arie hurried across to Murk and fumbled with the cords that bound his
wrists together behind his back. The bonds slipped away, and Murk made
quick work of the one around his ankles. He hurried across the room, got
through the window, and helped the big maid through. Marie led him
toward the street.

"Come right along with me!" she commanded, when they were some distance
from the house.

"Thanks for helpin' me out, but I guess I'll hang around," Murk replied.
"I'm right eager to get a look at the face of the man who was wearing
the mask."

"I supposed you'd want to do that," the big maid told him. "And that's
what I've got orders to keep you from doing. You come along with me!"

Murk got a surprise. Marie gripped his shoulder with her left hand--and
it was no gentle grip. Then he saw that she was holding an automatic
pistol in her right hand.

"There is a taxi at the corner," she informed Murk. "We are going to get
into it and drive back to the city. You may be able to find this house
afterward, but I doubt it."

"Suppose I take a notion not to go?" Murk asked.

"I'm not afraid to shoot," Marie informed him.

"Aw, let me go!" he exclaimed. "You're in wrong in this deal; see? I
tell you that Mr. Prale, my boss, is an all-right man, and you people
are makin' some kind of a mistake."

"I like to see a man stick up for his boss," replied the gigantic Marie.
"And I'm stickin' up for mine right this minute, and she told me to see
that you went to town. Why don't you quit that man Prale and get a real
job with a gentleman? You're not a bad-looking man at all."

Murk felt himself blushing at this unexpected announcement. Praise from
the lips of a woman was something new in his life. He glanced at the
amazon beside him.

"And you're sure some woman!" he said. "And that ain't just nice talk--I
sure mean it! But you ain't got this from the right angle. I've got to
work for Mr. Prale. I'd be a dead one this minute if it wasn't for him.
If I didn't stick by him now, I'd never be able to look at myself in a
shavin' mirror again. You don't want me to be an ungrateful pup, do you?
You see----"

Having directed her attention to another topic for a moment, Murk put
his plan into action. He made a quick lunge forward as he spoke,
springing a bit to one side as he did so, and trying to seize the
automatic and tear it from her grasp.

But the gigantic Marie had been anticipating something like that,
despite Murk's speech and