Show MOO by COURTNEY RYLEY COOPER all copyright by courtney ryley coopey cooper service ak CHAPTER XI 10 THEY HEY drove most of the night much of it was done silently bats your racket Full house joe asked at last shooting pool I 1 handle a good cue enough to take plenty of jack on call shot after ive strung a guy along for a while ill work it alone until were out of the fog then ill use you to stir up suckers joe barry moved impatiently 1 I want to make some big money he be said quick I 1 want to hire some good lawyers ill 1 ij say you need money figuring ur D g on bucking the rap eh after a while now how you mean after a while after ive gotten my money and done what I 1 intend doing there was no melodrama in the tone then ill git gat lawyers Full house occupied himself tor for a moment in the intricacies of jerky steering well he said at last it if youre toure in a tight place for kale I 1 guess we could p prowl rowl h a dump I 1 know a swell joint we could prowl he be added joe carry barry bent forward his aching head in cupped hands listen Full bouse came after a moment 1 I told you it right to take me with you yon im desperate there anything for me to live for except the satisfaction of doing the one thing I 1 want to do and then trying to beat the penalty just so I 1 can laugh at them all made a murderer of me and when they get me have bare a murderer if going to help them if theres any justice ill have squared accounts for somebody else those two men that were killed on the orrs mill road H 1 V exclaimed allhouse F Full ull house you fl figuring uran on oil humping bumping some body off youre tough eh eb aeed then as with at an afterthought you keep blantin blat tin about wanting something you mean setting somebody over what for Full house asked joe did you yon ever hear bear of a man named big friday there was a bad piece of road ahead Full house did not answer for tor a a moment no he do 1 I 1 would like to find out ive got a notion he and martin are mixed up in some way I 1 think im going in to be able to prove it some da day y yeh Full house bouse jerked a glance at him then returned to his steer i log ig g the guy you said was sitting over to in a corner now get me straight aeed I 1 never saw him I 1 aint saying he there I 1 just never saw him you think him and this friday was mixed up together 1 I almost know it ive got an idea that big friday going to be hard to trail hes been in mix mis ups before if im not wrong I 1 can find martin through him yeh Full house swung his lead head again you all done well now im going to tell you yon something thing youre going to stick with me until you get steady on your feet youre all shot you bump a guy off Full bouse argued say listen what you want to do is to get yourself a wad of jack and blow this aint the only country where they got places to live in there was a long silence while the rattling machine made its dimly lighted way through darkness ten miles passed listen said Full house well hit bit the leaping tick when we strike the next burg go to different hotels see better for this first night so if there has been a tail on us he wont hook up to us by this car and listen ive been thinking you aint going to be writing any letters to nobody joe looked up quickly of course note not he said a certain hardness in his voice the wariness which had come to him in the menagerie tent had not relaxed Full Pull house had been revealed to him tonight as a vastly different person from the emotionless often taciturn person he had bad known at louie Bertolin ls As far as the law was concerned joe reflected he was waa a murderer now what more damage could be done suppose he killed men who must be worse than dogs to coldly maliciously condemn an innocent person to the chair to protect themselves it be murder to kill them it would be justice and retribution and humanity toward some other boy stumbling about the maze of now new york until he fell into their nets it did not even affect him to realize ze that perhaps Full house had looked as much to his own desires as to altruism in his bis rescue of joe from impending arrest F full oil house had an ax as to grind joe barry fel sure but lie ho found that he cared little perhaps this man might be leading him on to more sinister things than he had hinted taking advantage of the fact that joe already was it fugitive from justice to assure himself of a partner in crime it made little difference joe told himself after all there were only two things thing s paramount the protection of a girl and his own escape of the two the first firs t was of tremendous importance lie ile had lied to Full bouse ab about 0 ut writing there was as a n way ho he knew to halt any danger that might threaten her from chuick and maxwell about them hotels said full house looking up suddenly at the sight of a street sign ill drop you out on a dark street and you go in first ill come in later like we belong together and go to another room youre half hair dead probably sleep all day soll 1 I for that matter if you dont sleep lay low stay in your room tomorrow night at eight be dark iben then this place Is fayetteville thought I 1 knew it been through here a million times theres a park down about two blocks from the hotel where well stay at at payette fayette house ill put you out on