The Wilmington morning star., 1940-12-07
CHAPTER FORTY-sEVEN

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Gun sat by the window O. tne
bedroom that had been set ASIDE
Tor him at the Nest and gazed over
he melancholy landscape, while ne
listened to the faint sound OF people
arriving for the meeting below:
It was almost eleven at nlgh',
and there would have been orlgi'
moonlight outside had 1t no' oeea
djffused by the curtain OF SMOKY
clouds that hung overhead. 1t mao
been raining too, and there was a
faint mist coming up from the
marshes, while through the open
window came the drlp-drlp u
moisture from the trees.
The faint light that ~percoiateo
through the clouds showed a VINO
uninviting, with only a stunned
rec ar a ramshackle hut here and
there to break the monotony De-
tore if faded into a sort OF vague
miasma The air that came
through the window was dank and
chill, and apart from the dripping
nf the moisture, the silence outside
was unbroken except for the &C.
c%asional dreary, raucous cry OF a
lonely screech owl.
Gun thought it all looked very
much like a sort of half-World-
the kind of place that some spirit
ualists imagined as the locale OF
discarnate souls that had just
.'passed over" And as he felt there
was some likelihood of his under
going that rather discomposlng
process in the very near future
Watson, for instance, would be
present at the meeting, and Wat
son knew him WELD he refused to
contemplate it any longer, and
turned back into the room, num-
ming as he did so: waiting, wait
ing, waiting, always bloody well
waiting!" an old army doggerel
that had a very apt application to
the present in his case. He seemed
to have been waiting almost EVER
since he had embarked on this con-
founded job.
He glanced at his watch. Five to
eleven. The meeting was due to
begin at eleven, and the police, al
ready unobtrusively surrounding
the place, were due to close in at
eleven-tWenty. What a bag!
But that was when the trouble
would start-when the police came.
And that little fool Coral would be
here.
But at that thought Gun smiled
he had something unexpected for
Coral.
A tap at the door and a voice:
They're all downstairs, and
waiting for you, Captain"
Good! I'll be down right now
At the head of the stairs Coral
was waiting. She was looking even
more than usually charming. AS
they went down together, she
whispered:
"All set?"
$50 far as I know. I hope so, at
any rate. But you should know
more about it than LATTER all,
you took the necessary informa-
tion up to London"
She nodded, and then said in the
same tone:
But these people haven't broken
the law yet-no crime has been
committed. So what can be done,
even when they're arrested?"
Guns expression vas grim as he
answered:
you've forgotten one thing.
They pirated a plane-and they
made the mistake of killing the
crew of three! That's where we
get 'em I think" "Ah! I see!"
The room was the dining room
a long, low ceilinged apartment.
with a door at either end.
There were fifteen men present
as they entered, looking very much
like a city board meeting, as they
sat around the long table-except
for a certain diversity in dress,
some being in evening attire, and
others variously dressed.
Gun looked around, and sized
them up. stein. tn e millionaire,
was at the head Of the table, as
chairman. On his immediate right
sat his compatriot and fellow mil
lionaire, Bronson; on his left the
German, Gruchere, and the Italian
Macholesta. These four, Gun now
E l. ~LANAN-COURT RE
Founded On .Actus