Evening star., 1933-01-13
INsTALLMENT xxxIu.

n LOWLY Alacia backed of, cropping
! for the door, found it. and
opened it, dree ding to see what
~ the light would reveal Santini
! lay on his back, close to the car.
Evidently in falling he had struck his
| head on the hub of the front wheel and
Alacia in terror, forced herself to touch
him. AS she moved his shoulders
Santini groaned slightly, and her pulses
bounded with relief. At least he was
| aliveg What should she do? Surely by
now there must be some soul in the
neighborhood who would hear and be
alarmed. Yet suppose no help came ?
And then there was the car. She must
get that away and into the hands of
the police before anything else could
happen. Suddenly she remembered
what Armand had told her about San
TIM being watched day and night by
his own confederates. What if they
were watching even now, waiting for
him to come out?
Panic left her, and she began to think
more clearly. If she left the car there,
it might easily be gone when she re-
turned with help. Then, too, she must
leave that building in the most natural
and inconspicuous fashion contriVable.
Then all at once she saw, clearly, how
Lb COull NC uOltC, dIlu III diJObilNA INV
ment she was kneeling by Santini's un-
conscious figure, stripping off his over
ais. When they lay in little heap
beside him she unfastened her dress
and slipped 1t off over her head, rolling
it into small bundle and tossing 1t
into a far corner. Then she put the
overalls on, closing the rastenings with
fingers which trembled so they could
scarcely do the work. The linen he'll
met fitted snugly over her bright hair
and, making sure that none OF 1t es-
capped, she added the driving goggles.
Fortunately her shoes were heavy crepe
soled affairs and her gloves of loose
chsmois. Santini was OF medium height
and slender. so that the clothing fitted
pasSabIy. And when she was done,
Alacia walked to the car and started
the engine.
The garage was instantly filled with
its deafening roar. To Alacia's mingled
delight and horror the sound seemed to
penetrate to Santini in his deep uncon-
sciousness. for he made a feeble move
ment, although he was still too far
gone to offer any resistance as she
dragged him out of the way and left
him in a corner, where he would be
hidden when the door was opened.
Then she searched his pockets and
found keys. One after another she tried
them on the rolling door of the garage
but none fitted, until she came to the
very last. This worked, and in another
moment she had rolled the iron curtain
up and the square lay open before her.
With the exception of an old woman
with a basket on her head, It was as
deserted as before, and with little
sobbing cry of relief Alac;a sprang into
the driving seat and in another sec
ond the long gray car shot out into the
open.
A clock on neighboring church
tower showed IL minutes to 2 o'clock,
the hour set for the start of the race,
and it flashed through Alacia's brain
that she could just make the starting
point IN time to catch Armand there II
luck was with her. Her whole being
centered on the thought of reaching
him as her foot pressed down on the
accelerator. Taking the corner at
breakneck speed, she saw taxi labor
ing up the hill toward her 1t drew up
at the curb hundred yards ahead, the
driver shouting something unintelligible
and waving his arms. Never dreaming
that the signal was meant for her, she
hardly noticed his exotic movements
until a man got out of the taxi and
ran toward her. He was wearing white
oTerall5 like her own and on his breast
was large red No. 5. SWerving the
CTR little to avoid him, she would have
rcgsed without 5lacsening her speed,
bat the man, q look of grim determine
ton on his face, swung himself aboard
as she came abreast of him and
dropped into the seat beside her.
Damn your dirty soul, Santini!" he
said. Il thought you were not showing
upl"
Strangely enough, Alacia's first thought
was of how on earth any one at close
quarters could mistake her for the
slender, smooth-shaven man she had
left behind her in that ghastly villa on
the hill. But one glance at the driving
mirror provided her with a good and
sufficient explanation. What little of
her face as was visible below the driv-
ing goggles was begrimed to such an ex-
tent that she might have sprouted
two-day beard for all any one could
tell without feeling her chin. With diff
f1culty, she strargled wild desire to