Show ova RB AF F borrs WN U REL ASE TIIE THE STOUT STORY THUS FAR borle corey who vibo Is in love with paul duncan Is railroaded into taking a job she does not want helping edit the memoirs ol of his grandfather admiral duncan while aboard ship bound for or hawaii she Is thrown overboard but Is rescued before arriving at the isle ol of oahu bahu pearl pear I 1 harbor Is bombed after landing landl nf paul and borle overhear pauls bind handsome some brother steve with whom borle Is in plotting with winthrop lanning to deliver important radio equipment to the be axis believing steve in danger dancer zoo borle tries to rescue him and runs across the body of amber lanning Lann lne winthrop lanning accuses her of t the crime and drives her into the mountains CHAPTER all you have to go on is what paul said and he was maliciously lying he hit on the simplest and surest way of destroying your faith in steve my whole argument mr lanning is that paul inadvertently tricked you into losing your nerve and that youve ruined your chance forever to secure for your principals a weapon as vital as the famous bombsight mr lanning pushed himself away from the doorjamb he walked slowly toward her 1 I wonder he said if youre just being clever ive used nothing but plain midwestern horse sense stop using he snarled you dont honestly believe that steve is a traitor to his own country do you of course I 1 doll dol he started down the room again he whirled on her what have you to gain by this Is this what youre planning to say to stromberg to show me up would it save my life it would not that obvious yes mr lanning very obvious all I 1 wanted was to make you see that steve had not betrayed it you but why he cried you are violently pro american you are a chauvi chauvinist you have absolutely no sympathy for our causel cause why have you gone to such trouble to persuade me that steve is loyal to germany because zorie murmured in my heart I 1 believe it mr lanning bent suddenly over the table his cheeks were puffed out he blew a sharp breath into the lamp the flame went out with all that brandy in his system zorie reflected it should have blown up the blue beam of his pocket light was flickering around the room then she heard the sounds that he had evidently heard she heard heard I 1 above the diminuendo of the rain rain the sucking sounds of feet being pulled out of the mud then she heard a mans heavy breathing in the darkness zorie zone held her breath if it was steve he was saved I 1 they would both be saved I 1 mr lanning had tiptoed out of the he room she heard his voice at the door then another voice but the words were unintelligible then mr lanning said come in here theres someone here 1 I want you to see she heard the sound of mud soaked shoes crossing the living room the bright blue spark of the pocket light returned someone struck a match mr lanning muttered profanely as he touched the hot lamp chimney then the flame licked up and steadied as he put the chimney in place but she was staring at the doorway she hardly recognized the man who stood there one eye was closed and black one cheek was swollen blood was leaking from one corner of the mans mouth his scrubby red hair was so mixed with blood and purple red mud that he looked as if he had been scalped scalded ped his shirt collar was gone his white dinner jacket was coated with purple red mud the left leg of his black trousers was missing from the knee down and the bare leg exposed was covered with mud only by his sloping powerful shoulders did she identify him as pierre savoyard he was staring at her he was leaning backward as if he would at any moment fall fail over ile he licked his bleeding swollen lips nol he said softly it cant bel what are you talking about pierre mr lanning inquired carelessly that birli pierres voice was a squeak 1 I killed that girl with my own hands hand its winthrop lanning shrugged and before that you drowned her pierre started toward the chair in which zorie sat keep away from herl mr lanning said sharply dont touch heri her pierres big hooked han hands ds fell at h his is muddy sides he swayed you made a mistake mr lanning explained it was amber you killed Am amber berl yes but its none of my affair any ally longer you can answer to mr stromberg you are too impetuous pierre I 1 am afraid that mr stromberg will not be at all pleased with you here drink some of this you need I 1 it t af pf pierre took the brandy bottle his hand was shaking some of the brandy missed his mouth and ran lown iown off his chin with the blood and the red mud ile he managed to empty the bottle mostly into his mouth winthrop lanning took it out of his mud smeared hands and said where is steve dead mr lanning gazed at pierre and said it must have been a close thing what happened he was almost too quick for me pierre answered where did you leave him in the mud off this road a quarter of a mile away he sat down heavily in a chair and stared at zorie her heart had for a moment stopped beating she was sure that in another instant she would fall out of this chair unconscious 1 I let him think everything was all right pierre said 1 I told him nothing I 1 let him take me almost to the listening post why y 11 why not ive forgotten t the he lower part of the bokee road I 1 wanted to come here I 1 wanted company when we got to the turnoff turn off I 1 had iny my automatic ready I 1 told him just what his brother had said I 1 did not think he would move so t 11 01 no be said softly it cant be fast he was on me before I 1 could FU pull I 1 the trigger wait a minu minute tel mr lanning said sharply he jumped you the instant you told him that he did the car went down a bank and rolled over with us in it wait a minute mr lanning repeated this is very interesting pierre I 1 want you to be very adre sure of this for a very particular reason the instant you told him what his brother said without questioning you he jumped you he didt this young lady winthrop lanning said has just gone to the greatest pains to convince me that steve is loyal to us she is a liar earl pi pierre erre stated she is too clever for all of us its what ive been telling you its why