Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 4, 1926 — page 122: what you’re looking at

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

432 “No; I don’t wear that sort of thing. They’re my wife’s.” ‘““T see that they are all marked ‘1. B.,’” the other submitted, apparently without greets interest. ‘“ Er—that’s my wife’s maiden name, of course— Billings—Ida Billings!” Mr. Cran- ning said hastily. ‘““T see,” responded the person. ‘ Those other things—the jewelry you brought in here an hour or two ago?” “What about them?”’ ‘Those were your wife’s also?” asked the baldheaded man, and yawned. What amazing craft had grown up with- in James Cranning, so lately a simple and ~ honest young man! In no more than the tenth part of one second he recalled that upon every piece of Dorothy’s jewelry there was an engraved “ D. C.” of some visibility. “They have been my wife’s for the last year or so,” he explained, and also yawned. “Formerly they belonged to a cousin of my wife’s, who died—a Miss Carter, of Baltimore. Why?” The other merely smiled faintly and con- sidered the gems. And James relaxed, for this, of course, was the last stage of the dreary game. Now the gentleman was seeking to determine just how much less than two thousand dollars James would accept. And _ right there he was, as the saying goes, fooling himself, because James Cranning, for the soundest possible reasons, did not intend to accept even one dollar less than the two thousand. For the matter of that, it was ridiculous to risk all that collection in-the hands of a stranger for-so trivial a sum. What he should have done, as a matter of principle and of sound business, was to have named four thousand as his lowest figure; the dif- ference would have rested comfortably enough in his bank for the day or two wherein he was finding the wherewithal to redeem the valuable trinkets. And not only was it the thing he should have done, but very possibly it was the thing he should do now! James Cranning sat up and cleared his throat. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. The other also sat_ up and smiled faintly. “No,” he said. ‘“ No what?” ‘I do not care to make a loan on these.” ‘You don’t—hey? Not—not any loan at all, you mean?” James gasped. ‘“Not any loan at all,” confirmed the baldheaded man, as he closed the last of the cases and pushed them all toward James. CHAPTER XV. THE HOME TOWN. OR a man who had been on the point F of asserting himself so very strongly Mr. Cranning presented rather an odd figure. Quite literally his jaw dropped, leaving his mouth open; he snapped the jaw back into place in a second or so, but most of the shocked expression remained intact. Because this was—why, this was all nonsense, of course! James Cranning’s immediate future, un- satisfactory as it may have been in certain aspects, had held at least one bright and mildly humorous spot: he had been about to pawn jewels originally bought by Fred Budlong for the purpose of buying Bud- long himself a new car! And whatever this apathetic, baldheaded idiot might be trying to put over— “ Why not?” gasped James. “T don’t care to make the loan,” said the other rather impatiently. ‘But why don’t you?” The man smiled slightly and shrugged. ‘“ Well, if you insist upon knowing, Mr. Jordan, I am not at all satisfied that these things are yours to offer as security.” ‘ D’ye mean to say—”’ James began vio- lently. ‘“Let’s not get into an argument over this,” the other suggested briefly. ‘‘ There is nothing doing, friend.” Now he was about to rise! And if he did rise, and if James did gather up his loot and depart, he knew, somehow, that he’d enter the next pawnshop in fear and trem- bling. And in any case, he could not spend ‘a EOPMIC OOO KS (F@)