Show 1 t ne Black Blad fox Box of Silence I I I I By Francis Lynde Lynd e I by I 0 O. Irwin Myers Service eMlu 5 lc br by rud Chapman CHAPTER IX Continued IX-Continued Continued I ii 11 11 If If you are out on the Topaz road rond p at the Little Alice Im I'm going out there re shortly liThe The Invitation was accepted conditioned condl condi ned ned upon their driving that far dAs As they were taking the roadster t of ot the hotel garage Landis asked v was as to be the program for the say lay d I I 1 want to take a n shot at trying to tod tod d lout out what Canh Canby did with those two Co unaccounted-for unaccounted hours yesterday orning 1 The shot hot was fired methodically making Inquiries on all the roads a ding ading out of ot Brewster and It led lell to I thing until the round brought them jj t the road over oer which they themselves them- them selves ilves had driven In Here at a cot cot- ge e. e Markham stopped the car say say- is g There was a light In this house houseen hen en we came by yesterday morn- morn g I noticed It Its It's only another of ot ofie otje ie e wild chances but well we'll a ask k 13 je A woman answered their knock knuck and began beg the worn well-worn formula Pardon Purdon me but hut well we'll be he grateful If Iou you would answer a few questions torI fors for tor I s H If it you jou ou can You were up early morning mornIng- weren't veren t you join r The woman nodded no I was was all a all all of ot at Mv My Iv baby was sick Do Da you jou u often notice the tho pa passing of ot ott I I 1 couldn't very well help It could coul l t li h ing mg that close to the road likel like h l Then pointing to the roadster saty Faw that car car or one ju Just t like It I ifo f. f b by ba a n little after day yesterday 4 I Quite right and we were In It ft fn n nit 11 It the only one you saw I No o there were three more big n F 1 rs all Just alike alile Two going Into o n wn lea and one coming out I was sity sit sit- flog lIag by the window I t B Landis saw a possibility In this and anil laught nt at It It B Could l you cnn you can you remember the Braes roes mes when the these e three thrle cars ears Just lIke Ilke went past he asked g Not ot Just but I slid 1 say It was near three o'clock when the he t first one went by going on to town own wn tild ouM you see this big car well nough to tell us how It looked It h It was a fine line closed car palmed painted t s i kind of ot lI light ht yellow a they ev call cull pm em em dont don't they Markham nodded I suppose you see ee the people In It It could OU ou Only Im ly that there was two of ot em Inbe In he be front sent seat a man mun and a woman Exactly Now Nov the next one when did I It come along Maybe a halt half hour or so after that t was as going the other way It looked Juke e the same car Anyway It was the f same saml color And the third one which way was wast t going going It It was as going In and It was a big fellow car too Just like the others I Ilaw saw law w It H good mild rould you see the folks In it In InI I 1 could see only the one man manIng driving Ing An extraordinarily good god witness that it woman woman Markham commented hen they drove on adding That kas M a happy thought of ot yours Owen Owen- Owen Owen- timing liming those three cars Where doest does It t land you yon OU I 1 think you know The three cars Just 1st alike were one and the same lame car Amid AUd the man driving it all three times was as Canby heck hk The next question Is Is why did ct he hp double back after he had left the professor tensor and Betty ut at the hot hotel uit said Landis and after a Dr a knitting pau pause e. e Im trying to coming over O last night repeated for tor me the talk you overl over over- he d l between Canby and the three Io 10 the rhe opah garage Didn't you yon say ay I about meeting the theas CJ others ers as agreed 1 YU got It I lie III did say By Just t hat That's why the shown hown op Ul In Brewster they're left lett It somewhere along the road and Canby picked them up Ul ant and brought them In Were yere framing the puzzle up a bit tit at a time 1 here hello hello here we are at the Little Alice Shall we n stop T THue Hue Have to to wont won't we If It Mr Starbuck Star Star- buck hurk sees us us hell he'll think It queer It If we drive past without stopping Markham parked parke l the car and as liS he hI was doing It It Starbuck came out You are Just In to the nick of ot timeto timEto time timeto to have hae a noon snack with us was the mine owners owner's greeting Conic Come on o over overto to the mess meM shack and meet the staff This Tills was their Introduction to the engineers engineers' and officer mens men's mess and after the meal Starbuck took tools them In hand and showed them through the mine After they had tramped for tor what hat seemed like miles In the network Starbuck Star Star- buck halted them In a well well lighted lighted heading where the chattering clamor of ot the air drills was deafening and the silence when the dris topped Mopped and the miners began begun to unlimber and dru drag them back from the heading was almost painful This Is our main lead lend Starbuck lck explained when the stoppage of ot the drill lIn clamor mor ga gave gae e him n I.