Books › Blue Book v057 n02 [1933-06], 1933 › scan 17
Scan 17
Blue Book v057 n02 [1933-06], 1933
53 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1played, and they would wait, hoping, yet half-fearful that the strange interruption would come. But it did not.
3As weeks went by and spring was in the air, Nat felt both relieved and disappointed. Relieved, for Ruth's sake and her father's, and yet disappointed that there was no further chance to observe that curious manifestation of her power….
5He need not have been disappointed, for the long peaceful interlude was to come to an abrupt and startling end.
7It was on a night in late April, a soft and balmy night. The three of them had taken a long drive in one of the open cars, with Nat at the wheel and Ruth and her father beside him in the roomy front seat. They were proceeding at a leisurely pace along a smooth road in Westchester.
9And despite the warmth of the air, Ruth began to shake, as if suffering from a chill. Her father felt her trembling at his side, and so did Nat. He stopped the car, and Tyler got a warm robe from the rear of the car and covered her with it. Still she shivered, silently, and Nat hurried for home.
11WHEN they reached the house, Ruth, looking pale and drawn, went to her violin, without stopping to take off her coat. Tyler, in a quick movement, seized the instrument, held it away. She groped for it in the familiar place.
13"You're tired, dear," her father protested. "Hadn't you better go to bed?"
15But the girl shook her head, strangely, a little impatiently.
17"My violin," she said. "Give it to me!"
19Tyler hesitated, looking at Nat, who nodded his head.
21"I—I have to play," the girl said, insistently.
23At another nod from Nat, Tyler reluctantly handed her the violin. She tucked it under her chin, drew the bow across the strings, tentatively. Tyler, a worried frown on his face, stared at her apprehensively.
25She hesitated a fraction of a moment. Then she began to play. The healthy color drained from her face, leaving only the two vivid spots over her cheek-bones. A few bars, and she stopped, stood stiff, rigid, her fingers on the strings. Nat leaned forward intently. Her lips moved.
27It had come again!
29"Murder," she whispered. And then, clearly: "There's murder in the air!"
31CHAPTER III
32THE MAN MARKED FOR DEATH
34"THERE'S murder in the air!" Ruth said, and for the first time since the vague dread had first made itself known in her mind, she knew what she must do. All at once, as if a shutter had been opened in her mind, to admit a flood of light, she was no longer afraid of her power. She welcomed it, determined to use it to its utmost.
36For a fraction of a second she felt the strained nerves of her father and of Nat. Then she shut them out, completely. She did not even hear her father's sharp exclamation, nor Nat's warning, "Shhh!" She did not know that Nat had seized her father's arm, held him back from her. She moved her fingers slightly on the strings, waited, tense, nerves taut, every faculty sharp and clear.
38It was very plain, that feeling: Murder in the air! As plain as it had been the night Zangara had made his wild attempt on the life of Mr. Roosevelt. But now her mind was much more aware of its import. She stood rigid, waiting—waiting for the words which would tell her who was in danger.
40Then they began to come: Death…. Death and hate…. Vengeance…. Fear…. Lust for gain…. Her nerves were quiveringly on the qui vive for the name. It must come now…. It had to come! But there was some barrier, some disturbance. She tried to shut it out. But it intruded, exasperatingly.
42SHE heard her father's voice: "Ruth! Ruth! For God's sake what is it?" And Nat's frantic: "Mr. Tyler! Let her alone! Please!" Then her father's arms were about her; and the thing like a shutter came back over her mind.
44"Ruth," her father was saying, intensely, "who is it? Who's in danger?" She felt him shake her. "You've got to know, Ruth!"
46She gave a shuddering moan.
48"Oh, I don't know. I don't know!" she cried.
50"Ruth," her father said. "Try!"
52"It's no use now—no use," she said helplessly. Then she heard Nat's voice, bitter and exasperated: "You've spoiled everything, Mr. Tyler! My God, are you insane? Let the girl alone!" But it was too late. Her father's arms relaxed. She stood alone and free, heard him muttering, half-apologetically, but it was too late now.
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