The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1932-09-16


your purchaser
"Never laid eyes on him before. He
just blew in and said he wanted to
buy car. ] showed him new eight
we'd just got in. and he counted out
the money, climbed in and drove off.
just like that" with a snap Of his
fingers.
"Could you describe the MANI"
eyes, in general way; medium
sized and height, somewhere along in
his thirties. I'd say, light Completed.
sandy hair, smooth face. fairly well
dressed. Nothing wrong, Is there|
"Er-we don't know--yet," Mark
ham said. 'You say he drove away
at once? How about the license
plates"
II lent him pair of my own
dealers plates, you know. He said
he'd be in his home state in day or
so and didn't want to buy Missouri
license for such short time. Said
he'd send my plates back to me when
he got home"
''Well, where are we now?" Lands
asked, as they returned to the hotel.
Sup in the air again." Markham re-
piled shortly. "If your guess Is right.
there was probably another bank
smash last night, somewhere; but if
there was, it my have been either
east, west, north or south. We're
stuck again until we can get hold Of
a news wire."
Landis' inspirational prediction of
the night before had startling con-
firmation. The night operator at one
of the railway stations had just come
in, and he brought the news. A bank
in small town some fifty miles west
had been blown up early in the night;
and again, so the wire report said. the
explosion had not awakened people.
"Well, guess that knocks the last
lingering doubt for the count" was
Markham's comment upon the rail-
road telegrapher's story of the latest
foray. "The two who took the train
dropped off at the agreed-upon place,
and the other drove the new Fleet
wing. Finish your coffee and wen
check up on the guess"
A ninety-minute run brought them
to the scene of the latest raid, the
market town Of farming community.
At the railroad station they ques-
toned the agent. The mans answers
confirmed Markham's guess. Two
men, carrying suit cases and some
thing that the agent thought was
camera, had arrived on the local train
of the previous afternoon, and, instead
Of going uptown, took waiting auto
and drove away.
'"This was late in the afternoon,
wasn't it?" Markham asked.
"Along about dusk. Forty-three was
held up by freight wreck and she
was away late"
They took their leave. When they
were again whipping the miles to the
rear, Markham said, Simple enough,
isn't it,"
Perfectly. They drove away and
waited until the town was asleep.
Their job done, they went on west
for guess. That's the way they've
been heading all along. We've been
missing one bet as we came along.
Wally; the names Of these three men.
We could have got them from the
Terre Haute sheriff, or from the auto
dealer in Chillicothe."
Nothing to that. If they're the
crooks we think they are, they'd use
aliases, Of course; and different ones
in different places"
mo. you're wrong there. So far as
we've been able to learn, they have
been posing consistently as three
business men from Louisville right
from the beginning. And you'll re-
member that two Of them gave the
Chillicothe garage man a Louisville
address to which he could wire"
"That's so; I'd forgotten that. It's
either a clean slate, or the nerviest
bluff that was ever put up. Overland
I'm still believing it's bluff"
Inquiring as they went. they heard
no word Of a Fleetwing Eight until
they reached st. Joseph. But here
the submerged trail came to the sur
face again. A garage mans mem
oranda showed that a new Fleetwing
Eight had stopped for gas. Driving
on into the city, and to a hotel, they
found that three west-bound tourists,
hailing from Louisville. had come in
shortly after midnight and had gone
Immediately to bed. They had
checked out after breakfast and had
resumed their journey.
Looking up the names signed in the
register, Markham made a note of
them; and little later wire Of in
quiry went to the cashier of Louis
Vile bank. The answer was in the
nature of sudden bucketing Of cold
water.
"Here's where we get it in the
nose" said Markham with sheepsh
grin. as he handed the telegram to
Lands.
lands read the few typewriter
lines:
ITO Walter Markham,