Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 68: what you’re looking at

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

By DOROTHY WARDWELL The long transcontinental, sec- tion one, crawled to a stop in a cloud of cinders, ’dobe dust, and the heat of an August afternoon. Stifling, choking heat! It glinted from the rails, oozed from the panting engine, and hovered over the whole tired, dirty train in a vibrant haze. A grimy trainman limped through the Aztec on his way to ice water. ‘San Bernardino!” he intoned. Bernardino! Ten minutes here.” No one stirred. The mental torpor in the Aztec was almost tangible. Sewall Wright, seated at the end of the car, opened one eye to watch the exit of the trainman. A rush of heat caught the back of his neck as the door slammed. So this was Ed’s California! Groaning, Sewall settled back into the hot plush. He closed his eves against the nauseating sights —towels wrung out in ice water and flap- ping against the screens, wilting collars on dirty necks, women in soiled negligee—and § 2 S- BERNARDINO!” cc San every human being on the car sprawling in utter abandon to the misery of the moment. Sewall shut his eyes, but he could not shut the hum of that maddening fan; and the native son—God! Could the man still be talking? On and on he went. “ Say, listen, I admit this is a little warm. But it’s unusual—very. And, say, eat! I’ve been hotter in Boston, Massachusetts, in May than I’ve been in the last forty years in California. This is dry heat, healthy heat, finest heat in the world! Now take your Eastern summers—hot enough to —listen, they tell me that one June day on Boston Common, Cotton Mather’s face got so thawed out he was able to smile! Fact! In the East—it’s the humidity!” “Tf he says that again I’ll kill him,” thought Sewaill, but realized almost imme- diately that he lacked the ambition. “Now this part of the country we're passing through,” continued the Californian, “finest orange growing country in the world. Ideal climate, ideal soil. Sit on 8 Oo COMIICloo CS (©