once, the one small, peculiar detail about him that others would not notice till they’d watched him for some minutes.
That was an oddly enlarged vein on his forehead that seemed to move and pulsate with a life of its own, like a slim blue worm.
“We ought to stay away from here,” this man said. “We got to use the joint once in a while for landing a plane. Other times, we ought to keep as far away as possible, or some apple-knocker won’t tumble to the fact that people are using a place supposed to be abandoned.”
“Aw, nobody’s going to find out,” mumbled one of the others. The three men with the leader were all large, bigger than he was, but not very bright-looking.
“We’ll take no chances,” said the man who had first spoken. “Comb over the place, now, and see if anything’s lying around that might show the place has been used recently. Then we’ll beat it, and we won’t come back unless we have to have a place to sneak a plane in at night.”
“We won’t have to do that any more,” growled one of the others. They were fanning out, looking around. “This is about all cleared up, with the girl on ice.”
“It’s not cleared up yet,” said the leader.
The four were prowling around. Only a couple of yards over their heads, The Avenger lay along the bracing beam, like a serpent watching its prey from an overhanging tree branch. He was in plain sight if anyone of them looked up, but there was a good chance that none would. It is amazing how seldom a person’s gaze lifts above eye level, unless something occurs to pull it up.
The biggest of the four, a hulk of a fellow with a scar from ear to jaw on the left side of his face, suddenly swore and lifted something. He was next to the pile of litter carelessly thrown in a corner by the last legitimate users of this hangar.
“Hey!” he said. “Look!”
The other three looked.
“Well,” said the leader, the little vein squirming on his forehead. “So what? You got a hunk of busted rope. What about it?”
“It’s the rope busted by that big rhino we were telling you about. The big guy we caught—along with the old crazy guy—and salted down in the boathouse at Wyler’s farm.”
“I still don’t see what you have to be excited about.”
“I hid this hunk of rope under this rubbish,” said the man. “I’m dead sure of it. Now, I find it on top, in plain sight. I think somebody’s been in here since we left.”
“Yeah?” said another of the men, silent till now. “You’re nuts, Beanie.”
The man with the repulsive, quivering vein in his forehead stared at the last speaker.
“You were watching the joint from the west side of the field, weren’t you?”
“Sure, I was,” said the man.
“Nobody came in?”
“Nobody showed. And I know! You think a guy could get across the whole field, and into this hangar, without me seein’ him?”
“It doesn’t seem likely,” admitted the leader. “I guess you just forgot where you put that rope,” he added to the man called Beanie.
Beanie muttered and mumbled around, but looked uncertain. And up on the beam, the basilisk eyes of The Avenger were like cold jewels.
The man had stuffed the rope into his pocket, along with a couple of cigarette butts that would have showed a prowler that men had been in here lately. The four started toward the door.
“You say this ain’t finished yet?” Beanie said to the leader. “Even with the girl and this Robert Mantis guy safe out of our way.”
“That’s right,” said the leader. The vein in his forehead was going through even more quivering antics. And the cold eyes of The Avenger, lying silent on the beam overhead, watched it closely. Also, those eyes noted a slight tensing of the man’s right arm.
“There’s somebody else poking around in the business,” said this man. And it seemed that his voice was just a little different than it had been a moment before. The four were almost directly under The Avenger, now!
“You
That was an oddly enlarged vein on his forehead that seemed to move and pulsate with a life of its own, like a slim blue worm.
“We ought to stay away from here,” this man said. “We got to use the joint once in a while for landing a plane. Other times, we ought to keep as far away as possible, or some apple-knocker won’t tumble to the fact that people are using a place supposed to be abandoned.”
“Aw, nobody’s going to find out,” mumbled one of the others. The three men with the leader were all large, bigger than he was, but not very bright-looking.
“We’ll take no chances,” said the man who had first spoken. “Comb over the place, now, and see if anything’s lying around that might show the place has been used recently. Then we’ll beat it, and we won’t come back unless we have to have a place to sneak a plane in at night.”
“We won’t have to do that any more,” growled one of the others. They were fanning out, looking around. “This is about all cleared up, with the girl on ice.”
“It’s not cleared up yet,” said the leader.
The four were prowling around. Only a couple of yards over their heads, The Avenger lay along the bracing beam, like a serpent watching its prey from an overhanging tree branch. He was in plain sight if anyone of them looked up, but there was a good chance that none would. It is amazing how seldom a person’s gaze lifts above eye level, unless something occurs to pull it up.
The biggest of the four, a hulk of a fellow with a scar from ear to jaw on the left side of his face, suddenly swore and lifted something. He was next to the pile of litter carelessly thrown in a corner by the last legitimate users of this hangar.
“Hey!” he said. “Look!”
The other three looked.
“Well,” said the leader, the little vein squirming on his forehead. “So what? You got a hunk of busted rope. What about it?”
“It’s the rope busted by that big rhino we were telling you about. The big guy we caught—along with the old crazy guy—and salted down in the boathouse at Wyler’s farm.”
“I still don’t see what you have to be excited about.”
“I hid this hunk of rope under this rubbish,” said the man. “I’m dead sure of it. Now, I find it on top, in plain sight. I think somebody’s been in here since we left.”
“Yeah?” said another of the men, silent till now. “You’re nuts, Beanie.”
The man with the repulsive, quivering vein in his forehead stared at the last speaker.
“You were watching the joint from the west side of the field, weren’t you?”
“Sure, I was,” said the man.
“Nobody came in?”
“Nobody showed. And I know! You think a guy could get across the whole field, and into this hangar, without me seein’ him?”
“It doesn’t seem likely,” admitted the leader. “I guess you just forgot where you put that rope,” he added to the man called Beanie.
Beanie muttered and mumbled around, but looked uncertain. And up on the beam, the basilisk eyes of The Avenger were like cold jewels.
The man had stuffed the rope into his pocket, along with a couple of cigarette butts that would have showed a prowler that men had been in here lately. The four started toward the door.
“You say this ain’t finished yet?” Beanie said to the leader. “Even with the girl and this Robert Mantis guy safe out of our way.”
“That’s right,” said the leader. The vein in his forehead was going through even more quivering antics. And the cold eyes of The Avenger, lying silent on the beam overhead, watched it closely. Also, those eyes noted a slight tensing of the man’s right arm.
“There’s somebody else poking around in the business,” said this man. And it seemed that his voice was just a little different than it had been a moment before. The four were almost directly under The Avenger, now!
“You
Similar Books