a side street meet me ine at that park eight tomorrow night at last joe was in the hotel paying tor for his bis lodging in advance owing to a lack of luggage once ID his room he strode to the writing desk and pulled open a drawer bring me up some stationery he commanded a bellboy A bunch of it IL ive got a lot of writing to do sunrise found him still at his task a haggard man bent low over the writing desk his his tree free hand brushing often at his red ildred eyes bright day and he sagged so in his chair the task was done there had been no excuses there had been no plea for faith no extenuation to hint of a future it had been a straight for ward brutal letter in which he had bad asked forgiveness and to in the next sentence commanded that she do not give it joe barry had put his soul on paper to save a girl the possibility of police embarrassment here was his story she could hand it to the officers certainly they could ask ash no more of her than that joe lid did not know that he be had placed into ink and paper a classic of manliness just as he be had taken his blows from the first moment that four men knocked at his door so had he be taken them now without weakness save that of which he accused himself that evening as he left the hotel to meet Full house he asked about air mail and dropped his missive into the box bos it had been his sole concession to himself to wait until its arrival could not form a clew tor for a telegraphic order to arrest that night the wandering process began it was a haphazard course altered to the whims nis of Full house and his hopes of a poolroom gold mine fifty miles one day a hundred the next travel was usually done just following darkness they stopped at cheap hotels rooming together now that full house had decided that direct chase was eluded they ate at cheap restaurants meal times and travel times were about the only ones in which joe was allowed to leave leare his room thus life continued for more than two weeks the horrible loneliness of it gnawed at him hurt him like a canker the old hollows were returning to his cheeks and the circles under his eyes ne ile had developed unkemptness shirt loose at the collar tl eless he went unshaven from day to day Full house left him alone only for short intervals sometimes he be would come back to display money to in plenty at other times he was riot not so prosperous ile he talked little of his activities but he seemed insatiable regarding joe how he felt if he was making it all right whatever whaler er made him think that man gutter of a pete maxwell would ever help him what kind of a guy this ustle bradke was anyhow why are you always bringing that up joe snapped one afternoon ile he was irritable fed up glowering IT avent you everl ever heard icard a joke or seen a funny thing in your life anybody laugh in the poolroom no its got to be these ghosts of mine oer and over and over dont you think I 1 live with era enough n 1 said Full bouse dont go dramatic over it cant a guy ask a question that wants to help you then with a new tone if im your friend aint I 1 got a right highl to know everything g if youre my friend said joe barry slowly there may be a day when youre glad you know too much oh yeah you ou still got that bughouse notion eh ril ill always have it Full house sat for a long time limp as usual at last he stretched and rose well aeed he said maybe youre right I 1 let no guy pull a slow drop on me like that and get away with it id set him over I 1 guess but you got to have jack to pull a college gag like that that aint no petty larceny stuff a job for these here big electricians that know how to keep a guy from gettin a shock you got to have plenty of jack for that ue he veered how about youn me doing a job of prowl proul ing wheres the money in that tha tJoe joe asked caustically plenty jack where id prowl said Full house proudly 1 I know tay my lay just outside washington D C Q nig big estate stun stuff driveways and all that I 1 work for him four years I 1 know something thit that this jamison youve tallied talked about lousy with jack said full hoube te le seen him put twenty grand in that little wall safe behind the big picture in the living room its got works like an alarm clock spring it with a can opener and wheres he Full house grinned iles hes down in florida and the old woman and the brat with him I 1 say I 1 worked for or him four years why do you think ive been writing him letters ever since telling him how bow happy I 1 was with him to make a collection I 1 see him leave grand after grand in that matchbox tor for nothing then aeed ll 11 asked Full house coldly do you think I 1 risked myself a jolt la in stir as an accessory after the fact just to give you a free ride think it over there was no more said A day passed and three more following one afternoon Full house walked briskly into the dingy room how much jack you got he asked 1 I dont know I 1 about forty dollars gamme it I 1 he reached eagerly for the money and was gone in an hour he was back walking slowly through the door he turned his sour eyes to joe until the whites showed then he rammed his hands bands deep into his pockets and fished there at last to extract a lone ten dollar bill which he tossed disgustedly on the bed joe sensed the explanation you met somebody better than