The Bismarck tribune., 1931-11-12
/@NN BY NA .Seylucein

street law ofice Of Stephen Ruyther
and Son. They were going along at
about As miles an hour, but clinging
tenaciously on their trail, about .
block behind. was Bowen's machine,
its "one-man top" swaying perilous-
ly in the breeze.
Dirk ducked his head and looked
In the windshield mirror. i
rs that fool following u.s." he
asked disgustedly.
Seems to be-" was all she could
say. Now, what was he doing that
for? Was 1t possible that he, him.
self-no, he couldn't have had any.
thing but the best of motives in
mind, or he would not have given
Dirk his revolver.
Nassau street was dark and its
narrowness seemed to close In on
Mary like the walls of a prison as
they came to stop before the small
ofice building in which three gen.
erations Of Ruythers had their
Offices.
Cover that up" Dirk told her
curtly. as he turned the key in the
switch and locked the car. Holding
the collar Of her coat tightly across
her throat with both hands, she
got out and followed him into the
building.
The lobby was dark except for a
dim light way at the back, which
proved to be a watch-light kept
burning for. safeguard In q little
hole-in.the-wall jewefry shop open.
ing of the lobby. BY its pale and
ghostly radiance they found their
way up the stairs-the elevator was
a black, empty cavern which Mary
hurried past with averted eyes.
Steps. steps. steps-arm in arm
they went up, up, up. Marys fingers
fairly pinching Dirk's arm, so tense
was their pressure. The stair.well
was pitch black, but each landing
place was family lightened from
without by . tall. narrow window.
On one Of these Dirk bent his head
anu Kissed her.
"Scared?" he asked. She could
see well enough by this time to see
that he was smiling fondly. She
squeezed his arm tighter. Jaw.
fully" she said. They did not
seem to be in q hurry to 60 on.
He held her against him for a
breathless minute or two, and whis.
pered. tits been q long time -
That was one Of their own par.
ticular Jokes: sometimes they even
said it between kisses. and it
seemed terribly funny. 1t didn't
seem funny now. for it had been a
long time since last night, in
fact. Two o'clock this morning,
rather. Arms about each other.
they went upstairs.
The blaze Of light that followed
when Dirk had opened the Office
door and punched the button was
binding. Mary threw up her hands
to protect her eyes from 1t. Dirk
went straight to the safe and began
twirling the knob. Mary unfastened
the ruby necklace. held it up for a
last admiripg glance, ana put It into
the soft leather bed hs held out for
it. He laid 1t away inside. shut
the door and spun the knob.
"Phew!" he said. getting up and
dusting OF his hands. Thank God
that's done!" He made q pretense
Of mopping his fevered brow with
4 handkerchief. give more min.
utes with that thing on my mind,
and I'd have buckled under the
strain"
Mary lifted ironical eyebrows.
what? Surely you don't believe In
such nonsense a. thieves aud
thil9s?"
Dirk was about to reply, when
the very windows ritefberatfd
with the force Of Z crash IN the
street outside. Pausing only long
enough to pick up the gun Bowen
had given him, Dirk rushed to one
Of the windows which faced Nassau
street, lifted it and looked out. =.
se~SssA Ito Re Continued) E..k..
eS1ssoa-es k1as .ts.s-.-- s~f&seA~'