who b&u 110v?r WA&ttH n?r?
a 'rising young psycblatrltt, was
?f police, with a now patient.?Nanco
Belden. a girl who? terrlbl# child
hoodi had left her with^a. dual per
aonaltty. ror which her "saddle nose"
I did not think she was a responsible
? criminal and obtained Hurt's ex
pert testimony in court. Even L*n?
LSa thw <Jocto,'l,v 1
? ? ?. ..."
I -You old weetheart,*'-.Nanco
? ?' x ? jCy--1 -T^T"i"^ T. v _,/t-. i*
corridor . ^toward ttie retittaUon
^l*-4 E ' . ' 5 # > ??* - ' ? jT_
The' matron immediately ieft the
Uttloc&w . Lsnoy s k. band* bag and
tli j Sh b ad
UUKlbGr?"
mat hurrvln ba k t th 1
plained, uaod ^that's ^ against tho
you for shoplifting."
J bun doeno't leave for an hour and
"By an mMM," the generous Lan
I ay agreed. and opened the door.
The girl thanked her fulUngly and
climbed Ul Half way down to
Qreenbraa. her guest said: "I Ujlnk
one^ of ^ your tear Urea la flat.
"I'wM^eglanin* to think ad. tpo.
Ifn bumpy, tent It? Ob, dear, I
Lanny polled up to the aide of fhn
road add tot out, leaving bar hand
:mm w xw**- *
Instantly Her Quest Opened'tt andf
In opened tt, ab
r Nance -had given
In her own hand- I
t and with Lenny
promised eagerly. ' I
;^p t? re^y yow ?
drifted tlte_
red jpie Journey. At" I
Slrl got oat and
sooner bad her
peared behind * J
irt waved to a se
ck of the little ata- .1
In beside, a young I
ilnd the wheri. ^ I
ueried, apparently I
he replied. "Let's
! gp|?||gg$HAPTER. IV J
A RRIVED at the little btmgalOw J
n she occupied In St' %
Wood, Lanny put her car In the
garage, .entered her 'home, :and sat <
down to read Nance Belden'a let*
tor. And when, she failed to find It
she did some of the logical think* 4
tng of which she was So eminently '1
| capable in ;,|fcuaUou*; where her
emotions were - not. being preyed
Iked up on the road
tQle it out of my 1
I got out to look at I
ie muht Rave visited I
got there. She was .1
f damsel, too, now l
a underworld huzay, 1
tless; too, known to
Nance had -no op
aid be the case, so |
rnatiye plan; -What-1
j of human nature
fhe knew; she could ;;
? oh. what n.fiooM |
I Why. ruH^law* J
ily Rm a responsible J
lety and she ton't. i
vouldnt fail to visit A
rlbed me to hereon*
spotted me when I
he main gate and j
onfederate raw me 1
a drove ?. nail about .
an Inch Into my tear Ure-- -simple at
two and two are four. The nail
waa driven, alt tfce way In and the
air waa out before we'd gone a mile.
Oh. dear, dear, dear, what a simple
ton 1 ami I suppose I ought to do
something about this, but then If I
do. how can I explain conduct
tor the prison, ofllcla lit" I
She realised thoroughly now the
extent to whleb Che bad been an ac
cessory before the fact That sly'
minx?telling her she could reed the
letter before mailing It; that If she
did net approve of Us contents she
wae frefr to destroy it That was
the point upon which the susceptible.
Lanny had impaled herself.
"Well, It can't be anything so vary
important,* She decided Anally. "It
couldn't be part of a plan to escape,
because escape from that place la
Impossible. Besides, no woman con
vict has ever succeeded in escap
ing from San Quentin. In all prob
ability it waa Just a private mes
sage to one of her old underworld
{riengg. That girl la too Intelligent
to dream of formatting plans for
eacap* Why, she couldn't get out
of the front gate. 8herd have to
awtm the bay to escape, even If she
succeeded to getting through the
exit from the woman's quarters and
past that suspicious guard In the
little house there."
80 Lgnny made herself a highball
and resolved to dismiss all thought
of the incident She also resolved
to give Nance Belden a piece of her
mind. If and when she decided to
visit her again. And she was not
at all certain she would make Nance
another visit
Two weeks later, while ShejjA
sitting before the fire, readttig, aer
telephone rang and a man's voice
said:
"Is this Miss Rebecca Lannlng?"
"Yes. Who la this?"
"Never mind. You wouldn't know
me If I told yon who I am. rm a
friend of Nance Belden's. Are yon
going to be at home for an boar.
Mite Lannlng 7" the voice pursued.
It was a pleasant enough voice,
Lanny reflected.
"I am, but what business Is that
at yours!"
