Show f i Ii Black Box of Silence f Dy fly Francis Lynde f by byi i O. O Irwin Myers Myer f 1 Service b by VV William Orad Cht mUl CHAPTER VIII lO 10 io ioA lOA A Lost Trail Hili Snare lit nun II-I II hat t I said mild y after had Imil gone tonI What il do 1111 think of ot the glimpse he lie gave us uy of lit Canby's record I think will l hI be o embodied In H a vi wore wire Ire tip till t to tn dad dati I Dont Don't you want to wire your folUs Just folks Just to let them know you joti ml tiro uro still on earth I 1 now nil that we seen to have landed somewhere After they IhlY had sent SlIt their respective tive tI messages they set net out on a R tour of ot Inquiry Ill hoping to get cot some Rome truce of ot Ili 1111 l win Eight and Its pas pas- stingers Revisers the entire afternoon for Cor It It was nn Rn afternoon wasted The he three men seen l last ns as they were loin Inn Copal tin had d vanished n ns as corn corn- II us as If It th till the earth had opened and ami swallowed them thorn And Anti not only the tine themen men hut but the lire car n ns as well In lu the round of ot Inquiry only one curt fence de denIt lets eloped 1 rf w which hech might Imp have some Rome hearing upon the mystery s This hl was In III the tho public garage where whre was keeping his Nordyke they thy f tire the proprietor about the he Ill said he had tint 1111 nit up UI only one car that had come corne from fromn the Ihl east cast that morning namely Canby Can Can- by limousine asked If It he tie could lit lis the time dire of ot the limousines limousine's arrival Why yes jes 11 was the reply It was Jut just about live tho o'clock More Moro mystery said as Ih they left the place You what the tho hotel clerk said mild this mornIng morn morn- In III Ing when we wo got ot In In which which was v a alithe lit lithe till after live five o'clock I Dont know n as I do I was pretty tired and sleepy You Yo II naked asked him If It he hI had anybody else from tho tire list east and he said Yes IS n H party of ot three three came came In a n couple of ot hours II ago O. O Then he told toM us who the three e people were I see HO now what you OU are lire getting at nt That leaves S 'S two hours unaccounted ll for between the tho time Canby reached Brewster and the tho time he put lilt his car cur carup carup up 1111 In the garage Question can cnn we Had out what he hI did In those two hours t lint's lints 1 It If It ItH we H can cnn I have e a It notion notion no no- tion that we WI shall find out what has bras become of ot the th bunch to the hotel they were fully agreed that the only remaining chance of ot tracing the missing three was through Canby II lib since 1111 his connection connection tion with wIlh then them had hurl been conclusively proved Markham went Int up uI to shave while hll Landis l went nt to the desk to have his hi card sent up tip to tire the I The professor and his daughter checked out this forenoon was the Information glen given him They have hu friends here hen the the St and s Mr I millings carne came after them theist Ii Did l Mr Ir go JO with then them Oh Ohm no ties hell Mill still with us liS As s I Landis was Willi turning away he ho Caine fare face to face with wilts Starbuck I 1 was hoping I might aught run across arros one or both bout of ot you ou said the mine mille owner hospitably Whereabouts hereabouts Is Isi i Walter Waller lie Me has hns gone up to shave he said he hI was too sleepy to do It when we came In this iris morning Shall hall we wo hunt up a couple of ot chairs l and watt walt for hint him When they tiney found chairs Starbuck 1111 Bald hI Ive e Just been reading In the evening paper of ot another showdown by the bandits bandits nt nt the Cinnabar mine over on the oilier side of ot the range Ilabe you heard of It as ns you came carne along Or did you come In by the Led Leal Horse Horge ass Iasa road rond t No o we came the tie other way by way by bythe I the mine Ve WI got there pretty soon noon t t after the tue fact Did 1171 III you see Yes Yea Wed We'd met pt him earlier lie Me wins was down at the railroad station with witha a II truck and an armed guard waiting for ins his payroll money when w we stopped to ask osk our way WilY The paper says theres there's a mystery teat there was a pun gun n fight In which the two commissary guards w were re killed od and that thai nobody In to the camp heard the tiring firing or the explosion that wrecked the lire safe and the building Is that so It Is III what hut Mr told toM u us I cant can't Babe that was Starbuck's Starbuck's Star Star- bucks buck's comment I know the mine been there any number of tunes times The commissary site Isn't much muth over a hundred yards from ls l's bungalow Dont Don't seem lem believable be be- that nobody heard the racket WIll was surprised Into luto saying It It would have e been not only unbelievable 11 hint hilt Impossible a few weeks ago ngo Mr St arbuck Why what hy what do you jou OU mean by hy that rn ed that he ire hail had said either too ton much or too ton lilt little h snit and for tM forthe forthe the moment he tie saw no an way