"coffinfortheavenger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepperman Emile C)

A COFFIN FOR THE AVENGER!
by Kenneth Robeson


The Avenger was practically measured for his coffin, with black tulips
as the funeral wreath--but a mongrel dog made things different.


Chapter I
THE BLACK TULIP.

It is not strange that Dick Benson, as he paced impatiently up and down the lobby of
the cozy little hotel, was unaware of the existence of Emma Puglese. For Emma lived
eighty miles away in the heart of one of the slum sections of New York City, and Benson
had never met her.

Yet his fate and hers--and perhaps the fate of a nation--were inextricably bound
together, by threads which the Fates had begun to weave a long time ago.

At the moment, however, Benson's thoughts were far removed from Emma Puglese, whom he
did not even know. They were upon a man named Crawford. He had driven eight miles from New
York with Nellie Gray to meet this George Crawford, and now the man was forty-five minutes
late.

As Benson paced up and down, Nellie Gray, demure in her slim young beauty, stood at the
window looking out at Main Street.

It was a pretty little colonial hotel that Crawford had chosen for his appointment. It
catered mainly to tourists, for Main Street was part of Linden Highway, which ran right
through the town of Postville. But now, with gasoline being rationed, there were hardly
any tourists. There were only two or three patrons in the dining room, and the clerk behind
the desk at the rear was dozing fitfully.

At the window, Nellie Gray kept watch. The hotel was situated right where Main Street
curved. From here the highway ran due west, up a hill into the setting sun. And the road
was as straight as a ruler. To Nellie it looked like a broad ribbon laid carefully up the
side of the hill, disappearing over the top

She brushed the blond hair from her face and said, "I'm hungry, Dick. Why can't we eat
while we wait ? "

"I'm afraid we won't have time," he told her. "I've never known Crawford to be late. If
he isn't here in five minutes, we'll drive up to his estate."

"But he particularly asked you not to. He was insistent when he phoned."

"I know. But I'm afraid something's happened to him."

"He only said his chauffeur had been kidnaped. Why should anyone want to kidnap a