Adventure Magazine Cover — page 105: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Lord of the Stony Rises tnat the opportunity he had been waiting for had come at last. “Yd be after Burdette in a brace of shakes,’’ he declared, ‘“‘but what’s the use? Killing—murder! I’d be stretching a rope in no time. No, I don’t want to do that. I’m a peaceful man when I ain’t sick like this. ’Ard working, too, when I get a square deal. “But I got an idea, see? All I need is a bit of ready cash = “Ah, that!’ sighed Rushton, staring at the ceiling. “Cash—not very much, and you,” he slipped craftily into the use of the second person, “‘you could do Burdette in the eye fair and proper, and make a load of money besides.” “What an optimist you are. How stim- ulating!” murmured Rushton, playing with his cigaret-holder. Mitcham’s eyes almost popped out of his head his anger was so difficult to restrain. It was hard to sit opposite such a little shrimp and talk civilly. Still he persisted: “T’ll tell you, because I likes you, ’ow it can be done. Burdette, ’e thinks ’e owns all the —— country between the Shaw and Cape York. But ’e don’t! Nothing of the sort. ’E’s squatting on about fifty thou- sand acres, more or less, south of the river and ’e thinks ’e’s got a right to fifteen thou- sand more on the north side. That’s where ’e goes wrong. You can look up his title. And what’s more, ’e’s never ’ad a cow north of the Shaw in all the years I was at Cre- dion. All he ’ad to say to ’is neighbors was —‘Keep off!’ and they kep’ off. 3 ‘But supposing we went up there with our minds made up and we ’ad a small herd, then we could camp down on that strip be- tween the Shaw and the Stony Rises. Bur- dette’ll be needing it mighty soon. I ’eard "e was going to buy up a bunch of store cat- tle and fatten ’em up quick now that boo is on at Ballarat. ‘“‘Now d’you see where we fit in? Take out the license right now. Take it out in your own name if you like, I ain’t particu- lar, though t’other way might be better, me knowing all the ropes. That would cover us, and then we’d buy a couple of hundred pig-meaters and boilers, any old thing so long as it could stand on four feet, and dump ’em down on that fifteen thousand acres. Pretty soon old Johnny Burdette would ’ave to buy us out, and we could soak 95 "im good, squeeze ‘Im until ’e ’ollers. It’s a sure thing, Mr. ——” ‘Rushton. Harold Travers Burwell Rush- ton, I’m sorry to say. But you may call me Harold.” ““Har—” the word stuck in Mitcham’s throat and a wave of ruddy color spread over his face and neck. ‘‘Har——” Rushton stared placidly at the ceiling apparently unaware of Mitcham’s intense emotion. “You know,” he remarked. ‘I’m an ex- traordinary fellow. It’s simply amazing the number of people I meet who honor me with their innermost confidences. They unburden themselves so! I’m thinking of writing a book about it all some day. Not so long ago, when I was in Colombo, an aged tea planter——” “Har— Harol - “tea planter told me, after an ac- quaintance of not more than two straight whiskies, that his first wife had died of ptomaine poisoning. He went on to describe his emotional reactions. Didn’t know me from Adam but he was very explicit. He said he could have thrown himself into the grave. Described the brick-lined grave. Described the Episcopalian ritual. Cas- sock and big sturdy boots beneath. Very sad. My tea planter apparently recovered and remarried a month later. Described that too. Then he said I was the most fas- cinating fellow he’d ever met,” Rushton blinked solemnly. ‘He asked me for the loan of five hundred pounds to help him fight a breach of promise suit. You see, his second wife was dead by that time—” “But “Quite. As I say he wanted five hundred pounds. May I add’’—he coiled up into what seemed to be a bundle of arms and legs and cigaret-holder—“‘he did not get the five hundred pounds?” “Oh,”’ said Mitcham, vaguely wonder- ing whether the shrimp was quite as sober- sided as he appeared to be. ‘And what,” inquired Rushton, “leads you to believe that I have money to invest in hazardous enterprises?” “That’s one thing I can fair smell,” grinned Mitcham in his most ingratiating manner. “I can tell a gennelman a mile off and when I saw you I said to myself— ““PIl lay this gennelman won’t turn a deaf ear to such a good scheme just be- cause it comes from a poor man.’ ” Go NOOK 1e@)