LITMIR.BIZ

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reason for wrath now. He shut off the radio and darted down the stairs, where he found Mr. Moore.

      “Nothey, that thkunk of a Thnoopy Thallon shot Craddock!” Tham cried. “I jutht got it over the radio. There ith a polithe alarm out for the thcoundrel. He heard it, too. And he thneaked away with all my money!”

      “Why, the—” Moore began. But Thubway Tham did not wait to hear him. He had run down to the street and was on his way. He imagined that Sallon would hide in some other place until midnight, the time for his trip over to Jersey. He knew a score of places where Sallon might hide—and he was out to find him.

      Tham could inquire for his man and find the trail, whereas a police officer could not. As Tham fared forth on his quest, his face was white. He breathed deeply, and rage flamed in his eyes. Craddock was shot, and it was as though a brother had been brought down by an assassin’s bullet. The wound was probably not at all dangerous, yet Craddock had endured pain! And the man who had done it also had robbed Tham.

      In robbing a citizen of the underworld who was protecting him, Snoopy Sallon had put himself outside the pale. Now he was entitled to no consideration whatever! Tham could handle him the same as he would a stranger.

      For some three hours, Tham went from place to place, but not a trace did he find of Sallon. However, he did not despair. He knew what he intended doing, and he told himself that he would do it if it took him years.

      Sallon was the larger man, but he was weakened by drugs and he had a “yellow streak.” Fortified with the knowledge that his cause was just, Tham would have twice his usual strength. But he had to find Sallon.

      And then he entered a cigar store that had a billiard and pool room in the rear, a well-known hangout for crooks operated by a “fence.” He whispered to the proprietor.

      “I want to find Thnoopy Thallon,” Tham said, “and I want to find him in a hurry.”

      “Uh-huh!” the other grunted. “I just got the tip a few minutes ago, Tham. The lay is that some pals are to smuggle Snoopy out of town, and he had to change his hideout. That’s all I know about it. He’s afraid that his pals can’t find him. What’d he do?”

      “Plugged a dick,” Tham replied, not mentioning names. “Hith goothe ith cooked unleth he watcheth hith thtep.”

      “All right, Tham. You pass the word to whoever it is that wants to know. Snoopy is hidin’ on the third floor of Burke’s place, down the street. Little room at the back.”

      “Thankth,” said Tham. “I’ll attend to it.”

      Tham exulted as he went forth into the street again. He hurried along it through the throngs. He knew where Burke’s place was located, and he knew how to get to that little room on the third floor.

      On the corner nearest his destination, Thubway Tham came across a detective who knew him. He halted and beckoned the man.

      “You come with me, and you’ll thee thome exthitement,” Tham directed.

      “What’s up?” the suspicious officer asked.

      “I’m goin’ to turn over to you, if I can, a man who ith wanted at headquarterth.”

      “Go away!” the officer said, laughing. “What’s the joke, Tham? You turn up a pal?”

      “He ith no pal of mine! And it ith no joke—thertainly not for him!” Tham declared. “You jutht come along with me.”

      The detective obliged. Tham stopped at the entrance to Burke’s place.

      “You waith right here,” he instructed.

      “Want any help?”

      “No, thir! I want to thay a few well-chothen wordth to thith bird before I turn him over,” said Tham. “You wait right here. It’ll be worth waitin’ for!”

      Thubway Tham spoke the truth. This particular detective was a close friend of Craddock’s. How he would love to get his hands on the man who had shot Craddock down!

      Tham went up the rickety stairs and came to the little office on the second floor, where Burke, a brute of a man who was a character of the underworld, sat at a little desk. He nodded at Tham and grinned. He knew the little pickpocket well.

      “Attaboy, Tham!” said Mr. Burke. “Goin’ to pass up Nosey Moore and come here to live? I’ve got a dandy room on this floor—”

      “Pothibly thome day, but not jutht now,” Tham interrupted. “I come to thee Thnoopy Thallon. I have thertain wordth for hith earth.”

      “Um!” said Mr. Burke. “Friend of his?”

      “Not exactly,” said Tham.

      “I sure hope not, Tham. I don’t like Snoopy any too well. I wouldn’t trust him as far as from here to the corner.”

      “I wouldn’t trutht him ath far ath I could throw a bull by hith tale,” said Tham.

      “But he’s in trouble, so I reckon we’ve got to help him,” Burke said. “He told me that he cracked a crib and that the dicks were hot on his trail.”

      “Then he told you a lie!” Tham declared. “He thhot Detective Craddock for no reathon whatever, jutht for thpite.”

      “Shot Craddock, did he? Craddock’s the whitest dick on the force!”

      “And I wath hidin’ him, not knowin’ what he had done, and when the radio told me, and he knew that I had heard it, he thneaked away. He thtole all my money when he went.”

      “Why, the double-crossin’ skunk!” exclaimed Burke.

      “Tho I am goin’ up and thee him,” said Tham. “And, Burke, if you are a friend of mine, I want you to put on your hat and take a little walk, tho you won’t be here to interfere.”

      “That’s all right with me, Tham,” Burke replied, reaching for his hat. “Don’t wreck my place any more than you can help.”

      Burke disappeared down the stairs. Thubway Tham ascended to the next floor, and there he went slowly along the hall until he came to the little room in the rear. No light was coming beneath the door, but Thubway Tham, listening intently, could hear a man breathing inside.

      Suddenly, Tham knocked, and spoke immediately. “Hurry up! Thallon!”

      He disguised his voice effectually, his rage aiding him to do that. Snoopy Sallon believed that his friends had found him. He unlocked and opened the door, and Thubway Tham thrust him backward and entered the little room.

      “Quick! Turn on that light!” Tham snapped up.

      Sallon obeyed before he realized what he was doing. He beheld confronting him a Thubway Tham he never had seen before, a Tham with indignation and rage blazing in his eyes. The yellow streak in the makeup of Snoopy Sallon predominated in that instant, and he retreated against the wall.

      “You thkunk!” said Thubway Tham, the words mere rage-charged whispers. “You thhot Craddock—”

      “I had to do it to make a getaway, Tham!”

      “That ith a dirty lie! The polithe report thayth that you did it without provocation. And when you heard that come in over the radio you knew what I would do and thay, and tho you thneaked away. And you took my money!”

      “I—I only borrowed it, Tham. I didn’t have a dollar on me, and I have to make a getaway. I meant to send it right back to you. If you want it—”

      “You can bet that I want it!” Tham exploded. “You hand over that coin, and you do it mighty quick!”

      Sallon fumbled quickly in his pockets and handed Tham a bundle of currency.

      “I broke a five gettin’ here in a taxi, Tham, but all the rest is there,” he said.

      Tham pocketed the money, meanwhile not taking his eyes from the face of Snoopy

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