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Show Sylvia Taylor w.. fm yj, - - Silently they filed out of the plane and at Mulford's command entered en-tered a waiting automobile, followed by the bewildered Thomas. THE STORY SO FAR: Joan Leland, secretary, in love with handsome Karl Miller, night club owner. Is horrified and disillusioned, when be shoots his business partner, Eric Strom, and threatens threat-ens to Implicate her unless she continues her work and remains silent. He confesses con-fesses be has a wife in Germany and Is part of a Nazi spy ring. Paul Sher-x Sher-x man, his manager, reveals to Joan that he really is Paul O'Mauey, an FBI - agent, trying to trap the spy-ring higher-FNps higher-FNps and Joan agrees to help him. Joan's sister, Sybil, Is missing and Paul believes be-lieves Karl Is holding her as a hostage. Pat Hines, a new singer for Karl, is really Paul's young run-away sister, Patricia, Pa-tricia, and she innocently betrays Paul's Identity to Karl, who ca'ptures Paul and Joan as they discover Incriminating evidence. He spirits them away on a boat and they find they are in love. A submarine appears to pick up bomber plans stolen by Karl. Thomas, a victim vic-tim of Karl's, slips a gun to Joan, who shoots Karl as he is about to shoot Paul. They escape In a life boat and land in Mexico. Arthur Mulford, Joan's former employer, offers his plane for a return to the U. S. Now continue with the story, t CHAPTER XVII "And you? Don't you want to go home?". Mulford asked Joan. "Yes and no. I want to leave-but leave-but not without Paul." "Ah," Mulford said, "I see. But I will be glad to take all of you. I have my own plane, my own pilot, and I am returning to San Francisco Fran-cisco tomorrow. Why not talk it over with him? Surely he can have no objection to your leaving since it will be absolutely safe." Joan wavered. "I couldn't go without with-out him. But maybe he would be willing to go with us. He could get aid in the states and return to Mexi-W Mexi-W co and continue the search. I'na not much help to him now, and neither Is Thomas. What I really came down here to tell you, Mr. Mulford, was that what Thomas told you is the truth. He should have his chance to get out." "I understand, and I'll take him of course. But, Joan, I think you should go too. I'm really shocked at this situation. After all, you were in my shop for almost two years. Naturally Natur-ally your welfare concerns me." She smiled. "That's nice of you, Mr. Mulford. By the way, what are you doing in Mexico?" "Since the war ruined my busi-( busi-( ness and I closed the shop, I've m been having a vacation. I needed one after all those years. I worked hard, and it's good to be away." Joan rose. "Can I let you know early in the morning about leaving? I'll have to taTk it over with Mr. O'Malley." "Of course. I do not plan to leave before noon, so take your time." "You're not staying at the hotel?" "No. With a friend of mine, Dr. Gomez. I'll give you his number, or better yet, I'll phone you here. About ten o'clock, say?" "That will be fine. And thank you very much for everything." What a lucky break, Joan thought. It all worked out so perfectly. If Mr. Mulford had his own plane, how .sA,, could Karl possibly check on them? r She roused the desk clerk and had him ring Paul's room. "Please come down, Paul," she begged. "I must talk with you." Thomas came in from the veranda. veran-da. "What do you think?" he asked. "It sounds fine," Joan agreed. "That man is my former employer. I've known him for years. He's here on a vacation." "Then you'll go, too?" "It certainly seems like a good chance, but I'll have to talk to Paul. In any case, Thomas, Mr. Mulford has promised to take you." "Thanks, Miss Leland." The gratitude grat-itude in his eyes was unmistakable. Paul came down almost immediately. immedi-ately. "What's going on?" he de-" de-" f manded. "The most wonderful thing has happened! Arthur Mulford is here I I used to work for him before I got my job with Karl. He was the man who was trying to locate me through the bartender, also the one I saw on the street today." They went out to the patio, which -was covered by a patchwork of shadows shad-ows and moonlight. Thomas had gone upstairs and Joan and Paul sat down at one of the rustic tables. "So Arthur Mulford has offered to take you home?" t "Yes! How did you know?" "Very simple deduction, darling," Paul laughed. "I read it in your eyes ... I suppose Thomas is at the bottom of all this." "Yes," Joan admitted. His keen eyes searched her face. "You want to go?" "Not without you. But, Paul, if we all went, it might be better. We could get help and come back . . ." A bird twittered sleepily, and the fragrance of a million flowers flooded flood-ed the moonlit night. Paul smiled. "Okay! I'll go with you." v It did not occur to Joan that victory vic-tory had been too easy. The following day at noon they left Mazatlan in Mulford's plane. It was Joan's first experience at flying. Once or twice she tried to look out but it made her so dizzy she turned to Paul, saying, "I guess I can't take it." Paul smiled placidly, much too placidly, Joan decided, eyeing him speculatively. This was the first time she had known Paul to give in so easily on any issue. But perhaps love had changed him. She said im-pulively, im-pulively, "I know you're doing this for my sake, Paul; and I appreciate it, really I do." He smiled at her earnestness and said quietly, "You may as well know now." Joan's peace of mind was shattered. shat-tered. "Now what?" Paul leaned closer. "I told you I wanted to track down the rest of Karl's men to find out who was at the head of this. Remember?" "Yes, of course, but ..." "That," Paul said, "is exactly what I am doing." "I don't understand, Paul. What are you talking about?" "You thought I agreed to come with Mulford because you wanted me to, but there is really another reason." Her face was white. "What are you trying to tell me?" "I came because we are at last on the trail. We're being taken straight to the heart of the spy ring." "You mean that Mr. Mulford . . ." She could not go on. "Mulford," Paul said calmly, "Is the head of this whole business. I've known it ever since I obtained those papers on the ship." "And you didn't tell me?" "No. I didn't want to frighten you." She leaned weakly back in her seat. "And I thought we were safe! But where are we going, Paul? Do you have