Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 28, 1928 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

454 “Well, that depends on how much I sell ’em for,” said Korbeck shrewdly. “ But you can trust me.” “How much do you think?” per- sisted Nick. “Oh, maybe ten thousand dollars; maybe fifteen thousand dollars. P’m taking a big risk.”’ “The hell you are. I’m taking the risk, and there’s a hundred grand of fur in those boxes.” Nick strode petulantly into the outer office with Korbeck at his heels, pro- testing that the furs would have to be fed into the market slowly. “T thought you said you had a buyer for ’em?” said Nick suspiciously. “When he sees the stuff he may be a buyer,” fenced Korbeck. Then he saw a strange girl standing in the outer office, and he stopped. “You want to see me?” he de- manded. “ Are you Mr. Korbeck?” “Yeah. What of it?” “T wanted to ask you—” “ Wait,’ snapped Korbeck. “I got to see that those guys unload that stuff in the right place.” He strode past Nick and Jane—for it was she—and out of the office. Nick regarded this unusually pretty girl with a leering sort of smile. Lan- guidly he lit a cigarette. “What do you want with Kor- beck?” he demanded. “T heard he needed a new secre- tary.” Nick’s eyes widened in pleasurable surprise. “ You wanna work for Korbeck, eh? Not bad, not half bad, you ain’t. May- be you should want a little lunch some time?” For a moment Jane was angry, but then a rather significant fact occurred to her. Here was a tough looking customer who did business with Morris Korbeck before the regular office hours, It might be well to find out something about him. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, “T don’t even know your name,” she protested. “That’s easy—or maybe it ain’t. Nick Euthopopolis. Jest call me Nick. The last one’s a mouthful. I run the best pool parlor in New York, and be- lieve me I know how to order the hot groceries any time you want to stoke up a bit.” “Perhaps if I get the job—” “That’s the right dope, kiddo. I treats all the skirts on the level. You'll be glad to know me, mebbe! So long.” At this: point Korbeck reéntered. At sight of Nick his eyes flashed. “What are you hanging around here for?” he snapped. “I told youa dozen times I won’t have it. When I want to see you I’ll come down to your place. Now beat it!” “* Aw, hell!” growled Nick. But he slouched out of the office. “Well?” Korbeck turned sharply on Jane. “My name is Campbell,” she said. “Your secretary, Miss Groehl, has de- cided to leave. She called up the Star Agency, and they sent me down.” “Can you do quick work—and how much salary do you want?” “TI have a good deal of experience,” she told him. “ I’d be willing to work for a little less until I got to know your business—say, twenty dollars.” This figure which she and Rand had settled on the night before had the ex- pected effect. It pleased Korbeck. “Till give you a try. Can you start now?” “Of course.” “Come and take a letter.” The rest of the morning was un- eventful. The work was routine and quite usual. Jane found nothing that in any way roused her suspicion, At noon she called Rand at his university club, according to a prearranged plan. “T got the job,” she told him. “I have already started. As yet I’ve seen nothing. I’ve got one name for you, though. COMMICLOOKS (C@)