Argosy All-Story Weekly, August 9, 1924 — page 101: what you’re looking at

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

THE FLAT TIRE. have been a relief. I couldn’t work and didn’t eat and didn’t sleep. I kept argu- ing with myself that it wasn’t any fault of mine, not anything that happened. But there’s no real comfort in that kind of ar- gument when you’re in love with a man and you know you’ve done something that started a whole chain of awful conse- quences. My work got behind and Saturday noon I stayed late to catch up. When [I left the office Carlyle Manning was the only one at his desk. He had sent out for a sandwich and said he might stay for hours because he had so much to do catching up with Dick’s work. It was a hot, humid summer day and I was fairly wilting. I stopped at a soda fountain to get a bite of lunch and while I drank it I kept wondering what I would do with the long half holiday and Sunday. It seemed as if all my life stretched ahead of me, a long succession of dreary days like that and I couldn’t think of anything to do that would make me forget Dick. The sky turned black with thunderclouds before I left the soda fountain. The streets looked weird under a funny, greenish light and people were scuttling for the subways, the girls grabbing up newspapers to hold over their hats, for big, hot drops of rain were plumping down and the thunder was rolling up. I started to hurry along with the others. As I passed the door of our office building a man hurried past me and into the hall- way. His collar was turned up and a cap pulled low over his eyes, but I knew it was Dick Cryder. I shouted his name. He pushed right on without a sign. I stopped in my tracks. I wanted to run after Dick and find out all about him, but I was afraid to throw myself at a man who maybe ignored me on purpose. I didn’t know what to do. The weather settled it for me. All of a sudden there was a blast of wind and a per- fect deluge of rain. The building entrance was closer than the subway and I ran for it. Dick was not about the corridors. I walked all around and saw no sign of him. I got to worrying worse than ever. Suppose 261 he had gone back to Bowman’s? What other business would he have in the build- ing? And what earthly business would he have going back that way after one o’clock of a Saturday when he knew everybody would be gone? Then I remembered Carlyle Mannine was left in the office. Suppose Dick did go back and he did something he shouldn’t and Manning caught him at it! Here I was pacing up and down the cor- ridor wringing my hands. Luckily it was roaring great guns outside and the few peo- ple there must have thought I was scared of the storm. But I couldn’t stand waiting any longer when I imagined all these things happening and I went up to Bowman’s of- fices. The door to the outer offices was closed but not locked. I slipped it open a crack and peeked in. The big room was empty. No sign of Dick or Manning either. I hesitated, looking in and feeling pretty much of a fool. If that was Dick I had seen probably he had other business in the building. And Carlyle Manning no doubt had quit for the day. I decided I’d be a lot better off at home when I heard a sound that brought me up on my toes and made me slip inside the door and pull it to be- hind me. It wasn’t much of a sound, a slight plop like a notebook being knocked off a desk. It came from Mr. Bowman’s office. The door to that was almost closed. I hurried across the room and looked through the crack. Then I almost wished I hadn’t! Two men were locked together, wrestling around the room. It was Manning and Dick. Manning had drawn a pistol and Dick had caught that hand and forced his arm straight up. They were at it like tigers and not a word out of either of them, scarcely a sound save their hard breathing. Somebody was bound to get hurt before that fight ended. Somebody got hurt while I looked. How Manning did it I couldn’t make out, but his left hand got free and he drove a smash- ing blow into Dick’s face that sent him reeling back. Manning followed up with a second blow and jerked his pistol free of Dick’s grasp. COnnicoool. CO