«Yes, Henry, now that you mention it, I am sure it was,» I said sadly.
«There you are, kid. The bums ain’t even left town. They are sitting back there beside their plush-lined spittoons giving you the big razzoo. And tomorrow this guy calls you again on the phone and says O.K. so far, but they had to be careful and they will try again tonight maybe out in San Fernando Valley and the price will be upped to ten grand, on account of their extra trouble. I oughta go back there and twist that Gandesi so he would be lookin’ up his left pants leg.»
«Well, Henry,» I said, «after all, I did not do exactly what they told me to, because you insisted on coming with me. And perhaps they are more clever than you think. So I think the best thing now is to go back to town and hope there will be a chance tomorrow to try again. And you must promise me faithfully not to interfere.»
«Nuts!» Henry said angrily. «Without me along they would take you the way the cat took the canary. You are a sweet guy, Walter, but you don’t know as many answers as Baby Leroy. These guys are thieves and they have a string of marbles that might probably bring them twenty grand with careful handling. They are out for a quick touch, but they will squeeze all they can just the same. I oughta go back to that fat wop Gandesi right now. I could do things to that slob that ain’t been invented yet.»
«Now, Henry, don’t get violent,» I said.
«Haw,» Henry snarled. «Them guys give me an ache in the back of my lap.» He raised his bottle to his lips with his left hand and drank thirstily. His voice came down a few tones and sounded more peaceful. «Better dip the bill, Walter. The party’s a flop.»
«Perhaps you are right, Henry,» I sighed. «I will admit that my stomach has been trembling like an autumn leaf for all of half an hour.»
So I stood up boldly beside him and poured a liberal portion of the fiery liquid down my throat. At once my courage revived. I handed the bottle back to Henry and he placed it carefully down on the running board. He stood beside me dancing the short automatic pistol up and down on the broad palm of his hand.
«I don’t need no tools to handle that bunch. The hell with it.» And with a sweep of his arm he hurled the pistol off among the bushes, where it fell to the ground with a muffled thud. He walked away from the car and stood with his arms akimbo, looking up at the sky.
I moved over beside him and watched his averted face, insofar as I was able to see it in that dim light. A strange melancholy came over me. In the brief time I had known Henry I had grown very fond of him.
«Well, Henry,» I said at last, «what is the next move?»
«Beat it on home, I guess,» he said slowly and mournfully. «And get good and drunk.» He doubled his hands into fists and shook them slowly. Then he turned to face me. «Yeah,» he said. «Nothing else to do. Beat it on home, kid, is all that is left to us.»
«Not quite yet, Henry,» I said softly.
I took my right hand out of my pocket. I have large hands. In my right hand nestled the roll of wrapped quarters which I had obtained at the bank that morning. My hand made a large fist around them.
«Good night, Henry,» I said quietly, and swung my fist with all the weight of my arm and body. «You had two strikes on me, Henry,» I said. «The big one is still left.»
But Henry was not listening to me. My fist with the wrapped weight of metal inside it had caught him fairly and squarely on the point of his jaw. His legs became boneless and he pitched straight forward, brushing my sleeve as he fell. I stepped quickly out of his way.
Henry Eichelberger lay motionless on the ground, as limp as a rubber glove.
I looked down at him a little sadly, waiting for him to stir, but he did not move a muscle. He lay inert, completely unconscious. I dropped the roll of quarters back into my pocket, bent over him, searched him thoroughly, moving him around like a sack of meal, but it was a long time before I found the pearls. They were twined around his ankle inside his left sock.
«Well, Henry,» I said, speaking to him for the last time, although he could not hear me, «you are a gentleman, even if you are a thief. You could have taken the money a dozen times this afternoon and given me nothing. You could have taken it a little while ago when you had the gun in your hand, but even that repelled you. You threw the gun away and we were man to man, far from help, far from interference. And even then you hesitated, Henry. In fact, Henry, I think for a successful thief you hesitated just a little too long. But as a man of sporting feelings I can only think the more highly of you. Goodbye, Henry, and good luck.»
I took my wallet out and withdrew a one-hundred-dollar bill and placed it carefully in the pocket where I had seen Henry put his money. Then I went back to the car and took a drink out of the whiskey bottle and corked it firmly and laid it beside him, convenient to his right hand.
I felt sure that when he awakened he would need it.
EIGHT
It was past ten o’clock when I returned home to my apartment, but I at once went to the telephone and called Ellen Macintosh. «Darling!» I cried. «I have the pearls.»
I caught the sound of her indrawn breath over the wire. «Oh darling,» she said tensely and excitedly, «and you are not hurt? They did not hurt you, darling? They just took the money and let you go?»
«There were no ‘they,’ darling,» I said proudly. «I still have Mr. Gallemore’s money intact. There was only Henry.»
«Henry!» she cried in a very strange voice. «But I thought — Come over here at once, Walter Gage, and tell me —»
«I have whiskey on my breath, Ellen.»
«Darling! I’m sure you needed it. Come at once.»
So once more I went down to the street and hurried to Carondelet Park and in no time at all was at the Penruddock residence. Ellen came out on the porch to meet me and we talked there quietly in the dark, holding hands, for the household had gone to bed. As simple as I could I told her my story.
«But darling,» she said at last, «how did you know it was Henry? I thought Henry was your friend. And this other voice on the telephone —»
«Henry was my friend,» I said a little sadly, «and that is what destroyed him. As to the voice on the telephone, that was a small matter and easily arranged. Henry was away from me a number of times to arrange it. There was just one small point that gave me thought. After I gave Gandesi my private card with the name of my apartment house scribbled upon it, it was necessary for Henry to communicate to his confederate that we had seen Gandesi and given him my name and address. For of course when I had this foolish, or perhaps not so very foolish idea of visiting some well-known underworld character in order to send a message that we would buy back the pearls, this was Henry’s opportunity to make me think the telephone message came as a result of our talking to Gandesi, and telling him our difficulty. But since the first call came to me at my apartment before Henry had had a chance to inform his confederate of our meeting with Gandesi, it was obvious that a trick had been employed.
«Then I recalled that a car had bumped into us from behind and Henry had gone back to abuse the driver. And of course the bumping was deliberate, and Henry had made the opportunity for it on purpose, and his confederate was in the car. So Henry, while pretending to shout at him, was able to convey the necessary information.»
«But, Walter,» Ellen said, having listened to this explanation a little impatiently, «that is a very small matter. What I really want to know is how you decided that Henry had the pearls at all.»