“AIR GOLD”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 37, 13 February 1937, Page 7

“AIR GOLD”

A THRILLING SERIAL STORY

By

L. W. BROCKMAN

eyes looted up at ntm. There .was gratitude in them. 1 .•an t ■-* . I have been robbed.' she stammered. The* manageress was more* direct. Hie stlmmed the situation in a ew vvnrdsli 'The lady is unable to pay her bin. she says she has been robbed." X The tone was one of frandisbelief. . -Gopd gracious, and to th nk that she njgy be telling you the truth. Jimmy* looked at her murderous->. then Went to pick up the chit that lay between the two women. T’ow'ver. so long as this is settled. »ion’t suppose you will trouble who does the paying.” , He looked up and realised tha. every eje was upon him. There was,, perhaps, admiration here and there, but on the whole Hie looks indicated either amused tolerance or some sort of pity.—pity for a young man unaware of the fact ttiat he was be.ng fooled by a girl who was, probabl), a past master at the game. lie felt hot and uncomfortable, and was painfully aware that his tan did not hide his blushes. He called for his own bill, settled both, then turned again to the girl, who meanwhile had been gathering together her few belongings and preparing to escape. ** Come along." he said gruffly, “let’s get out of here.” At the ornate swing doors he turned. The ejes that had been boring into his back immediately dropped. Probably the occupants of restaurant* were not so interested as Jimmy, with the imagination of youth, believed. This did not stop the young man from offering the girl a protecting arm. however. nor lessen his desire to face about again and to shout his very uncomplimentary opinion of them. For a few hundred yards they walked together, silent: until passing one of those delightful little backwafers. so dear to the heart of the discerning visitor, Jimmy steered the girl beneath an archway, and to the only unoccupied seat around a piece of turf that would not have disgraced a country mansion. The silence continued, the young man ostensibly watching the gulls, and from time to time stealing sidelong glances at the girl; while she. under rover of making intricate tracings with the toe of her shoe, watched him. She wanted to thank him for what he had done—that would be easy. Unfortunately, her story that her bag had been picked was perfectly true, and she was r stranger tn London and did not possess one penny. She knew he would help her. but the asking was difficult. Perhaps it would be better if she found her way :•» a police station; surely the police Aouhi assist her to get back to her temporary home. They could telephone to confirm her story. At last their eyes met. and a« was Inevitable after such a long silence, they began speaking together. Both paused and apologised, then the girl went on: - I hardly know how to thank you for your kindness." she said. " I have never before been in such a situation. I don't know what I shou.d have done but for you ••That was n thine." J mmy stammered. He was r.o . nger posing and be was blushing eash;. The 01-i lady in the rest rant 5 s a bit fierce if i had known v : at the ‘-ouble was n before I <?'»:'•! r ' * •'■e left you sj “1 don’t to nk we ran blame her too muck. the a'-'. went on. “I was the on : person who knew that I was nnt l; >ng. >he was only doing her job.” •• Yrs, and making herself objectionable about it. Anybody could have seen ?ou were telling the truth. I knew.’’ She smiled. Jimmy thought he could gaze at those misty, violet ryes for ever, and ask n » more of life. ’• Thank you,” she answered simply. “ Now. 1 am airaid ...” " No. don’t say it." he interrupted hurried :. * I was an ass not to think of if before. You . . . you're broke, of course.’’ He looked around swiftly, then drew from his wallet a pound note. and. embarrassed as he had never been before, thrust it Into her hand. "Wil! that be enough?” he asked unnecessarily. “Of course. \ few coppers for a fare will be enough. You must let •ne have your address, so that I can return this to x»u.’’ Jimrny demurred. but then another thought struck him. He was not anxious for the return of the money, but he did want to see more of this girl with the wonderful eyes. He decided to give her his home address. If all went welt with his mission he would not stay in London, if something went awry her letters could scarcely be of much use to him. This delicate business concluded 1 'he two lapsed into silence once again ' . irnmy was completely tongue-tied he had never before met a girl quit; like the one at hls side. At last sh« glanced at her wrist watch, gave 1 little cry of alarm, and rose. “ I Have never known time to fly sc quickly. I must hurry." she said, ami Jimmy rose to pilot her to a nearb\ underground station. At the ticket barrier they looked al e«ch other a little foolishly, then sh? held out her hand, frankly. “ Goodbye, and thank you so much.” Then she turned and was gone. She was blushing now. but Jimmy did no’ see. He was thinking nf somethins else; he had nnffeed her destination It was Hampstead. Two hours late« he entered a train al another station Ha also was bound for Hampstead. CHAPTER 11. Jlmffiy Keen Has a Busy Night. Morell Someiuen was something of a big noise in the larger world. In his own suburb he was r very important man indeed. Jimmy Keen knew file house quite wpll, he had known it before he went abroad, and liis only fear was that the building 30001 might have spoilt its isolation. His fears were soon dispelled when, ilier he had slunk from the lights of

