effect with thick white shaving
cream. His black. oily hair was
wet, curled and rumpled. The
gold buckles on his SuSpenderS
cleaned. His gorilla-like arms
were covered with thick, curling
hairs and q black thatch peeped
forth at his chest.
''Well, Annie, Babes, how you
feel this beautiful morning,
eh?" he grinned, waving his
Solid-gold handled razor IN a
typical Latin gesture, and fall.
ing into Latin manneriSms OF
speech, as he often did when
he felt jubilant.
Very Playful
She forced a synthetic smile.
He came toward her, doing
q grotesque dance step out OF
sheer good spirits, and patted
her heavily with his free hand.
1t was still dripping wet.
She Shuddered.
'SYou feel better after you
rest" he rumbled reaSSuringly.
''TIow you like your Gold1e,
oke? You rest awhile and I go
an bring you some breakfast.
I'm going to treat you right,
Annie, you can bank on that.
Babes. You're mine now, an
.ev'ything what's mine is cov-
.ered with gold"
He gave her a final pat,
commented whistling and Swag-
-gered back into the bathroom,
rubbing the lather into his
whiskers, closing the door be-
hind him.
Annie stared again at the
blood.red leaves in the sun.
A bird was singing. Was 1t
a robin? She couldn't tell q
robin from a hawk. She wished
-Goldie, would stop whistling so
she could hear the robin. Why
did she feel so strangely, Bit
..terly hostile toward Goldie?
"After ALL" Annie mused,
."Tm no angel. I been through
plenty tougher than this. l
could be lot worser off. It's
a swell layout. He seems to OF
fell for me hard, and he's a
Big Shot"
But she could not drive off
the gooseflesh. Some hidden
feeling, some strange, un-
analyzed urge, kept whispering
to her insistently that she must
hate and diStrust Goldie.
She glanced around the lux
.urious room, its Bourbon splen-
dor marred only by a few scat
tered possessions of Gold;e. His
tan brogues where he had
kicked them eff, a shirt tossed
into a corner, his vest ana coat
hung over the back Of the lit
tie chair before her dressing
table, with the two lengendary
golden automatics which Goldie
carried, in their holsters, lying
on ths seat of the chair.
She tried to relax. Gold1e
-whistled on endlessly. The bird
had stopped singing and was
-chattering as though scolding.
She stared at the window,
but snapped out Of her inertia
into sudden, frozen terror when
q hand-a dirty hand splotCiaed
with dry blood that showed
nearly blac' in the bright sun
.light-reached over the edge OF
the window sill and clung to 1t.
Annie Stifled her scream. In
"a second she gaugeu her posi-
Utilities of rushing to the bath
room or leaping across the
chamber to Coldie's glittering
pistols.
In that split second she de-
.cided her best chance of warn
ing Goldie would be to engage
the intruder in conversation.
If she screamed, Goldie would
rush out unarmed to face bull
lets. If he heard her talking,
he would stand still in surprise
for moment. and in that mo-
ment wou'i realize danger
Threatened. She waited, taut.
A Battered Face
TouSled, blood-clotted hair
followed the hand. And then y
face-the most awful face she
had ever seen. One cheek
was torn and covered with
thick plaStered gore. The eyes
were protruding fireballS. The
rest of the face and the clothes
as they appeared above the sill
were blood-streaked and clotted.
Monk"
She had tried to say 1t in
a lolld Yoice. to saw more In