Show the th e sealed S ea I 1 e d trunk T run k by HENRY KITCHELL WEBSTER CoTI slit kr by the n dobbs co c W win some WHAT WENT DEFORE BEFORE at a dance martin fork forbes newspaper paper reporter motto rhoda while I 1 hi lie overhears a it conversa lion between mix gait hewl and a woman which be h bel bellom lovell con corns rhoda ile II 11 recall recalls a blind nd ad inquiring for aboda mafer land nil senses a newspaper hory story he lie believes bellev ci that real came name li Is mcfarland Farland Mr she sh re to fuses to admit or at deny it but martin wai was tier 1 life 11 in california had been happy after her mother i a death until tune tun overcome hir lather pro for mcfarland move to chicago the th professor dies iud sud denly donly vainly trying to tell rhods about papers in a trunk choda kt sets it job As a stenographer and take takes with babe jen nine martia martla discovers that the tb blind ad advertiser li to a J forster rhoda admits her iden city A mysterious clair claire cleveland asks rhod rhods for an interview claire request requests rhoda to got certain paper papers of ben her that were in mcfarlands McF arlands landi pot seaton the eh reveals knowledge of the th trick hat wrecked McF mcfarland arlands life the trunk if 13 stolen and rhoda suspects claire and trail trails r her JIM te to the hotel where fonter forster lilts ailts CHAPTER VI 8 toll poll cp up here and wait a min tite ate martin told bla his chauffeur it as not riot he was aware the heroic order to eire give but being no bero here only a it thoroughly pragmatic reporter he lie required time to think if max mai was already in the flat there was nothing to be gained by following hira him een bien unarmed max mai could beat him to a pulp and would be able to identify him besides as one of ft liodas allies call a policeman that was no good either police intervention meant a story in the papers and this for some reason he could only half was a horror to rhoda but was that maxs taxi tarl there was no chauffeur in 14 it though the motor bad had been left running the obvious inference ference lo was that the chauffeur had been tipped to go in and carry out luggage such as a trunk would max alai have the nerve to ask a taxi driver to assist him in his burglary well he migi t if he were smart enough martin had just reached that point in his speculations ions lons when they were confirmed by maxs emergence from the door wiy accompanied by the chalif fear lugging the trunk martin malj to his chauffeur tf tie e man I 1 want and I 1 1 think I 1 know where hes going but I 1 cant can t be eure sure enough to risk it IL follow him will you it made him feel frightfully cheap to give an order hike lilke that but the heroic altema alternative tIve offered no chance at sit all of success he fie could think of nothing better than to tag tog along brahe sure where the trunk went and find try to invent some way of bluffing this pair of con out of their bon booty I 1 I 1 up in claire a bat flat after shed joined jot ned max hat there automatically of course hed been watching the other taxi now as they approached the drive he was astonished to see it turn south instead of north dmn donn town in steed of up that gamt the way to Cl alres flat yet her instructions to max had been explicit that be take it there was max alai start ing something on his own account I 1 betraying his ally or had he observed el that he was being fol lovi lowed ed and was he trying to throw off pursuit 1 im I m a reporter for the news martin told his driver and that chap with the trunk Is a of a story if I 1 can get it ile isn I 1 going where I 1 thought he would though probably going to one of the depots he be with nith that trunk the chauffeur suggested 1 I believe youre you re right martin I 1 agreed if he I 1 Is the story Is even better but ive got to find 1 out where hes bes going their quarry showed no signs of consciousness that it t was beins being dek followed its destination proved iby to be the union station on where wui will he go with that also trunk if 11 he wants to check it martin asked it depends on whether hes got his ticket the told him or if he nell cell stop and get it half halt viall a down the ramp if it he has hell bell go all the way down dolin to the lower level evidently max alai badot t his ticket for his taxi tail stopped half halt way down pulling up a little beyond the entrance to the con courm but tho lie person ft ho left the cab to bay buy the was the chauffeur max apparently to leave his precious trunk until it was angely checked checkel martin alil ped out of his cab cob and followed the chauffeur baldiv cp up to the ticket window and stood at his elbow ahe the man bought a ticket and a loner loler berth the of which martin noted to new york on the pennsylvania limited that afternoon he ile returned as inconspicuously as he A could to his own on taxi tail the other cab had already started down doin the amp at a it safe distance martin fol loved and saw rhoda rhodas s little hat trunk backed bec ked ed saw max alai arhe away unchecked himl html with no doubt what was left of her three hundred dollars in his from pocket those identical twenty dollar hills that martin had seen 1 paid for the ticket had been very A likely a part of the hoard in tier her bureau drawer