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Show bVp.BY GENERAL W'mmM THE STORY SO FAR: More than Zott.OUO foreign troops which had been secretly transported to Mexico suddenly Invaded the United States. liHelligvnce Ofllcer BenninB had discovered their plain while a spy In Mexico City where be had sained the confidence of Flncke ind Bravot, two enemy officers, but his INSTALLMENT THIRTEEN warnings had gone unheeded. The President Pres-ident was killed when Washington was bombed. General Brill, commander of tho V. S. army In Texas, was opposed by greatly superior forces led by Van llassvk. In spite of Brill's desperate resistance, Van llassck's troops pushed relentlessly forward. Returning to Wash ington, Bennlng met Flncke who haft come there to do espionage work for his government. Bennlng continued to pow as a friend, and proceeded to Investigate Investi-gate a mysterious gold mining company operating In New York. He believed It was a "front" for a vast spy ring. Now continue with the story. like the way he nosed about into our things, so I have him waiting for you." Salvatore strode into the room, an erect, saturnine man in morning coat, striped trousers, and lurid neckwear. Even in the shock of recognition, rec-ognition, Benning's startled mind flashed to a whim of professional observation. This man's presence confirmed his every suspicion of the Andes Gold Mining and Milling Company. Salvatore was Gaujos, the masquerader with whom he had traded shots at San Antonio, the man who as Colonel Bravot had been his chief of section in Van Hassek espionage espi-onage service at the Palacio Na-cional. Na-cional. Bravot sat down at his desk and fixed his gaze on his visitor. In his cold, blunt eyes there showed no recognition rec-ognition of the American agent whom he had glimpsed at San Antonio An-tonio and failed to recognize in Mexico Mex-ico City. "What explanation have you to offer of-fer of your visit here?" Bravot inquired. in-quired. "I'm here from Mexico City, Colonel Colo-nel Bravot." Bennine answered with ,,,n . . afaV te- rfe,f . CHAPTER XIV Benning left the hotel at nine o'clock and walked to the Empire State Building. During the night he had collected available information of the Andes Gold Mining and Milling Mill-ing Company. The firm had been operating in New York for ten years past. It was a small but regular dividend payer, was not listed on the stock exchange, and had conformed con-formed to all laws and requirements in regard to its operations and transactions. trans-actions. Simon Salvatore, a Chilean, Chile-an, had recently taken over as managing man-aging director. On reaching the forty-fifth floor, Benning went direct to the company's compa-ny's offices and stepped inside. A fat roly-poly of a man with catlike cat-like smirk stamped on his round face came up to Benning at once to search him with small round eyes that glinted suspicious appraisal through horn-rimmed glasses. "I am Mr. Oldfer, office manager," manag-er," he said in an ingratiating purr. "Is there something I can do for y.ou?" "I am a stockholder," Benning said, intent on completing his reconnaissance recon-naissance of the room in the shortest short-est possible time. "I wish to inquire in-quire if it is true the company is disposing dis-posing of two mines, the Palacio Quatres and the Silver Sabers?" Oldfers upper teeth gnawed nervously nerv-ously at his lower lip at this blunt identification of the visitor as a Van Hassek agent. "Maybe," Oldfer hesitated, "you want to see Senor Salvatore?" "Nonsense!" Benning said with authority. "You say you are the office of-fice manager and I have just introduced intro-duced myself fully. I'm in a great hurry, Oldfer." Benning stepped decisively past the fellow and went to the open "B" cabinet at which a ruddy clerk of Slav features was working. While Oldfer pattered up with muttered protests, Benning thumbed through the Baltimore entries. Ramsey, Rin-gold, Rin-gold, Rosser, Rouse, Rumbolt. He noted that after each listed stockholder stock-holder there were symbols purporting purport-ing to show number of stock shares held, dates of dividend payment, and other Uttered data. His eye caught the pertinent detail de-tail that in the Baltimore file, as compared with other files through which he hurriedly skimmed, there were many more entries on each card. Baltimore, headquarters of the Army's Third Corps Area, and flanked by some of the Army's important im-portant arsenals and secret proving prov-ing grounds, was a logical beehive of espionage activity. "Very good, your Baltimore file shows the proper activity," Benning announced, turning abruptly