Adventure Magazine Cover — page 103: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

102 “Vou know what you think,” he returned. “T certainly do. That Zoronna Symondi would as soon knife a man as——’”’ ’ He almost yelled, and the glass, empty however, did fall. “T really don’t blame her,” I went on. “She is a wild little Asiatic of some kind. Put skins on her and turn her loose on the desert—she would be at home.”’ “You don’t blame her— What ’re you talkin’ about?” = “Probably of what you are thinking about,” I answered. “No,” he replied emphatically. more doubtfully. Then, determined to go through with his bluff, he said with a sort of impulsive ex- planatory manner: “Gave us an awful shock—Cantello. We just opened the door—there he was! ——, wonder what he was doin’ there? “Old man, I know you didn’t do it—but it looks bad. Those maids described you to a hair.” - I was tempted to let him know the truth, but remembrance was too strong of how at last he had consented to Zoronna’s urgent plea. I was only a “gambler and a crook.” I told him merely a part of the truth, which he already knew; and added that nat- urally I had gone again to her apartment to find out what she had been up to the night before: He made a feeble attempt to pre- tend surprize that she had ever taken me -to her apartment, and asked why I had not before told him of it. “She asked me not to,” I said. His comment was again inarticulate and muffled. ‘“‘Where is she now?” I demanded, re- ferring to the fact that she had “disap- peared.” The detectives had said so. declared it in the evening papes. “How do I know?” ~ “You have a good idea, anyway. Re- member this: I’m not a detective. Per- haps it’s lucky for you I’m not. If sol would guess that you came into Zoronna’s apartment after she had returned with Can- tello. I would guess that she had tried to get Cantello out of the room before you came in. I would guess that he pretended __ to leave and hid himself. I would guess that then something happened that made him crazily jealous and he jumped out and that she killed him.” “No,” Headlines Adventure His eyes were wide and astonished. He sat motionless, almost terrified. “Yes, she did it,” I went on. ‘‘You don’t wear a knife, for one thing; and for another your right arm is just about out of com- mission. “Yes,” I went on, petrifying him with as- tonishment at my amazing accuracy, “‘it is lucky for you that I am not a detective. The police pretend to think that the ‘man of mystery’ has done away with Zoronna.. You know better. I’m the ‘man of mys- tery.’ ”’ af “You would’ ’ve done something,” he stammered. “The way you abused those maids.” : “Yes. I would have made her tell me why, knowing that I was Everhard, she took me as she did to a room where Hur- gronje was expected.”’ He started to say something but checked himself; thought the matter over, and finally admitted that it ““did look queer;” but most earnestly he-added that Zoronna was “‘inno- cent’’—whatever he meant by it. There was nothing more to be said unless I told him that I had been in the room all of the evening; and the time to tell that would be when he came offering a “‘chance’’ to get into Hurgronje’s house. ‘eq I KNEW where, in all probability, ee Zoronna had gone. To Hurgronje. X.= <4 Lord Bob knew it, too. But he could not say so without explaining. He felt decidedly uncomfortable. I came very near to asking him to explain what “magic” he had used on the switch- board operator of the apartment-house; but that would have disclosed that I knew in- stead of guessed what had happened. “Say, I’m goin’ to bed,” he announced. “I’m sick. You’ll excuse me, won’t you? I’m knocked out—got chills ’r some: thing.” He started off; but I called to him— *““Just’a minute.” He stopped, but I waited for him to turn. J like to see a man’s face when I am talking to him. Then he faced me, asking what I wanted. pet: , “Tell me,” I asked slowly, but purely as a | =s matter of curiosity, ‘““when did Zoronna— I mean did she ever meet Sin Chang? That you know of?” “Say, you know a —— of a lot about things; don’t you?” he said quickly, puzzled, COPE OOKS se)