out but by hy bya byn a n relation of ot the box black facts A And lit I It was only the Incredibility of ot the facts ns nil they must appear If It given to toa ton ton n a comparative stranger lr unit that made him All say Within a short time line Wally and andI I have hn known of ot three thrle other bank honk robberies robberies rob roh- which h hll have ve been pulled off In Inexactly Tandy exactly the lire same Allme way by hy dynamiting tint that nobody heard The general belief seems to he that some Orne new and absolutely explosive has Inns been discovered lrI Pretty Tretty hard to make nn In old oil mining man swallow like that II smiled mil Ill Where here were these bank banic One In Indiana one In Illinois and the third In Missouri 1 Lately Within the past week Any clew to the robbers could reply Markham Mark Mark- ham barn stepped out of ot a descending ele Ill elevator valor vator much to the Inventors Inventor's rell relief t. t Keen 1111 as ns was his iris admiration for Star Star- 4 I r Markham Was Waa Doing HI Best Beat as at a Skillful Amateur Boxer to Keep From Sharing His HI Companions Companion's Fate buck he be w was as not nut quite ready to telf teli him or or lU that anybody body that he himself and ally 1 Markham 1 held the only clew that might I lead Pill to the tho Identification of ot the robbers I was hoping we might eat with you ou Cousin William said Markham Then Heen ileen digging dl Into Owen Own a bit bitto bitto to find out ont what lt h he hI Is made of ot Weve We been talking about this rue rue- ton over O nt It Stan mine minI Mr tells me you ou just missed being In the thick of ot ite It We WI e did Shall we go JO In to din dinner ncr ner As was most natural the table talk centered upon the crime crinne of ot the night before and the mystery which seemed pd to be the tho chief feature of It Hut But there tIre way was no mention made of ot the three men who alto ho hart had so unaccountably disappeared somewhere on the eastward east enst- ward road rond It st was as after coffee had been served that Landis saw n a roan man rl rise l from his hili sent seat at n a table on the other side of or orthe the room morn and come across In their direction dl di- though h he hI lid did not recognize the tine man U as Canby until the promoter was n I beside hll them and sn saving III W Well ell ellwell Ill well See Ie who's here Hetty was a telling me toe last night that you jou OU two were ra In fn I but ut she didn't say sav nn anything anything any any- thing about your jour our coming on Oil to Brew ster Then How lIm do Mr Ir The three wino wIll were finishing their dinner reacted to the Intrusion each after his kind landis said nothing Starbuck nodded said suld How flow and went on sipping hl his coffee CONIl Markham bridged the gup gap chatting easily for a moment or two with tire the Intruder accounting accounting ac ae- counting for himself and Landis ll as vacation ru runaways 1111 from frons the till home hometown hometown town tow II with no nn particular object abject In to view and expressing III In his turn surprise surprise sur sur- prise that Canby cl could tear himself away away- from frum the Carthage promotion scheme oven even In for the th pleasure of ot a motor trip trill In such good company a as the professor and hI his pretty daughter r. r At this last the good looking good looking young joung promoter In laughed II I h 1 1 and said sah Good company Is ts right Hut But It so happened d that I could combine business with pleasure As s you jou ou will testify Mr Ir Starbuck I still hll have a stake In to th tb In ins tine the Qua Um Urn said aid th the elderly mine nine own Thought Id I'd take a few days off oN and I run out to see bee how we are getting along Canby went on glibly then to the two Carthaginians Well have ha to get together ani and do 10 a bit of ot sight seeing I assure you jou the Is worth it As All Canby returned to his iris table Starbuck Starbuck Star Star- buck closed one eye eje slowly and said Did you jou oU two young joung oun fellows follow that crook out here Markham answered truthfully No we are h Inclined od to think It was the other WilY way that that be tie fol- fol V. JI loVU a a n lowed ins ilL Anyhow be he was wai behind us for for a good part of ot the way And hI his surprise just DOW now at It seeing ns us here was as a fake fok He Ile knew w three days ago ngo that we were headed this way way Silence for a minute and then spoke poke again Tell rne mI Walter alter have you got anything anything any any- thing on Canby No Xo hilt hut now he tie Is III here and were we're here well we'll try to keep kelp cases casl's on him It If only for the sake of ot enlightening some of ot our good friends In to the home town As All I told you he Is III trying to put over Or a deal something like the one he engineered here last summer with so so my father lither thinks Just thinks Just about as much profit to the Investors In In It In that case just case Just a n word to the wise WillI Walter alter Slip a gun Jun In III your jour Jeans If It joure youre going to keep