CHAPTER IX
GUNS PLAY
IT was a matter of inches, now. Cliff knew that the corner of the table would be the meeting point. The man who was threatening him was cautious.
Cliff divined the fellow’s plan. He intended to peer around the corner of the table; to spot Cliff’s form against the light that trickled through the side door and to end it all with one shot.
So Cliff waited for that movement. He was ready to spring his surprise attack the moment that the gangster made his presence known!
The moment came. A head came cautiously into view. Cliff saw the dull gleam of an eye. Instantly his hands shot forward for the man’s neck.
He caught it and heard a gurgle as his victim tried to draw away. The man’s body sprawled upon the floor, writhing like the cobra when the teeth of the mongoose are in its neck.
Cliff swung forward to stop that moving body. An overturned chair would be the signal for a mass attack from the gangsters in the other room.
The man’s right hand was pinned beneath Cliff’s body. In moving forward, Cliff released the hand, but still pinned the arm. In a split-second he realized his mistake.
His opponent was losing consciousness, but he had recovered from the surprise which had accompanied the attack. The man had dropped his automatic, but somehow his clutching fingers managed to grip it as his hand was freed. A cannonlike report resounded through the room! The overpowered man had fired!