登陆注册
5189800000098

第98章

THE STOOL-PIGEON

In the subway, ten minutes before, a freckled-faced messenger boy had squeezed himself into a seat beside Jimmie Dale, yanked a dime novel from a refractory pocket, and, blissfully lost to all the world, had buried his head in its pages.Jimmie Dale's glance at the youngster had equally, perforce, embraced the lurid title of the thriller, "Dicing with Death," so imperturbably thrust under his nose.At the time, he had smiled indulgently; but now, as he left the subway and headed for his home on Riverside Drive, the words not only refused to be ignored, but had resolved themselves into a curiously persistent refrain in his mind.They were exactly what they purported to be, dime-novelish, of the deepest hue of yellow, melodramatic in the extreme; but also, to him now, they were grimly apt and premonitorily appropriate."Dicing with Death"--there was not an hour, not a moment in the day, when he was not literally dicing with death; when, with the underworld and the police allied against him, a single false move would lose him the throw that left death the winner!

The risk of the dual life enforced upon him grew daily greater, and in the end there must be the reckoning.He would have been a madman to have shut his eyes in the face of what was obvious--but it was worth it all, and in his soul he knew that he would not have had it otherwise even now.To-night, to-morrow, the day after, would come another letter from the Tocsin, and there would be another "crime"of the Gray Seal's blazoned in the press--would that be the last affair, or would there be another--or to-night, to-morrow, the day after, would he be trapped before even one more letter came!

He shrugged his shoulders, as he ran up the steps of his house.

Those were the stakes that he himself had laid on the table to wager upon the game, he had no quarrel there; but if only, before the end came, or even with the end itself, he could find--HER!

With his latchkey he let himself into the spacious, richly furnished, well-lighted reception hall, and, crossing this, went up the broad staircase, his steps noiseless on the heavy carpet.

Below, faintly, he could hear some of the servants--they evidently had not heard him close the door behind him.Discipline was relaxed somewhat, it was quite apparent, with Jason, that peer of butlers, away.Jason, poor chap, was in the hospital.Typhoid, they had thought it at first, though it had turned out to be some milder form of infection.He would be back in a few days now; but meanwhile he missed the old man sorely from the house.

He reached the landing, and, turning, went along the hall to the door of his own particular den, opened the door, closed it behind him--and in an instant the keen, agile brain, trained to the little things that never escaped it, that daily held his life in the balance, was alert.The room was unusually dark, even for night-time.It was as though the window shades had been closely drawn--a thing Jason never did.But then Jason wasn't there! Jimmie Dale, smiling then a little quizzically at himself, reached up for the electric-light switch beside the door, pressed it--and, his finger still on the button, whipped his automatic from his pocket with his other hand.THE ROOM WAS STILL IN DARKNESS.

The smile on Jimmie Dale's lips was gone, for his lips now had closed together in a tight, drawn line.The lights in the rest of the house, as witness the reception hall, were in order.This was no ACCIDENT! Silent, motionless, he stood there, listening.Was he trapped at last--in his own house! By whom? The police? The thugs of the underworld? It made little difference--the end would differ only in the method by which it was attained! What was that! Was there a slight stir, a movement at the lower end of the room--or was it his imagination? His hand fell from the electric-light switch to the doorknob behind his back.Slowly, without a sound, it began to turn under his slim, tapering fingers, whose deft, sensitive touch had made him known and feared as the master cracksman of them all;and, as noiselessly, the door began to open.

It was like a duel--a duel of silence.What was the intruder, whoever he might be, waiting for? The abortive click of the electric-light switch, to say nothing of the opening of the door when he had entered, was evidence enough that he was there.Was the other trying to place him exactly through the darkness to make sure of his attack! The door was open now.And suddenly Jimmie Dale laughed easily aloud--and on the instant shifted his position.

"Well?" inquired Jimmie Dale coolly from the other side of the threshold.

It seemed like a long-drawn sigh fluttering through the room, a gasp of relief--and then the blood was pounding madly at his temples, and he was back in the room again, the door closed once more behind him.

"Oh, Jimmie--why didn't you speak? I had to be sure that it was you."It was her voice! HERS! The Tocsin! HERE! She was here--here in his house!

"You!" he cried."You--here!" He was pressing the electric-light switch frantically, again and again.

Her voice came out of the darkness from across the room:

"Why are you doing that, Jimmie? You know already that I have turned off the lights.""At the sockets--of course!" He laughed out the words almost hysterically."Your face--I have never seen your face, you know."He was moving quickly toward the reading lamp on his desk.

There was a quick, hurried swish of garments, and she was blocking his way.

"No," she said, in a low voice; "you must not light that lamp."He laughed again, shortly, fiercely now.She was close to him, his hands reached out for her, touched her, and thrilling at the touch, swept her toward him.

