The Adventures of Jimmie Dale [215]
till he shows up." It was the Skeeter's voice. The Skeeter and his gang--the worst apaches in the city of New York! Professional assassins, death contractors, he had called them--and the lowest bidders! A man's life any time for twenty-five dollars! No, they were not likely to forget the affair of the pushcart man, to forget old Luddy and his diamonds, to forget--the Gray Seal! And they were only the vanguard of what was to come! Some one was working at the lock now. There was one way to stop that. It would not take them long to find out that he WAS there once the door was opened! Better know it with the door SHUT! Jimmie Dale lifted his revolver coolly and fired through the panel. A burst of yells answered the shot; and among them, high above the others, the Magpie's scream: "We got him! We got him! He's dere now!" And then it seemed that pandemonium broke loose--there was a volley of shots, the bullets splintering through the door panels as from a machine gun, so fast they came--and then another rush against the door. Flat on the floor, but well back and to one side, Jimmie Dale fired steadily--again and again. Came screams of pain, yells, and oaths--and they fell back from the door. And now from above, from overhead, came tumult--windows thrown up, the stamp of feet, cries of fright. And from the street, a low, sullen roar. The underworld was gathering fast! Once more the rush upon the door--and Jimmie Dale, a grim, twisted smile upon his lips, emptied his revolver into the panels. Once more they fell back--and then there came the Skeeter's voice, snarling like an infuriated beast: "He'll get de lot of us like dis! Cut it out! Besides, we'll have de bulls down here in a minute--an' he's OUR meat, not theirs. Dey'd be too damned soft wid him--dey'd only send him to de chair. Youse chase upstairs, Mose, an' pass de word to beat it--an' beat it quick. We'll BURN de skunk out--dat's wot. An' de bulls can stand alongside an' watch, if dey likes--but he's our meat." Jimmie Dale did not dare to look at the Tocsin's face. Mechanically he refilled the magazine of his automatic--and lay there, waiting. The roar from the street grew louder. They seemed to be fighting out there, as though an inadequate number of police were trying to disperse a mob--and not succeeding! Pretty soon, with the riot call in, there would probably be a battle--for the Gray Seal! Sublime irony! It was death at the hands of either one! Children whimpered on the stairs outside, men swore, women cried, feet shuffled hurriedly by as the tenement emptied. Occasionally, a pertinent invitation to him to remain where he was, there was a vicious rip through the panel, and the drumming whir of a bullet flying through the room. And then a curious, ominous crackling sound--and then the smell of smoke. Jimmie Dale stood up, his face drawn and haggard. The tenement would go like matchwood, burn like a bonfire, with any kind of a start--and there was no doubt about the start! The Skeeter, the Magpie, and the rest would have seen that it had headway enough to serve their purpose before either firemen or police could thwart them. He, Jimmie Dale, could take his choice: walk out into a bullet, or stay there and--he smiled miserably as his eyes fell upon the pile of Larry the Bat's clothing on the floor. There was no longer need to worry about ITS destruction--the fire would take care of that only too well! And then a low, bitter cry came to his lips, and he clenched his hands. If it were only himself--only himself! He crossed to the Tocsin and caught her in his arms. "Oh, my God--Marie!" he faltered. The cape and hood had fallen from her, and with the hood had fallen the gray-streaked hair of Silver Mag--and now as she smiled at him it was from a face that was very beautiful and very brave and very full of tenderness. And he held her there--and neither spoke. It seeped in under the threshold of the door, it came from everywhere, filling the room--the black, strangling smoke. Outside in the hall all was silence now--save for that crackle of