Show t e a aA I The I LACK A Sequel to Bulldog Drummond l er MCNEILE IE SAPPER CO EIL w u t pe APTER XII XII Continued Continued 19 19 he muttered 0 o p go darling Im I'm afraid of making too much Im I'm going to try and force this Bow OVi Ow Owa in a strike of luck they had not tak- tak Us Is s knife clasp and by bya a still greater te I e of luck IlIck he be found that the catch he Ie e window had been blen broken and It proved td even tn easier to open ollen he hud hod thought ht ie I e next nest moment he had vanished the drawing drawing room roon And now he tae heId Id I'd that that strange noise noille which had ao ad heard while white standing on the was much mach louder As he cauly cau- cau ly Iy opened the door and peered the pa passage sae the ver very try faint hum humme line me a Ii steady drone while with successive e thud the floor boards l k n a little I e passage was In darkness gh light lIht was shining from under of the doors And as ns he crept L g In search of the stairs lie Ill heard heards es s proceeding from one of the theus us 9 he passed evidently a fairly Ions 1011 household It struck him as tested te the bottom stair with his bis ht to see If It it creaked But the fie thero ro nose case e wits was old and solid and und the theIr ther Ir r carpet was thick and at ut the mot mo mo- t Hugh was not disposed t to o er Afterward l the house seemed or promise romise a n fairly fruitful field lipId fo for r ut lit present Phyllis was that mattered So he be vanished up up- ds with the uncanny certainty o ohis of f his movements at ot night and ond a 0 mo mo- mot most st t later he was us standing on th the thelIo e lIo ling hag clove above was uns u II long straight corridor a u alien uIra lien ten Ira of the one below chow and li lied he pod td ed In the direction In which li liw he he e w II her room must Joust t lie He And he ha had d de taken u II couple of steps when li he heift e wed peel abruptly peering ahead abend with i that strove e to pierre pierce the dark dark- Tor It twined seemed to 10 him that there something In the some passage passage some some- g darker Its surroundings surrounding s I ut sat that moment something sprang of the darkness and he found him him- for hl his l life or or u II second or two he w was as ath at ot a u 11 h so completely had hud h hn he heo e o n taken h by surprise then the of ofis old d its is returned And Anti not u II moment dt t soon he be was uns us up against an un un an unionist mt mist who ho was worthy of him Two 0 fads lIs ds like Iron hooks were round lit his hisk a fk k mind the man maim manlio who lio gets that gritt grit grip i t twins wins more often than not Ills a 1 hands shot khot out Into the darkness then for the first time In his life I felt a II stab of fear For he couldn't Ich dl ch the lilt other man long kung though his ms IS were th Ih other mans man pis r were farger far tor ger tr mind II as its his hands went along ulong fm m 1 he could 1 feel the mUR muscles Ies standout stand stand- out nut like steel 1111 bars hors lie He made onen one n effort e to force through to his ii fonts throat und mind It failed with superior reach nuch he could ke keep p his tang fIlOI A Already I 1 Dr head heads s 11 beginning to feel like bursting h tilt the II tuneful awful pressure round Ills his font out mind and he knew he must do some some- o nt lit fit t sauce once or lose Ins And Just In InI Ine V I e he ht remembered his clasp knife went his grain to 10 lice ilse It her t er fore In-fore had he fought an un untamed un un- tamed Imam with a w weapon and and as liS asIn II us In- In could tell tel this run man was liS unveil un un- veil l Hut It hind had to be Ill done and fn sae II quickly nil mill his Ids force he stubbed stabbed s side side- m 11 at the fhe mans man's left oral He lie hell heard Ill I'll marl url of pain mind the grip grill of one fine tl liu Ihl round hi his throat relaxed nil d J now the one urgent thing was 08 to t him shouting for help I Ii lair Drummond month w was Willi as on him one nil In n hs h's mouth and tile the other otherl l Pins n his throat with the grip ired be ire he d 1 Ihl tanned lined from Osaki the III In js M joe glint I h hy and hud had never tr forgot forgot- I I. I And lId l because e he was lighting to I HI II n n a ho lie II no time The grip there was WUl a u drell dreadful worin wor wor- In n tsp as HH the tle hit bit Into nto his 8 mu then tun It t was wn over ONer Tnt The mun non 1111 downward onto the floor and tan nil ind stood drawing In hi great of IIII air Iut he hI knew kow th time rc was no to C. C Though tile they hud had fought In III si- n n mini and he hI could still hear bear the lilt mo- thud and the Invent heat of the at lit any uny moment someone might ramie 1111 upstairs And to be found with