Books › Blue Book v057 n02 [1933-06], 1933 › scan 27
Scan 27
Blue Book v057 n02 [1933-06], 1933
48 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Nat went on around the block and back toward the house. Across the street, in a shadow, he saw another man. Well, maybe they'd do some guessing now. He turned in at the Tyler house and started up the stairs, taking out his key. As he opened the door, Ruth came out of the living-room, the violin under her arm.
3"Nat?" she said.
4"Yes."
5"Good night," she said. And for the first time she kissed him—lightly, a sweet sisterly caress; and then she was swiftly, surely mounting the steps. He watched her out of sight, and then turned to find Tyler in the living-room doorway, looking at him with a grave face.
6"It's come again, Nat," Tyler said.
8Nat followed him back into the living-room.
9"You were hardly out the door when she asked for her violin," said Tyler. "I almost called to you. But I didn't want to break the mood. I could see she had that strange compulsion to play. She played only a bar or two, and then stopped." He paused and looked at Nat.
10"Yes?" Nat said.
11"She says the attempt to kill Gordon will be made very soon," Tyler said.
12"Nothing more definite?" asked Nat.
13"Nothing," said Tyler.
14"Should we warn him now?"
15"I don't know," said Tyler. "It's a frightful thing, I suppose, to gamble with a man's life. We'll do all we can for Gordon, despite his attitude. But you know how he is—he wouldn't believe us, unless we had something very definite."
16"Then it's his gamble, not ours," said Nat. "We can only wait, and hope that Ruth will know when the time comes."
17Tyler nodded. He bade Nat good night and went to his room. Nat thought of telephoning Dr. Karasc. But it was late, nearly midnight. And he doubted whether the Doctor would give him any definite advice. No, the thing to do was to be ready. When the time came, they could warn Gordon. If he ignored it—
19He went to his room and prepared to keep a long vigil. He read for hours, doggedly, finishing a novel. Then he rose, yawned, stretched and looked at the time. Ten minutes to four. He'd better get some sleep. He was just taking off his tie when the music began.
21He stopped, his hands still on the tie. His face stared back at him, tensely, from the mirror. Then what he strained for, waited with pounding pulse for, happened. The music stopped suddenly, on a crashing discord. Stopped as it had the night when Zangara the assassin was about to strike!
23Nat flung himself at the door. Tyler was just emerging from his own room. Without a word, the two men ran down the long hallway. Tyler opened the door. It was quite dark. Nat fumbled for the switch. When the lights came on, they saw Ruth standing still in the middle of the floor, her fingers caressing the strings, her face dead white.
25"Thank God you've come!" she said. "Quick! There's so little time. Phone Gordon. There's murder in the air!"
27Nat sprang to the phone, dialed the operator, barked Gordon's private number, urged the utmost speed. Ruth had begun to speak again.
29"Warn him that the assassin is about to strike," she said. "The danger is immediate. It's a matter of minutes at the most. I can feel it…. Death—waiting—waiting—but horribly imminent—dreadfully close!"
31The dark house on the rolling hillside of Westchester slumbered quietly. At the main entrance Cooke, the lean man with the hooked nose, was passing the time of night with Nelson, the roaming sentry. It was five minutes to four.
33The phone at Gordon's bedside jangled. He was awake in an instant. The private wire! He seized it quickly, without bothering to turn on the light.
35"Hello," he said.
36"Mr. Gordon," said an excited voice. "This is Nat Benson."
37"Are you crazy?" barked Gordon. "I thought I told you—"
38The voice interrupted peremptorily:
39"Don't be a fool! I'm trying to warn you. You are in great danger! At any moment you—"
40"Good God, man, let me alone!" Gordon cried angrily. "Can't you understand—"
41Another voice came on the phone, suddenly, tense, vibrant, a girl's voice.
42"Mr. Gordon!" it said. "Look out! Some one is about to fire!"
43Gordon, in a swift reflex motion, flung himself sidewise in the bed. Then, simultaneously, there was a spurt of flame, and the crash of a pistol-shot.
44Ruth, on the other end of the wire, turned a white face toward her father.
45"It's happened," she said dully.
47Don't miss the next installment of this unique story—in the July issue.
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