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
  • 棋经十三篇

    棋经十三篇

    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。
  • 海天诗话

    海天诗话

    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。
  • 善恶图全传

    善恶图全传

    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。
  • The Financier

    The Financier

    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。
  • Loveand Friendship

    Loveand Friendship

    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
  • 开除

    开除

    机器运行的声音越来越刺耳。赵忠义抄起扳手,朝他认为可能发生问题的部位猛敲几下,“轰隆”一声响后,机器彻底罢工了。实习生小梁跑过来,“出啥事了,赵师傅?”“又他妈停机了!”赵忠义把扳手往工具台上一扔,“老毛病,得找机修工来看看。”“哦。”赵忠义往外走几步,又回身,见小梁围着机器琢磨,便朝他吼:“瞎转悠什么呐!赶紧喊人来修啊——我到外面抽根烟去。”
  • 混乱穿越之天庭任务系统

    混乱穿越之天庭任务系统

    一个快要走到生命尽头的青年,事业失败,财产亏空,女友背叛。正要接受这悲催的人生时,谁知这时脑海里突然出现了一个天庭任务系统。仿佛救星般降临。本以为以后将是船到桥头自然直逆袭般的神话人生,却不料这世界套路太深,逆袭的梦想却变成了逗比的开始!
  • 柚子的酥饼

    柚子的酥饼

    你和我,她和他,阳光正好,微风不燥,小剧场不见不散哦,这个夏天,甜甜的恋爱也是属于你哦
  • 刀龙传奇

    刀龙传奇

    长暗皇说到这里挥动六臂无数诛神之光的红色光线飞向下方“这是最后的礼物!”看到天空无数诛神之光的攻击,刚经历大战已经真元所剩无几的天之境高手此时根本已无力抵御,众人回身看向此时正在全力突破的黑耀,相互点了点头像是彼此达成共识!只见众位天之境高手全部围住了黑耀,纷纷运转自己残余的力量张开一道护身结界“既然这道攻击我们已经避无可避!那么我们现在唯一能做的就是保住这人间的唯一希望!”
  • 红楼之白魔法神贾珠

    红楼之白魔法神贾珠

    尼斯大陆十项全能的白魔法圣封神之时出了岔子,成了《红楼梦》里那个最有前途却早逝的贾珠的故事。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 穿越之腹黑帝王俏皮妃

    穿越之腹黑帝王俏皮妃

    她是二十一世纪的一个花季少女,调皮可爱,典型的吃货加宅女一枚。阴差阳错之下,在睡梦中穿越,醒来之后发现自己穿越到了一个架空的年代,成为将军府的三小姐,过着舒适的米虫生活。直到有一天,一道选秀的圣旨打破了她平静的米虫生活。他是一国之君,励精图治,宽厚仁慈,在温文儒雅的面具下隐藏着腹黑狡诈的另一面;当新时代的米虫宅女遇到腹黑狡诈的皇帝,他们之间会有什么故事发生呢?【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 如果医生免疫力低下

    如果医生免疫力低下

    本书介绍了免疫力如何决定人体健康,提醒人们关注免疫力下降的身体信号,让人们通过打疫苗和给器官排毒等给免疫系统积极正面的影响,引导人们从饮食、睡眠、运动和心理四方面入手,向细节要效果,掌握生活中有效提升免疫力的窍门,从而构筑均衡免疫力。
  • 喂,把初吻还给我

    喂,把初吻还给我

    你见过那种看上去长的清纯可人却突然跟你来一句:“喂,帅哥,你眼睫毛那么长是用的什么牌子的睫毛膏?”的古灵精怪女孩吗?咱们的女主人公王小舒就是这样一个在家乖乖女,在学校让老师哭笑不得迷糊女生,听听名字:王小舒,多么可爱又纤瘦的女孩子啊,可惜那也只能在她的名字里感觉到了。还有就是在她的邻家哥哥和家人的面前,从小暗恋邻家哥哥,并把自己的初吻作为礼物送给他,不想却被“斯文败类”呼延东夺了去。
  • 宠着甜甜的她

    宠着甜甜的她

    【红袖读书征文参赛作品】冷墨衍:“宝贝,你要快点长大”。冷墨萱:“衍哥哥,我已经长大了”。冷墨衍:“不,只要哥哥现在还不能吃掉你,你就不算长大”。冷墨萱:“……”,这个话题需要跳过。冷墨衍,这个无所不能的男人,所求所想,不过也只是他的宝贝罢了!1V1,绝宠文,无虐,更新稳定,欢迎跳坑!
  • 做事重选择 做人轻得失

    做事重选择 做人轻得失

    在现实生活中,许多事情都离不开选择,谁也不能例外。比如,大学毕业后是继续深造还是工作,打工还是自主创业,结婚还是不结婚……人们无时无刻不在面临着选择。选择对每个人来说都是非常重要的,选对了可能事半功倍,选错了可能就会白白浪费时间和精力。人们都渴望在每件事情上都做出明智的选择,拥有完美的结果,然而对于普通人来说,要想把所有的事情都做到尽善尽美并非易事,人们在获得成功的道路上,必然会经历一些失败。因此,人们在懂得做事智慧的同时,还需要掌握做人的哲学——放下得失心。本书将从有选择地做事和放下得失心两个方面进行阐述,旨在带给读者最为实用的为人处世的方法和智慧。