Show the won atack ff b is ck box of silence by francis lynde illustrations by 0 irwin myers myer win v N V servile rlee ioe copyright by william SYNOPSIS owen landis young inventor invent or has developed an extra extraordinary ordin silencer which la Is stolen from a safe in hla his laboratory landis to tells 11 wally markham hla his chum the only person beside himself knowing the combination of the sate safe to la betty lawson with whom the inventor is in love markham takes a plaster cast of a womans comans footprint found beneath the window of the laboratory and takes an 0 opportunity port unity to fit it to one of bettys 13 t Y shoos hoes they are identical betty tells markham herbert canby casiby a a stranger posing ils as a promoter had driven her home t the previous night and that she had dozed in the car markham does not tell landis of his discovery the safe gate in the bank at Pert hdale la Is blown open and looted the noise of bf th the explosion being unheard satisfied satisfied that his black box Is in the hands of crooks landis with markham goes to Pert Fert hdale three strangers claiming to be ba business men 01 of louisville are the only possible suspects markham and landals decide to bollow thern them although advices advises from louisville 0 O u to vi ile seems to guarantee th the standing anding t of the three at st joseph markham marshani Mar khani learns canby Is driving west with betty lawson and her theras fath fa evas his guests in the car whilo while he and landis are sleeping markhams Wark Mark hams car is stolen and wrecked ile he buys another and they hey so go on at a hotel in colah they meet betty she Is surprised at their presence in the west a and in d ex plains I 1 t the he reason for her and her laa fathers joji journey rhey CHAPTER VJ VI r continued g daddy and 17 I 1 oh no we lust just rested until dinner time but when did you two leavo leave carnage Mar markham kharn named the date and she said why we must have been right along the road together I 1 or no you said y you ou came by train you 1 I said part of the way we got pred tired of the train so I 1 bought a car and we came on in that but where are you going ask owen im merely his bis chauffeur thus drag dragged gedAn in landis played up as best he could 1 I dont know a any ny bilbre more iha than the cat betty wae ejust Just trun trundled aled along from one place to another never knowing where the next stop would be it must be simply spiffy to drift about that way with no d afes es 11 it Is landis agreed im er having the time of my life yet you dont look it asserted the frank one fixing him with an ap pral sIve eye you look haggard and worried you ought to stop over in the ila alo l and go fossil hunting with daddy markham had been keeping an eye on the group of three below and now he stood up and turned to face the balustrade for canby had joined the three and was giving one of them a paper markham excused himself and raught caught a descending elevator and when canby and the three moved away toward a side exit he be washable wa was sable alle to follow without being seen the chase was a short one enang agthe at the hotel garage which the fo four ur men entered together markham slipping in upon the heels ot of the four was wag able to conceal hl himself asela tp ip a few minutes a handsome met wing right eight came rolling velvet footed to pause with its front wheels on oa the thre threshold hold of the entrance As the car came arfie to a stand canby got out aar M ive told you have to use your head he was saying to the man it af the ahiel v el of the eight the sketch map layout I 1 gave you is Is the besta best I 1 could do your route book will show you where to turn olt off no chance for foi a b reak break on the date Is there chere came in low tones from the interior of the car II 1 I dont bake make breaks was the brittle tle retort youve g got at a monopoly in that field among you youve balled things up beautifully 1 the h I 1 you cayll say I 1 growled the v voice olee in the interior dati darkness fiess how could we know it vas tas your business to know I 1 you had the whole thing in your hands three days ago all you had to do was to sit down and wait until the flurry was over and all you did was boyell to yell for help I 1 but a back number let it go and get out of here and dont fall down on this business tonight night ill meet you as arranged get a move movel the big ca car rolled boiled out across the sidewalk 4 and canby walked quickly around to the side entrance of the hotel markham followed but not directly beyond the hotel counter he be found a hardware merchant just closing for the night and persuaded the man to go back and sell him a couple of serviceable automatics then he returned to the hotel lobby where he be found landis waiting for him what did you find out landis demanded enough to warrant us in getting action where Is betty she said eald it was waa leaving time for her and her father and went to get ready canby went up in nn an elevator did he be