Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 19, 1924 — page 137: what you’re looking at

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

THE CONFIDENCE MAN. ‘‘ Forever,” she said. ‘I will wait.” With full hearts, with a singular sense of precarious happiness, they made their way to the station where, in a lonely waiting room, old Humphrey had seen his life made whole in the figure of a youth who, having gone forth an idiot, returned with the light of a soul. CHAPTER XL. BARED FANGS. N the still evening air, Corvan again ap- proached the house which for a month had been the headquarters of his battle. He had persuaded Margaret and old Hum- phrey to drop him at the foot of the drive to walk to the house alone while they car- ried Harold Trench home to his waiting parents. Margaret had consented, but there had been a peculiar restraint in her assent, as though she hid behind smiling eyes a secret knowledge of mysterious things which were to happen. He had sensed the same air of mystery about Queritt when that shrewd gentleman had asked him if he were re- turning home. “You mustn’t be too much surprised if peculiar things happen to-night,” she had said. He walked up the driveway with a spirit that had been derived from her words and the sight of her. That had been fired by the resolution she had brought him to, and fed by the sight of the boy whom, through her, he had retrieved. He was uplifted by that spirit, and before it the menace of Wade’s sure vengeance sank to insignificance. As he emerged from the trees which hedged the drive, his attention was arrested by the lights which gleamed from the win- dows of the house. The dining room, the kitchen, the living room, the hallway—all were alight. Light streamed from up- stairs windows, and gleamed from behind blinds at every aperture. He wondered at it. It did not seem possible that Wade or Maddox could need so-much light. A quick picture occurred to his mind of Wade, left alone, searching 607 every room and cranny of the old place with curiosity and suspicion. He dismissed it as absurd, and hurried forward to investigate. As his steps rang upon the wooden stairway of the porch, he was amazed by a sudden transformation. All the lights went out. They went out abruptly and unevenly. With the ghostly effect of electric light shut off by unseen hands, he saw the windows on either side of the door go black, and the fanlight above the door suddenly dimmed. Startled, he stood for a moment, motionless. A man who had been sitting silently in a chair upon the porch arose and approached him. It was Wade, chewing a cigar, and he pressed his face forward, peering through narrowed lids. ‘Where the hell did you come from?” His voice rasped like stone upon stone; but with a perceptible effort he held it subdued. “ I missed my train,” said Corvan briefly. He answered Wade’s lowering stare with straightforward eyes. “ What’s going on inside?” he asked. ‘““ Not too loud,” growled Wade. “ They’re a pack of damn’ fools.” “What do you mean? Who?” “Go inside and see.” Corvan studied the other for a moment, conscious now of the menace embodied in this hard, cruel man. He turned to the door again. Wade clutched at his arm. ‘“ You ought not to be here!” he growled suddenly. ‘‘ You can make a mess of this game yet!” He peered malevolently into Corvan’s face. ‘“‘ By God, you ain’t going to let me down!” ““ Come inside and see,” grinned Corvan. He pushed open the door and entered. Wade followed close behind him. The light in the hall was dim, and, standing beneath it, Corvan felt an uneasy sense of imprisonment. All the doors leading from the hall were shut. The heavy cur- tains were drawn tight across the living- room archway. It leaped into his mind that this could be a trap, that unknown forces might lie in wait behind those doors, those curtains. And Wade stood close behind him. He turned, and found Wade’s face cold, grim and impassive, oO ivi “S) (©) (CC) (e(0) boo