"
"Blackie! It's only you!"
"Thanks, flatterer," simpered Blackie, coming to the
edge of the walk as I stepped from the automobile. "Was
you expectin' the landlady?"
"I don't know just whom I expected. I--I'm nervous,
I think, and you startled me. Dr.Von Gerhard was taken
back for a moment, weren't you, Doctor?"
Von Gerhard laughed ruefully. "Frankly, yes. It is
not early. And visitors at this hour--"
"What in the world is it, Blackie?" I put in. "Don't
tell me that Norberg has been seized with one of his
fiendish inspirations at this time of night."
Blackie struck a match and held it for an instant so
that the flare of it illuminated his face as he lighted
his cigarette. There was no laughter in the deep-set
black eyes.
"What is it Blackie?" I asked again. The horror of
what Von Gerhard had told me made the prospect of any
lesser trial a welcome relief.
"I got t' talk to you for a minute. P'raps Von
Gerhard 'd better hear it, too. I telephoned you an hour
ago. Tried to get you out to the bay. Waited here ever
since. Got a parlor, or somethin', where a guy can
talk?"
I led the way indoors. The first floor seemed
deserted. The bare, unfriendly boarding-house parlor was
unoccupied, and one dim gas jet did duty as illumination.
Pages:
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258