Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

644 Channing did not answer. ‘Sort of throwin’ her down, ain’t you?” Vallon suggested. “T’m through here, Vallon.” “Where you figgerin’ to land?” **T reckon J’ll drift south a ways.” “ Suits me,” declared Vallon. “ I’ve been sort of wishin’ you’d take a notion like that. We could head south, takin’ in the full length of the Pecos. We might run into somethin’ around Roswell. If things don’t suit us there we could keep right on goin’ to the Panhandle. I’ve always wanted to see Texas.” ‘“* An’ I’ve been thinkin’ some of Tuc- son,’ added Channing. “Sure!” agreed Vallon quickly. ‘ Curi- ous how a man hankers to see different towns, ain’t it? Take Tucson, for instance. Ever since I’ve heard of that gosh durned town I’ve been wantin’ to clamp my eyes on it! Sure as shootin’ we'll hit Tucson. We couldn’t miss it noway. When you fig- gerin’ on cuttin’ stakes?” ‘“ At daylight,” answered Channing. “ If the foremanship don’t appeal to you we'll have to turn it over to Belmont. That means we’ll have to ride to the south fork. Belmont’s there with the wagon.” Channing got up and walked away in the semigloom. Vallon watched him move toward the ranch house. Then Vallon also got up, entered the bunk house, lit a lamp and began to examine his war bag. Channing entered the house through the kitchen door, lit a lamp and stood for some seconds glancing around the room. Then he went into the living room, held a match to the wick of the big oil lamp on the cen- ter table, and stood for an instant staring at the floor. He folded his arms and his chin sagged to his chest. His gaze was on a corner of the room, where Bassett had fallen after he had shot him. After a while Channing walked to the mantel, from which he took writing ma- terials. Then he went into the kitchen and seated himself at the kitchen table. An hour later he was critically reading what he had written: Eve: I did not reckon that I would ever do any writing to you, but that just shows how easy ARGOSY-ALLESTORY WEEKLY. it is for a man to be mistaken. I know I promised you that I would stay here and look after things until you got back. When IT said that I did not have any idea just how things would be here after you had gone. Seems I have sort of lost interest in the Circle B, if I ever had any. I ain’t so sure that I did have any interest. If any man was to ask me right now why I kept on staying here I reckon [ couldn’t explain. Any more than I can explain why I am going away now. Maybe shooting Bassett has something to do with it. I keep on seeing him just as I shot him. Bassett was a mean cuss all right, but since he’s dead I have been seeing things a little different. His head was touched a™ little, I reckon, and maybe if he had been in his right senses things would have been differ- ent. I should have gone away before it hap- pened because I knowed that if I stayed around here long enough he would pull a gun on me. But that isn’t anything for you to worry about. It was between him and me. I am putting Belmont in charge. He is a good man. I did not shake hands with you the second time to-night because I did not want you to see how things was with me. But Warren will make you happier than I ™ could. Yours respectfully, LAWRENCE CHANNING. He sat, considering the missive. It didn’t say what he had wanted to say, but with all its shortcomings he felt it conveyed his thoughts much better than he could have expressed them verbally. He had always been mute in Eve’s presence, his thoughts had always been more or less chaotic with her looking at him. He could blush now without her seeing him; and he poised his pen over the two final sentences, debating an impulse to blot them out. But he let them stand as they had been written be- cause he would never see Eve again. He got up, folded the letter and placed it upon the mantel in the living room, under a vase so that a corner of the letter was exposed. Then he went out into the kitchen. He entered the living room again, blew out the light. He did the same thing in the kitchen. He was out on the rear porch when he saw a horseman sweeping over the plains north- ward. He walked down the path toward the bunk house and went to the door of the latter building, out of which streamed a glare of light. Vallon was packing his war bag. Eomichbooks (S)