-n mettle leave e Its what hilt the old miners call n a true trul fissure eln vein and they have e a belief that such veins grow richer the deeper you drive Then They are filming aiming to load the holes and tire fire and wed we'd better bet ter move mole out As they were walking down the main tunnel Landis said You spoke of ot the time old-time miners do they ha have fe many superstitions Oh not more mor than men of ot other callings I 1 reckon But nut in that heading headIng headIng head- head Ing weve we've Just left weve we've had a curious case of ot miners nerves The men began to say MY they could hear the tickIng ticking tick tick- Ing of ot a death adeath watch when the drills stopped We didn't pay any attention l It o D rr C Cr r 1 V r Talk Fast and Talk Straight If You Want to Go On to It at nt first but after a wh while II 1 when the men In that heading began to take time oft off on one excuse or another another an nn- other we Investigated In The ticking could be heard at times but It was WB probably only the trickling of ot water In some underground cavity n or so we concluded As they came out of ot the mine minI Markham Markham Mark Mark- ham asked the location of ot the Qua Qua- Starbuck pointed up the road toward Lake Topaz Its on the other side of ot the spur pur purIn In the next gulch If It you ou are going that wn way you'll see the dump flump us ns you pass the mouth of ot the gulch They saw It hanging like a n huge gray tray beard heard from the mountain side but a turn In fn the gulch hid the mine buildings The sl side le road rond was barricaded barn barri coded against traffic truffle and beyond the barricade they saw a n man with a 11 gun What hat do you rou make male of or that Lan dis asked No 00 visitors need apply I wonder what Canby has hns up his sleeve In there thereTO Time may tell What do we do donow now Go on hunting for tor the Fleet Fleet- wing aing Ing Markham made a sign of ot assent Id like to know where those three men left It and why Also why Canby Canby Canby Can- Can by went out to meet them They stopped at the hotel to glance over the register In search of ot the three names Markham ha had ham copied from the record In St St. Joseph The names I did not appear and as they were driving Ing out of ot the hotel grounds they met Canby driving In In not In tn the yellow limousine but In a sport r roadster The other occupant of ot the single seat was Betty Lawson Law Canby seemed not to see them but Betty did and she phe waved waed to them You Tou see ef said Landis gloomily I see SEt that you rou are taking It lying down down Markham returned In a b belt helt lf growl You think I 1 wouldn't break In Int W t I had an on opening that opening that I dont don't care enough T Good Lord Wally Id I'd give the best ten years of ot my life It If I IfOuld could fOuld go o hack jack to where I stood with Betty Hetty before I began to bury myself In this cursed Invention of mine lie He choked up Ul at that and when he be went wenton wenton wenton on Sho me an on opening Wally tally and Ill I'll walk Into loto It If It h I h-I 1 Is gaping on the other side ide of ot It I That's how bow much Im I'm taking It t lying down Um Urn that sounds more like It was Markhams Markham's gruff approval and he be drove on Before the thu had gone tar far Landis looking back aw caw a small car follow tollow following ing tag a car that tb- tb lt was apparently hay haT lag ing g trouble making makin tn the grades rode since dace however slowly they y drove e It never overtook them After a time Landis spoke ke of ot the struggling flivver That Teat T at Lizzie seems to be making hard work of or It he be said MId when on one une of ot the reverse they could see tee It across the Intervening gulch It was stopped I and two men mn were wu apparently tp- tp doing something to the motor Markham gave gue the tile halted balte 1 ear tar only a passing glance This Is the gulch where we saw the fire lire night before test last la t. t he pointed out Suppose we climb down there and have a look They got out and scotched the till wheels Is with stones The descent Into the gulch was Willi down don a precipitous slope Before they had gone very far tar they came upon lI what appeared to be a rough trail with crushed and broken bushes to mark Its Us course been ben happening here Landis Lan Lan- dis asked More rock rolling ro Looks Look like It Il well we'll find out when we get to tho the bottom At the bottom of ot the gulch they found themselves In a strewn boulder-strewn