Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/79



ADIE WIMPEL leaned back in the taxicab with a titter of care-free amusement. That worldly-wise young lady had long since learned to preserve an outward calm during her moments of inward tension. She experienced a desire to powder her nose, but there were reasons, she knew, why it would be better not to open up the hand-bag that lay on her lap. So she merely tittered again.

Her pertly insouciant face seemed to puzzle the man at her side. He studied the azure-lidded eyes and the rouge-brightened lips, studied them with a frank and open curiosity.

"Do you know where you're going?" he finally asked.

"Nope, but I'm on my way," was Sadie's blithely irresponsible reply.

For the second time the man beside her turned and studied her face. "You've certainly got nerve!" he slowly admitted. 67