any idea?" "I have a very good idea, and if I'm wrong it's going to be tough on all of us." "Poor Thomas!" Joan said, looking look-ing over her shoulder. "This will be a terrible shock for him. Mr. Mulford, Mul-ford, the head of the spy ring! I can't believe it!" "It's true! He's been working with Karl all the time. His importing shop was only a blind, just as Karl's Club Elite is. All the time you worked for Mulford you were really involved. Mulford fired you and refused re-fused to give you a reference so you would be forced to take any job that came along. The want ad was put in that paper especially for you. Mulford had decided you would be loyal and really transferred you to Karl's employ. If you hadn't fallen in love with Karl, you might still not have known what was going go-ing on." Shocked at the revelation his words brought, Joan sat silently listening lis-tening to the roar of the plane as it winged its way to their unknown destination. At last the true picture was unfolded un-folded to Joan. Paul had made their situation clear as Mulford's plane roared on. It seemed incredible incredi-ble that she could have been so blind. For almost two years she had worked for Arthur Mulford, regarding re-garding him as a kindly but rather tiresome employer. She had had no suspicions that his importer's shop was a blind, or that the letters she typed day after day were code messages mes-sages concerning the subversive activities ac-tivities of a spy ring. She had wondered won-dered at her sudden dismissal but even then she had not connected it with the want ad she answered for Karl Miller's secretary. How completely com-pletely she had fallen into their trap! And as Paul had said, if she iad not fallen in love with Karl she probably would not know the truth even now. What a fool Paul must have thought her, watching her through those weeks when she had happily boasted that Karl was going to marry her. How carelessly she had treated Paul's words of warning, and Sybil's. Sybil! Her sister's name struck fear into her heart. Paul had told her that when they arrived at the end of their journey he hoped to find Sybil. If they would only find her alive! And what about Patricia? Pa-tricia? It was night when the plane landed, land-ed, and forewarned by Paul. Joan was not surprised to see Arthur Mulford Mul-ford confronting them with a gun and saying, "AH right now, keep your hands up." Silently they filed out of the plane and at Mulford's command entered a waiting automobile, followed by the bewildered Thomas. "What's it all about, Mr. O'Malley?" O'Mal-ley?" he begged. "Where are we?" "Another of Karl's tricks," Paul explained in an undertone. "I think we're somewhere in New Mexico or possibly Arizona." The moonlit night showed them little lit-tle as they drove along the rough country road. Barren waste land stretched on all sides. "You mean this guy is one of Karl's men?" Thomas whispered. "Just Karl's boss," Paul said wryly. wry-ly. Thomas, for once, was stunned into silence. In a short time they arrived at a ranch house. It was the first dwelling of any kind they had seen since landing. Behind the large house was a smaller one and into this Paul, Joan and Thomas were led. The house was modern though crudely finished. There was a fireplace fire-place and electric lighting. Several rooms led into the living room but none of the three was inclined to venture from the fire. "Well," Thomas said, "I guess this is all my fault. I thought Mulford Mul-ford was on the level. I didn't know he was connected with Karl. Honestly." Hon-estly." "We know that, Thomas. It's all right. It had to be this way. I've suspected for some time that Mulford Mul-ford Was the chief of this outfit." Joan sat down in an old wicker rocker and drew it closer to the blaze. "And now what do we do?" "This ranch is a clearing house. Stolen plans that are not taken from San Francisco by boat are flown here and from here to Mexico where they are picked up off the coast by fishing boats." Thomas rubbed his hands together togeth-er nervously. "But why did they want us to come here? Why would they have bothered?" "That," Paul admitted, "remains to be seen." "They must think they have some use for us," Joan argued, "or they wouldn't have gone to so much trouble." trou-ble." The wind whistled outside. The silence of the night held the peculiar loneliness that belongs to the desert. Joan was so deep in her own thoughts that the sound of footsteps foot-steps startled her and she leaped from her place by the fire. The door opened to admit Karl Miller. His arm was in a sling. "You didn't quite finish me," he said smoothly. "Your aim is really very bad." "What a pity," Paul murmured. Karl turned his cold blue eyes upon him. "You have caused us a great deal of trouble, Mr. O'Malley. O'Mal-ley. I believe the time has come now for you to be of use to us." Paul had risen and the two men stood facing each other. Karl said quietly, "Again I offer you the chance to come in with us. You could be a valuable asset." Silence. Contempt was written on Paul's face. "If you refuse to give us your services," Karl said, "Joan will have to pay for it," He walked over and took her arm, twisting it until she cried out with pain. Paul took a step forward but Arthur Mulford, who had been watching from the door, leaped forward for-ward with a gun in his hand. Although Karl still held her arm, which throbbed with pain, Joan cried, "Don't pay any attention to him, Paul, I'm not afraid!" Karl said, "Perhaps you are not afraid for yourself but there is still your sister to consider. "Sybil! Where is she?" "At the moment, she is safe. If you can persuade Paul to see this situation my way, she will continue to be safe. If not . . ."He shrugged. Karl looked at O'Malley and smiled. "I believe you will find that you and your government are playing a losing game. Of course, Mr. O'Malley, in our country a man does not let sentimentality interfere with his job. It is unfortunate that you are not constituted the same way unfortunate for you, and extremely ex-tremely lucky for us. I am sure that, being so fond of Joan, you would rather betray your country than permit her to suffer." He exchanged glances with Mulford. Mul-ford. and they both left the house. "I told you!" Thomas cried. "They're devils!" "If I can stall them off for a few days . . ." Paul was saying in a low guarded tone. (TO BE COSTIXUED) |