Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 153: what you’re looking at

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

THE BAD A small table in a far corner fnally caught and held his attention. A man sat at this table. A little man, brown skinned, drab whiskered, with mild, watery blue eyes. Of the dozen or more men in the big, square room, this. little chap, alone, seemed to be paying no attention whatso- ever to Butch Keever. In an open palm he held several small coins. He was counting them, over and over again. From time to time his gaze shifted to two long pasteboard boxes prom- inently displayed on Dugan’s new counter. These boxes each contained a doll. Identi- cal in size. One was dressed in pink, the other in blue. Subconsciously, Butch rea- lized that the little man had been engaged in his idiotic pastime for the past half hour. Following Butch’s gaze every man in the room was now watching the man with the yellow whiskers. Smiles appeared. Butch had found a victim. Andy Gregg. A harm- Jess homsteader from back in the hills. All oblivious to the fact that he had sud- denly become the center of attraction, Gregg, with a final shrug of his thin shoul- ders, approached the counter, counted out the silver and pointed silently to the box containing the pink doll. Grinning, Squint Dugan hastened to oblige. As he was about to wrap the box in an old newspaper, the little man reached for it, removed the doll with careful fingers and inspected it thoroughly. Laughter greeted this perfor- - mance. “Hey, you!” Butch Keever stamped for- ward. The little man turned questioning eyes. Doll in hand, he calmly awaited develop- ments. Keever approached with grotesque, min- cing steps. Slapped the little man lightly on the hand, ‘““Le’s you an’ me play, eh, Willy.”” Much laughter. Gregg grinned uncertainly. With a sudden motion Keever snatched the doll away. Caught the little man’s resistless arm, piloted him across the room, and thrust him solidly up against the wall. The grin had left Gregg’s lips. Otherwise, by not the slightest sign did he indicate his reaction to Keever’s high handed methods. MAN OF BANTER MOUNTAIN. 463 ‘“Wunst they was a feller what shot a apple off’n another feller’s head. You-all remember him. Well, me an’ Will’s goin’ t’ play a li’l’ game—like that.” The audience snickered hopefully. They didn’t yet quite know what Butch had in mind, but— Keever swept the proposed victim’s dilap- idated felt hat off, exposing a round, shiny, dome utterly devoid of hair. “Well now, ain’t that too bad. Expect as how by rights we should have some glue. Howsomever—” After several attempts, fumbling, he set the doll astraddle of Gregg’s bald head. Then he paced away the length of the room. Drew his gun. Brought it down in an elaborate arc until it focused waveringly on the pink doll. Silence settled upon the room, complete, — breathless. . Here was no joke. Keever was a good shot, right enough. But—he was drunk. Something ought to be done— something — Intervention came from an altogether un- expected source. Andy Grege’s right hand flashed to his open shirt. a gun. Twin reports in rapid succession echoed sharply back from the slab walls. Butch Keever grunted. Spun half about. , His gun dropped clattering, With his free hand, Andy Gree te 3 covered his hat, strode to the counter, placed the pink doll in its pasteboard box, . wrapped it carefully in the old newspaper, — then, without a single backward glance, pushed out through the swinging doors and away. For a long minute after the Homestender had disappeared no man in the big room moved. Butch Keever had slumped into a chair. A tiny rivulet of blood trickled down one cheek. His face was very white. Not altogether from fear. injured. But, the unexpected dénouement of the little comedy had sobered him very suddenly. So suddenly that it had caused an uncertain feeling in the pit of his And his heart seemed to have stomach. stopped beating. Inspection disclosed a small blue hole through his right ear. The other bullet had ereased his cheek. Keever had known just oO oi ) rah purposefully Came away with : Eomichooks.co a . wY He was not badly x