see TOUT you no I 1 kept out of his sight but no doubt he knows we are here naturally betty will tell him if he found out tiny any other way you yoa say action what Is it to be A beltt getaway get your dunnage and wait at the side entrance ril ill be there with the cw car belde office of five 0 in rather less than five minutes markham was placing the roadster at the side entrance to the tha hotel landis stowed the suitcases in the rumble and climbed to his place saying cant you tell me now walt wait until we get out of town landis waited and he be was still waiting when the roadster bumped over the final railroad crossing inthe in the red bed buttle western yards and shot out upon the broad silent expanse 0 of vie he red desert CHAPTER VII at the cinnabar something but not as much as I 1 hoped to said markham Alark liam in answer to landis repeated question as to what lie he had learned by following canby and the three and he recounted the talk he had overheard all I 1 can make out of it Is that canby Is hooked up with these men in some sort of a deal in which he Is the kingpin you say canby gave the others a map something of the sort ile he called it the layout what did he mean by saying that the three had yelled for help that Is just another of the mysteries 11 you yoa heard what betty told us that they had bought their train tickets and then canby changed his mind an and asked them if they went want to drive im wondering if it the ye yell I 1 for help that made him change his mind and plans it mai may have been landis spoke of something else you asked betty what time they got into cocab and her answer was about five A also iso she said she and her father watched the sunset from the mesa road and not vary very long fatter that canby with two people in his par car overtook us in the outskirts of town how do you make that fit in 1 I dont said Mark markham barn shortly noth nothing irig fits in step by step each new development or half development pointed to canby as the thief of the black box of silence but if canby were the thief betty lawson was just as aa certainly his accessory and that he told himself was unbelievable yet there was s the great stone tumbling down the mountain side in utter silence to point the fanger of implication at canby what desperate undertaking was canby engaged in that would warrant a cold blooded double murder as one of its conditions the lights of colah had long since vanished in the eastward distance before markham Mark liam spoke again sorry your time with betty was cut so short owen but maybe well see sea more of her later the time was long enough was the sober reply and then half hesitantly tant ly im out of it with betty wally candys the man no he be not if our suspicions are Ju justified stifled landis sm smile lie was a mere baring of tb the teeth you tou ought to know women better than that wally business deals ht or crooked dont mean P anything to a woman in love P if you think betty would wink a at criminality even in her lover we anything to base a charge of criminality on nothing pos positive active maybe but what I 1 overheard in dapah seems to lean that way not to go uny uby farther back in the mess do you think so rin im thinking so hard enoah enough to make me run the wheels oai on this wagon to keep in touch with that bight somewhere ahead of us As he spoke the roadster was topping a slight rise and landis pointed out a faint red dot in the forward distance youve got the touch he remarked i after this for an interminable time the two cars hold held their relative positions from time to time landis looked 0 over v er his bis shoulder there were no headlights in sight to the rear if canby was wag making tb the mo moonlight ht r run un as planned the headlights of his big ci car were not yet vl visible sible look for him I 1 guess markham offered at length were wera hitting I 1 it t up a good bit faster than hell want to hurry his passengers it was not until they began to draw in toward the foothills at the northwestern edge of the desert that they lost losi sight permanently of df the red dot in advance they came to the little way station of atropia on the railroad where the road forked heres where we balk markham announced slowing down then he recalled what canby had said to the man who was driving the twing your route book beoh will show you where to turn off on but which was the turn off to the left with the railroad or to the right up the mountain climbing outs out they crossed the tracks to the railroad station when they stepped inside they almost ran into the arms of a group of roughly dressed men each man nursing a winchester cl markham apologized for stumbling over the feet of one of the men my fault said the one whose feet had suffered 1 I loo icing for or oLny anybody body to open the door are you traveling or just going somewhere both said markham with a arl grin n more particularly w we ar are trying to keep in touch with three er friends just jus st ahead of us in a Mee twing eight and we dont know which