Page:Arthur Stringer - The Hand of Peril.djvu/156



was silence for a few moments before the deeper-toned voice of Maura Lambert spoke again. "You are going to make this man marry you?" she repeated with a note of incredulity.

"Sure," was Cherry's airy reply. "Is that any worse than bein' a shover for a run-down gang that dasen't stick a head out o' the shell without havin' a federal slooth starin' it in the eye?"

"I fancy that federal sleuth will be out of the service before we are much older," was Maura Lambert's reply.

"Well, I can't live on promises. I've got my chance with Uncle Updyke, an' I'm goin' to take it. An' he's no piker. Why, the first thing he does is to stow a bond-safe in under the stairs as big as a movin' van. I ain't the rubberin' kind, but I would like to know how much junk he's got in that strong-box o' his. An' that ol' guy's got a Japanese valet who can talk in seven diffrent languidges! An' me still wrestlin' with stage-English an' goin' to the mat with the broad A's!"

"Sadie, why should a Mackinaw lumberman have a valet who can speak seven different languages?" demanded Maura Lambert.

"Dearie, don't worry about Uncle Updyke. I'm the down an' outer in this deal; an' that's why I got