stream bed and ond turning to the left the they struggled upward u toward the place where they had seen the fire Orf It was In a R dry stream bed hed that they came suddenly upon the tiling thing they were searching for the for the remains of ot the fire Wedged In the bottom of ot the gulch was the wreck of ot a B large car crushed Into a shapeless heap hap of or junk and with ever everything e thing burnable blackened n and nil dest roell Now how we u-c know what made madl the scarred trail said Markham That car ran off oft the road and came down here and burned up Is It the Fleet Fleet- wing Before Landis could reply there came a vicious spat on the face of ot the rock rork beside which they thy were standing followed by the crack of ot a rifle They ducked behind the boulder and at lit that there was another report and the clang of ot a bullet hullet upon the Iron work of ot the wrecked car What the the the- Markham choked grabbing for tor his pistol But nut Landis was cooler I he counseled Its those fellows up at the flivver Dont Don't waste your ammunition The rhe automatic wont won't carry half halt that far D D nl n I gritted Markham Were penned up here like rats In a trap l I No Xo trouble about getting out of ot It It with nil all these rocks to dodge dOde around Worming their way cautiously ly among the boulders they were soon out of or range from the time road rond above ahoe thou though h the unseen rifleman kept on firing but hut the bullets went wild After they reached a hollow bollow that was out of ot sight ht from the marksman's position Markham looked apprehensively ply at the bare slope they would have hae to climb to reach their carWell carWell carWell car Well have ha to go farther he panted We cant can't scramble up there thereIn In plain sight I dont don't mean menn to to said Landis Then In a sudden of ot passion Ive I had hall about enough of ot this d d-d d J ambushing business haven't you youl There Is good cover er on this other side of ot the gulch Well We'll climb out that way and see ee If It we cant can't do a little of ot the I ambushing ourselves lAs 1 l As he had pointed out there was fore foresting enough on the western slope of ot the gulch to afford fairly well con stalking cover corer and as they tolled toiled up through the undergrowth Markham was striving to 00 flog his esti estl estimate estimate mate of ot his boyhood chum and college college col col- col lege mate around to the new point of ot view lie Ill had always s 's thought of ot Lan Ian dis as a n dreamer a thinker a student ns as as an anything thing but hut a fighting man limit But here worms was an entirely new development de Ie- The dreamer pale of ot face to be sure but with his Jaw out thrust and the light of ot battle In his lt gray eyes was storming up the steep ascent at n a pace that made his heavier follower pant and blow came about that Landis was the first to step out of ot a 1 thick growth of ot little spruces at the level 1111 of ot the road Markham burst out of ot the cover Er a moment later Inter and what he saw was wasa a further proof that a n lifelong friendship friend ship may not reveal the whole man even eren to his closest Intimate The small dusty rattletrap car was standing as they had I seen It from the opposite side of ot the gulch Beside I It were two men with their hands above their heads In deference to Landis' Landis covering pistol and at their feet laythe Inythe lay Iny laythe the rifle with which one of ot them had hat been firing Into the gulch Before Markham could get his breath Landis Lan Ian dis was grilling the pair snappily What did you fellows mean by firIng OrIn fir Or- In lag Ing at us ns when we were down there Talk fast tast and talk straight If It you yoa want to go on living I I I O g great Gg great Scott P stuttered th the I taller of ot the two Are ye to tos I s say s-say say hit was yoa yon all all down yonder inthe In Inthe Inthe the gully 7 You know d d-d d d well It wast wa I What's your game garneT Who sent you here to kill us off Talk quick t I Fore mister you got us all wrong 1 I We aint almin to kill nobody nobody nobody no no- body I I you was a ba bar r I so O help me I 1 did I 1 They told us us down along that we might meet up with witha a bar comin through these mountains mountains moun moun- and when we looked down yon yon- yonder yonder der we shore you all one didn't w-e w 1 Jeff Jert appealing to hi lilt mate Good gravy grayy I You dont don't reckon wed we'd shoot at a man knowin- knowin It a man do ye At this point Markham tooR a nand Where are you rou fellows from t t. ht demanded Were from Tennessee Been te tt Utah se Fe n tn It If hit uz a coun country try for tor white folks lilt Hit aint and end were we're almin to g pa back where w we e come from Did Iid you yon stop top In stop only oDly long i n buy u us some lome grub TO ITO BB na CONTINUED |