Argosy All-Story Weekly — "Sea Marauders" — page 120: what you’re looking at

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

a Vato Goan Ay oe et = ie SE ee Re o - i 542 | ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. 1? course!” Anne said relievedly. “Dicky, what in the world did he say?” “T haven't revealed myself, either. J—I tell you, Anne, I’m ina jam here.” “A what?” “Yes, a grand old jam. It’s too long a yarn to spin over the telephone, honey. I just called up to tell you not to expect me—yet awhile.” “But I can’t understand it, Dick. You—you're not going to pass up your Combined Products contract?” “It’s beginning to look as if I might have to do that,” Richard groaned. * You see, Anne, [—” “But you can’t! You can’t! No matter what happens, you can’t do that!” Anne shrilled quite frantically. “Dicky, won’t you tell me exactly what has happened—because I know there’s something you haven’t told me —and let me act intelligently? Dick! V’ll call up Colonel Bragg and say that you've been taken ill suddenly.” “And he’d find out later on that I hadn’t, and, as nearly as I can make out, one lie will kill this devilish con- tract, Anne. He wants his factory built by an angel! Here! I tell you what, Anne! I’ve got a hunch that something will happen at the last minute, and—’” “Yes, you had a hunch about going up there, if yetuu remember!” —and then again, it may not. [ll wait until about twelve, or a few minutes after, and if I haven’t worked the thing out myself before that, you call him. See? And then—” Richard stopped abruptly. Richard also glanced over his shoulder and started; Gwen, sauntering across the room, was with him once more. She waved a hand and smiled at Richard. “So—so that’s all! That’s all!” Richard puffed. “Well, what’s the matter now?” Anne asked reasonably enough. “Nothing! Nothing!” Mr. Melton gasped. ‘ G-good-by!’ “Dick, wait!’ said Anne; and there was another little pause—a rather curious one this time. ‘ You may think me silly, but there is something I want to ask. Last night, when you called me up, you know. You said you were at the station.” “TI was.’ 2s You rang off rather siddealy. Dicken. ey remember.” “And you said,” Anne continued, not so steadily, “you said: ‘She’s going off without me!’ ” “I remember that, too.” “Do you really? Well, Dick, who was ‘she?’ ” Mr. Melton’s hollow laugh rang through the room. : “T meant the train, Anne—the train!” And he started, and whisked about and glared at Mrs. Bragg; at least she might have remembered that distant sounds frequently carry over a telephone wire! “Oh!” said Anne. ‘“ And was it the train that laughed—just then?” sé Eh: ?? “T heard it, Dick!’ “Well, there are—there are—you see, there are—or there is—no, there are one or two people near me!” Mr, Melton spattered out, damningly. “TI see,” responded Anne’s cool, smooth tone. “I won’t ask any more questions. You'll let me know later? About calling up, I mean?” “Yes, I—T’ll let you know later!” Richard said miserably. ‘““ Good-by,” said Anne, and hung up her receiver—and after that, for a matter of five minutes, sat tight-lipped and gazed at it, her gentle bosom ris- ing and falling with quite unusual rapidity. Anne, as has been noted, trusted her handsome Richard. And yet Anne was fully and completely equipped with her sex’s well-known intuition. More still, even a stupid child, just hearing Richard’s voice, must have known that there was something radically wrong— something much more wrong, that is, © PIA. 4, i nt ; ; { Pay * Ww Py ee oF ae anh i ra «PUMA REN A Raa PR ee oe BP 4 sey WAY ts