dr avier and be had stood looking on and dot not done fl a mortal el what could he have done what could he do now one thing he d better do without loss logs of time was una to efly oft his 1113 taxi tail while he could hed field left the paper in his haste this noon with out oat stopping to get ct beoni some money alint he needed after hed paid the turn fum the he meter had been add ing up so industriously and hie the driver le had find just sixty cents leffand lef tand yol could have bought him na as be he stood at the curb watching the cab cob drive away for just about that thal the tile duty before him was to telephone rhodi at the studio and tell her hat be had seen happen the only plan in his lif I 1 mind uns that be and rhode g CD around together to the city hall and swear out a warrant tor for lew Is arrest along with a writ of replevin for the trunk and then be on annd with a plain clothes man when hen lefils left Is came to the station to take the train chere was ras time enough except for tit tip one fact that rhoda herself would veto the plan he ile the faintest doubt of that he ile remembered how shed last night when he had been telling lier tier about the morgue mur gue they dug into that only he had said when something in the current news called for a reference to it ft lie fie didat know knoche hed d deliberately avoided trying to find out what file it BBS as she uns as afraid might be looked into cor exactly what son sort of secret it con tallied but he remembered the deep in n her voice nhen i hen shed begged urn bini not to try to find rod out any more than she had told him end mol not to ib 03 anything that might charge chap the life shed been so happy in during the past two years lie ile had been drifting alm lemly along the street in the general dl 1 of his newspaper office though he had no conscious reason for going biuk there and presently be he found mr himself self standing outside a little theoter th ecter enter staring in a sort of trance at the lurid poster on its billboard it represented the so called eternal tri an angle gle a guilty pair surprised by the mans virtuous wife nife she was defending the sanctity of the hearth with a small revolver and you could see from the way they cowd before her that they lecog nihed the cogency of her argument she had the same colored hair alt a claire cleveland and a little of her looks too martins abstraction grew deeper and deeper the girl in the cage cast sharp little glances his way and wondered whether hether she better have his move on rut but before she the came to this decision he mine came to one of his own oan he lie looked at his watch and vent off to the nearest drog drug more to telephone to claire CHAPTER VII how tho the plot worked out thrilling THE III simple but really rather thrilling one act net play aich which had its only performance at a few minutes past five that afternoon in the concourse of the union station paid no royalties to the stark screen drama wo was woi i being exposed six times daily in the little movie theater the chaft of that plot was the only crime that martin had to corn com roll mit that day strictly speaking there was as no audience audlem for martin did not dare come close enough to hear the lines and babe jenning 3 who ho beard everything was herself one of it the important actors babe had undertaken the part though at short notice with en once shed convinced ber her self that martin had not riot gone sud rany aloid end and aate e sc 1 c d the main lines of the scenario narlo through her head she had dashed out to the studio in a nil ex were ere guaranteed by martin and thanking goodness that rhoda there to have his big messages u on to her made a toilet as much like a million dol lars jars a as s her street things ran to her major were calculated for the evening of course but cien in her lesser glory she looked good to max alai lewis leis when he lie caught eight ol 01 of her in the station good enough to be going to hollywood he lie tod told her lint while he sentimentally prolonged their handshake her answer to this remark about hollywood was as that she the was head beat ed for a better place than that she was starting off on the limited to jo the lilg town loun she burst into raptures about her trip what are you looking so funny about she concluded con chideL closing in on her victim are re you going gong to 0 hate a e to loie ime me as much as thata thal 1 I im M not going to loe you at nil all mox told her th its the joka ohp im going to new lork ork on the limited nant car are ou on ini in lets I ets see your ticket babe cheerfully gave credit to martin I 1 hat this til property was nas in pi il ice shed neier have thought of the detail herself I 1 she opened her handing and got out one of those rall cm em elopes chrit they en close tickets in it bud mid some stuff ing aa in it too nut but it didn t require to ie te opened for on ire tte face of it was nas written in indelible pencil I 1 limited 5 10 car lower loer 10 she ab e held it out for him to see r a a howey huwer tt letting go of it it lets let eco see yours the eald gold excle edly lie fie cot got a similar penelope en cm dope elope ut of his breast po pocket cicet but it had no car and arid berth numbers written on it and lie fie had to get out tits pull man