Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-11-04
By Emile Lorinq
9 Emile Loring.>
WNU Service.

WNU Service
shoulders and held her so close that
the scent of the crushed gardenias
was sickish.
"Ssch! Mustn't let him know we
are here!" Mark Trent whispered.
The spot of light illumined the
key in the door, illumined the black
gloved hand which gently turned it
and as gently drew it out.
Mark Trent felt the hard beating
of the girls heart as his arm tight
ened about her shoulders, the soft
ness of her skin against his hand.
He didn't dare release her for fear
she might make a sound and reveal
their presence to the unknown per-
son in the hall What good lit
tie sport she was. She had followed
him into his house with no embar-
rassment, but with modern girls
Interpretation of propriety, her ig-
noring of outworn conventions. Just
the same, he wished fervently that
she was back in her own living-room
in that chair before the fire, for
there was no lodging the fact that
black-gloved fingers had withdrawn
the key from the lock- To whom
had they belonged? The words on
the scrap of paper he had picked
up from the floor of the storeroom
and replaced on the table teased his
mind
MAKE x on cover when"
That was all. What cover? Much
as he wanted to know, he couldn't
let Brooke Reyburn get mixed up
in the mess. When he had dis
covered the silver, his first thought
had been of her and the thrill she
would get from seeing it. If he
hadn't brought her, he would be on
the mans neck by this time.
1t seemed hours that he stood rig
id, listening, with the only sound the
underground roar of great city,
the faint wall of the distant siren,
and the girls unsteady breathing.
He strained his ears. Was a door
being closed cautiously, or was his
imagination playing tricks? He
must find out. He couldn't stay
here forever. He put his mouth
close to Brooke's ear. He felt the
softness of her hair against his face.
Don't move. Don't speak. I'll
come back"
Whenever in after life he smelled
the fragrance of a gardenia, he
would remember this night, he told
himself.
He took a cautious step into the
hall. Listened. The house was so
quiet that he could hear the tick of
the old clock on the stairs. He tip
toed to the door of the room in
which he had found the silver and
ran his fingers lightly over the knob.
The key was gone.
He felt his way down; he didn't
dare use the flash. The lamp in the
lower hall provided a faint light.
Gently he turned the knob of the
connecting door. It was locked.
Someone had followed him down the
stairs! He felt a presence. Fool, not
to have suspected that an accom-
plice might be hidden in the dark.
He shouldn't have left Brooke He
must get back to her no matter
who was between them.
He wheeled with pantherlike agil-
ity. Raised his fashlight to bring it
crashing down on a head.
'Mark! Mark!"
1t was Brooke Reyburn's voice,
her hand on his arm. The stiffen-
ing went out of his knees. Relief
was submerged in a mighty rush
of anger as he gripped her Shout
ders.
"What do you mean by coming
down when told you not to move?
What do you mean? l might have
struck you'll"
"But you didn't, Mark. 1 felt like
gutter hiding in the dark while
you came down alone, so I crept
after you. What did you see?"
Nothing here-but the door is
locked"
"a black-gloved hand did pull the
key from the storeroom door, didn't
it? I didn't dream it, did r."
eff you did, I was in the same
dream, Brooke. Wonder when they
intend to remove the stuff"
"You think someone is planning
to take it away"
''Why else should it be there? It
probably was moved from Lookout
House to this one, which has been
unoccupied for years, before came
back here to live. After Aunt Mary
Amanda went, I was the only per-
son who would know about the sill
yer, and was far away in South
America. That's why Henri's face
turned chalky when he saw me en-
ter your living-room on Thanksgiv-
ing day."
"Then you noticed it too? 1
thought it might be my magma
ton"
''He was white, all right. Come
on, we can't get back to Lookout
House through this door. We'd bet
ter beat it downstairs and out that
way. Lucky pocketed your key"
Hurry! Hurry! Suppose it was
Henri who left those keys in the
I