02426cam a22003613u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000380011324500230015126400510017430000470022533600260027233700260029833800360032449000650036050000310042550800540045652012230051053400670173365300180180065300250181865300240184383000650186785600700193285600430200299900190204578409UtSlPG20260610134822.0mcr n260607r20261929utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aGardner, Erle Stanley,d1889-197014aThe surprise party 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2026  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from the December 25, 1929 issue of Clues magazine.  aRelease date is 2026-04-10  aPrepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net)  aThe surprise party by Erle Stanley Gardner is a crime fiction short story written in the late 1920s. It follows a lone-wolf gangster known as the High Collar Kid who senses a setup and must outwit an underworld “surprise party.” The piece centers on deception, a honey trap, and a razor-edged battle of nerves on a rain-lashed night.

The High Collar Kid spots trouble as he leaves his rooming house, then roars out of town in a storm, where he encounters a striking young woman walking alone. After he coaxes her into his car, she pulls a gun and forces him to drive—just as a trailing car with Pete Pelton and Smile Dugan closes in to take him for a “ride.” The Kid quietly lifts a rain-damp letter from the woman’s purse, learns her name and hotel, and later bluffs the gunmen that he has already dropped the letter in town where a constable saw, tying them to the plot. Rattled, they pause to “ditch” the girl; in the scuffle the Kid shields her, snatches her hidden gun, shoots Pete, and holds Dugan at bay. He speeds off with the woman and the incriminating note, having turned their trap against them with quick eyes, smooth talk, and a faster draw. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cNew York, NY: Clues, Incorporated, 1929  aShort stories  aCriminals -- Fiction  aThrillers (Fiction) 0aProduced from the December 25, 1929 issue of Clues magazine.4 uhttps://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/luminist/PU/CLU_1929_12_25.pdf40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78409  c119129d119129