Argosy, Vol. 120, No. 1 — page 91: what you’re looking at

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

point he could reason with the police and foresee their conclusions. The absconder had tried unsuccessfully to hide his car be- fore his attempt to cross the river. If he was successful in crossing, it was evidently his intention to escape on the 2:20 train from Sansford. “So far, so good,” he concluded. ‘“ And now we'll prove that I didn’t get across.” He stepped into one of the boats and towed the other with him into the stream. There he overturned it and threw his hat, which would readily be recognized as his own, into the river. It was followed by his card case and bill book, from which, how-_ ever, he first extracted the remaining cur- rency. Next went the shirt box, now empty. It might also be found, and it would be supposed that its late contents were scattered in the waters. With Herman Carlistach dead, and the stolen treasures swallowed by the river, the search would come to an end. It was 2:30 in the morning when he reached the houseboat. There be burned his clothes and threw the ashes in the river. The hundred and eight thousand dollars, carelessly tied into two bundles with news- -paper covers, were wrapped up in an old fishing net and thrown into a corner of the room. The day’s work, for which he had planned two years, was done. He congratu- lated himself that it was done well. He might suffer the consequences of the night’s exposure—he was subject to colds, anyway —but he had plenty of leisure and money for a vacation. After the interest in the absconder had faded, he would hie himself - off to the mountains. He slept late that day and woke with a ‘headache and a.racking cough. The bank had been open two hours, and detectives were long since on the job. Carlstach pic- tured to himself the excitement of the police, the flashing of his description over the wires, and the vigilance of officers in other cities. He stepped out onto the narrow porch- deck. The keen wind cut into his lungs like a knife, and set him to coughing again. A fisherman drifting past with the current hailed him: 6 Arcosy me ee ee ROPE’S LENGTH. 81 ‘““ Heard the news? Your double, that bank fellow, skipped out last night with the boodle—a half million dollars. Crossed the river a mile below here about two o’clock— they found. where he tried to hide his auto- mobile in the water. Must have caught a freight out of Sansford.” ‘“ A-ah! ” exclaimed Carlstach. “Yep, but theyll catch him. Too many telegraphs and telephones and police in the land to get away with anything like that. But—say, what’s the matter with you—you- look sick? ” ‘““T am sick,” said Carlstach, coughing convulsively. He -hastened back to his ‘room. He had not such a cold for years. IV | How long he remained in bed he could not tell: it might have been minutes or weeks. Asa matter of fact, it was less than one hundred hours. He awoke in pain and was conscious of long bad dreams in which he had babbled constantly and wandered over much of the earth’s surface. By his side sat an old man whom he correctly guessed to be a physician. Carlstach tried to rise, but he had no strength. ‘““ What does this mean—how did it hap- pen, doctor? ” ‘Pneumonia. One of your neighbors saw you stumble in and fall on the bed,” said the doctor. few days.” He rose and reached in his hat. ‘TH be back this afternoon. I'l send some one over to sit with you till I return.” The door was hardly closed behind the “You'll be all right ina — physician when the sick man came from his . bed. His legs would not bear his weight and he sank to the floor. Still he went on. It might mean all that his life was worth, but he crawled, like an infant, inch by inch, to the fishing net in the corner. It was still there, every dollar-of the hundred and eight thousand. Rewrapping the packages in the net, he pulled himself back to bed. Then he was faced by another worry; he might have talked in his delirium and re- vealed nis true identity. He would have given much to know what he had said. But here, at least, he had no cause for worry. EO 1NOO (-) S CO@