"Yes, it's I," he said rather feebly.
"I'm down-town, stocking up on some cigars. What's the excitement?"
"Don't ask questions but hustle up here," McDowell fired back. "I've
got the surprise of your life waiting for you!"
Keith heard the receiver at the other end go up with a bang. Something
had happened at the Shack, and McDowell was excited. He went out
puzzled. For some reason he was in no great hurry to reach the top of
the hill. He was beginning to expect things to happen--too many
things--and in the stress of the moment he felt the incongruity of the
friendly box of cigars tucked under his arm. The hardest luck he had
ever run up against had never quite killed his sense of humor, and he
chuckled. His fortunes were indeed at a low ebb when he found a bit of
comfort in hugging a box of cigars still closer.
He could see that every room in the Shack was lighted, when he came to
the crest of the slope, but the shades were drawn. He wondered if
Wallie had pulled down the curtains, or if it was a caution on
McDowell's part against possible espionage. Suspicion made him transfer
the box of cigars to his left arm so that his right was free. Somewhere
in the darkness Conniston's voice was urging him, as it had urged him
up in the cabin on the Barren: "Don't walk into a noose.
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