Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 135: what you’re looking at

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

POOR LITTLE PIGEON. 7s 2 kidnaped, and a posse goes out to hunt him, an’ he sits tight an’ says patience, just as though he knew all about it. Well, he does. We don’t want to be overlookin’ that. But dang it, I came down here cuttle fishin’ an’ so far I ain’t even seen the fish —unless it’s Lolita, and then she’d be a fish’s daughter—a mermaid I guess. But speakin’ of cuttlefish’s habits, there’s been plenty of cloud—an’ it ain’t cleared for my eyes yet. And just the same, he says the harvest is about ready, and jooks at you with that funny light in his eyes that says he’s wise. Well—wonder how Dan’s get- ting along with the car.” ‘“We might walk down there and see,” I suggested. Jim nodded and we set out. It wasn’t far. We reached it inside a few minutes and turned in through its open door very much as I had done two nights before. Cars stood banked against either wall, and at sound of our entrance an attendant appeared. We inquired for Danny, and he shook his head. ‘“ Nothing much wrong with the car except a cracked spark plug,” he said. ‘““We put in another one and tuned up the carburetor and he’s out now, giving her a tryout.” ‘Any word about Pulfer yet?” I asked. He shook his head again and scowled. “No. Nothing. I can’t figure it out. It’s darned funny.” ‘Maybe not.” Bryce said and drew the fellow’s glance toward him. “I under- stand he had a run in here yesterday morn- ing with a girl and she tried to knife him.” ‘“ Lolita?” The garage man shrugged. ‘“‘ Oh—she’s liable to make any sort of play she takes a mind to. Stick you one minute and say she’s sorry the next. She’s that kind. I don’t think she’s back of this.” ‘* Acree with the rest that it’s more like- ly her cousin Pablo, eh?” Jim suggested. “* Well—everybody nearly seems to think so. Your idea that she put him up to it?” The speaker eyed Bryce directly. But Jim balked the question. “I reckon I ain’t got an idea really. I’m waitin’ to find out what Quagley discovers if he dis- covers anything.” The garage man nodded and glanced 925 around as though to satisfy himself that we were alone. And then he lowered his voice: “Tl tell you who got him in my opinion,” he said. ‘‘ It was whoever’s been ‘supplying dope to those negroes out at camp. The way I size it up, Pulfer knew more of the inwardness of that matter than was for his good.” “Yeah?” Bryce threw an incredulous note into his response. ‘‘ How come?” ‘“* Well,” once more the man shot that questing glance about before he an- swered. “ You know there’s a sergeant out there that comes down town a lot. I ain’t sure, but I think he uses dope and—I’ve seen Pulfer talkin’ to him more than once.”’ “You mean Stanley—the fellow that has that Red Cross dog?” I asked quickly. He nodded again. ‘“ Yes. That’s the one. You know Pulfer’s been takin’ a big interest since the Rand girl an’ her dad and the louie at the camp were arrested. I think maybe he had an idea the negro knew something or could find out.” “ But you don’t know?” I asked flatly. “No.” Once more he shook his head. “T don’t know, but I think the gang got him just the same.” “And that’s a new one, anyhow,” Jim said, after we had left the garage and stood once more in the street. ‘* At that, the fel- low may be right. You were sayin’ you thought that fellow Stanley was a hophead yourself, yesterday afternoon. If he was — Well my grandmother’s cat’s sideburns! Look! Speak of the devil! There’s Dan now and see what he’s got aboard.” I followed the direction of his eyes and saw Dan driving up the street. And then I actually blinked my eyes and followed Jim’s example in staring, because Felipe— the Red Cross dog from Camp Little—was sitting up proudly beside him on the seat. And not only that but the animal was com- pletely tricked out in harness such as he had been trained to wear overseas. The sight was somewhat surprising until I re- called Judson’s statement that Stanley sometimes rigged the dog out in such fashion and paraded him about town. Still even that could hardly explain his pres- ence in the machine. “ Hi—Danny!” Jim called. oO comicbook CO