Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 4, 1925 — page 80: what you’re looking at

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

870 He placed his hands abruptly about her shoulders. He wouid have seized her and pressed her in the warmth of his embrace. But he did not. He merely held her firmly for an instant, peering into her eyes, and the pressure of his hands was the only caress he vouchsafed her. “TI trust you,” he said simply. And the pressure of his hands caressed her, his voice caressed her. It was enough. ‘“ And now.” he said. ‘I must get back to my books.” He stroked the muzzle of Thunderbolt. He took Hazel’s hand in his and thus caused her to stroke the horse’s muzzle, too. “Be gentle with her,” he said softly. And his voice caressed them both. CHAPTER XX. PASSING TIIE BUCK, ERT FARLEY heard the details of \¢ the dissolution which had befallen Cliff Lederer’s proposed lynching party when he met his accomplice at lunch the day following. He made no effort to conceal his contempt of the men who had backed down under the threats which Led- erer mendaciously described Cosgrove as having made. But neither his contempt for the weak- nesses of his contemporaries nor the bluster with which he greeted Lederer’s attempts to evade responsibility served to cover his dis- appointment in Cosgrove’s escape. For Cosgrove had spoken truth when he had promised Farley more law than he desired. Wert Farley had no confidence in the law. He feared it more direly than the cir- cumstances warranted, because he suspect- ed its power to uncover much of his past which he would prefer to lie failow. Know- ing nothing of the law, he was uneasy in the face of it, as a sneak thief is uneasy before the gaze of an honest man. “ But we still got our case against him Lederer said vindictively. ‘If we can't hang him like he ought to be hung, we can still hang him under the law!” Farley turned on him with a snarl. Led- erer had as much as flung his secret fears into his face. )»? ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. ‘Under the law!” he rasped. ‘ Huh! That's talkin’ sense! D° you know what the law is, Clitf? D’ vou know what yo’re playin’ with when you play with the law?” “No. An’ I don’t care. The lawyers do that for us, don’t they?” “ Yeah,” Farley’s voice was deeply sar- castic. ‘“ Thev do that for us! They ar- gue an’ talk, an’ make cut points of law. But it ain’t them that settles the case! The ones what decide whether Cosgrove gets his or not, are the men who decided last night that he wasn’t goin’ to hang! That’s who! It’s Slade an’ Web, an’ them that makes the last decision. Read up on it! It’s public opinion that counts, an’ last night we had public opinion with us! How much are they with us to-day?” ‘“Shucks!” Lederer filled the air with curses. ‘* Webb, an’ them, thev ain’t this whole township or county by a long shot.” ‘No. They ain’t this whole township or county. An’ they ain’t the judge an’ jury, neither. But let me ask you this: Have you been into town this morning like I have? Have you listened to every damned fool in the street talkin’ about the case like I have? Have you seen how that rotten eang of weak-kneed Sunday school teachers gets all knotted up in conversation with Gaines an’ Webb an’ Slade around the Mas- sey House, like I have?” ‘“ Shore, I was in town myself.” ‘Then yo're either a liar cr yo’re a damn fool—no, don’t get play-acting. If vou went downtown an’ didn’t find out that every son of a busted flush in the county is all riled up because of this party you didn’t pull orf last night, then vou ought tu be corralled with the unweaned calves. They've changed their opinion on this case so that we'll be darned lucky if they don’t get up a lynchin’ bee for Cosgrove's sake an’ make us the guests of honor! That’s how much public opinion Webb an’ them covotes can make!” Lederer scowled down upon his shining boots and set his hands to writhing one within the other, like restless serpents en- folding. ‘“He came here like a plav actor,” he growled. Then, remembering the effect of Conn GIOok