Evening star., 1940-11-14

herself. The door was flung wide.
Come on" she cried and plunged
headlong through the open door
into the cabin.
Kay's shoulder struck the sur
prised captain, nearly tipping him
over. She caught up a chair and
darted toward the short-wave radio
set against the side wall. Stover
lunged past her as the colonel
whipped a pistol from the table and
fired.
The crash of the gun reverberat-
ed through the small cabin like the
explosion of a grenade. Stover
buckled and went down in a head
long dive. Desperate, Kay raised
the chair to smash it down upon the
radio apparatus. A hand grabbed
her by the shoulder, slammed her
back against the wall. Pinioning
her, the captain tore the chair from
her hand, hurting it across the
| cabin.
Tears blinded Kay Dennis brown
| eyes, tears of heart sickness. Shed
had one chance to save her country
and she'd lost.
The colonel. pistol still in hand,
glancing swiftly at his watch, moved
across the cabin. The captain, his
harsh face strained and tense,
watched as his superior turned to-
ward the short-wave set.
"One minute" the colonel said
gutterally.
Kay felt her knees go weak. One
minute. Sixty seconds. The colonel
stood poised, his hand on the send
ing key.
Just In Time.
Kay sagged, then stiffened as
sudden pandemonium broke out on
the deck above. simultaneously feet
came pounding down the compan-
ionway. The door opened with q
crash and armed men poured into
the cabin.
The colonel spun away from the
short-wave set, his eyes bulging.
turned, diving toward the radio ap-
paratus. Han-a-dozen F. B. I. guns
spoke, and the colonel pitched for
ward across the radio, his lifeless
fingers resting against the sending
key.
| Vince Reeves bowled the captain
from his feet, battering him with
knobby fists. Other F. B. I. men
came piling into the cramped cabin
Then out of the welter stepped
Beck Creighton. He was armed.
And he was not q prisoner. Kay
stared. speechless. frightened.
Beck took one look at Kay, ,then
turned back up toward tn dH6k.
Special Agent Stanley showed
through the crowd. His face was
haggard, his gray hair rumpled, but
he was smiling. He put out his
hand.
"Well, you've done 1t again. Miss
Dennis" he said. "You and Reeves
here" He turned toward the big
ex-Marine. who stood grinning, the
light Of battle bright in his sun
faded eyes.
Stanley turned again to Kay.
'The D-Hour signal didn't 60 out
to the systems control stations" !"
he said. And from what we know
now, the men at those points won't
explode the charges under the plane
plants and depots unless they get
the signal"
Beck Expresses Sorrow.
Beck re-entered the cabin. He
looked tired and haggard. His
mouth was grim.
Stanley apparently didn't see
Beck. The F. B. I. man was study
ing the colonel's wall map, where
the systems secret control plants
were plotted.
This makes it easy" he said.
well have our men in those areas
nab their operators on the spot"
Stanley wasted no time. The wall
chart was removed. taken away
speedily. Philip Stover, badly
wounded, was taken on deck, then
transferred to one of the speedboats
that had brought Stanley and his
men down the bay. Kay asked that
Phillips mother be notified. and
briefly told Stanley of Stover's
change of heart and his effort to
help her.
Beck came on deck, and, face still
grim, handed Kay down to Stanley
in another boat. Stanley gave q few
terse orders to the men left be-
hind to bring the barge in, then Or
dered the man at the wheel to put
off. Beck conferred a few minutes
with Stanley, then he returned,
seating himself beside Kay.
A cool, fresh breeze blew in over
the bay, wiping out the pail Of
heat that had stifled the section for
two long, breathless weeks. Beck's
arm was around Kay's shoulder.
Kay" he said, I'm sorry to have
hurt you like this"
Kay looked up at him, still half
frightened, bewildered. She wasn't
a private detective, owner of the
definitely enterprising Midtown De-
tective Agency. She was q girl in
love with a man whom she thought
she had lost forever.
But Beck" she said, II don't
understand. thought you were-1
reported you as a spy. And now"
Beck grinned. "Sure. I know" he
said. But you see, was on Phillip
Stover's trail, too. I knew he was
dangerous, that's why tried to talk
you out Of investigating him for his
mother. And that afternoon In the