111? streets, he found himself on the "net road be had seen tn his drea,n ; ever since his resolve had been made. <nnierbells house stood "e ll h from the road in a spacious » - vvoode.t ground, and "as one of the most imposing residences in the neighbourhood. \ broad gravel drive led from the road and wound along: a Splendid avenue ot beeches to a ver. ornate portal. , . Jimmv entered by a small " gate and slid into the shadow of the trees and after reconnoitering carefull'- followed the drive. He mig.n have.’ struck straight towards he house, but in addition to the fact ina. such a course would have made 1-. necessary for him *o cross the open more than once, there was also inc risk that he might lose hls direction, and he was anxious that hls way oi escape was open. Among Hie many things he had learned abroad was how to move silently, and the great value of patience. He moved swiftly, but without undue baste, and made scarcel> •’ sound. Once he stopped suddenly and froze into the shadow of a tree as he heard footsteps on the gravel. A man passed within a few' }arils 0 him. end his momentary fear that it might be Somerbell, leaving the house was dispelled as a lighter background revealed a slight figure hurrying towards the gate.

There was something strangely familiar about the figure, but the light was bad and deceptive, and Jimmy, not particularly interested, decided tha. it was somebody he had met when lie had known Somerbell before going abroad. There was one other alarm before he came within about flft.' yards of hls objective. A dog barked somewhere at the back of the house, and be mentally noted this possible complication when the time to escape came.

■He had not made a definite plan 01 action. There was. he knew, a strip of open lawn, running right up to Ih< flower beds that flanked the frencii windows, and unless there had been alterations, crazy stone steps ]ed down Io the lawn from the windows themselves. He had only visited the house on two occasions, when arrangements were being made for him to take up Somerbell’s offer, but hls host had be*n very attentive, and had shown him over the little estate. The arrangements for the journey, too. had been made In a large room that opened on to the lawn, and the young man had assumed that this was the great man's study or business room. Now. as he crouched in the shadow' on the edge of the grass, he realised that he bad unconsciously made hi> plans on the assumption that he would be able to enter the windows and confront h.’s enemy. Alternately, then was nothing he could do but to g boldly and confront his enemy. Alternately, there was nothing he could do but to go boldly to the front door and demand to see Somerbell. This move would damn ad hopes of escaping the consequences of his deed, bu even this thought did not deter him although he was already in a far Ipsfatalistic frame of mind than he hac been when thousands of miles of ser had rolled between him and the Hampstead house. Unconsciously the gir had done much to weaken his resolve, but she had not turned Idm from lib desire for revenge nor his intentioi 'o c ave his sisters from SOmerbell.

There were lights in several of th< ground fl'*,or windows, but the curtains were drawn, and from hls hiding place he had no hope of seeing what was going on Inside. He decided that it was high time he made a closei inspection of the premises, and sc crouched low and sprinted across the dangerous open to the shade offered by the wall. He paused for a few minutes to be sure that he had not been observe*!, then began to creep along to the windows. The first room he reached was quite dirk, and although he tried patiently. the catch resisted his efforts tu turn it back, and he went on to where a thin pcn<i of l : ght and a faint, nols. of movement evidence the fact that the room was occupied. The night was warm and still, and Jimmy did not suspect a trap vvhei: he found the window ajar. Praying that there would be no squeak/ hr pushed back the door slowly ’and stepped into the recess. He bent down and peered into th( room, and his heart leapt as he recognised Immediately that, he was in th: very room lie sought, and that beneath the table there was plainh visible the lower half of the man hi ha«l come to kill. Jimmy could not see above th; table, but there were sounds that ii« dicated that, his quarry was vvritlnbusily. There were two possildmeans nf approach open to the jounr man. Up could stand up, throw* ope; the curtains, and with his revolve; presented at Somerbell’s ample paunch' make himself known. After that li< would lock all doors and have a heart-to-heart talk with Morell before h killed him. Alternately, he could crawl Info th room, and after surprising Somerbell he would proceed In much the sam manner. There were objeclions io hoi’ schemes, in lhe first there was i-hanee that somebody outside tin house might see him against the ligli of lhe room as he opened the curtains. and tn the second there was : grave risk that Somerbell Would sc, or hear him. and white he was on th' door would have met him st a disadvantage. The big man w.is silling al rig’i angles to Jimmy's line or approach ami lhe young man decided fhal, th, risk of discovery was less if ] 1( crawled Into the room. Gun in hand, he began In pdg. throuch the curtains, disturbing them as little as possible; but he was les.than half-way through, his eves flxec mi the man at the table, apparently quite unaware of hls approach, wher ‘ crushing weight descended upon his neck and the hand that held the revolver was pinned beneath a heavv foot. vTo be con Ilnur t-fX