you were if had ten guesses you yon have done better joe smiled for the first time in weeks but seriousness soon returned well weve got ten dollars between us have hare we Full house rolled his eyes well were going to have more were going to prowl that joint what I 1 mean were going tp ta prowl it it joe pounded a fist into his open palm 1 I dont know Full house 11 you dont know youre wanting jack aint you what I 1 mean youve got to have it yes but ive been thinking about so something methin suppose we did rob that house suppose I 1 got all the money I 1 wanted and went through with everything that keeps pounding in my mind I 1 be committing a crime in my own conscience if I 1 fought back against men that have hare tried to send me to the chair but this jamison ever done to me why should I 1 go in there and rob his house take everything hes got Full house merely stood and laughed can that stuff what the b 1 dont you owe me nothing you be now if it I 1 come on the circus suppose id let you lay you had bad your own plans full house well suppose I 1 did the man said suppose I 1 came out there just to get you to help me pull a job does that change it any would that make it any sweeter for you it if they was a death watch stamping out your time sheet up at the college I 1 guess them guys would wreck the St stinging loging lizzle lizzie just if you asked thern them joe barry shook his head this man could draw ghoulish pictures Full house went on 1 I guess I 1 never done nothing keeping you under cover and support supporting big you all this time oh no I 1 aint done nothing but just look after my own interests I 1 aint done a thing for you I 1 aint taken risks and stalled for you and kept you covered never mind the rest Full house said joe huskily ill go with you CHAPTER XII THEY Tre HEY separated when they reached ached washington joe to go to ills his usual tape of cheap hotel Full house to seek lodgings in an entirely different portion of the city tie lie had said that this would be best Full house once joe had find acquiesced to his demands had bad displayed considerable agility of mind regarding the niceties of burglary for two hundred miles lie he had rehearsed reheat sed his man dwelling chiefly upon the safety of the job they were about to undertake the reward the need for naturalness and a lack of excitement joe barry was pacing the narrow shabby room which was to be his until night september 1 early september lie he remembered sharply that this had been a month to which he once had looked forward this week the dayton brothers show had begun its engagements at the various fairs there would be as long as ten days at a stretch when the tents would remain erect the fairs sue and he had talked of them often the fun to be had bad around a circus when there were no do moves to interfere the exhibits to be wondered wandered the change from day dav to night broad broadcasting costIng and the I 1 j better beiter programs they would be able to give owing to the greater time possible at night for sending them out upon the air there would be powerful stat stations tons too where here al person could receive a worth willIel reward for the extra tra work in getek 1 tins ting up an unusual entertainment and here lie he paced in the lie sticky beat of a colorless room waiting tor for night and a job of burglary oh uell ell it was all right something else would have hare happened ills haunted eyes swept the iho faded room always something happened ye ile turned and scowled hello Full house tie he said as the man slid through the door ll hello ello this is a dump I 1 oh ob well it dont make no difference well be taking it easy on big jack this time tomorrow ray in advance here yes good makes blowing easier all have hare to do Is grab your kelster keister and beat it no he be said 1 I got a better idea leave your junk here it aint bothin want bring your kelster keister empty good thins thing to put the cream in then ill just drive you to the station and you catch a train out of town and ill meet you on how do I 1 know meet me n 11 exclaimed Full house earnestly have all the divvy wont you dont you think I 1 want my end he changed his tone aint that a swell thing to say to a pal oh im sorry joe rubbed a hand across his forehead im just a little shaky I 1 guess its the heat beat this room everst everything bing it sure aint no movie set agreed Full house 1 I wish id known id of traded dumps with you I 1 butted into a swell joint carpets in the halls balls radio in every room swell bed where Is it down the street a ways I 1 never do know the names here cant even remember the name of that hotel now one of them faucy fancy ones dont make any difference I 1 know how to get there that lt it the regis asked joe casually Full house sat up quickly fumbling at the afternoon paper which had fallen from his pocket he jerked it from its place on the edge of the bed and smirked at a penciled notation on the blank margin reals that aint it he said a telephone number of the garage where im at he tore of the notation and shoved it into his pocket better keep it in my head instead of bill boarding like that ill do the same said joe one of us might forget yeah maybe so IT ill remember though ue ile put his hands bands behind his head then and closed his eyes apparently |