"Oh, well, If you're going' to he
each a cutnp," tb^. voice rejoined,
"I'll not bother to argue that with
70U over the phone, m come out
Oond-hv " i
1 ? ?' -fitr* - '?
He hung up, leaving Lanny In a
stste of acute mental perturbation,
which did not subside until She
heard her doorbell ringing some ten
minutes later. It subsided them
Her courage always mounted when
there was-an Immediate situation to
face. "Nance Belden's friend," she
decided Instant ljjr,r }
For a moment she considered
telephoning Han McNamara, then
decided the worthy fellow might I
prove an embarrassment. So she
got a pistol frbni; her bureau draw
er?because sba was a practical
soul land dwelt alone. She had pur
chased the pistol as a precaution?
and west .to the door. She cocked
the pistol and took a long breath. I
threw, open the door suddenly and 1
raised her weapon. ^ i; : J
'Tut 'em up," she commanded
harshly. ?
IDon't be silly, Lanny, dear," a
soft voice entreated her wearily.
"It's oniy^:^.; ;\v^V^7:
"Nancy Belden?you little devil."
Lanny almost shouted. "Come lo
here this Instant." .
Nance Belden reeled In and
Lanny closed the door behind her, J
turned the bolt, switched on the
hall light?and screamed.
"Pipe down," Nance commanded,
in that queer, faint, weary voiced *j
'Tm not a. corpse, but Til tell the
world I came mighty close to be
ing one just'before lock-np time
this afternoon. Lanny, dear, I
crashed the gate."
"Well, you'll crash out of Were
In a split second, you little hellion,"
Lanny cried sharpy. "Wet^-aa
dishrag and yonr hair like ' a -
witch's, and covered with blood.
Where are you hurt?"
"Bullet through my left arm*
high up near the shoulder. That
guard could shoot, and he dldt If
my boy- friend hadn't shot back at
him and made him hunt his hole Td
be fishbalt this minute."
"You've :ot to get out of here,
Nance," I ny was terrified. "How
many vis rs have yon had since
you've be In Ran Quentln?"
. "Just y >;tanny."
"The a torltles will look me up
and they' come here Understand?
Tbey'U t ae here?there, they're
on the te hone now. Oh, my good
lord, whi have I done to deserve
thtar
She da ad Into the kitchen and
took donf the telephone receiver.
And alalia masculine voice said:
"Miss ifcecca tanning?"
tanny pntrolled herself. "Yes,**
she said 4lmly. "Who's speaking?"
"Den MNamhra."
"Oh, bio, Dan. How are you?"
,"Fine. pnny. How's yourself?"
"We", f might be dead for all
the Interwt you've taken In me since
you swnwed that good highball
you grafA off me the day you came
to Doctff Burt's office with that
Nance tlden girl." She added
archly?4ou egg I"
Dan Mpamara laughed. "Can I
come ournow?*
?The?y Idea. Of course not rt's
almost ?n o'clock >nnd I'm Just
about twettre Hr, ?
"This? business, tanny. I've got
to see n at once."
?"I dll't know the police were
after m?v :
"The pllce a rent, but the chief
tamy. that Nance Belden es
caped Ipm Ran Quentln late this
aftefooi. She gol to Sen Francisco
all rtgll We know that because
we fouil the speed-boat she crossed
the basn tied up In the yacht har
bor afjarlna. There was blood all
tfter t8 cockpit and bullet holes In
the htm'
"All&f which proves. Dsn, that
God's I tils heaven, and all's well
with ta world. Are you seriously
trying fc recover'the girl and send
ber bA to the penitentiary?"
?TnJiot Td give two of my big
buckAth to see her make a clean
getaw*. Tou know that' Rut the
wardel?naturally. It seems yon
vlsltea Ntfnce two weeks ago and
smugad a letter out for ber and
nalleflt"
"Dflt I give you my word of
honor# neither mailed a letter for
her iv passed It 'to somebody else
to m|L Nor did the girl discuss
with ite any plans for escape. If
she faft) I would-have told the ward
en, lajorder to prevent her escape.
It wAldn't have been kind not to
do M The girl Is mentally irre
sponnle an<\ it would, have oc
curra to me that. In any eiad at
tempt.to escape, a guard might
shooiat her."
"wl, ft guard did, and he hit
her, Abo, But he didn't stop her.:
Her fcutslde gang opened on aim
wltldB Tommy gun from a speed
boa t|off the point, and made him
hunflhls hole. Nance swam out to
thefpat under cover of their pro
tects* Are;. they hauled her;In and
bead It forty-five miles an hour
acrolrSan Quentln bay and beaded
up Award Carqulnez strftlts, while
dayftht lasted. After dark tlie.v
donad their lights and sneaked
back The warden telephoned Cen
tral office here and. gave the alarm.
