Show irv the h ach D DARK arka TZ LOUIS JOSEPH by VANCE author of the false fake faces facea PIP MIRROR M I 1 wik R u R illustrated the lone by wolf irwin myers etc copyright US 1920 by the author moo IN THE HOP JOINT synopsis vaguely conscious of a personality but without any idea f of its meaning the girl leonora makes her accustomed way I 1 into nto the street of strange so mange faces in i n the underworld 0 of new york mario joins her greatly in love and nd teeing seeing the tine qualities which the girl really possesses marlo BI pax ayi seeks to turn her from the path ot of inevitable destruction she promises to marry him at nistor ls care cafe gathering place ot of criminals leonora meets insets her partner red Carn carnethan Ca mehan ehan and his associates and Is accused ot of betraying a fellow criminal to the police she savagely defends herself police crash into the room and two are killed by carneyhan Carn Car ehan leonora and the rest escape in her studio priscilla maine alne won artist awakes from troubled with a diskint feeling of ving her life linked with leoniras Leon Leo orns noras priscilla Prim cilla has painted a picture of herself in fancy dress a which aich has a strange effect on her ber unnerved UMer ved and fearful that her mind Is affected priscilla calls to her ber aid a dear friend dr philip Yos fosdick dick who is in ID love with her hot ha Is stunned to tind find that her dream story of the police fight Is confirmed by the newspapers priscilia tells him about the mystery of her mother ati atio died when she was born II 11 lie see seas the effect of the painting end and pronounces it a case cas s of auto priscilla makes him promise riot not to go to the police and he be investigating it for himself hims lf priscilla senses with cold fear danger which threatens leonora CHAPTER FIVE rendezvous with destiny 1 I THE CLOCK ry by the time priscilla maine had spent twenty minutes phon phoning lilg and all her patience garnering snubs from one arrogant cab company after another the van of the storm had passed leaving the completer subjugation of the stunned and cringing city to the endless legions of the rain her oun car was being used by mrs trowbridge for a dinner visit out of town in her present state of mind and nerves the prospect of stopping on indefinitely in the studio was insufferable resigning ber herself self then to a drench ing the girl locked up and scampered through swimming streets to fifth avenue where here she waited three minutes that seemed ten till a trudging bus consented to pick her up at the uptown end of her journey likewise she bad two blocks to run from fifth avenue to park before she got home with hat suit furs and temper all demoralized zed while her mald maid prepared a bath she begged off by telephone from a dinner engagement to which she had long been looking forward tonight she felt it would be impossible to hold her own anxiety on account of marlo mario and leonora forever at her elbow a gibbering specter A hot bath and the ease of should have bare lent her some tranquility but did not she made the merest pretense of dining from a tray in her room she could not forget past seven in less than three hours leonora must start upon her journey r and she could do nothing nothing but i alt and wonder and wring useless hands blittle A latte before teu ten an inexplicable change in the texture of her emotions made her aware that the peak of her transports had been reached and IN charlie about passed of a sudden she found herself more calm not with the calm of 0 misgivings set at rest rather with that of 9 t bourage dauntlessly addressing itself to a forlorn hope bope intuition divined the explanation in that strange deep sympathy which made them one her mental and emotional processes faithfully reflected leondras Leo noras what gonles tg eon onles les of doubts and tears fears she had suffered tonight were hot but reDi replicas leas ot 00 tose fiose which leonora had suffered but now the time of waiting ans no more leonora had left tier her hiding place and committing herself bradly bravely to her dark adventure bad found relief in action if only she might be with leonora tonight as she had so often been seeing what doing what she did knowing what she knew participating in every reaction of her wits and perceptions only it if she could sleep it was possible she might dream darkening lier her bedchamber she went to the window opened it and tarried a little in its recess looking out rain was still falling torrential lancing the at night ht with its myriad slender silver slanting jets brimming gutters hooding flooding sidewalks blackening and burnishing roadways to the semblance of rivers of ink that mirrored a multitude of lights she thought of leonora struggling through that scouring tempest to an unknown bourne the clock struck ten she turned back to her bed threw herself down upon it without undressing and closed her eyes immediately she opened them again there could be no sleep tor for her till mind and spirit were fagged bagged out altogether on her dressing table the convex crystal of a french clock caught a clear beam from some street light and was transfigured trans figured into the likeness of a little captive moon of dead white glare upon this the brightest spot in the room gaze