tickets for a look she saw that ho he had a trunk check lu the em envelope elope why by ilar hat cle pe cried wit a squeal of excitement asere were la in the ennie some earl car I 1 look can con you IOU beat it 1111 ill tell the world you cant can he proclaimed enthusiastically lock lok here babe what do you say can I 1 chop my toner for the upper in your section 7 well she told him judicially judicial ly lou 30 u never can tell till you try out of a it corner of her fye eye babe thought she saw ft here a bonan wo ann h the man bought a ticket and a lowr berth stood watching them max she said sharp und and low Is that your looking at cs wife he echoed say babe where do you get that stuff but he looked ond and she looking up at him saw bis his face drain to the color of an unbaked pie the swept down upon them and stood glaring from oneto one to theother the other 0 babe ehl eh she said with a ferocious grin 1 I thought so she t siy it very loud though Eil evidently dently she care about attracting a crowd herself you bellow bogl she went on to address max alax trying to double cross cros me ere yon you and arid get abny an ay nith a skirt iii will ll 11 you arent smart enough see give me the check of that trunk I 1 1 I tell you there any trunk I 1 1 he frantically 1 I 1 nent to find it and I 1 couldn L it gasn wasn t there look here babe struck in I 1 I 1 ive ve had enough of this sorry to get you in dutch max glod ny by she made as if to move off toward the gate then darted back to him crowding crow ding in front of the as she did so nosh gosh she ahe panted 1 11 almost for got I 1 give me my ticket he swallowed hard and fald said your tibet I 1 she flickered a wink at him dont you remember I 1 gave it to you ft hen you checked my trunk why youve youre got it right in your band he ile opened his dull eyes wide and if she hi lit ant been too ton excited beed have outright at the mixture with the despair in to them of a sudden unbelievable hope lip br b r the eny elee 11 h out a cord word and she she lafout an fin other glance at either elther of the pair scurried like a rabbit into the crowd around the gate just before she got to the gatman she slipped aside and in an other second martin was bugging hugging her gosh babe youre a peach he said soll but if it they were to keep rhodas trunk from taking an unnecessary and perhaps embarrassing trip to new york there any time to waste on compliments walt wait right here he told rr tr when she the had given him maxs ticket and the precious trunk check and darted off to find the baggage master 1 I I vant tant to get a trunk off oft the halted he punted panted out to that om cial at the end of the sprint the young ladys changed her mind and isn t going in less than ten minutes the hat trunk with its gummed down lid ild hove bove in sight having holing a ride all by itself on a little electric platform truck they surrender it to martin though it would have to be first and the con tentie identified lie ile was aglid he bp tod told them thein it is his trunk the young lady who hid changed her mind had been a useful anven lion hed bring lohoda round to get it in the morning ho ito found babe getting annoyed and under the impression that she shed d leen teen unwarrantably abandoned rol n to pacify her he borri borrowed med fire dl lars of her and took her tier into the station restaurant for food Ws ills idea of the meal had been teen after noon ton but it tursey 0 CLI t a s n bood ar i 1 1 fr lical deal like a dinner they bad had a telephone in instrument at r U m ent brought to t the he table oo 00 that they could call ap and tell rhoda the he good news bat but it seemed ehe she wasn gasn t there to bear it its it funny martin commented uneasily I 1 far t ehe she usually home by this time ite its after six you dont suppose on t lathing things happened lo 10 her do you I 1 I 1 oh dont be an old hen I 1 babe admonished him 1 aliat lint would have happened to her all the ahrie he could see she was ns as nn on easy as lie ie was they lasted no time about paying their bill and betting getting a taxi the studio was dark when babe unlocked the door and their calls evoked no response something has happened to her martin eald said with sober conviction hut but the lie telephone rang jut just then and enabled babe to cay say as stif darted across the room to answer it silly there the Is now turn tom on the light 1104 will you I 1 its right by the door hello he heard babe saying as he fumbled with the switch Is that you IOU red hedt well the matter with your voice I 1 cant hear bear you yes martins right here do you want to talk to in him before she could take the receiver from babes hand he heird her say red what Is it V I 1 hats the viat matter terl where are you any bow bowl and by the time he had crowded into her place the thread of communication had bad been broken number please the operator said gold when be rattled the hook she couldn coulden t tell where the call they bad had lost bad had come from CHAPTER VIII vill the spider T HAD been the mere momen IT turn tum of pursuit rather than any consciously adopted plan that had bat caused rhoda to dismiss her taxi tayl and follow claire Cl evelind into the worcester hotel she more than a minute or two behind her and arid what hat she expected as far as |