I 1 tried to drown herl Its why I 1 wanted to kill her down below miss corey mr lanning began ah nah bolandi boland pierre angrily corrected him very well go on what happened then we got out of the car I 1 lost my automatic in the mud there I 1 dont know how long we fought sometimes I 1 thought he had me it was raining the headlights went out when we rolled down the bank it was black I 1 killed him he is back there in the mud by the car are you sure you killed him pierre savoyard lifted his heavy sloping shoulders and let them fall fail Is there any question about it miss corey winthrop lanning said gently 1 I am really very sorry tor for your sake and you did have me completely convinced pierre started up from his chair he said harshly this woman is ah nah boland Bo landl pierre lanning said patiently once again if this woman were anna boland would steve duncan have been so stupid as to exhibit her so openly it steve duncan pierre answered was banking on us believing that she was dead she is not dead she is sitting in that chair sit dowal lanning said sharply but why is she sitting in that chair alive mr stromberg will attend to her this place pierre said is dangerous what time is it two thirty five how will we get oil off this island how will we get out of hawaii mr stromberg will arrange everything ery thing he will not like it pierre sa said id ominously finding ah nah boland here see if you can find a bottle of brandy in the kitchen zorie hardly heard his voice she was still so close to unconsciousness i that noth nothing in g had any meaning the small room was swimming the kerosene lamp seemed to go dark then its flame became bright again she was trying to reconcile her mind and her emotions to these two facts that steve was dead and that he had not been a traitor she saw as mr lanning had seen so clearly that steves dangerous game had been an ingenious hoax the sole purpose of which was to trap the leading nazi in hawaii it left her stunned and limp she was vaguely aware that the two men were still quarreling with one of them insisting she was ah nah boland the other insisting she was not she was vaguely aware that the rain rain had stopped water fell in short bright daggers from the eaves instead of in long wavering wires A bi breeze beeze sprang up and blew damply in her face she felt cold and numb A black thing that she thought at first was a bat came floating in the window on limp black wings it it was followed by another and another she realized they were giant moths one of them brushed her face the great black wing was damp and cold she opened her mouth to scream but no sound came the giant black moths fluttered aimlessly about the room one of them with slowly flapping a wings flew behind her she was sure she felt it settle in her hair she felt chills all through her body then she saw the centipede it had evidently crawled out of the kitchen lq she had never seen a centipede like it brown and shiny and fully eight inches long it crawled along the other side of ri the room it was so large so mo 0 that she was sure she was imagining it then mr lanning saw it he cried look at that thing pierre dont stamp on it we must find a buffo we must find a buffo pierre and try an experiment what is a buffo pierre in inquired A giant toad the buffs were imported a few years ago to kill the insects that eat the cane ive heard that a buffo will kill a centipede ho H was panting pierre fetch me a buffo I 1 want a buffo at once take the flashlight find one easily on a night like this si swarming warming on a night like this pierres surly growl not now yes now at oncel once but i at once I 1 said i very well my friend you shall leave ave your buffo j zorie did not see him go but she I 1 heard e ard the door slam the pungent auldy bouldy mouldy smell she had been noticing seemed stronger mr lanning came over to her he was no longer walking steadily miss corey he said you are so lovely so innocent and so clever and I 1 am so sorry zorie zone closed her eyes it is very curious he said do you smell that its sour honey its in these walls the wild bees find little holes in the outside walls and crawl inside and build their combs and fill them with honey and then it goes sour and theres no way to get it out unless you tear the house down denare men are sometimes very foolish arent they I 1 am referring to love my dear men so often tear their houses down for a little sour honey here is your buffo said pierres Pi errea soft low voice zorie opened her eyes again pierre had a huge gray toad in one hand a long stick in the other he put the toad on the floor and pushed the centipede toward the toad it was the largest toad zorie had ever seen it squatted with its head up its little reptilian eyes blinking in the soft yellow light it must have measured fully seven inches across and it must as it squatted have measured fully six inches in height zorie closed her eyes upon a brain that was slowly reeling with sickness when she opened them the centipede was crawling over the buffo and the buffo seemed unaware of it the centipede crawled over the toads reptilian gray face when it was crawling over the buffs mouth the mouth opened the buffo 9 gulped a fold of the centipede into its mouth slowly the struggling centipede vanished into the toad zorie wanted to scream but she the strength to scream mr lanning was pounding on the table with a bottle they eat them he cried they really dol do zorie now saw the long knife open in pierres hand she saw the flick of the knife as it flew from his hand to the floor its sharp point was im bedded in the floor an inch from the buffo the buffo jumped pierre kicked it across the room and into the kitchen and out the back door ile he returned and stopped before zorie zoie his blood and mud smeared face came close to hers ah nahl he said in his soft low voice ah nahl she shrank back and she knew in that moment the th feeling of full hatred she had once thought she had hated amber but her dislike of that arrogant girl had been the most tepid of emotions compared to the fury she experienced when this man put his bis swollen filthy face so close to hers TO BE CONTINUED |