Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 124, No. 3 — page 88: what you’re looking at

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

462 ment become an enemy. He pushed back his chair, and backed from the room with his hands dropped to the butts of his guns, and through the rest of the day nothing could induce him to leave his room, until the supper-hour. Ht was Mother Martha whe finally brought him down. The day of self-imprisonment had changed hm. He came down with a soft and cautious step, like some beast of prey, and he fixed on Ugly Joe, who passed hm, a curious stare. Joe said afterward that he thought for an instant that Jack Tucker had lost his mind. At any rate, the gun-fighter went down quite quietly to the dining-room and ac- cepted the chair which Mother Martha pulled back for him, and ate the food she placed before him. No one but Mother Martha is responsi- ble for the story of what followed in the next few minutes; but the word of Mother Martha, hitherto, has been more easily _ passed than current gold. She was much worried about Tucker, she said, for when a man shuts himself up with a worry or a fear he’s very apt to lose his mind. It was for that reason that she per- suaded him to come down to the dining-| room. The man was apparently in a panic of wild, soul-consuming fear. Not the ‘sort of fear that makes men run, but the kind that makes them more dangerous than maniacs. She tried to encourage him at first, teH- ing him that he was afraid of nothing. She assured him, finally, that the Whisperer had not a reason to injure him any more than the outlaw-had already injured the other three gunmen. For the bullets which killed: the man Howe had been fired by Mort Lauriston. She had scarcely finished this assurance, when Tucker leaned across the table toward her and ‘said in a ghastly murmur: ‘‘ You fool! D’you think that I’d of told the truth before Goggles, that damned spy of the Whisperer? Nope; this is the way Howe died. He was standing by his claim and Mort and I- rode up, and dismounted. Mort asked him for the mak- ings and while’ Mort was a rolling a cigar- ette, I come behind and stabbed Howe in the back. He dropped, but being”a big man he died hard. While he was lying . ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. there he tokd us that he had a brother who'd kill us both—a brother we couldn't © get away from. Mort laughed at him, pulled out his gun, and shot him three times through the breast. And that’s how he died! But me—4 used the knife first—and by the knife—God knows, but I’m afraid— by the knife the Whisperer 111 kil} me—cold steel—a sharp edge—””’ | And then; according to Mother Martha, she heard the most horrible sound of her hfe, something between a moan and a whis- per, like the sound of a wind, far off and yet near. She could not tell where the sound came from—the open door, the window, or the ceiling above them. It took the shape of a voice—a voiceless voice, which said: “ Jack Tucker, you come next! ”’ Tucker jumped up with a scream and hred two shots through the open door and another through the window. Then he turned and damned Mother Martha, saying this wouldn’t have happened if he’d stayed . in his room. So he ran, cursing and shud- dering, to his room. . Mother Martha had Ugly Joe call in four cow-punchers from the bunk-house and they searched all the vicinity of the house and particularly the sand outside the din- iIng-room window, but not a trace of a man’s foot was revealed by their lanterns It was decided, then, to place a guard over the house throughout the night; the next day they would bring out a posse from Eagles. Four men were posted, one at each corner of the house, and at a distance of about fifty feet, so as to command a full sweep of the surrounding ground. It was a dark night, and for this reason each man had a small fire of mesquite wood. The purpose was not to entrap the Whisperer, but simply to warn him away. Afterward each of the guards swore that he had remained awake and on the alert, not wishing to fall asleep and have a knife slipped between his ribs by 4he Whisperer before he awoke. Each of the four was equally vehement in the defense of his in- divxlual vigilance. But it was known that all four had worked hard@that day, and there were many possibilities that they drowsed beside the fires. ecomiclooolks (CO