Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 139: what you’re looking at

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

She was aghast and all but stupefied by the effect of shock following upon shock in those few tense minutes and her brain reeled, yet one thought hammered there with awful insistence. Stephen! Had he done this terrible thing, and for her sake? She had once felt that the world would be well rid of Zorn, but not at this fearful price! Not if it should bring Stephen to suffer what she was enduring now, not if it meant his liberty, perhaps his life! When at length the guard came for her she found Uncle Matt alone in the counsel room. “What have you discovered?” Claudia clutched his arm with slender, ice cold fin- gers. “Tell me, Uncle Matt! Did—did Stephen—” : “We don’t know anything yet,” Rowe replied in a nervously hurried undertone. **Zorn’s body has been found in.the river and identified; we don’t know by whom. Dreyer has—ways of getting information around here, and he’s gone to discover what he can. Don’t look like that, child! Stephen—the body may have been in the water all night!” The rain had come at last. Claudia lis- tened to it for a moment as it swirled against the window, and then shook her head slowly. “Vou don’t think so, Uncle Matt! Heavens, why doesn’t some word come? You remember what Stephen swore last night—” She paused as the door opened and Quincey Dreyer entered. His face was a study and with one of his clumsy, peremptory gestures he mo- tioned them over to the window, as far as. possible from the guard. ** You know where that new stone bridge has recently been completed across the river connecting with one of the main motor roads through the suburbs and up into the State?” he demanded. “It is close beside the remains of the old one, in fact, the street on this side practically connects with them both.” oe “TI know!” Rowe nodded quickly. “ I’ve been over the old one a hundred times! 1 thought it had been dismantled and the entrances safeguarded on both sides of the ae <——— > = ——s DUST TO DUST. 921 river! You don’t mean to say it was there that Zorn was found?” “From what I have been able to gather. Only the piles of the bridge remain, but the entrance on this side at least has been left intact still and instead of a permanent wall only a temporary blockade was erected, which the windstorm this morning carried away.” He paused, glancing out between the bars at the driving rain and.then con- “Tt seems tinued in a still lower tone: inconceivable, but apparently Zorn became confused in some way and walked off the edge of that old bridge, mistaking it for the new. Unless he was suddenly stricken blind I don’t see how it could be possible!” “Were there any—marks on his body?” Rowe asked with a significant pause be-- tween his words. “Only bruises from knocking against the — bE) piles, I understand, It’s the damnedest— your pardon, Mrs. Hamersley!—the strang-— est thing i ever heard of!” “Tt was an accident, they are sure of that?” - Her breath came in - convulsive. gasps. “Oh, thank. heaven!” _ “ There is no suggestion of foul play that I’ve learned. The body will be taken to the — morgue for the autopsy and that will deter- = ——— mine the cause of death. Piece of sheer luck for us, wasn’t it?” ~Claudia shuddered. Ss “Why have we heard eee. a Stephen?” Her voice was a mere whisper. “Was anything said about what might have been found on the—the body? mean?” Before he could answer the door opened _ once more and a male guard beckoned to Matthew Rowe. Money, I across the room the eyes of both followed — him and they saw the expression of glad — relief which came over his face at the at- tendant’s whisper. “Of course!” he nodded vigorously, “ Bring him right in.” _“Tt’s Stephen!” Claudia cried. “ Now we shall know!” Seer “Yes, thank the Lord!” A smile had lifted the wearily drooping corners of the — attorney’s lips. “I wonder where the boy has been, though!” - i That guestion was replied to by Stephen 2 “comicbooks As the latter hurried