The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1940-12-13
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT


GUN WAS telling his story, and
making good Job Of it. Gun had
an axiom-that when it was neces-
sary to lie. the thing to do was al
ways to keep as closely as possible
to the truth, and so the tale that
he told the meeting was. more or
less, the tale of what really had
happened on the island-with the
Exception that the cast was slight
lily altered. Thus, Coral played no
active part in the proceedings, and
the characters Of Gun and Trent
were interchanged.
The prisoners had escaped, and
blown up the munitions. Otto had
been killed in the fighting. The ex-
plosion had set light to the gaso-
line store and practically the whole
place had been decimated. He had
managed to save the one plane,
and he and Coral had flown over in
that. He had been badly burned
Iabsut the Ease in saving. the plane.
Wall. Captain" wa STEMS
comment, when he had finished,
''at least one things pretty clear
about it. You showed a hell OF q lot
of grit. / congratulate you"
There came a murmur Of appro-
baton from the others. and Gun
felt first-class hypocrite. II was
well that the bandages obscured
lhis guilty flush.
Then somebody said:
We'll, the point now is-what
are we going to do about it? Start
AL over again? And if so, how ?"
ITS pity about Otto" said
someone else. He had the brains
had Otto. If he was only here"
Indeed came quiet, gutteral
voice from behind Gun.
! There came gasp Of astonish-
ment, and. in some cases, Of fear,
from those assembled. Someone
had entered the room unnoticed
while they were talking and now
was standing just inside the door
way.
And that someone was Otto
Britton-or Pullinger.
Gun turned very slowly to look.
at him. He knew the voice instant
1y he heard it-and he knew more
than that. For him, the game was
up.
He glanced at the grim face of
the man in the doorway, and then
at his wrist watch. Ten minutes
before the police were due, and in
ten minutes -
With a grim satisfaction, how
ever, he realized that this would
make no real difference after all.
The place was already surrounded
the secret passage guarded. Not
one Of these men was likely to es-
cape his just deserts. The only diff
ference would be that HE would
not be there to know about it-un-
less one knew about these things
from what the spiritualists called
"the Other Side"
He felt it was bad luck that
after all he'd been through, and
when he had been so near to bring
ing the thing off so neatly. But
then he knew life was like that
Then he thought, grimly. that any
way this would be the last disap-
polntment he'd have to take from
IL. Then he thought Of Coral-per-
haps she had heard and managed
to escape in time. After all, the po-
lice were close at hand-she would
only have to run across the gar
den. They would let no one leave
the place. He shuddered as he
thought Of Coral's fate IL Otto did
manage to get hold Of her, even
for FIVE minutes before the police
arrived. He must contrive to hang
matters out. somehow.
There had been a long silence,
all Of them staring in amazement
at the newcomer. Now Stein spoke,
in a high. startled voice:
1T really Is you. Otto7 We've
just been told you were killed"
"Oh? And who said that?"
In Otto's small eyes was the look
Of an enraged and dangerous ami