lead man imam ut lit ones one's feet In a II strung JV Uw us' I tr not the best WU way of securing h l lp welcome What to do Iii lh the Hit body that body that was the tile first fint I Inn In- In tin tn n point paint There was no time limns for fur finite SC schemes IUt'S It ft was a question of ot I IkID kin kID Da rI ls und and chancing It It So for fori i or two he iii listened ut tit theor the theor or f of u a room then he e gently genty opened It w was a II bedroom and empty and tit ruttier hesitation he dragged s ti lute tat In In und and left him hIll lying IIII fie floor II Hy the dim light from frome e window he could eee see Pal at al I Ins III UP minus wits was almost deformed deform sou so u wu Willi the length of his hll arm J I They must have hll been six Inches longer than those of an average ernle man and lind were almost as powerful as his own And ns as be lie saw the snarling ferocious face upturned to his he uttered a little prayer of for the presence presence pres pres- presence ence of or his bis It hind had been blen altogether too near neur a thIn thing for his liking He lie closed the door and stepped across s the passage and the next moment moment mo mo- ment Phyllis was In his ariasI arms arias I thought you were never ne coming old man the she I whispered was IUS afraid the brutes had hOll caught you you OU I had n slight difference of opinion with u a warrior outside your door said Hugh grinning Quite like old times s Then he lie grew serious S No so 0 time for hot lot air now old thing lets let's have ha alook n a look at this Jolly old chain effect of yours ours Once were we're out of here you shall shull tell tIll me e everything and Ill I'll eat several pounds of mud for liming hll been bren such an nn unmitigated Idiot ns liS to let these swine s get hold of you you youlie He lie was tl examining the steel chain chainas ns us he ho spoke und sail gradually his face grew grave The chain which was about six feet long was fastened atone nt lit litone one end nd to a big staple In the wall wull and at the other to a bracket which encircled cled his wife's right wrist And the bracelet could only be opened with a 0 1 1 1 I I I r a aHe a aHe He Had Only to Lower Phyllis Out o othe othe of f the Window and Let Her Drop o othe on n the Flower Bed Below key Any Idea of of breaking the chain or pulling out the the was so pr preposterous pre pre- e as ns not to be worth even en a moments moment's thought so everything depended de de- wended on the bracelet And when hen lm he hemine e mine came to examine It more carefully h be e found that It lied a Yule lock He lie Fut emit down on the edge of the be bed hed d and und she notched him anxiously anxiously- Cant you get It undone boy sh she e whispered Tot Not If 1 I stopped slopped here till 1111 nes next Cli milS darling be lie answered hemp heu hea lIy Well get out of the window am and ond go gu for tor the lime i police she Implored fly My Iy dear deur he said Mill still more mor hell II heavily I 1 hind had us say I told lold you jou OU a little difference ot of if opinion with time the nom mun the till door und door und ties hell very dead She lie hl cuu caught lit her breath sharply A misty rm tv run man with lon lung loni arms who ut at tucked Hie time It might lie he all ull right o ot of but course but I somehow tool fuel that thai this mutter Is he beyond time the constable even en If I could find him tutu You see ee I don't dont n eu-n where we ure mire 11 Ill Ile checked tin till exclamation of surprise that rust ruse to tu Ii her er lips III's Ill explain after lets let's think of this hue now flow I Ionly It If only I could get time the key If only o I knew where It was Willi even evert A foreigner came mine In about an hour hou ago 1110 answered ered his hits wife lie lit had I it II then And he said suld hed he'd come uj to night the Ill did did he said suld Hugh slowly I wonder wander If It lt Its It's III my troy friend the time Italian kid Its It's th time the Anyway AnY only chance Hu Suy say get him Into th the room and t then hell I leave ell 1 iii litin III to tu 1111 time me Am Aul If for any rell reason tion he hI doe doesn't nt come comae Ill Il iIi have hU to leave you here und and raise th the Bung gang lie r se mind and pared paced softly up and am down the room tr trying to In think what wha was wait the time hest best thing to clo Iu It w was ae u at circle whichever at way hI he h looked nt lit It and his lists fists clenched and uDd am unclenched us 1111 he tried to make up 1111 hi his mind To e gl gu or to wait to go gu at ot one once on or to stop In the hope that HIli t one tinE non man would come up and have the time key Ley nn un mini unI I him Cornmon Commonsense suggested the tile first course fur more powerful 1 than prompted