The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-03-13
CHAPTER VI

MeauWHue Jhnc SVOOu peAOLS VlAS small mirror in her stateroom, rub- ping cold cream on her face. It was almost a ritual tonight. She dabbed it on with her finger-tips and rubbed it with a circular motion away from her eyes. She felt like one of the movie stars, comfortable and warm and beautiful. Tonight .. } was so deliriously happyl
 She gathered her negligee about her--the really fine one she had picked up at subway sale for less than Q dollar-and danced to the berth. But she didn't turn out the light. She lay back, with her head against the pillows and sighed. It was a long, luxurious sigh. Here she was on a great liner steaming into the glamorous tropicsl
 She had been too starved to wait for dinner in the ships dining sa- Ion, for she hadn't had any lunch ct all. She had ordered the dainty little things sent up to her, and 1t had come up on a great silver tray. She had tipped the waiter extrava- gantly, but she didn't care. It gave her such a sense of well-being now.
 The city with It's teeming mil- lions, the bleak cold winds and slush in the streets, was far away from her now. She was all alone and close to the sun and the moon and the stars-where nothing hum drum could happen.
 Conc were her cares about to- morrow. Tn the morning she wouldn't wake up with that cer- tain dread--that hobgoblin of fear which girls who pound the pave ments looking for job when there aren't any, know. It was like a suspension of time, and for week she would remain in that delight- flu! state where nothing could hap pen to her.
 But in this moment of tranquil ty this ethereal breathing spell which all of us mortals enjoy be- tween the harsher, more real moments of life-Jane erred. She did not realize that, meeting Dirk 6trom, she had broken her splen- did isolation from reality. Human wills had already bent to each other and would inevitably clash.
 Powerful, sweeping events had been set in motion by another thing which Jane, in her new-found bliss, ignored. She and Dirk had been singled out by men who made money out of other peoples dis tress. And in this very moment she was brought back from her dreams of security by rude shock which left her still and cold in her ] J.rth.
 She became conscious of heavy breathing outside her stateroom in the hall. The fan above the tram som kept up Q sound of humming of bees. But clearly she could hear the measured breathing. A man was there close to the ventilator, and he was obviously waiting - listening. Her hands became clam my and cold.
 She slipped out of. the bed and tiptoed to the door. She flung 1t open, just in time to see Q pair of heels disappearing around the cor ner, into the long corridor which led to the elevators. She heard door opened and shut, and then she was alone. The electric fan hummed. She slammed her door, locked 1t and crept quivering to bed.
 Dick and the detective sat in the great dining salon and watched the people come in for dinner. They bad just finished the entree, Long Island duckling, and were prepared for the dessert and coffee to fol- low.
 Snowshoes was on hiis favorite subject of conversation. The big racket in this country right now is the numbers racket. The football pool is no small turkey around Thanksgiving time. But they're just a chiseling game on a big scale. Now you take the jewel thieves"
 You take 'em," Dirk said, smil- ing.
 "All this talk about unsettled money conditions has made the rich people afraid of gold and se- curities. A lot of them are putting all their money in jewels. The un- derworld knows 1t. There are in- ternationa1 SvndicateS which do