away to face Oldfer. "Thank you for your courtesy." "Senor Salvatore will be here very soon," Oldfer said. "It is necessary that you talk with Mr. Salvatore before be-fore you leave." "Tell Salvatore," Benning said, scowling at his watch, "that I'll be back by eleven at latest. Just now I'm in a hurry." "Oh, no, but you will wait," Oldfer Old-fer whined. "Ja, you will wait, or Senor Salvatore would never forgive me." He turned to one of his clerks and cried, "Here, Backropp, you will keep the gentleman company until Mr. Salvatore arrives!" A barrel-chested man whose squat legs, long angular face, and flaillike flail-like arms gave him the aspect of an orangutan, stepped forward with a nod. The others moved closer. Benning Ben-ning saw that only by force might he pass out the door of the Andes Gold Mining and Milling Company. M..ml-.oP( mara aaainct him. to him that ln the heart of a great city, with its teeming millions, he was as completely sealed away as a dead man in a tomb. Out in the offices of the Andes Gold Mining and Milling Company a blunt new crew had taken over, headed head-ed by Lieutenant Colonel Wallace, corps area Intelligence officer. Three of Wallace's officers were checking through the company records, three others were standing guard over four glum prisoners. This sharp transfer of authority had been accompanied by a brief, tragic violence. In a corner of the office, covered by a rug, lay the body of Backropp. A bullet from Wallace's pistol had been needed to end Backropp's resistance. "All right, Oldfer," Wallace threatened the cowering fat man who sat in front of him. "I'll give you one more chance to remember the combination to that safe. If you do remember, I'll make it an internment intern-ment camp, if you don't I'll have you hanged inside a week!" He lifted his wrist to his eyes and glanced at the time. "I'll give you exactly thirty seconds more to decide de-cide whether you live or hang." Ten seconds had passed when the office door opened. Safe experts re-' ported in to tackle the job of opening open-ing the vault. Oldfer was jolted into decision by knowledge that if the man in the vault emerged alive, the jig was up with him. "I'll open it!" he cried, leaping to his feet. "Ja, I'll open the safe, if you promise me I don't hang for it!" Oldfer fairly raced to the steel doors and nervously fingered the combination. In his excitement three trials were necessary to complete the combination. Colonel Wallace seized the door and pulled it open. Benning was lying on the floor, his right hand clutching a small pocket notebook. Wallace lifted the unconscious man to a sofa in the Salvatore room. A medical officer, who had been hurried hur-ried in from Governor's Island, took pulse and temperature and applied stimulants. In a minute Benning opened his eyes and, on orienting his mind to the whirling gray world about him, attempted to sit up. "The captain will be all right shortly," the doctor predicted. "It's just as well, however, you got him out of there without much more delay." de-lay." Half an hour later Benning insisted in-sisted on getting to his feet. His legs were wobbly under him, the slow, steady throb of his pulse reverberated re-verberated in aching temples. But he waved the medico aside and went into the office where Wallace and his men were working. "Here, Benning, you'd better take it easy," the corps area G-2 chief admonished. "I'm feeling better," Benning answered. an-swered. "What's the score now. Colonel?" Colonel Wallace was effervescent. "The Andes Gold Mining and Milling Mill-ing Company," he exclaimed, "is the most valuable mine in the world right now. No question about it, we're headed for the biggest spy roundup in history." "Where's Bravot?" Benning wanted want-ed to know. "Bravot, alias Salvatore." Salva-tore." The glow of Wallace's face vanished van-ished into gloom. "Pretty bad luck, Benning," he said heavily. "He managed man-aged to slip out his private door as we entered. I had Lieutenant Crane guarding the hall. Salvatore killed him with a small automatic and was lucky enough to catch a cage down before we could get out there. By the way, Benning, when you feel up "A ponderous hand closed over Benning's mouth." calm assurance. "I have identified myself and am prepared to do so again. The precise nature of my mission I am not permitted to disclose dis-close to you. Beyond that I've nothing noth-ing to say." Without taking his eyes from Benning, Ben-ning, Bravot slowly opened a drawer of his desk and brought out an automatic auto-matic pistol. As he leveled the weapon across the desk Bravot's left hand went to a call button