Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 112: what you’re looking at

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

2: Yd make him git. of him?” ing at the door. “It’s strange—strange,” Angel answered as much to himself as to Thad and Necia. “Well, it’s your land he’s on,” said Thad. “I wouldn’t stand no foolishness from him. You—you ain’t afraid Angel shook his head slowly. ~ “ Joseph,” he muttered only half aloud. ““—-Joseph! It spells power. Jaincoa/ I hate that name.” Thad nodded, and patted Necia’s hand. “So do I,” he said slowly. “I haven’t forgotten. Why, I—I—” and as he paused to find a word he heard something scratch- And as all three of them stared, the door opened and Slippy-foot < etalied into the room. Thad’s eyes bulged. The coyote —_ $topped and looked from one to the other _ of them. Angel, at the window, had thrown up his hand as if to ward off something - evil, and he stood seemingly petrified, fear written upon his face: trembled and drew back. Though no one Even WNecia of them had ever seen Slippy-foot before, = the manner of her entrance chilled their blood. CHAPTER XTi It was ghostly, unreal. Only a range- man. can appreciate the surprise and A COYOTE walking into a ranch house! = nee which successively swept over the two old men and Necia. Before they had recovered, the weird tap, tap, of something = ‘crossing the gravel outside the door reached their ears. The next instant, Grimm, black and sleek, strutted into the room with the mien of an archbishop. Necia heard Angel gasp as he caught his breath. Her grandfather was having an equally hard time of it. Their ap- parent helplessness steadied rather than _ alarmed Necia, and she threw back her head Se ‘bravely as she faced Grimm and Slippy- Grimm. blinked his great gold-rimmed S eyes as he surveyed the room and its oc- -eupants, and the wisdom and shrewdness = — shone in them seemed to picice the ~ his arms. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. petty schemes and secrets of the men before him. Crossing to where Angel stood, he humped his wings and, looking up at the Basque, he deliberately clacked his tongue, and the sound was not unlike a laugh. Angel winced, feeling that the great bird Was peering into his very soul. Grimm con- tinued to regard him solemnly for another three or four seconds. Turning, then, he hopped upon the table. A bread crust caught his wandering gaze and, tearing it into bits, he ate it with rel- ish; but, even as he ate, his eyes roamed continually from Angel to Thad. He had been in the room fully a minute, and in that time no one had spoken. Necia could not but wonder why he never glanced at her, and she could not repress a start when, without warning, he raised his wings and hopped upon her shoulder. At that in- stant some one called: “ Grimm!” The crow cawed audaciously and sailed to the floor and, as he did so, Joseph reached the doorway. For some minutes, they had known he must come, and al- though Grimm and Slippy-foot ‘had pre- pared them for his arrival, they could not take their eyes off him as he stood framed against the night, the wounded lamb in The lamp’s mellow light glint against his tanned cheeks and accentuated the luster of his eyes. A majestic dignity rested upon him as he glanced at each of them in turn. Necia felt it. The serenity which cloaked him made light of his ragged clothes, and the girl, urged by an impulse she little under- stood, took a step toward him. She would have spoken had not her grandfather re- covered his tongue and, brushing her aside, cried out angrily: “State your business!” Joseph’s face retained its placidity. A moment before he had recognized Angel, and though his surprise had been great at finding him here, he had not betrayed it. He properly supposed that the man who addressed him was Thad Taylor and know- — ing him to be, by reputation, an irascible old man, it pleased Joseph to answer him at his own pleasure. ste | have come to you for help,” he see OO = ee