the lot lat lotter latter ter lie tie c could uld not 1101 and would nut learn Phyllis alone And BO o he de decided on a compromise If It when daylight carat cams cameDO no DO one had been bleD up to the room ht h would go co but he would wait walt until then ben And h fast going to tell what he sd ld decided when he lie heard s a aMund sound Mund that killed the time words on his lips Ip A door had bad opened below and men men's voices toku came floating up the stairs Lie down darling he breathed In her ear and pretend to be lle asleep p. p Without a word she did as he lie told her ler while Hugh tiptoed over o toward the he door There were steps stells coming up ulI time the he stairs and he flattened himself against the wall wall waiting The rhe period of Indecision was passed unless be he was er very much mistaken the tile time of action had hind arrived How It would pan out out whether whether luck would be In or orN whether N lift her luck would taU tail was on the lap lal ap of the the- gods The steps paused outside the door and ind he heard u unuttered muttered ejaculation In Italian Apparently he be was concerned over tf something and It suddenly dawned 1 on 1 that It wee was the absence from duty of the long long armed bird that was as causing the surprise Inthe In Inthe the he the excitement of the moment he had forgotten all 1111 about him him and for one awful second his heart henrt stood still Sup Sup- Suppose pose 1011 the Italian discovered the body hody before he entered the room then the game gume ume was up with n a vengeance Once time the lie alarm was given ghen hed he'd have e to runtime run time the guu gauntlet of the lime whole hole crowd over tr ground he didn't know Hut his bis fears fElIrs w wire were re groundless the cry ery of the watcher by the time thedoor thedoor door took the Italian time the other way Ills first thought was to make sure that the girl was WIlS safe and he be flung open the door and came amI In ln He lie gave go a a grunt of satisfaction ns liS he be saw her lying on the bed then like a spitting cat he swung strong round ns as he felt Drummonds Drummond's Drum Drum- mends mend's hand on his shoulder With ever every every- ounce of weight In his body behind the blow Hugh hit the Italian on en the point of tile the Jaw Without With out a sound the man crumpled up an and d pitched on Ms Ills face And now there was not a momento moment momen t to be lo lost t At any moment one of his pats pals might come upstairs and everything everything every thing depended on speed spell and finding the key Hugh shut shut the door an and d locked It then feverishly fe he lie started t to o search through the Italians Italian's pockets I Every very ery thing up to date hind had panned ou out t so wonderfully that he refused to behove believe be be- hove lieve eve that luck was going to fall ht him now and sure enough lough he lie discovered tile the bunch Phyllis was free tree and 1 li he e heard her give gl a little sob of pure ex lie He heaved hen the Italian onto the bed and snapped the steel bracelet onto hl his s arm Then he slipped the keys kes Into his own pocket and crossed to th the e window The engine was still humming hum ruIng ming gently the thudding noise win was still sUII going on nothing seemed In an anway any anyway y way different No light came from lh the e room below them ever everything thing ha had hod d worked better than D he had dared t to hope He Ill had only to lower Phyllis s out of the window and let her drop onto the flower bed lied and then thell follow himself After Arter that It II was ns easy Come Comae along ca darling he said urgently ur Ufo gently gentl Im going to lower you out first then first then Ill I'll toll follow ow And once were we're down jouve youve 1 0 got to trice up III your our skirts and run like a stag across the lawn till were we're under cover u of those bushes We e arent aren't quite out of the woods yet They were Ere nut not Indeed It was Just Justas justus as us let go anti he BOW W her pick herself up and dart across the lawn that he heard a terrific uproar In the time house below and several assegai men come clime pounding up the stubs stairs He lie vaulted over u the wIndowsill window himself and lowered low lowered ered himself to the full extent of ot his Ills arms Then he be too two let go and dropped onto the flower bed bpd below And It wasIS was as us be lie was picking himself up preparatory pre lIre to following whom PhyllIs whon he mould could see faintly across the lawn waiting w for far him that flat he heard some smut someone one In III the house bouse shout an nn order In 10 a hoarse bourse voice Switch lIch on the tie power at once you youe OU d d-d d d foul fool switch It nn on lit at once I ITO ITO iTO TO JIB n CONTINUED |