The Washington times., 1930-12-08
CHAPTER 3

Connie, as she waited at the
table, surveyed the tawdry
Tenth Avenue restaurant with
discerning, but now unafraid
eyes. There were a few scat
tered couples at the tables; out
wardly, they seemed respectable
enough, but their spiritual
emanations were hard. Tonight,
though, Connie was hard her
self.
For the first time in her life,
she was called upon to face
ugliness-the harsh, bitter test
of personal establishment. At
one stroke, the letter had wiped
away the proud, almost smug'
security of her social existence.
With hellish cunning it had
been timed to reach her on the
eve of her wedding.
The Letter
While she was waiting she
took the letter out and read 1t
again. Written on plain paper,
the handwriting was somehow
childlike, yet obscurely, antag"
onistically Informative. Undoub-
edly a woman had written 1t.
"I know all about you" 1t
read. "I know more about you
than YOU know about yourself
and if ever spill what I know
it's going to raise hell with
your happiness. You're going
tn marry a society fellow, I
see by the newspapers. Your
picture looked pretty sWel.
Little you know that nola a
terrible secret about you IN the
hollow of my hand. You've
been living on the fat OF the
land when I've been taking the
hard knocks all my life. l
think it's time for a showdown
and an even break between us.
Don't get the idea that this Is
any fake stuff.
"Everything I got to say is on
the level, and can prove every
bit of it. I've kept still long
enough, and I'm going to break
loose unless you see fit to do the
right thing. It's all up to you'
Miss Connie Calvert. You can
ignore this and take the conse"
0uences or you can meet me
tonight around IL o'clock at
.Ioe's Place, 1886 Tenth Avenue.
All you have to do is come there
alone and I'll make myself
known to you. You can 90 as
YOU damn please about it, whe-
fher you stay away or come, but
rest assured that I'm not KID
ding YOU. Not for a minute.
You can either meet me here or
meet me in the courts. K. c..
Connie folded up the letter
and returned it to her handbag.
The thing angered her. Anger
with a blind, helpless kind OF dis
tress. Back of the actual mean
ing of the words was some IN"
herent reality that forbade her
disnissing the threat as mere
scurilous insult. Whoever had
written it had meant business
Connie could sense it, feel 1t.
The CHALLENGE
All of the combative essence
of her nature rose to meet the
challenge. Better by far to face
It through now than to leave
any lingering menace to rise up
later to haunt her chance or
happiness. Yet she was tot
thinking of herself exclusively
nor of Jim Tracy. Her mother,
gentle and unsophiSticated, was
not going to be hurt by any
dirty viciousness.
Comics eyes, as she waited,
grew sullen with conterhptuous
aversion for this place, for these
people. Not fully, however, did
she realize the desperate charac-
ter of her surroundings. Her
situation, she felt, was disagree
able-but not dangerous. Had
she known more of the under
world, she probably would hot
have been here at all :.
In the back of the restaurant
a man and'a girl sat at small
table in intrepid conversation.
"I tell you, Kitty" the man
said, levelly, you're not going
to get anywhere with this busi-
ness handling it yourself. Black
mails not your line. Let me
talk to that girl
He had white teeth, dark.
handsome face and brown, pene-
trating eyes. In build he was
athletic, trim of waist 'and broad
of shoulders. Under other Gil.
cunStanceS and in different sur
roundingS he might have passed
for gentleman, but here in
Tenth Avenue joint he seemed
stamped with the indefinite
print of crime. His speech was
hard, incisive;y he was young,
yet he radiated toughened ma,
tlirity.
The girl across the table Scru-
tinized him narrowly.
Whats the big idea, Duke?
Do you think I'm brainless?"
Duke Carson returned her
gaze steadily
"No, you've got plenty sense.
It was q wise thing for you to