which sent a rasping summons into the outer office. Oldfer Old-fer came in at once. "We have had a close call, Oldfer," Old-fer," Bravot said. He passed his left hand across his forehead, now wet with perspiration. "This man is an Army Intelligence agent who shot at me once, and whom I stupidly stu-pidly overlooked in Mexico due to my preoccupation with other matters." mat-ters." Benning heard the outer door open. Oldfer, terror leaping into his little eyes, jumped across the room and slammed Bravot's door. Benning Ben-ning sprang to his feet, but the apelike ape-like arms of Backropp were about him in an instant with all the crushing crush-ing force of motor-driven prongs. A ponderous hand closed over Ben-nini't Ben-nini't mnnth and shut off articula- tion. ' Benning felt himself lifted clear of the floor by a strength against which his own sinews were powerless. power-less. Backropp carried him across the room to the Bravot concrete vault that lay open behind heavy steel doors. The ape-man hurled him inside with a stunning violence and heaved the doors shut. Benning picked himself up and shook his head to clear his wits from the shock of his fall. Only the habit of self-discipline saved him from panic as he found himself engulfed in this black, steel-encased void. He heard the vague click of bolts as the door was locked, then silence. He felt about the interior of his prison and estimated its dimensions as some six feet wide by ten feet in depth. He knew that rescue depended largely upon that phosgene cigarette he had tossed out the window as a signal to Intelligence operatives below. be-low. He argued that they had caught the signal; ft must have been G-2 men who invaded the Andes office at the critical instant of his imprisonment. impris-onment. His ears strained for sound, but there was only silence. He tried kicking kick-ing at the foot-thick steel doors, but there was no response It came "All right, Oldfer," he yielded with annoyance, "I'll wait a reasonable time." Backropp escorted Benning into the Salvatore private room behind the main office, where he indicated a seat in front of Salvatore's mahogany mahog-any desk. Backropp sat down close by and folded his ponderous arms across his chest. Two others of Oldfer' Old-fer' s men quit their work at the files to take position just outside the Salvatore Sal-vatore door. Benning saw that he was as definitely a prisoner as if he had been bound and gagged. Benning waited, Impatiently consulting con-sulting his watch from time to time. Barely fifteen minutes had passed before he heard someone enter the office from outside. He rose and walked to an open window, Backropp Back-ropp watching him narrowly. Casually Casu-ally he selected a cigarette from his case, lighted it, took two quick puffs and cast it out the window. "It's a long way down to the street from here, Backropp," he said, leaning lean-ing out for a brief survey below. Benning saw a yellowish phosgene smudge trail out behind his falling cigarette and turned back to Backropp. Back-ropp. "It's not so far down," Backropp muttered, "if you don't wait to take a elevator." Out in the office Oldfer was speaking speak-ing in a tremulous voice. "Ja. Senor Salvatore, he may be aI right," Oldfer said anxiously. "He introduced himself, but I don't to It, uoionei r lagwiii wisiies yuu to call him at the War Department." Benning checked through the haul of records. There was no need of cryptographers on the job. In a false bottom of Bravot's desk, Wallace had unearthed a code book which unlocked un-locked the symbols. The first estimates showed seventeen seven-teen thousand cards of stockholders. Many of these were innocent purchasers, pur-chasers, Wallace thought from the first results of his check, but there was evidence of thousands of enemy ene-my agents, scattered in important posts and positions' throughout the United States. An hour later Benning went to the McAlpin. His legs still lacked strength and he took a cab for the short ride. Upstairs in his room he called Flagwill, who was on the line promptly. "Glad you're all right, Benning, you had us worried!" Flagwill exclaimed. ex-claimed. "A great piece of work, simply great! Report back as soon as you feel like traveling. Benning." Flagwill's voice trailed into gravity. "Things are looking pretty black right now and we've got to find out what's ahead of us. General Hague suggested- -well, if you think you've a chance at it thought you might learn something in Mexico Of course, we'll let you decide-." "Very good, sir," Benning assented. assent-ed. "I'U report in Waihington or the next available plane." (TO HK COS-TWEU- |
