Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 16, 1921 — page 132: what you’re looking at

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

SOME estry davenport, and she saw at her side a big red handkerchief which, she decided, must have been tied over her mouth. She noted one door—closed, and a window at her right. The window evidently opened upon a small air court, and there were stout iron bars set into the frame. She could see a dirty red brick wall that rose within a foot of the window. The room had a high ceiling, and blank, bare walls, whose decorations had become dingy with neglect. It was evident, though, that at one time the room had been pre- tentious as to luxury, for the character of the furnishings indicated artistic sense and wealth. There were massive bronzes, plaques, marble statuettes, paintings. An ornate clock, its hands stationary at three, deco- rated a wide mantel. Bronze andirons and a filmy screen partially concealed the gap- ing fireplace. A huge bookcase almost filled one end of the room. A heavy library- table with big, carved legs was in the center. There were massive chairs, a faded Per- sian rug; lamps of Oriental design. Miss Richards saw a many branched candlestick which seemed to stand in an ancient atmos- phere. There was a brass urn on a pede- stal. An obese jardinier squatted in a corner. Yet, despite the decorations, the room seemed like a prison. The one door and the solitary window hinted of secrecy, of stealth, of sinister, clandestine prowling. The girl sat there holding ther throat, auto- matically and involuntarily rubbing it as though to disperse the pain of her breath- ing, trembling—her eyes closing, opening, filled with awed wonder and dismay. At a little distance sat Morrell, in a big chair, watching her. His little eyes were narrowed with a gloating triumph. His lips were extended, drooping—loose with a bes- tial joy. ‘Why did you bring me here?” The girl’s voice came with an effort, and yet she looked steadily at Morrell. ‘ Clever, eh?” laughed Morrell. ‘ You’re 4here, all right. You thought you’d fooled me. the other night—fixin’ your. maid up to look like you. Well, you pretty near tricked me—but not quite. I guzzled that maid MAN! 123 until her tongue stuck out a yard before I caught on that she wasn’t you. I saw you comin’ down-stairs afterward—when that damned Hamlin busted in. Look here.” He showed her a spot on his jaw where the skin was broken, the flesh around it discolored.. He pointed to his left eye, which was swollen, and discolored, like the flesh on his jaw. He showed her his lips— they were puffed, the flesh split inside. He shoved back his hat and pointed to a huge bump on his forehead. He grinned malevolently, with hideous mirth. ‘“ Hamlin done it. I’m goin’ to kill Ham- lin. Wait. Ill get him, too.” Morrell got up and paced back and forth. His huge muscles were in rigid bunches, the bruised lips were stuck out; his big hands opened and closed and the girl shrank at the terrible strength of them. This man, she felt, was a mental and moral pervert—an atavism. His ,passions were malignant, ruthless. He had no sense of balance or of values; he was an animal, with the ferocious impulses and instincts of his kind. And yet she detected in him a certain ability of repression. He had the cunning of an animal, in that he could wait, biding his time until he held the advantage. “ Vou’ve been right foxy—eh?” he went on, halting before her and grinning down into her upturned face. ‘ Palmin’ your maid off as you, an’ workin’ in a detective’s office. “But I’ve watched you. That night Hamlin clawed me I went back to your house. I saw you go out, an’ I followed you. You took a taxi an’ I took another. I seen you go. into the Highland. I got Frayne to find out where your room was. ‘An’ Frayne got that Larrabie girl out again, last night. He got her to talkin’, an’ she told him you was workin’ in a de- tective’s office. But she couldn’t tell Frayne anything about where your dad is.” ‘‘ How did you bring me here—and where am I?” questioned Miss Richards, her curi- osity overcoming her dread and fear of the man. “That’s easy,” he laughed. “A friend of Frayne’s runs the freight elevator in the GCOmiGchdoo S (©