Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 189, No. 4 — page 140: what you’re looking at

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

610 He laughed at my comeback. “Maybe my quotation isn’t an apt one, but here goes anyway,” he continued, with a chuckle. ‘‘ You imagine, I think, that what we may call the ‘ case of the pop- py formula’ is closed for awhile, at any rate, with its theft and the wreck of Rob- inson’s experimental laboratory. I am tell- ing you that the case was never more live- ly or filled with menace—if my assumptions are correct—and you will be a magnet of danger for the next few weeks.”’ ‘““T—a magnet of danger,” I exclaimed. “Yes, exactly, but you must not think that | am going to throw you into bodily peril without protection. Far from it. You will be the guarded bait that I expect will lead us to big game.” [ must have looked a picture of bewilder- ment to Colonel Chalmers for he laughed. “ T speak in metaphors—and those should be left to the big politicians. The fact is that I have every reason to believe that you are—or will be—a marked man. Don’t ask me how I know, it would be a tale too long to tell. “Now, what I am going to order is for you to proceed to New York on a delight- ful vacation, with plenty of money, to see the sights and have the time of your life. From the moment you leave this building you will be followed by two of the depart- ment’s best shadows, and from then on they will ever be within reach—if not call.” He paused a moment. “Do you understand?” he said. “ No!” I exclaimed, “ 1’ll be hanged if I do.” i | “So much the better,” he chuckled. I own that I was a trifle vexed. Why couldn’t my superior explain clearly what was in the wind? Colonel Chalmers suddenly became seri- ous. “Don’t think, Dr. Warner, that I am playing any game on you,” he said. “ It is for the good of the department that you be used for a decoy, and that without their. knowing the pointing finger is leveled by us, you come under the scrutiny of the heads of the opium ring. The less you know the better—the case will clean itself up, I am sure, with the arrest of the men ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. we're after—the higher ups I’m trying to tempt out of the background.” I shook my head impatiently. “IT will do what you say, of course, colo- nel,” I put in, “ go to New York and take an apartment—”’ “At the Albertson, I suggest.” “And have a good time.” “Yes, between the dope ring and our Federal operators everything will be at- tended to without your being harmed, I trust. Here is some cash that will carry you on for a time.” He handed me a well-filled billfold which I put into my pocket. ‘“ Remember,” he cautioned, “ that in en- “ joying yourself like a young man about town you will be obeying orders, and take good care of yourself. And don’t look as if a practical joke were being played upon you, for you may find yourself the recipient of unwelcome attentions on the part of the dope ring. Luck be with you.” With a handclasp that I knew meant dismissal I left Colonel Chalmers’s office feeling like a fool—and perhaps appearing more like one than usual. What were my orders? To hie me to New York, engage an apartment, at the Albertson if possible, and have the vaca- tion of my young life. Two department operators would follow me, and I might in some mysterious manner be the means of leading some big fish into the net. The only possible conclusion that I could come to, and that didn’t sound very sane, was that the dope ring had me marked— and that if not already marked—I was to be pointed out! Well, I should worry. With sights to see and plenty of mon2y with which to see them, I might not have any cause to complain. What poor fellow who had worked hard all his life and seen pleasure on the screen in movie houses— but nowhere else—could ask more? I wouldn’t puzzle my poor brain any fur- ther trying to read between the lines of Colonel Chalmers’s conversation, but just cheerfully obey orders. Yes, they had a nice suite at*the Albert- son on the top floor, sitting room, bed (E(0) .OO mie <S (E©)