road taken you can help hell us ns do both of these roads roada go over to Bre brewster weter in ila the they do the ir wit wag 1 evidently I tho the leader of the squad of armed men the one to the left follows the railroad as far as it can ana then climbs the range eange by way of led horse pass the other begins to climb right here and goes in over dump mountain and the two come to together gother as is one in the big hills south of Brewster Brews ler 1 thanks said markham but we dont know which way our the went 1 I can help you there it went up the mountain that helps us markham asserted then A mining man are you I 1 know there were any mines over liere here 11 there are not many ours the cinnabar Is about the only one shipping ore just now Brough tons my name marlihan Marli Marl ham kharn Is mine was the prompt rejoinder and this Is I 1 my friend owen owen landis much aluch obliged for the information about the roads well be getting along before our party pets gets too far ahead of us As they went out the young mine owner followed them im no alarmist he said but are you gentlemen heeled as we say out in this port of the world markham grinned and pulled out his two auto automatics mu much ch to landis astonishment ment mert since markham Mark barn hail had neglected to mention his purchase will these do dol tine fine and dandy if you know how to use em reason I 1 spoke was that were down here for our payroll money its coming in on forty one and I 1 had a hint that red gunter and his gang might try to grab it off why so many of us are here with the bells belle on but if theres anything in the rumor and they are after us they likely bother with you so long and he went back into the station building As the two friends reached the car the distance diminished bellow of a locomotive toco corno co tive whis whistle tie broke the silence of the desert night there comes Brough tons train said landis lets get away ahead of lit ahls struck truck then we wont have bave to pass it on the mountain road you speak soon enough markham grumbled kicking a flat tire under the roadster 1 I wonder what did that whatever had done it the tire had to be changed and they fell to work when it came to the replacement they found that the spare was only about half inflated and would have to be ba pumped up by hand while they were rigging the pump the train came thundering in made its brief halt and went clamoring on shortly after the disappearance of t the e train they heard beard the starting roar of the mine trucks mator and a moment later the truck with its load of armed men passed them the young mine owner r was at the wheel after the truck had gone they found the tire pump in their roadsters equipment kit had a leaky check valve and woul Int hold long enough to put the proper pressure into the halfin half balf in tire while they were taking turns at the leaky pump the railroad agent came across on his way home and asked if he could help them out not unless you can tell us where we can borrow a decent tire pump said bandis why yes was the friendly answer ive got a flivver and a P tire pump Is about the most useful attachment it has walt wait and ill fetch it he crossed to a shed behind the nearest of the half dozen darkened houses and presently returned with the pump good taking a hand and helping them fill the big spare youve saved our lives markham said returning the borrowed pump thanks a thou thousand and times good night As he started the motor he be glanced at the dash clock it was just midnight when we stopped and aind now its a quarter to one three quarters of an hour wasted time enough to put that thirty miles ahead 1 the toughest piece of luck weve struck yet I 1 but as the they 7 were soon to learn ill luck was not nol through with them before they had made more than a couple 0 04 miles allies up the stiff mountain grade the roadsters motor sputtered began to miss and then stopped dead the brakes slipped and let the car drift backward landis landals caught at the emergency brake and stopped the drift As he did it he be pointed at the gasoline gauge gauga on the dash and said look at that will you youl 11 markham looked what do ao you know about that I 1 I 1 told those garage fellows at copna to be sure and fill her up you heard mel me what the devil and tom walker are we to do now id like to know I 1 the little railroad man back there at the station landis suggested suggett ed maybe Slay be he tins lias an extra can of gas markham turned the car and let it drift down to the railroad hamlet the agent had gone to bed and they bad to get him up again western kindliness carde came to the fore just wait till I 1 can get dressed and well see they waited perforce and hen ben the little man came out be said metha aletha dowell hp hi keeps th store may majr have a can or two there was another welt while the agent hammered on the mie door of me dowells emporium end and when it was wa finally opened more uncertainty ensued we ui bared ile he might have come hed come down and see f TO |