Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

664 donic mask of evil joy. A dredge master at this hour of the day idling with the off- shift men in the bunkhouse! The cloudy vagueness of Jem’s suspicion condensed into certainty. He dropped carelessly against the door jamb. His thumbs hooked in his belt. On his vest gleamed prominently the badge of his authority. ! “Morning, gents,” he greeted cheerfully. “Welcome, stranger,” Kurtz answered. “Glad to see you—honestly, we’re tickled to death;” which Jem was quite ready to believe. ““ Does there happen t’ be a gent here by the name of Herb Hoskins?” the new dep- uty sheriff inquired. A young man, his face alight with inso- lent braggadocio, seated in the place of prominence across the table from Kurtz, spoke up: “ Yow ’re lookin’ at him, stranger. That’s me.” Jem gave him a calm scrutiny. “T'll have t’ trouble you to come with me to Sky City,” he announced. ‘“ There’s a little difficulty of last night that’s got t’ be settled for.” ‘“ That so?”’ Hoskins drawled. “‘ Now jus’ supposin’ I ain’t feelin’ in the mood for travelin’ this mornin’?” “ Wa-all ’—Jem’s voice was mildly re- eretful—< in that case I reckon I’d have t’ try to persuade you that maybe travelin’ would be good for your health, jus’ like the doctors tells us.” “Vou figure youre a regular dog-gone devil of a persuader now, don’t you?”’ sar- castically inquired Kurtz. ‘There has been times that I’ve won my argument,” Jem admitted. There was an unmistakable pointedness in his tone that shot an angry flush for an instant across the other man’s sneering features. “ Any particular style of argument you intend using?” Kurtz demanded. “ Ve-es—” Jem drawled. “ This!” A gasp came from the men within the room. With the first word of Jem’s reply he had been leaning idly against the door jamb. The second word had been exploded across a pair of menacing gun barrels. It was as if Kurtz and his gang had been view- ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, - ing the celluloid strip of a picture film and, examining one scene of Jem lolling against the door frame, had then jumped imme- diately several yards farther down to the picture of Jem, menacingly hunched for- ward, his weapons trained on his antagon- ists. In that camp of skilled gunplay it was a performance to produce an awed thrill of admiration. ‘““T guess maybe these ain’t such rotten persuaders at that!” Jem’s voice was again drawling, with a little tight note of menace in it, however. “ Now, will you gents kindly raise your hands high over your heads? Yes—that’s the way—I’m much obliged. I don’t like to have to mess up anybody’s shirt front. It ain’t many complexions that harmonizes good with bright red.” He paused a bit to study the situation. -» “Now Tl have t’ trouble you further to stand up an’ turn round with your backs to me—not fergettin’ for one teeniest, weeniest, leetle mite of a second t’ keep astrainin’ your shoulder joints tryin’ t’ grab a holt of the ceilin’. There, that’s the stuff,” as, with black, raging faces, they complied with his request. ‘ Now line up against that wall, all of you. One by one, as I call t’ you, take four steps backward. And as a last warnin’, don’t let your minds wander from th’ fact that I’m a gent of a very nervous disposition; it’s a family fail- ing and I’m sorry—but I know you’ll all be glad t’ humor the weakness and not do nothing t’ provoke it. All right, young fel- ler, you at the end—four steps backward!” The man directed performed as requested. Jem slipped his left gun back into his pocket, but kept the other trained on the backs of the row of men before him. He ran his left hand over the person of the man before him and abstracted the gun he found in the pocket. He stuck the weap- on into his belt. ‘All right; back to the line for you. ~ Next!” One by one he disarmed them. Kurtz, ~as he started back to his place in the line, Jem could not refrain from assisting forward with a taunting lift of his knee. “Now, Mr. Herbert Hoskins, if you’ve decided that maybe this 7s a fine morning COMIGHOOKS (S@)