The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-05-08

down the room.
The alcove contained bed, a taw.
dry, oriental-loOkfng affair, too low
for the trunk to be under, a couple of
chairs and dressing table, but no
trunk, no litter of papers, and no
Max.
$50 as far as you like" said Claire
who had followed her. perhaps
they're hidden In my closet or in the
bathroom"
Rhoda was On the point of giving It
up. But the bathroom door stood ajar
and Rhoda's glance had gone that way
as Claire finished speaking. 1t looked
like a rather large room for its pur-
pose. More than just a bathroom.
She'd take look, anyhow, and make
sure. She was in the act of going in,
but not yet clear of the door, and
Claire was at her elbow, when the
sharp jingle of bell somewhere in
the apartment startled them both.
That is to say, it startled Rhoda; it
paralyzed Claire. Her hard blue eyes
seemed to bulge right out of her head.
But that lasted only an instant. With
a convulsive movement Claire gave her
a tremendous push that sent her stag
gering clear across the tiled floor to
the farther wall whipped the key out
of the inner face of the door, slammed
the door, and locked her in. The bell
gave a second peal just as the bolt
clicked home.
n hos r1 no
the door she had come in by, Rhoda
didn't doubt; there was betraying
creak to one of its hinges-but there
was no sound of the heavy footsteps
on the stairs that would have her.
aided the Juggling in of her trunk.
Claire must have thought it was the
trunk coming, though, or she wouldn't
have locked her up in the bathroom.
The silence, which had lasted half a
dozen seconds. perhaps, was again
broken by the ring of the bell, per-
sistent this time and prolonged. 1t
wasn't the doorbell al all: it was the
telephone.
Rhoda heard the door slam shut and
the rush of Claire's feet across the
room. 1t was odd that in her own
fiat she should have mistaken the bell.
She'd been expecting the doorbell, that
was why.
The instrument was just around the
corner of the alcove. Claire said,
"Hello?" and then a moment later.
Eyes. Who is this? What is it you
want?"
An unfamiliar voice, evidently ask
ing of this was Miss Claire Cleveland
The stranger must have said his say
pretty concisely, for after quite a
short pause Claire cried out in a tone
of the liveliest establishment, whats
that? What are you talking about?
Who are you, anyway And again,
after listening a little longer, "Say,
are you trying to be funny?"
Apparently, though, it wasn't joke
Certainly not from Claire's point of
view. For the next time she spoke
her voice was raucous with anger, and
what she said a mere incoherent jum-
BILE of uncompleted questions.
Right in the middle of this the per-
son on the other end of the line must
have hung up. There was a silence;
dead unbrOken silence. The woman
couldn't still be standing there before
the telephone, yet Rhoda hadn't heard
her move away. When it had lasted
as long as she could endure it she be-
gan pounding on the door.
To her surprise Claire came at once
and unlocked it. She .erself pulled
it open and they stood fare to face.
Whatever circumstances Rnoda meant
to make were silenced by the woman's
look. She looked as if she'd forgotten
that Rhoda was there; forgotten what
she'd come for; forgotten almost who
she was. She looked at her blankly
for a moment and then with a kind
of terrifying intentness, as if trying to
decide whether she had, could possibly
have, any connection with or knowl-
edge of that mysterious message over
the telephone.
Evidently her conclusion was mega
tive, for with faint shrug she turned
away. "You can come out now" she
said, "if you like. And go! Go home!
There's nothing here that's any busi-
ness of yours. And God knows don't
want to keep you here"
Rhoda didn't hesitate. The smolder-
ing fury in the woman was not only
formidable, it constituted a sort of
guarantee Of the truth of what she
said. Rhoda went, with the best ap-
pearance of dignity she could muster.
"Drive away from here" she said to
the chauffeur, but as slowly as you
can, and not very far. I want to
think"
Before they'd. gone half a block her
thoughts resulted in question.
"Could you follow anybody?" she
asked.
Il could until it got too dark, unless
they had too fast car for me. Do
you want to follow somebody"
81 think" Rhoda said, that the
woman want to see is coming out in
few minutes, and l want to know
where she goes"
"Well," he said, that's easy. I'll
wait here with my flag up. You go
back and slip into one of the side
vestibules in this fiat building where
you can keep an eye on her door. She
may order a taxi by telephone or she
may walk down here and pick one up"
Claire, it appeared, wasn't in a
hurry. Time went pretty slowly for
Rhoda, who felt like a sneak thief
waiting in that vestibule, and she was
on the point of giving it up when she
saw another taxi drive up to Claire's