Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 18, 1928 — page 155: what you’re looking at

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

THE BIG IDEA. Anxious to reach Meadowbrook, Jed had tried a short cut over a dirt road. Then the rain had started in. He was not thinking of the discomforts of the night as he strode along. Instead, he was arranging in his mind the opening of his interview with Mr. Anderson. He would decide on how to begin when a new idea would occur to him that seemed bet- ter. In the first place, he would have it dis- tinctly understood that he was not asking a position in the factory as a reward for the return of Kearny. Of course the dog must be returned, no matter how much Jed might like to keep him. It simply seemed like an inspiration to use the coming interview as a means of reaching the one in authority—a chance of finding out if there was any sort of opening for him. Confident that he must be nearing the main road on which Meadowbrook Farm was situated, Jed was peering keenly ahead. Then suddenly he quickened his pace. A low whistle of consternation escaped him. Through the gloom he could see a few yards ahead the outlines of a car. Tipped toward the ditch that ran apparently deep at that point, it looked as if it might com- plete the somersault at any moment. “ Hello, there!” greeted Jed as he peered into the dark interior of the ma- chine. There was no answer. “Nobody home,” concluded Jed, after waiting several seconds. He went around the car to its down side. Here he discovered that the situation was not nearly so serious as had at first appeared, in the mysterious gloom. The bank sloped gently, not at all abruptly. The car rested on good firm earth—did not hang suspended as he had thought on a narrow ledge ready to topple over. The road was hardly more than a lane. It looked as if some one had run the car purposely to one side to get out of the way of any chance traffic. Some one who knew what he was doing. But where was he now? As the moments sped by and no one came, Jed grew more and more puzzled. It 953 was a valuable car, a roadster. Not one to abandon on a side road. Besides being a side road, it was a par- ticularly deserted section. There was not a sign of a house or building of any sort in sight. ‘“ Dumb-bell!” Jed accused himself of gross stupidity. ‘‘ He’s run out of gas and gone after some.” He climbed in and put his foot on the self-starter. It responded promptly. So that theory was exploded. Perhaps it was a stolen car. The thief becoming scared might have abandoned it. In that case Jed wondered what it would be best to do. Should he drive it back the few miles to town? Would it be better to leave it and report it on his return? It seemed as if he had been trying to solve the problem for some hours. In reality it had been merely a matter of a few minutes when he became conscious of Kearny. He had forgotten all about the dog. He must have dropped the rope when he got in the car or perhaps when he first saw it. He couldn’t remember. Now the dog had evidently found some- thing that was disturbing him. Jed heard from somewhere in the rear a low, troubled whine. He slid quickly out and around the back of the car to the other side. Here he found Kearny crouched along the road, whining over something that had evidently slipped into the ditch on that side. Going close, Jed discovered it to be the figure of a man. He had left the lights of the car on. But this did not help as it lighted the road only in front. He decided he would have to turn the car before trying to do anything. The man must be the owner of the car. Perhaps he had gone around to see about something in the rear. Some noise must have bothered him. In the dark he had stepped or slipped off the road into the ditch. Jed turned the car. As there seemed to be no traffic, he took the chance of parking on the wrong side. As he got down to try to discover the GEomichbooks (E(0)