Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 12, 1927 — page 152: what you’re looking at

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

(146 in his life of running up against some one whom his money couldn’t buy. News of this leaked out around town presently, to the great glee of a considerable number of King City business men, to whom the arro- gant Thomas had by no means endeared himself during the last month. The Easterner at first stood firmly by his sixty thousand dollar offer. This he reiterated more and more insistently each time he met Dan King. But presently he began to note the attitude of covert ela- tion around town at his bafflement, and he threw judgment to the winds. One day he rode out to the King ranch and found Dan King on the sunny side of the bunk house mending some fishing tackle. ‘Look here, young man, I’m _ through fooling with you. I am going to have this ranch whatever I have to pay for it. And now go ahead with your holdup work. How much is it?” ‘Same price as before,” Dan drawled without looking up from his rod. “ That is to say—nothing.”’ “T’ll give you seventy-five thousand dollars.” “Tt ought to be good fishing weather,” Dan remarked, cocking his eye at the sky. “Not a cent over eighty thousand dol- lars. That’s final.” “ Appears like we never did get any rain any more around here,” Dan intoned mournfully. * Would one hundred thousand dollars interest you?” Dan picked up the rod, slipped it in his case and rose to his feet. “TJ shore enjoy listening to your music, Mr. Thomas,” he commented, “ but if you'll excuse me, I got some important fish to catch this afternoon.”’ “That offer of one hundred thousand dollars will stand for just two weeks, young man,” Thomas roared after him. ‘ Then I’m through trying to be liberal with you. I wouldn’t be making such a fool of my- self as this if it weren’t for my boy. He seems to have reasons of his own for want- ing to be particularly liberal with you. But eee the end of two 9 werk: if you haven't ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. thousand dollars and stays there, and I am in a position to know that before many months, you ‘ll be glad to take it. Good day, sir.’ ‘Don’t go unless you want to,” was Dan’s only comment as they parted. “Now, just what did he mean by all that?” Dan King asked himself, not quite so unperturbed within as he had appeared outwardly. “‘ Why does his boy want to be liberal with me, and why the thirty thousand dollar figure?” Dan knew without stopping to figure up again that thirty thousand dollars repre- sented the total of notes, mortgages, and interest due to date. He inferred that Thom- as had been snooping around and had a pretty clear line on his affairs. Was old Seth Mosier playing fair, he wondered? But whatever Dan King’s misgivings, he displayed none of them around King City. Nor did he seem to take the two weeks ul- timatum seriously. In fact, for the next three weeks nearly, he was not in evidence around the city or the ranch. Jed Perkins reported that he and a party of dudes from the East had gone on a fish- ing trip up the Wind River. The rumor went around town that Dan King was go- ing to turn his place into a dude-ranch, but Seth Mosier, when consulted by the gossips, was of the opinion that the young man would not have made any such move without consulting him. Itt. THe day after the termination of the two weeks of grace Thomas had granted, the Easterner was ushered again into the office of President Mosier of the bank. “Well,” he announced. “I’ve come to put the screws on young King finally. I understand you hold notes and mortgages here totalling thirty thousand dollars, and all payable in the fall.” “That’s about right,’’ admitted Mosier. “ T’ll take them off your hands for their face value, and foreclose on him.” The eyebrows of Seth Mosier raised slightly. * 2e when yon. coulget get the Pisce for