登陆注册
5189800000047

第47章

And now the whole neighbourhood seemed awakened.A dull-toned roar, as from some great gulf below, rolled up from the street, a medley of slamming windows, the rush of feet as people poured from the houses, cries, shouts, and yells--and high over all the shrill call of the police-patrol whistle--and the CRACK, CRACK, CRACK of the Skeeter's revolver shots--the Skeeter and his hellhounds for once self-appointed allies of the law!

Twice again Jimmie Dale fired--then crouching, running low, he zigzagged his way across the next roof.The bullets followed him--once more his pursuers dashed forward.And again Jimmie Dale, his face set like stone now, his breath coming in hard gasps, dodged behind a chimney, and with his gun checked their rush for the third time.

He glanced about him--and with a growing sense of disaster saw that two houses farther on the stretch of roof appeared to end.There would be a lane or a street there! And in another minute or two, if it were not already the case, others would be following the gunmen to the roof, and then he would be--he caught his breath suddenly in a queer little strangled cry of relief.Just back of him, a few yards away, his eyes made out what, in the darkness, seemed to be a glass skylight.

A dark form sped like a deeper shadow across the black in front of him, making for a chimney nearer by, closing in the range.Jimmie Dale fired--wide.Tight as was the corner he was in, little as was the mercy deserved at his hands, he could not, after all, bring himself to shoot--to kill.

A voice, the Skeeter's, bawled out raucously:

"Rush him all together--from different sides at once!"A backward leap! Jimmie Dale's boot was crashing glass and frame, stamping at it desperately, making a hole for his body through the skylight.A yell, a chorus of them, answered this--then the crunch of racing feet on the gravel roof.He emptied his revolver, sweeping the darkness with a semicircle of vicious flashes.

It seemed an hour--it was barely the fraction of a second, as he hung by his hands from the side of the skylight frame, his body swinging back and forth in the unknown blackness below.The skylight might be, probably was, directly over the stair well, and open clear to the basement of the house--but it was his only chance.

He swung his body well out, let go--and dropped.With the impetus he smashed against a wall, was flung back from it in a sort of rebound, and his hands closed, gripping fiercely, on banisters.It had been the stair well beyond any question of doubt, but his swing had sent him clear of it.

Above, they had not yet reached the skylight.Jimmie Dale snatched a precious moment to listen, as he rose, and found himself, apart from bruises, perhaps unhurt.There was commotion, too, in this house below, the alarm had extended and spread along the block--but the commotion was all in the FRONT of the house--the street was the lure.

Jimmie Dale started down the stairs, and in an instant he had gained the landing.In another he had slipped to the rear of the hall--somewhere there, from the hall itself, from one of the rear rooms, there must be an exit to the fire escape.To attempt to leave by the front way was certain capture.

They were yelling, shouting down now through the sky-light above, as Jimmie Dale softly raised the window sash at the rear of the hall.

The fire escape was there.Shouts from along the corridor, from the tenement dwellers who had been crowding their neighbours' rooms, craning their necks probably from the front windows, answered the shouts now from the roof and the skylight; doors opened; forms rushed out--but it was dark in the corridor, only a murky yellow at the upper end from the opened doors.

Jimmie Dale slipped through the window to the fire escape, and, working cautiously, silently, but with the speed of a trained athlete, made his way down.At the bottom he dropped from the iron platform into the back yard, ran for the fence and climbed over into a lane on the other side.

And then, as he ran, Jimmie Dale snatched the mask from his face and put it in his pocket.He was safe now.He swept the sweat drops from his forehead with the back of his hand--noticing them for the first time.It had been close--almost as close for him as it had been for old Luddy.And to-morrow the papers would execrate the Gray Seal! He smiled a little wanly.His breath was still coming hard.Presently they would scour the lane--when they found that their quarry was not in the house.What a racket they were making!

The whole district seemed roused like a swarm of angry bees.

He kept on along the lane--and dodged suddenly into a cross street where the two intersected.The clang of a bell dinned discordantly in his ears--a patrol wagon swept by him, racing for the scene of the disturbance--the riot call was out!

Again Jimmie Dale smiled wearily, passing his hand across his eyes.

"I guess," said Jimmie Dale, "I'm pretty near all in.And I guess it's time that Larry the Bat went--home."And a little later a figure turned from the Bowery and shambled down the cross street, a disreputable figure, with hands plunged deep in his pockets--and a shadow across the roadway suddenly shifted its position as the shambling figure slouched into the black alleyway and entered the tenement's side door.

And Larry the Bat smiled softly to himself--Kline's men were still on guard!

