The Wilmington morning star., 1940-11-23
CHAPTER

Coral, In the meanllI1le' rs"
working theoretically at the dou
BILE task of finding out all she coulo
about the place, and OF ingratlat.
ing herself with the men. IN uae
latter, at least, she succeeoeo au,
mirably-before the evening came
any of them would have eaten ou'
of her hand, and several OF them
would gladly have risked death 1ol
her. She had a way with her. mao
Coral Merridew.
Later Otto explained their plans
in regard to the two prisoners.
Coral approved-or appeared to-
and suggested that when the man
Gunston was brought across thai
night she should meet him. Thus,
she suggested, she would be able
to 'size him up'' and to establish a
footing with him. She would, she
said, appear to be very sympa
thetic. Otto, after some consider
alton, agreed.
So Gun and Tommy got their
meal that evening. AS the day
wore on their excitement about it
increased, and their mouths were
watering by the early evening.
Gun duly went through the farce
of bribing the guard as soon as
darkness fell, and in what was a
suspiciously short time Cor might
have seemed so, if Tommy had not
been Gin the know') the meal ar
rived. Trent had certainly done
them we'll. There was a dish OF
some kind of boiled greens, and
canned peas. Cheese and biscuits.
Two quart bottles of English beer,
and a bottle of whiskey. Also %
cigarets.
They ate, drank and were
merry. And presently Tommy went
to bed. Gun went down near the
gate and gave a low whistle. 1t
was answered, and then, after a
long pause, came another whistle.
Gun went to the gate, which was
opened for him. This time it was
the guard, and not Trent, who con
Quoted him across to the living
quarters.
A different room, this time. A
much larger room, furnished like
a drawing ROOM. Gun blinked in
the light, and saw that, besides
Trent, Otto (whom he thought Of
as "Pullinger'') and the girl were
there.
Gun wondered how deeply she
was in this business, and how much
she knew of these villains plans.
1t struck him that, if not too much
of either, she might yet be useful.
Trent performed introductions-
of a kind:
Mr.. Gunston. This gentleman is
our-er-commander. And this
lady is Miss Coral"
"A privilege" murmured Gun,
and bowed to the lady. Then. look
ing her very straight in the eye, he
said: Il must apologize for my
very unkempt appearance, but, as
Mr.. Trent may possibly explain to
you, it is not entirely my fault"
He had seen her before. She was
the girl he had seen coming from
Watson's house that evening in
Grosvenor place.
She came to him, hand extended.
why, that's all right, Mr.. Gun
ston. l guess I'm pleased to meet
you anyhow. Besides, l like a man
to look a bit wild"
Gun was simultaneously struck
by two things-the queer sort OF
pressure she gave his hand, and
the subtle change in her voice since
he had heard it before. That ap.
piled to her manner, too, and Gun
wondered what it meant.
well you have a drink, Mr.. Gun
ston?" came the harsh voice OF
Otto. Evidently he was taking
charge. And a smoker"
Thank you-just a little wits.
key. And a cigaret, if you don't
mind. After long abstention, a ci.
gar might be too strong for me-"
"As you wish. Sit down please,
Mr.. Gunston."
1t was an order rather than a
suggestion. Otto had a dictatorial
manner.
Gun took a cigaret, offered by
Trent, and a light, and dropped
into a cane arm chair. Otto handed
him a whiskey. Gun raised it to
his lips with a general:
well, good health"
But his eyes were on Coral. He
Bella LANAN-COURT R