"Help and decent fairness are needed; not charity. What"s your paper, by the way?"
"The "Clarion.""
"Oh!" said the other, in an altered tone. "I shouldn"t suppose that the "Clarion" would go in much for any kind of reform."
"Do you read it?"
"No. But I know Dr. Surtaine."
"Dr. Surtaine doesn"t own the "Clarion." I do."
"You"re Harrington Surtaine? I thought I had seen you somewhere before.
But you said you were a reporter."
"Pardon me, I didn"t. Mrs. Breen said that. However, it"s true; I"m doing a bit of reporting on this case. And I"m going to do some writing on it before I"m through."
"As for Dr. Surtaine--" began the young clergyman, then checked himself, pondering.
What further he might have had to say was cut off by a startling occurrence. A door on the floor above opened; there was a swift patter of feet, and then from overhead, a long-drawn, terrible cry. Immediately a young girl, her shawl drawn about her face, ran from the darkness into the half-light of the lower hall and would have pa.s.sed between them but that Norman Hale caught her by the arm.
"Lemme go! Lemme go!" she shrieked, pawing at him.
"Quiet," he bade her. "What is it, Emily?"
"Oh, Mr. Hale!" she cried, recognizing him and clutching at his shoulder. "Don"t let it get me!"
"Nothing"s going to hurt you. Tell me about it."
"It"s the Death," she shuddered.
The man"s face changed. "Here?" he said. "In this block?"
"Don"t you go," she besought. "Don"t you go, Mr. Hale. You"ll get it."
"Where is it? Answer me at once."
"First-floor front," sobbed the girl. "Mrs. Schwarz."
"Don"t wait for me," said the minister to Hal. "In fact you"d better leave the place. Good-day."
Thus abruptly discarded from consideration, Hal turned to the fugitive.
"Is some one dead?"
"Not yet."
"Dying, then?"
"As good as. It"s the Death," said the girl with a strong shudder.
"You said that before. What do you mean by the Death?"
"Don"t keep me here talkin"," she shivered. "I wanta go home."
Hal walked along with her, wondering. "I wish you would tell me," he said gently.
"All I know is, they never get well."
"What sort of sickness is it?"
"Search me." The petty slang made a grim medium for the uncertainty of terror which it sought to express. "They"ve had it over in the Rookeries since winter. There ain"t no name for it. They just call it the Death."
"The Rookeries?" said Hal, caught by the word. "Where are they?"
"Don"t you know the Rookeries?" The girl pointed to the long double row of grisly wooden edifices down the street. "Them"s Sadler"s Shacks on this side, and Tammany Barracks on the other. They go all the way around the block."
"You say the sickness has been in there?"
"Yes. Now it"s broken out an" we"ll all get it an" die," she wailed.
A little, squat, dark man hurried past them. He nodded, but did not pause.
"I know him," said Hal. "Who is he?"
"Doc De Vito. He tends to all the cases. But it"s no good. They all die."
"You keep your head," advised Hal. "Don"t be scared. And wash your hands and face thoroughly as soon as you get home."
"A lot o" good that"ll do against the Death," she said scornfully, and left him.
Back at the office, Hal, settling down to write his editorial, put the matter of the Rookeries temporarily out of mind, but made a note to question his father about it.
Milly Neal"s article, touched up and amplified by Hal"s pen, appeared the following morning. The editorial was to be a follow-up in the next day"s paper. Coming down early to put the finishing touches to this, Hal found the article torn out and pasted on a sheet of paper. Across the top of the paper was written in pencil:
"_Clipped from the Clarion; a Deadly Parallel_."
The penciled legend ran across the sheet to include, under its caption a second excerpt, also in "Clarion" print, but of the advertis.e.m.e.nt style:
WANTED--Sewing-girls for simple machine work. Experience not necessary. $10 to $15 a week guaranteed. Apply in person at 14 Manning Street.
THE SEWING AID a.s.sOCIATION.
Below, in the same hand writing was the query:
"_What"s your percentage of the blood-money, Mr. Harrington Surtaine?"_
Hal threw it over to Ellis. "Whose writing is that?" he asked. "It looks familiar to me."
"Max Veltman"s," said Ellis. He took in the meaning of it. "The insolent whelp!" he said.