BOOKS OF MOORE AND COMPANY IN HANDS OF EXPERT
Farther down, aghast, incredulous, she read the name of her husband.
When she reached home, he was already there. Johnny Carmichael and Ellen were with him, both talking at once. They stopped as Joan came bursting in.
"Archie! This can't be true?"
He had risen to go to her. Now he sank back in his chair, nodding.
"I been tellin' him he's got to git out while the gittin's good," muttered Ellen Neal, her language consorting oddly with the tense fear in her face. "Here's plenty of money"—she held out a battered pocket-book. "He can hop on the L. & N. train as it passes Fourth Street. They ain't a minute to waste! The main thing's to git him away before they—take him!"
"She's right!" insisted Johnny Carmichael, stuttering with excitement. "Once he's out of the way, my father'll get everything fixed. He's closeted with Moore now. We've stopped that beastly article in the paper—lots of people won't have seen the first edition. Father's taken on the case—Mrs. Blair, you've got to make Archie wake up!"
But Joan could not speak.
Archie rose to his feet again. He seemed invested with a new, quiet dignity. He put a hand on each of their shoulders.
"I'm not going to run, of course," he said. "Thank you just the same. Now cut along, will you? I want to talk to my wife."