"Jimmie--Jimmie--are you mad!" she breathed.

Mad! Yes--he was mad with the wildest, most passionate exhilaration he had ever known.He found his voice with an effort.

同类推荐
  • The Doctor

    The Doctor

    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。
  • Cap'n Warren's Wards

    Cap'n Warren's Wards

    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。
  • 大唐东京大敬爱寺一切经论目

    大唐东京大敬爱寺一切经论目

    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。
  • 伅真陀罗所问宝如来三昧经

    伅真陀罗所问宝如来三昧经

    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。
  • 独醒杂志

    独醒杂志

    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
  • 爱比死更殇

    爱比死更殇

    苏慕妍爱了蔚霆谌三年,爱的没有自己,爱的家破人亡。原以为即使他不爱她,只要有个孩子她也觉得满足和幸福,却不料让她怀孩子也只是个阴谋。当真相大白之后,蔚霆谌说:“慕妍,我错了,我要怎么做你才能原谅我?”苏慕妍冷漠的说:“我对你的恨已深入骨髓,要想剔除,除非我血尽人亡。”--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 马瑞芳趣话聊斋爱情

    马瑞芳趣话聊斋爱情

    《马瑞芳趣话聊斋爱情》,还是延续了马教授趣话经典的写作路子,这是她的“趣话经典”系列第3本,以诙谐而幽默、生动而有趣味的讲述,继续品赏聊斋众女鬼的爱情。绿裙飘飘的连琐,顽皮笑闹的小谢,追求精神爱的宦娘,巧妙复仇的窦氏,改恶向善的聂小倩,风雅多才的林四娘,沉缅的公孙九娘……聊斋女鬼之美有不同风采,聊斋女鬼凄美纤巧,有深刻内涵和哲理韵味,人鬼之恋的缠绵悱恻……马瑞芳教授为你一一细细道来。
  • 如果天空会流泪

    如果天空会流泪

    母亲改嫁入豪门,她莫名其妙多了个毫无血缘的弟弟。相识第一天,她被那个帅气邪恶的坏小孩公然夺去初吻;回家见长辈,他化身绝世乖乖仔,礼貌客气地唤她:姐姐,你好!相识一个月,他堂而皇之搬进她的公寓,理由冠冕堂皇:你是我姐姐!?干柴遇烈火,熊熊燃烧后,他既无辜又委屈:姐姐,你可要对人家负责。有一种男人,凡是爱过他或是被他爱过的女人,便再也不可能爱上别的男人!只能盼他执我之手,敛我半生癫狂;吻我之眸,遮我半世离殇。有一种感情,萌芽于最阴暗的角落,没有阳光照耀,没有雨露滋润,所以注定了不能破土而出,开花结果。? 可是亲爱的,明明知道这样的爱情逃脱不了颠沛流离的宿命,我依然想和你共一段灯火阑珊!?
  • 灵枢经脉翼

    灵枢经脉翼

    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。
  • 奉和元承杪秋忆终南

    奉和元承杪秋忆终南

    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。
  • 劳动者

    劳动者

    誉为“劳动者创业奇迹”的李宝金受到排挤,被迫离开奋斗了多年的公司。之后重新振作,再度白手起家,重塑辉煌!
  • 武当异人传

    武当异人传

    湖南岳州西门外十余里,有一村落,地名林祠,寥寥二三十户人家。因在洞庭沿岸,本属鱼米之乡,居民生活大都还过得下去。只内中有一家姓林的,起初原是明初显宦之后,当初并非土著,上辈由闽宦游到此,喜欢巴陵山水风物之胜,政绩又好,罢官以后不愿离去,便在当地建业安居。林家虽是诗书世裔,无如人丁不繁,读书人又不善治生,两三代后,便逐渐衰落下来……
  • Songs of Travel

    Songs of Travel

    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。
  • 将错就错

    将错就错

    初次见面,童悦惊讶于宋立琛的“独特品味”,为什么一个霸道总裁竟然在办公室上演女装秀?第二次见面,宋立琛不敢相信童悦的“敢想敢做”,区区改评师竟然敢要挟他去领证结婚?宋立琛深信自己是她求之不得的白月光,可到头来才知道,原来一直有另外一个他,在替自己和她谈恋爱。童悦知道自己从来都不是他的朱砂痣,却不知从什么时候开始,她已悄悄叩开了他的心门。他以为,他走过的最深的路就是她的套路。她以为,此生做过最勇敢的事就是奋不顾身地爱着他。可他们都不知道,这世上所有的将错就错,不过就是深情不悔。
  • 洞玄灵宝五老摄召北酆鬼魔赤书玉诀

    洞玄灵宝五老摄召北酆鬼魔赤书玉诀

    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。