第38章

"Get around and watch the saloon back of this, Heeney--there's a way out through there from this joint."Jimmie Dale, divested of every stitch of clothing that he had worn, pulled a disreputable collarless flannel shirt over his head, pulled on a dirty and patched pair of trousers, and slipped into a threadbare and filthy coat.Jimmie Dale was working against seconds.They were at the lower door now.He lifted the oilcloth in the corner of the room, lifted up the loose piece of the flooring, shoved his discarded garments inside, and from a little box that was there smeared the hollow of his hand with some black substance, possessed himself of two little articles, replaced the flooring, replaced the oilcloth, and, in bare feet, stole across the room to the door.Against the door, without a sound, Jimmie Dale placed a chair, and on the chair seat he laid the two little articles he had been carrying in his hand.It was intensely black in the room, but Jimmie Dale needed no light here.From under the bed he pulled out a pair of woolen socks and a pair of congress boots, both as disreputable as the rest of his attire, put them on--and very quietly, softly, cautiously, stretched himself out on the bed.

The officers were at the top of the stairs.A voice barked out:

"Stand guard on this landing, Peters.Higgins, you take the one above.We'll start from the top of the house and work down.Allow no one to pass you.""Yes, sir! Very good, Mr.Kline," was the response.

Kline!--the sharpest man in the United States secret service, she had said.Jimmie Dale's lips set.

"I'm glad I had no shave this morning," said Jimmie Dale grimly to himself.

His fingers were working with the black substance in the hollow of his hand--and the long, slim, tapering fingers, the shapely, well-cared-for hands grew unkempt and grimy, black beneath the finger nails--and a little, too, played its part on the day's growth of beard, a little around the throat and at the nape of the neck, a little across the forehead to meet the locks of straggling and disordered hair.Jimmie Dale wiped the residue from the hollow of his hand on the knee of his trousers--and lay still.

An officer paced outside.Upstairs doors opened and closed.Gruff, harsh tones in commands echoed through the house.The search party descended to the second floor--and again the same sounds were repeated.And then, thumping down the creaking stairs, they stopped before Jimmie Dale's room.Some one tried the door, and, finding it locked, rattled it violently.

"Open the door!" It was Kline's voice,Jimmie Dale's eyes were closed, and he was breathing regularly, though just a little slower than in natural respiration.

"Break it down!" ordered Kline tersely.

There was a rush at it--and it gave.It surged inward, knocked against the chair, upset the latter, something tinkled to the floor--and four officers, with Kline at their head, jumped into the room.

Jimmie Dale never moved.A flashlight played around the room and focused upon him--and then he was shaken roughly--only to fall inertly back on the bed again.

"I guess this is all right, Mr.Kline," said one of the officers.

"It's Larry the Bat, and he's doped to the eyes.There's the stuff on the floor we knocked off the chair.""Light the gas!" directed Kline curtly; and, being obeyed, stooped to the floor and picked up a hypodermic syringe and a small bottle.

He held the bottle to the light, and read the label: LIQUORMORPHINAE."Shake him again!" he commanded.

None too gently, a policeman caught Jimmie Dale by the shoulder and shook him vigorously--again Jimmie Dale, once the other let go his hold, fell back limply on the bed, breathing in that same, slightly slowed way.

"Larry the Bat, eh?" grunted Kline; then, to the officer who had volunteered the information: "Who's Larry the Bat? What is he? And how long have you known him?""I don't know who he is any more than what you can see there for yourself," replied the officer."He's a dope fiend, and I guess a pretty tough case, though we've never had him up for anything.He's lived here ever since I've been on the beat, and that's three years or--""All right!" interrupted Kline crisply."He's no good to us! You say there's an exit from this house into that saloon at the back?""Yes, sir but the fellow, whoever he is, couldn't get away from there.Heeney's been over on guard from the start.""Then he's still inside there," said Kline, clipping off his words.

"We'll search the saloon.Nice night's work this is! One out of the whole gang--and that one with the compliments of the Gray Seal!"The men went out and began to descend the stairs.

"One," said Jimmie Dale to himself, still motionless, still breathing in that slow way so characteristic of the drug."Two.

Three.Four."

The minutes went by--a quarter of an hour--a half hour.Still Jimmie Dale lay there--still motionless--still breathing with slow regularity.His muscles began to cramp, to give him exquisite torture.Around him all was silence--only distant sounds from the street reached him, muffled, and at intervals.Another quarter of an hour passed--an eternity of torment.It seemed to Jimmie Dale, for all his will power, that he could not hold himself in check, that he must move, scream out even in the torture that was passing all endurance.It was silent now, utterly silent--and then out of the silence, just outside his door, a footstep creaked--and a man walked to the stairs and went down.

"Five," said Jimmie Dale to himself."The sharpest man in the United States secret service."And then for the first time Jimmie Dale moved--to wipe away the beads of sweat that had sprung out upon his forehead.