Evening star., 1932-01-24


empty of house farmstead, five
miles of North Michigan wilderness,
immense drifts of snow, OF bitter,
yelling winds darkness and loneliness.
James Wilcox had built his lodge there be-
cause he said, he loved isolation. Often In
Winter he dropped off the northbound train IN
the nearest town with tump sack and snow
shoes, and set off for week end or Tort
night alone in the deep woods.
So he kept the house always ready to receive
him. with plenty of fuel, the pantry well stocked
and blankets ready to spread on his bed.
He need only start fire in the furnace, set
the electric light plant going, turn on the
plumbing, and in an hour he was comfortable.
There was no caretaker on the place, and the
man in charge during the owners absence hVec
in the village.
Snow locked the roads; the few scattered
neighbors were honest enough; Winter after
Winter the great lodge had stood there unmo-
Tested so it never occurred to Wilcox or any one
else that here was a retreat made to order for
some escaping criminal.
TONIGHT storm was screaming across the
hills from the ice-clogged waters of Lake
Michigan.
At dusk had any one been there to look, he
would have seen snowshoe tracks leading from
the woodpile to the rear door, but after an hour
the wind and drifting snow erased them.
Sparks shot out Of the chimney now and then
as dry wood fared up quickly in the living room
fireplace. Except for their occasional bright
dance, the lodge would have appeared deserted
to any prowler.
However the living room was warm and
snug single dim electric light burned on
the reading table beside the broad hearth, where
a pile of deep red, drowsy embers glowed.
The shutters still were closed. Wilcox, when
he arrived in the evening, never bothered to
open them until the following morning or,
when he planned to depart in the morning,
closed them the night before, not to crowd
his last hurried hour.
The man sitting the hearth was well
dressed, in a gray business suit His face
was thin, and he had CRAVING hair and keen,
alert eyes He was reading this mornings
Grand Rapids newspaper which he had brought
In with him
He knocked the ashes out OF his pipe, picked
up the paper again and scanned the bold head
line which waved like banner across the top
of the front page.
~Rob Two Banks-Flee North"
He chuckled, as his imagination played with
an idea.
"It would be interesting" he said to himself.
What if
A sound distracted him. and he sat up quick
ly. His left hand shot out and touched the
button of the single electric light. AS he
i
1t came from the front door, across the
broad room from the hearth The embers of
the fire cast dull pinkish radiance against
the rough plaster of the walls and accentuated
the darkness in the corners and behind the
heavy pieces of furniture. The high ceiling,
up above the balcony which circled the big
room hung thick with shadows, only the brass
trim of the electric fixture under the roof
beams catching and rejecting the deep color
of the embers.
THE man on the hearth was standing now.
bent forward, lips slightly open, listening
intently. His mind flashed to the headline in
the paper. Silently he stepped down from the
hearth as the sound became definite.
Some one was trying key in the lock. The
man eyed the door uncertainty, then glanced
quickly at the darkened balcony.
There was no time TO run up the stair and
conceal himself there. A large chair, well cut
Of the fireglow, invited him with the security
offered by its deep shadows and like a cat he
crossed to 1t and dropped behind 1t, poised,
crouching there.
Now key turned carefully and the outer
door swung open. Wind filled the room.
small, plump man painted In with furry of
snow He was wearing plain black overcos.t
like a country parsons and carrying a limp
black handbag
He halted suspiciously at the sight Of the
fire, shut the door quietly and backed against
1t. There he paused listening, mis- left hand
gripping the bag, his right thrust into his over
coat pocket The man behind the chair OBJ
served him closely. ...
The newcomers eyes were small and round,
his cheeks round and red. His plain black
hat, ridged with snow, added to bis ministerial
aspect He stood uncertainty while he moist
ened his cold lips with his tongNe peeTed un-