同类推荐
  • 印法参同

    印法参同

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 艇斋诗话

    艇斋诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 麟台故事

    麟台故事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 阴持入经

    阴持入经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 醮三洞真文五法正一盟威箓立成仪

    醮三洞真文五法正一盟威箓立成仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 人生的思考(读透人生之一)

    人生的思考(读透人生之一)

    《读透人生之1:人生的思考》作为一位神秘的文人,詹姆斯·爱伦被誉为“20世纪最伟大的心灵导师”。他每日环顾世界,冥思苦想,终于发现了抚慰世人内心痛苦的疗法、引领众人步入成功的法则,并通过其作品将这些智慧奉献于世。对于那些正在经受心灵创伤、一直乞求成功的人们来说,这些作品犹如一股清泉,流入他们的心扉,滋润他们的心田。
  • 绝域孤雄之大汉耿恭传

    绝域孤雄之大汉耿恭传

    东汉耿恭十三勇士归玉门的故事,是中国版的“拯救大兵”,惊天地,泣鬼神,铁骨峥峥,豪气干云。历史上,耿恭以弱敌强,二千兵力,面对十万匈奴,矢志不渝,运筹帷幄,坚守疏勒达数百日,创造了一个又一个英雄的传奇,其事迹读来令人热血沸腾,荡气回肠。北宋名将岳飞在《满江红》中激昂万分地写道:壮志饥餐胡虏肉,笑谈渴饮匈奴血。这个典故就是出自东汉名将耿恭坚守疏勒。这部小说与众不同,它既不是描写一个完整的历史朝代,也不是以某个英雄人物的一生跨度去刻画,而仅仅从某个历史事迹的角度,去展现一个民族英雄的气概,展现一个朝代的血性与辉煌。
  • 30岁女人身体使用手册

    30岁女人身体使用手册

    女人的健康影响着一个家庭。女人一定要关注自己的身体,在身体出现状况时,一定要及早发现,及早治疗,才能不让小病变大病。如果你要很久才能适应黑暗,常常感到眼睛疲劳,容易患感冒,皮肤干燥,那么你可能是缺乏维生素A。如果你平均每周三次在外吃晚餐,容易起小脓包和湿疹,站立时曾感到眩晕,身体时常感到疲劳,经常饮用清凉饮料,容易引起口腔炎,最爱油腻食物和甜食,那么意味着你可能缺乏B族维生素。如果你刷牙时牙龈处有出血现象,轻微撞伤而导致出血过多,应酬时喝酒的机会多,初春时易患花粉症,长期服用抗生素,经常情绪急躁,最近斑点增加,容易便秘,那么意味着你可能缺乏维生素C。
  • 夜见星杓亮晚空

    夜见星杓亮晚空

    一不小心就会黑化的星杓因为某种原因被系统绑定,从此走上了打工之路,时不时冒出几个毫无头绪的隐藏任务,让她身心俱疲,让她心情烦躁,让她……她黑化啦!!!宿主,求不黑化!!让小哥哥来温暖你!!【星杓and何夜】【1v1】
  • 温柔校草霸上失忆女

    温柔校草霸上失忆女

    “你爱我吗?”女孩仰起天真的脸问道。“爱,你呢,爱我吗?”男孩一脸的期待。“不爱,因为我不认识你。”女孩很决绝的说着,然后背转身离开了,留下伤心欲绝的男孩。
  • 幻九域

    幻九域

    消瘦少年~情仇忘我,不抛弃不放弃~踏雷与天斗,踏地震山河~傲世群雄,笑看红尘~九域大陆,强者之尊。
  • 隐婚掠爱:冷面总裁的小骗子

    隐婚掠爱:冷面总裁的小骗子

    几年前她带着一百万逃离他的身边,几年后她带着孩子兜兜转转又重新回来,而一场早有预谋的隐婚让两个本该形同陌路的人重新走在了一起。他以为自己对待这个满口谎话的小骗子会足够铁石心肠,但是在看到她狡诈灵动的眼眸时那些狠心的话全都说不出口了,更何况她身边还带着一只软软糯糯的包子。当一切误会被解开,他才知道自己对她的伤害,刻骨铭心,鲜血淋漓,幸好,还为时不晚。“你放开我。”女人嘴里说些拒绝的话身体却柔软地如同一汪泉水瘫软在了男人怀中。“小骗子,这时候还不说实话。”男人暧昧地吻上了她的唇角说:“正好惩罚你,咱们再来做一只二宝吧。”幸好时光不晚,你还在我身边。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 我年轻时候的女朋友

    我年轻时候的女朋友

    这是一场疯狂而离奇的情感之旅,小饭以“背叛”的视角审视他的初恋时光,残忍地将美好的爱情和友情一一打碎——他遭受了爱情和友情的双重背叛……看似平淡无奇的开始,结尾却如此出人意料。
  • 1980我来自未来

    1980我来自未来

    1980年,这是一个充满传奇和创造奇迹的大时代!林枫带着一个超级大仓库穿了,回到了这个创造奇迹的大时代。这是一个超级励志的故事,想知道结果就请点开看吧……1980未来1群,群号674357118,欢迎加入,收藏即可。
  • 台上台下都是戏

    台上台下都是戏

    伊家河的故事清新顺畅,本书为其作品精选集,所选作品均公开发表过。内容涵盖古今,都是通过故事讲述做人的道理,给人启迪。名篇《穿乡过府卖味儿》通过财主故意显露自己的财产,引盗匪上门,从而消灭贪官的故事,讲述了做人需要正义的道理。《每天要早起》通过年轻人听从长辈要早起、勤奋的忠告,最终获得事业成功的故事,讲述了年轻人须踏实肯干、脚踏实地才能取得成功的启示。