tab on that hat rooster There were some queer doings here In connection with the bauxite mine mInI deal that never Or did didget didget get out Into daj light That night ns as they were returning to 10 the hotel after nn nil evening spent with Starbuck In ins the nil but deserted but deserted mansion In the mesa suburb Landis I said Your cousin gives Canby a worse name than tiran the one weve we've been giving him hire back hark home Then It hurts hurll me savagely su when I think of ot the hold holt hes he's got Jot upon Hetty Oh I dont don't know know know- Markham was beginning but before he could en enlarge enlarge n lar large e upon Ullon whatever doubt douht he had In ml mInd ml there were other things to think of ot They had turned a corner when three dark figures darted across the street In their rear Before they could face fuce about I Landis was staggerIng stagger stagger- Ing lag from a blow on the head hlad und and Markham was doing his best as a skill kill ful amateur boxer hoxer to keep from sharing sitar shar ing In his companions companion's trite fate Fortunately the best was fairly good A jab to the solar plexus sent one of ot the thc assailants groaning In the gutter and a hook to the jaw discouraged another Hut the third man hit Markham's Markhams Markhams Markham's Mark Mark- hams ham's guarding arm aria a n paralyzing blow with some nine heavy he weapon and ond was swinging S for a R second when help came In the shape of a night eight patrolman turning the corner Hey officer 1 I Markham shouted As the policeman came on the run the two who were still afoot atoot darted away and ond the third mean man scrambled to his feet and bolted before the officer could come up Now then what's then what's all this demanded de de- the majesty of ot the law v. Was them follies ls to hold ye yo up Which way ny did they go gor gorI I Down own tint that alley and as the patrol patrol- nan gave ga chase Markham turned to Landis who wino was holding his head tread In his hands Bad hurt Owen Sandbagged Sandbagged knocked knocked the senses out of ot mo me for a minute What did they IhlY do to you Nothing much Can Cun you navigate I can walk nil all right Sudden wasn't It t What hat are ure they Stickup Stick rne men I Im I wondering There was no hands hands I about It They acted more like hired killers The first one I hit had his iris knife out There It Is now In the gutter and he stooped and picked up a II vicious weapon with an Inch eight blade and ond a I bone one handle Well keep this for a souvenir In their rooms at the hotel they took account of their casualties They were not serious Then they examined the knife Wally had picked up It was WIlS plainly Illy of ot foreign manufacture manufacture ture turl and und on the smooth bone handle was carved a R Spanish word which neither of them could translate Mexicans said Markham I thought they were I Im I'm so flO they kill first and rob afterward do they And i i we had two perfectly good guns which we were careful to leave locked up safely here In the room I Never again I Owen my bo boy e We go heeled after otter 1 this Lets Let's turn in and forget it It I i CHAPTER IX In the Gulch Going down clown to breakfast the next morning they found Starbuck waiting for them and Markham told the mine owner what had befallen them after leaving ln his iris house houI You say ny these fellows were Mex Mexicans s. s leans only a guess I couldn't see them hens wr very well Im I'm hanging the 1111 guess upon the butcher knife one of ot them dropped It has inns a Spanish word curved carted on nn the handle and he II spelled Id I'd tint nut the word g S Sa r r-e. Huh I iuey oes well with what he meant I to use It for means to bleed Have hate you notified the police No 0 the policeman who ho chased theta them doubtless reported It It Its It's all allover allover over Ir now a and I Isn't nt likely to happen again Ma III te be not well we'll hope not Then out of a dear clear sky Hut But Just one word Are you jou OU both sure the man we were III talking about yesterday wouldn't be sorry to see you jou OU two laid out on onan onan onan an undertakers undertaker's cooling board This appeared to be the proper time timeto to make a full statement of ot the facts precedent to a man who would unquestionably unquestionably un un- un questionably prove pro a friendly and powerful powerful pow pow- erful Irful ally but a well well filled filled d dining room was hardly the place for dences I hat bat would be rather far fetched far fetched l. l wouldn't It t The man you refer to Is barely on speaking terms with Owen and the only grudge he can CliO hold against II t me toe Is my refusal to buy stock In his promotion schemes This ended mt the holdup talk and the conversation cOlI drift drifted Ill I'll to other thIn things Later when Starbuck k asked what they were going to do with their day Markham Mark Mark- ham hum said they thy were Intending to drive drle about and have ha a look loot at Brewster anti and Its Ita surroundings This Thill Drought forth an no Invitation from the tn mine owner TO BB us CONTINUED I |