Evening star., 1934-04-22


still out" Pete permitted himself broad smile
Of satisfaction Then he addressed himself to
the task of getting the car. with its hetero-
geneous human cargo, to its proper destina-
tion.
He pressed the button opposite the numeral
81. The mechanism Of the car sighed then
the cage moved slowly upward and stopped
nicely in the frame Of the hall opening. Fete
stood breathless while the metal doors slid
open and a gust of comparatively fresh air
rushed into the car.
Here we are. folks" Pete said. lifting the
frightened woman. Wasn't more'n two min
utes now, was it? Or maybe three"
She nodded dumbly and hurried from the
cage as If it were a monster bent on devour-
ing her.
And then she scurried of down the hall,
pale and breathless from the thought Of the
horrible thing she had come so close to doing.
Her walk was unsteady. as If the sudden re-
lease Of nervous tension had left her knees
feeling weak.
Revived a little by the sudden draught
of air, the cadaverous gentleman rubbed
his head. Then at sight Of the open doors he
recovered instantly and scrambled to his feet.
But in the hallway he was met head-on by q
burly individual who promptly displayed a
shiny pair of handouts.
The encounter was as sudden as it was un-
expected. There was no time to dodge-and
no place to dodge to if there had been time.
The burly individual moved promptly, and
there was hardly so much as a scuf1e.
moment later and the cadaverous trouble
maker-now considerably crest-falen and
wearing unaccustomed look Of sheepish be-
wilderment on his face-was securely mana
cled
Luck sure played against you that time"
laughed his captor. Thought you'd lost me,
didn't you, Jerry old man?"
The cadaverous- looking man scowled at
him sullenly, opened his lips to speak, then ap-
parently thought better of it and subsidized his
manacled wrists hanging limp. The bump
the back of his head, where Pete had hit him
with the STOOL was still swelling It looked
pretty painful.
DETE gasped staring out from his car. '1s
he's he a"
"1u say he is," grinned the burly individual
"Jerry's just about whatever you want to call
him saw him get in your car downstairs but
I couldn't make it before you closed the doors.
Say, maybe didn't cuss you! Then I saw
your S o S signal on the board and the start
er told me you were stuck. Did chuckle
did ! chuckle? Come on, fancy guy. Your
luck isn't so good today"
He jerked the crook toward one of the
down" cars at the opposite end of the hall
and pressed signal button, while the crook
stared glumly at the floor.
Pete gaped at the two of them. his mind In
q whirl, as he sought to classify the peculiar
and unexpected adventures Of the last few
minutes.
"Give us q hand, win you. Pete?" he
heard Mr.. Middeton-Marshan say.
He emerged from his at Of abstraction and
turned to face the others.
"Oh-excuse me, sir. clean forgot about
Mr.. Franklin Is he hurt bad?"
He stopped down, to help Lift the injured
attorney to his feet
The girl sobbed. TT don't know" But
as the f1nancier and Pete lifted him the young
attorney answered the question himself. His
eyes huttered open. and he smiled at them
cheerfu1y.
"Boyl What wallop that wasi Teach mo
not to protect your authority Pete."
Pete grinned back at him. his eyes sparkling
with triumph.
you should've seen what I gave him, Mr..
Franklin"