naturally for minutes on end slie she watched it in a phase of lethargic fascination which was rewarded when the little moon began to grow to spread out its cold light filling the room the world and all the spaces of her consciousness ness so that spellbound perceptions grew faint then failed and she was no more aware of herself as cilla maine an all individual entity amt only as a pinpoint of anonymous being adrift la in the measureless incoherence of infinity it 11 THE STREET she had liel neither thet raincoat nor umbrella demoniac squalls hailed balled such defenseless prey and gusts of pelting drops stung the bare flesh of her face like bird shot long before she managed to weather the corner her thin cloak was soaked through and so was all beneath it her shoes were squelching her sodden skirts harried by the wind were clinging tenaciously to her legs leg gs making progress incredibly incredible difficult yet she did not mind but found a kind of savage delight in battling alin with the elements gaining ground aga against dinst their malicious will following long confinement to that room of u unspeakable boredom there was compensation and to spare in this false sense of freedom in the mere tact fact that she was at last at large enough to render her indifferent to damaged clothing as well as to the clammy discomfort with which it plastered her chilled body she leaned her slim young body against the wind and gladly fought it for every breath and step she relished keenly the wet sweetness of the air the gurgle of rushing gutters the butlan drum drumfire fire of the rain the motley cheer of weeping windows but for these last one might pardonably have taken the street for part of some drowned city peopled by gray ghostly shapes figures glimpsed darkly through sweeping waves of rain as they scurried from curb to curb lumbered down the wind or like leonora plodded doggedly against its howling bowling opposition but few such were visible at any time humanity braved the elements that night solely under the lash ot of elemental appetites such as the necessity of beer and then made its excursion as brief as might be even the police hugged shelter A night of terror she thought with a shiver as much of dread as of cold pausing in the lee of a corner to regain her breath before renewing contest with the storm a night when anything might happen resolutely she put that thought behind her she did not dare to be afraid and lest she be tempted again to think and falter she bhe spurred herself pitilessly on once more at length she turned aside into a sullen street illy lighted wholly deso late in all its visible length save tor for the shining welcome of saloon windows on the ground floor door ot of a dilapidated dwelling in the middle ot of the street beacons marking the end of the first stage of fit her journey III THE HOP JOINT the saloon a boozing ken of the lowest order occupied quarters first intended for a shop empty show windows flanking flan lAng a double doorway wre backed by screens of machine carved wood stained to mock mahogany and hung with beer lithographs to one side under a sign gilt lettering on a black ground family Ent entrance rancel a single door stood open on a short hallway which led to a dreary room behind the bar where local sots of both sexes sat in sodden congress over tables sticky with dregs their feet scuffling in coarse alamp damp sawdust to me right of this floor a window with a ledge edge broke the side wall communicating ln altu with the bar tor for the convenience or of neighboring ladles ladies and other fastidious souls who rather than risk social contamination tami nation by entering a common barroom fetched empty palls of tin and carried them away filled with nourishment for home consumption to the left a constricted staircase ascended to td regions of uninviting darkness leonora however mounted with confidence and finding a blank shut door at the top planted a confident finger on a pushbutton push button which she could not possibly have located by sight A venomous buzz responded shuffling feet drew near the door in which a grille opened letting out a shaft of strong light which tell fell squarely on the girls face I 1 she said coolly 10 lo john le 16 mp m in A chain bolt rattled the door swung inward leonora entered passed faced the guardian of the portal a chinese aged shriveled of face shrunken of body impassive whom niom she addressed with tile the brusque insouciance ot old acquaintance charlie about with racial economy of gesture the chinese jerked a thumb toward the rear of the house and turned to refasten the door leonora moved down you poor klel inez tightened her clasp on leondras Leo noras hand the hall disdainfully sniffing tainted air and entered a large room whose atmosphere was mephitic with the unforgettable sickly sweet fumes ot of opium here in half curtained bunks or on thin mattresses upon the floor in a forbidding halt half light furnished by a single closely shaded lamp perhaps a dozen men and women lay in uncouth postures drep deep in drugged stu pors one only was in apparently complete possession of her wits the woman inez ot of whom leonora had seen nothing since that fateful night ni bt at inez alone recognized in any way this addition to the company looking up with a sullen face from her