beyond him, the head of one who, though in shadow, uncommonly resembled Ekstrom—but Ekstrom as he was in the old days, without his beard.
That picture passed like a flash on a cinema screen.
They were on the sidewalk, and the girl was running toward a taxicab, the only vehicle of its sort in sight, at the curb just above the entrance.
Coatless and bareheaded, Lanyard swung to face the door porter, a towering, brawny animal in livery, self-confident and something more than keen to interfere; but his mouth, opening to utter some sort of protest, shut suddenly without articulation when Lanyard displayed for his benefit a .22 Colt's automatic. And he fell back smartly.
Jerking open the cab door, the girl stumbled into the far corner of the seat. The motor was churning in promising fashion, the chauffeur settling into place at the wheel. Into his hand Lanyard thrust a ten-dollar bill.
"The Knickerbocker," he ordered. "Stop for nobody. If followed steer for the nearest policeman. There'll be no change."
He closed the door sharply, leaned over it, dropped the little pistol into the girl's lap.
"Chances are you won't want that—but you may."
She bent forward quickly, eyes darkly lustrous with alarm, and placed a hand upon his arm.
"But you?"
"It is I whom they want, not you. I won't subject you to the hazard of my company."
Gently Lanyard lifted the hand from his sleeve, brushed it gallantly with his lips, released it.
