Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1940-10-16
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER + OS -LlIll4
GUN WAS telling his story, and
making a good job of it. Gun had
an a%iOm-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--Wlth the
exception that the cast was slight
ly 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 en-
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
about the face in saving the plane.
"Wall, Captain" wa STEMS
comment, when he had finished,
lat least one things pretty clear
about it. You showed hell of lot
of grit. I congratulate you"
There came a murmur of appro-
ibation from the others, and Gun
felt a tirst-class hypocrite. 1t was
well that the banda9es obscurcd
his guilty flush.
Then somebody said:
"Well, the point now is-what
ARE we going to do about it? Start
all over again? And if so, hoW?"
ITS a 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 a 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
ly 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. Eul
then he knew life was like that
Then he thought, grimiy, that any
way this would be the last disap-
pointment he'd have to take from
it. 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 shuddcret, as he
thought of Cora's fate if Otto did
manage to get Lold of her. even
for five minutes before the police
arrived. He must cOntrive to hans
matters cut. somehow
There hsL been a long silence
all of them staring in amHzemcn;
at the newcomer. Now Stein spoke,
in a high, startled voice:
1T really is you, Otto? We've
just been told you were killed"
"Oh? And who said that?"
In Otto's small eyes was the look
of an enragcd and dangerous ami