Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 18, 1928 — page 83: what you’re looking at

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

DAMAGED REPS. short or tall, dark or light, young or old, you knew as much as we. So you see it was only natural that I’d be mighty anxious to learn what was in that telegram. Once at the station, old Peg-legged, the telegraph tickler and station agent all in one, handed me the yellow message, re- marking how it came over the wire just after he had opened up but that he hadn’t been able to get ahold of any one that would bring it up to my office. All anxious- like, I read to myself: DanteL GruBer, Sheriff, Highridge, South Dakota: The two bandits that staged the Limited holdup in your county last May have been apprehended here. Stool pigeon chanced to bear drunken conversation which led to their arrests and confessions. One of the culprits is Red Garlow, the notorious train robber. The other gives the name of Joseph Robbins, but is not known to our department. The two prisoners, in charge of Detective Keeler, are now en route to Highridge and ‘will arrive on train due at eight forty in the morning. Be on hand to take charge of the situation. Keeler will give all details. Joun Hampton, Chief, Sioux Falls Police Department. When I read the telegram and learned that Red Garlow was one of the fellows what had held up the Limited, the whole business began to get more clear. Red was the worstest, all-around, bad man that had ever hit these parts. While I’d never come within striking distance of him myself, 1’d got his pedigree from them what had. One of his bullets had crippled my old friend, Sandy Duncan over in Green Rivers, for life, not to mention the two brother sher- iffs he’d bumped off, farther up the State. His very name was a terror to all good, respectable folks, not only in the Black Hills but for hundreds of miles around. A devil at heart but with a quick and sure trigger and all kinds of nerve, he’d managed to keep out of the reach of the law for years, robbing and killing all the time. And it didn’t take much brains to figure that his partner, whoever he was, must be much like him. Grabbing out my watch, I saw it was ten minutes after eight—only a half hour 6A 881 until the train came in. IJ sure was tickled to death that they’d caught them devils clear across the State. Hadn’t every sheriff in the West been itching to get his hands on them two fiends? And in a few minutes, I'd have ’em in my own hoosegow, locked up tight! I drew myself up to my full six feet, threw out my chest until I almost busted the buttons off of my gray flannel shirt, and stepped it off to the platform more like a youngster of twenty than an _ old, gray-haired fellow of fifty-six. Once out in the air, I lighted my-pipe and walked up and down the side of the tracks, stroking my beard, nervouslike, un- til the train came in sight. It hadn’t come to a dead stop before the conductor was off and | at his side. “Sioux Falls wired you’re bringing me @ couple of prisoners,” I spiels. “ What car are they on?” The conductor scowled. “‘ I’m sorry to tell you, sheriff, but you’re not going to get a couple of prisoners—only one! The other fellow got away from the detective some- ' how, about fifteen miles back.” “Got away!” I gasps, taken clean off my pins. “ How’s that?” “The detective must have been asleep on the job—that’s the only thing I can make out of it! ‘“‘ After Chief Hampton gave me three tickets to Highridge at the Sioux Falls sta- tion last night, telling me they were to cover one of his men with two prisoners in the — stateroom of car five, I didn’t even bother to open the door, The chief pointed them out as they were boarding the car, a tall, red-headed fellow handcuffed between two shorter ones. Handcuffed as they were, they seemed to be having some trouble in getting up the steps, a long way off from where we stood. “That was the last I saw of any of them | until the porter of car five came running to me, a few minutes ago, and said the de- tective back in his stateroom wanted to see me quick. “ Hustling to the rear, I found the detec- — tive swearing a blue streak between his shouts to stop the train. When I finally got head and tail of the matter—how his “comicboo (E Ss (E(@)