X wasn't on hand, but of course the
aptu;oii duty had the water front
coveted at once; He b?d two men
at t$e st Francis Yacht c^ub add
they saw a speed-boat sneak in and
across thei little harbor to a" vacant
berth on the Marina side. Before
the cops could hurry across the peo
ple in the boat Jumped out and to a
waking car. The cops followed in
a Alice car as soon, ah they could,
But one of Nance's friends riddled
th^tr front tires Mth machine-gun
bullets and the trail was lost"
"How exciting, pan I"
"Yes, and It will be more excit
ing for yon, Lenny. I got borne
about two minutes ago, and my
timie was ringing. It was central
Qffice trying to report to me. They're
Jnst starting a couple of. dicks out
in a cruiser to watch and see If
Nance tries to make your house,
tmbre a trained nurse. The ward
en's found out that much?matter
of looking you np In the Sad Fran
cisco directory. So he thinks, that
shell head for your house to re
ceive medical Attention. And you
must he a friend of hers?otherwise,
why did you call Upon her?"
"Han," tsald Danny desperately*
"she's herb now I"
"Into your car with her, Dannyj
and heat ty out to my house wltl
her." He gave his address. "Thit'f
the last place on earth the devi
himself would hunt for an escaped
convict"
"I've Just heard a thump and i1
crash In my living room, Dan. I
think she's falnt??d. Telephone l>04>
tor Burt to come to your home-*
that he will have to prohe a Bullet
vqptind and dress It Tell him te
br^ng some whisky and two or thres
hot-water bags, and be on hand
yoiu-self to let me In. I san't leave
herl until I've mopped up any
bloodstains she may hnve left on
the sidewalk and my front steps.
Oood-by." ?
Danny was right. Nance Belden
lay on the floor of the living room
In a faint She picked the girl up
In her strong arms and carried her
down a short flight of stairs that
led from her kitchen to the garsgq
below. She heaved her Into the car,
ran back upstairs, got a wet mop,
and by the light of .the electric lamp
over the front entrance searched for
drops of blooil. She found a few
and followed them to the sidewalk,
eradicating them with vigorous
sweeps of the mop. then dashed
hack into the house. Jammed on her
hat and coat, ran outsldo again,
threw open the garage door and
backed her car out She paused
again, to shut It then swung tip the
street as the half-red lamps of a
police cruising car turned the cor
ner. She swung wide to give It a.,
clear berth, turned the first corner
and spurted. She followed a zig
zag course antir she felt sure she
had thrown the police car off 'her
trail?provided they had become
suspicious and started to follow her;
she turned up a residence street
that she felt reasonably certain
would not be patrolled by traffic
officers at that hour of the night and
speeded up.
DanMcNamara was standing on
the sidewalk in front pf his house
when she drew up. .He reached Into
her cay,*xllfted' Nance Belden out
and rah with her down an alley
alongside the house to' the base
ment entrance, which' he kicked
open. "Lanny followed. Op the
stairs to the .kitchen the big chief
ran, through the kitchen and on to
a rear bedroom. Lanny Jerked a
small rag off the'floor and threw It
on thejred. "Let her bleed on that
.for a.while." she commanded. "No ?
sense in messing this nice clean bed
all up. There must be blood in my
car. Deo. Take a wet towel and
go out and clean it thoroughly,
please,' while' rtn undressing this
poof Iamb. Get me one of your
wife's clean nightgowns.** / -
"Ain't got no wife, Lanny. Use
one of mine**
"Just as good as any. Get It
Who takes care of yon hefe?"
**My mother."
"Can she he trusted?" ,
"I've sent her to the country for
a month." he evaded. "I'm sleep
ing here and eating downtown."' -
"God bless our home. Dan. Clear
out?and watch for Stevle and let
him In." v
.-She ran to the kitchen, turned on
the hot water and set an enameled
Bklllet under the faucet; then re
turned, undressed the girl. In': an
adjoining bathroom ahe found clean
toweta and placed a cold one on her
head. When ahe returned to the
kttchen. the enameled Bklllet was
sitting in the rntdst of. a cloud of
Bteam. so she knew It had been
thoroughly disinfected; she filled ft
with warm water, carried It Into
the room and with a wet towel
mopped the two holes Ip Nance's
arm and examined the wound.
"Missed the bone," she decided.
"Bled like a stuck pig, of course*
piece of her dress probably carried
Into the wound."'.
In the medicine closet, Lanny dis
covered a small bottle of Iodine. So
she donsed the wound with it,
wrapped a cold ?oVv?l around the
girl's shoulder and tucked her Into
bed.
(Continued next week.)