seat on the edge ot a mattress on which lay with limbs and face of ghastly pallor upturned to the dim light hla big mouth half open ills his eyes half closed the thick stem of an opium pipe dangling from limp fingers the man whom leonora had come to meet in a seizure of dismay so overpowering as to blind her completely to tile the sneer of gratification which inez sought in vain to dissemble leonora dropped to her knees beside the man and shook his shoulders with frantic hands charlie she cried in a voice urgent with fright and entreaty wake up charlie Charl lel 1 for gods sake wake up I 1 the mans head bead rolled from side to side with horrifying limpness his lips moved tremulously without closing otherwise he made no sign he might have been lifeless he had better been dead not one person in the room so much as turned a head when the the frantic girl disturbed the quiet not even in inez z for though she had mastered her betraying smile that one had no need to stir in order to watch leonora evil exultation continued to inform her cold eyes as long iong as they were unobserved but leonora found them quick with specious sympathy when at length appreciating prec precia lating ting the utility futility ot of her ef efforts efrost rort she loosed her holdi bola on charlies shoulders and sank on her heels beels my god she sold said with a stricken face I 1 going to do the trouble dearle dearie inez spoke with doying cloying sweetness but the other was too far gone in despair to notice or vo to care it she bad hot noticed iced anything I 1 can do to help 1 I don know leonora leondra shook her head slowly guess not you vou tell toe me and find out inez leaned across the body ot of the drug victim and placed a coarse re red d hand affectionately over leoniras Leo noras ton rou can trust me I 1 guess were all H in this mess together aint wel we its only red bed leonora responded dully he said for roe me to come to him tonight he sent word by charlie said id got to come tonight charlie promised hed meet me here and show me the way he tell me said red made hlin swear not to I 1 dont see why but I 1 wish to god charlied Charl led kept his word to me like lie he did to red ked what do you mean 1 I was afraid ot of this she nodded at the unconscious man charlie promised me lie he woren moren two pipes inez laughed shrill guess he baid six sll s declared 1 I rolled three pills for ilin since I 1 came lit in and now hes bes 14 awn own and out leonora pursued hd I 1 dont know how to find red apa lie he wont take any ex auses inez im scared I 1 i you pow poo kid feld inez tightened her clasp on leonorah Leo eo noras hand but you dont ba hay to worry ill take you tc red I 1 veen there half a dozen tim times at least alte smile of conscious triumph inez could not suppress waa wa tit offensive and brought j vividly to mind the rivalry which had always existed between them and which had bad flared up into open hostility at their last rencontre hot resentment kindled in leondras Leo noras eyes hot color flushed her cheeks but she dug teeth into her and grimly fought down the impulse to give her anger tongue not only was that precisely what inez wanted but it 1 might prove fatal there was more than ilion pride at stake there was the life of him who loved her and whom she loved nothing indeed but that love of hers for mario had bad broken down her will to refuse reds beds summons only the threat of reds vengeance wreaked wrecked on marlo had made her supple to the gangsters VIII hlll and now if she quarreled quarrel ed with inez that one would never show her the way to red anything she repeated in her secret thoughts might happen leo told you she muttered sure he did inez agreed cheer cheep fully you dont suppose leos teary leary of me like red Is of you nora dear why ive known all along where them two was kayin up long lashes drooped to veil leo noras smoldering derin eyes inezs malicious smile flashed and faded fade d the other clenched her hands bands into tight fists then opened them she looked up pride conque conquered rea and trampled under foot by love inez she pleaded simply 1 I got to see red tonight or I 1 dont know happen please take me to him ineal the woman delayed her response for a moment that she might relish tile hie full flavor of her triumph then jumping up she said sure I 1 wll dearle dearie acmon lea go 0 IV THE ROOFS again the night the wind the rain the laborious transit of dim weltering streets inez led through a tortuous maze of murky back ways till they came to a sinister block of towering teeming tenements into which plucking leonora by the sleeve she turned in the unsavory lower hall leonora spoke incredulously not here inez gave a negative gesture 1 I should say not accost the roofs you dont suppose im such a simp as to lead a dick to the right door do you you dont think were followed leonora demanded in quick alarm inez nodded emphatically 1 I know we was who was it bould you see nobody I 1 ever seen before a new bird I 1 guess from some uptown precinct coarse worker too he spotted you first cause he was walten when we came out and trailed us all the way war why you tell me the use you know now dont you it ve done you any good to know in the street as longs I 1 knew and had sense enough to lead him wrong like this CWON they began |