Dan and the Death-Cell Bluff

Last of all the young man turned to his father. “Hello, Dad,” he said tonelessly.

The old man winced. “Are you ready to come home now, Gene?” he asked.

In a careless tone Gene said, “I rather thought I’d get married instead.”

Martin Robinson smiled eagerly. “Your wife will always be as welcome as you are, son.”

Watching, Dan Fancy’s stomach sickened in sympathy for the lonely old man. He turned to Adrian Fact.

“Mr. Robinson’s check clear through yet, Ade?”

The little man glanced at him in surprise and nodded. Dan directed his next question to Adele Hudson.

“You don’t think it would be unfair to take advantage of a young man who wasn’t in death row, do you, Adele?”

Puzzled, she asked, “What do you mean?”

“Just this.”

Raising one large palm, he covered the face of Eugene Robinson with it and pushed. The young man staggered backward, tripped over a hedge and sat in the dust with a thump. Swinging Adele up in his arms like a baby, Dan strode toward the taxi which had brought him and Adrian to the prison.

“What I want with a woman stupid enough to fall for a twerp like that is beyond me,” he growled. “But maybe eventually I can train some sense into your head.”

He stopped to begin the training.

“Dan!” she squealed. “Kissing in public! What will Eugene think?”