Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 4, 1925 — page 84: what you’re looking at

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

874 into the deathlv silence of the air, Lederer arose slowly to his feet. He stood glowering upon Farley and cursed. He cursed loudly and fluently. He called upon all the blasphemy he knew. Even Farley was shocked by his compan- ion’s demoniacal tirade. ‘““T guess there's one field you can meet Cosgrove on an’ beat him both ways from the middle,” he snarled contemptuously. “T]] beat him!” swore Lederer. “ I'll fix him! I'l] fix him for the buzzards an’ coyotes to pick at!’’ He glared at Farley, furiously. ‘‘ You talk an’ plan an’ sneak around hidin’ guns an’ such, but when it comes to actin’, you ain’t there! Well, I <lon’t want vou to be there! It’s me that’s goin’ to finish orf this garbage! Me! [ff there’s kidnapin’ to be done, if we’re goin’ to trick him, or frame him, or knife him, it’s me that will do it! You keep out of it, Wert! You leave him tome! He’s mine!” And as he plunged onward into a stream of obscenity Farley grinned. He had use for Lederer: some man must be relied upon to see that Cosgrove never turned up for his trial: that his bail was forfeited, his honor blackened, his innocence cast in doubt. And he knew now that Lederer would do it. He knew that he could trust Lederer to do the job. But he wished that Cosgrove had not been so adroit in the taming of Thunder- olt. There seemed something uncannily superior about this dapper youth; some- thing which fired him to excel in all things the men Farlev must rely upon to overcome him. Farley endeavored to vanquish his uneasiness with a recollection of the miss- ing gun, of Cosgrove’s indubitable presence in Manford the night of Mase Farley’s death. But it was in vain. He felt his confidence waning in the craft wherewith he had spread his net. He, who had been honestly convinced that Cos- grove had murdered his brother, felt an in- credible doubt in the back of his mind that this invincible, dauntless youth could have ever been guilty of such a crime. And then he gazed upon the fire of ven- eeance which gleamed in Lederer’s eyes, and was consoled. In that smoldering hatred, he saw the opportunity to fan a ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, flame which would consume Cosgrove. He must see that it was guided to burn aright. ‘Don’t kill him,” he adjured Lederer. ‘Don’t kill him unless vo’re sure it can never be traced. Just keep him out of town till the trial, cover up your own tracks careful, and they’ll hang him all right an’ legal.” CHAPTER XXII. MARAUDERS, HEY came at night. As the date of his trial drew nearer, Cosgrove devoted himself al- most exclusively to the preparation of his case. Gaines had procured the services of Riordan, an accomplished lawyer politician from an adjoining county, and Cosgrove spent many hours a day with him reviewing vast numbers of cases, gathering innumer- able precedents to vouch for the defense Whick he would offer, and preparing that defense to the last and most intricate detail. It was decided that Cosgrove should take the brunt of the battle himself, while Rior- dan would act in the capacity of advisory counsel, giving the case the benefit of his long experience in local courts; his expert knowledge of procedure in halls of justice where “ men wore pants, and didn’t take no back talk from judges, or lawyer sharps.” It was declared by Gaines, and humorously conceded by Cosgrove, that this branch ot Riordan's knowledge would be useful in the extreme. Hazel Farley, troubled with the fear that Cosgrove’s midnight vigils alone in the isolation of his little house might expose him to such violence as he had so splendidly vebuffed that night at the Bar Nothing ranch, had insisted that he take into his household a man Friday. Thus, after Rior- dan had departed after an evening of tire- less research, Cosgrove was not left alone, but pursued his studies far into the night, while an extraordinary series of grunts and snorts resounding from interior fastnesses bore witness to the sleeping presence in the house of a negro cook and utility man named Samuel Dooley. lDOOlK