The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-06-20
DANiENG~DANUER
SRtGA

That will be taken care of,
Beatty. Shell have no chance to
survive the plunge. Miss Kendall
will have ceased to exist before the
car goes over the buff. Does that
answer your doubts, gentlemen p
ITS horrible, It's outright
murder" Dan cried. half hyster-
ically.
Il thought maybe you'd break
Avery observed, quietly. Perhaps
you'd like to go in and see your
little friend and console her in her
last hours on earth. You'll prob
ably have lots to talk about, you
two. Pretty thick with her, weren't
you ?"
If you mean had anything to
do with her coming to the Court
st. place, you're mistaken, Mr..
Avery" Dan protested, fear re-
Elected in his voice at the mans
intimation Il swear ] know moth
ing about what she's been doing
Then how do you account for
the fact that she found the place.
found a way TO get in so she could
spy on us? 1t would be quite
feather in your cap, wouldn't 1t,
to expose our little group? Per-
haps Kendall would fix you up
with a nice fat job. You might
get elected to an office yourself.
1t might be an idea with possible
tiles, but it just won't work out,
Nichols"
do you mean to say that this
rat has BEEN" Beatty began.
Il tell you it's not true" Dan
insisted, desperately. I'D no
more think of double crossing you
boys than I'd think Of"
Double crossing Kendall"
Avery suggested, ironically.
Not Fair
That's not fair" Dan protest
ed. you knew from the start how
stood on Kendall-on the whole
Reform league steup. That's been
blind you've been using for a
long time. You can't say I haven't
always been on the level with you,
Mr.. Avery. I've done everything
I've been supposed to do, and a
lot more besides
Then why do you defend this
girl? You know she can ruin the
lot of US. The only reason our
little group existed so long has
been because we've always acted
quickly when danger threatened.
Bryce's fate should have proved
that to you, in case you had any
doubts.
He made the mistake of get
ting too close to the trail. Now
another person has done the
same thing. The fact that she
happens to be girl-quite a
pretty young woman, in fact
makes not the slightest differ
ence. She has put herself in our
way"
Surely you can see the logic
of that, DAM" Beatty put in.
What does this girl mean to you,
anyway"
Final Effort
Nichols was silent for some
time. debating in his mind whether
he should make one final effort
to save Madge's life. 1t might not
be worth making. but it was des-
perate chance. He'd take it.
"The fact is, gentlemen" he
said, slowly. lis that I'm in love
with Madge Kendall. I've asked
her to marry me-"
If he had hoped to move Avery
by his revelation, he was disap-
pointed. The tall mans thin lips
merely set in a straighter, more
determined line.
I'm that case" he said. "you'd
| probably like to have a few final
words with her" He turned to
Engle.
Better search Mr.. Nichols for
weapons, Engle," he suggested.
casually. The young lady might
slip his gun from his pocket and
make bit of trouble of us.
We don't want any trouble, you
know
Useless
Dan thought for moment of
putting up fight, but discarded
1t as useless. He was outnumbered
four to one by men who wouldn't
hesitate to kill him on the spot If
he made one move.
He submitted quietly to being
searched, but he had sinking
feeling when Engle removed a
small automatic from his side
coat pocket and handed it over
to Avery, Then Engle patted
his clothes to make sure there
were no other weapons, and
stood back, waiting for further
orders.
Unlock the door and show
Mr.. Nichols into the next room"
Avery ordered. Tell your wife 10
come out, Sc the lovers can be to-
gether."
Dan walked slowly through the
door, knowing that he, too, hadn't
long TO live. What had happened
to Mike Frankau was about to
happen to him.