Harold MacGrath

“ In all his life he had never broken his word. The word of Ingraham was known from California to New York, among film people, as the one unbreakable thing in the movie world. In a burst of loyalty he had added his word to his signature; and now he was definitely tied down for two years. The greatest war the world had ever known, and Dick Ingraham directing triangle stuff, cowboy stuff, murder serials, sob-stuff and saccharine piffle! ”

“ A man would be a fool to walk blindly into the unknown, even if he was red-blooded, simply at the nod of a woman who has temporarily intrigued him.”
“Temporarily?” thought Ingraham. “Well, perhaps.” Then he said:
“What are we to do, rescue a munitions-plant?”
“No. At the end of the road—for we must cross into Jersey—there is a secret German wireless. Why I have not notified the Department of Justice, why I have not sought my friends, I promise to explain all in good time. Will you accept the adventure, or shall I drop you here and continue my quest for a man?” ”

“ Illustration: “Have you a brother?” asked Ingraham suddenly. “No.” “A man friend who is strong and lively?” “Perhaps!” “Well, send him out. I'll take the licking without a whimper.”
“And if he surrenders, you will promise not to interfere with his wireless?”
“Oh, that's where you come in. That will be your reward for helping me out.”
“I see. What you want of me is to stand guard while you argue or open the safe.”
“Exactly. He will not necessarily see you—should he be awake. All you are to do is: to stand outside the window and watch, see that he does not try to take me prisoner. ”

“ Ingraham turned his head—caught off his guard. He hadn't meant to look around at all. His intention had been to dally for a while, rise and leave the restaurant without so much as a casual glance behind. That would teach this young woman that the ruse was played out.
As I have remarked, Ingraham's eyes were the color of slate. Interest had a way of instantly turning them into fire-opals, burning, flashing fire-opals. It was a hard. eye to meet and hold up against. ”

“ I am in desperate need of a man whom I feel I can trust—a man I do not know. I have friends; but none of my friends must know what takes place to-night..... Do you love your country?”
“Yes.” Ingraham smiled in the dark. ”

“ It was the girl's cue to seize the throttle and roar away, out of the danger-zone. Instead she sat staring at the slumped body—stonily, as if, in the distance somewhere, Perseus was wigwagging with Medusa's head. This tableau gave the madman in the cornfield a second opportunity. The automatic barked again. A corner of the wind-shield—beyond Ingraham's head—tinkled to the footboard. This patent evidence of the reality of the thing energized the girl. She threw on the power, and the car rolled out of the lane onto the highway. There she let the engine have all the power it had. ”

“ He didn't want to be around here when Berger came back from his smoke. Somehow he managed to get through the window. Sprawling like a frog, he landed upon straw. Before he was up, she struck the straw beside him. This girl—and Berger! Mentally, Ingraham found himself in a curious kind of fog.
“The stone wall to the dairy! The man on guard by the barn-door cannot see us.” ”

“ The sharp twist of it burned like fire. He heard a voice bark something in German, and he was jerked roughly to his feet. More men! They were running here and there about the grounds, peering behind trees, behind bushes, over the hedges. The girl had slipped away during the scrimmage.
A heavy hand laid hold of Ingraham's coat-collar, and instantly he fell into a dog-trot—of necessity. Years and years ago, when he was a boy, they used to call this peculiar method of ambulation “walking turkey.” There was no let-up in the gait until they had thrust him into an empty box-stall in the stock-barn. ”

“ A couple of days in bed, and he'll be all right. The nurse will be here shortly, and you'll have a whale of a taxi-bill to settle, among other things. You come into town with me.”
“I shall stay here and take care of him.”
“Then there'll be more trouble—worse than bullets. Ellory, you were old enough to know better.”
“I know it. But Nancy was so in earnest I couldn't refuse her. How was I to know that that fool Berger had a grudge against Ingraham? I'm sorry. When Ingraham told Nancy the fellow had kicked him—that should have been her cue to play safe and tell the truth.” ”

“ Put those securities into my pockets. That's the way. Out of the window with you! And keep your hands above your head, All Highest!”
“Fools!” roared Scharfenstein the avuncular. “I don't know who you are, but I do know you'll never leave these grounds to-night.”
Ingraham smiled as he backed toward the window. He reached blindly for the window-sill, touched it, threw a leg over and dropped to the ground. It was always wise to be on the safe side.
“Run!” cried the girl, catching at his sleeve.
Ingraham drew off the trench-coat, balled it and stuffed it down one of the cellar-window pits. ”

“ She stopped the car finally before a building which looked as if four châteaux had been placed one upon the other. Suddenly he realized that she was speaking—for the first time since leaving the restaurant.
“I have plenty of money in my purse,” she was saying. “Had you turned with a smile, I should have recalled the waiter, discovered my purse, paid the check and departed. I am in need this night of a man who can control himself. I might add,” she continued, “that I've had some singular adventures so far this evening. Sometimes men smile in a horrid fashion. ”

“ And when a woman crooks her finger, the average man ducks for the nearest subway. I followed you—played up to the part partly because I was bored, partly because you were the only woman I ever saw I'd follow more than a dozen rods. What was the idea?”
“It was all arranged to humiliate you and make you ridiculous. We picked the cast from various theatrical agencies. We wanted men you did not know. Mr. Ellory told each man exactly what was wanted of him, and the name of the victim. Ellory thought in getting Berger he had done something clever—a real German. ”

“ Then came the sudden and brilliant illumination of the room. Separating the portières stood a man in a dressing-gown—a tall man, broad, powerful and sinister. His gray pompadour and bristling mustache were as patently un-American as the Kaiser's Pickelhaube. ”

“ Twenty minutes later the car took a turn toward the east, and he saw the Atlantic. They followed the coast for about five miles; then the girl drove the car into what looked like a cow-lane, and stopped.
“We leave the car here. The house is in the center of that grove. I know all the approaches. Please follow me. Got the pistol, the battery lamp and the chisel?”
“We'll strike through this cornfield to the rear of the house.”
“What's the chisel for?”
“To pry a window—the one I climb through. Follow, please.” ”

“ Ingraham, for if I remember, that was the name on your card. Please wait here about ten minutes. I must change. And as we shall travel fast, I'll bring down two fur-lined trench-coats.” She got out. “You are not a man who changes his mind?” ”