Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 28, 1928 — page 36: what you’re looking at

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

466 “TI don’t know why you done all this, but it was right nice of you,” 1 addressed the big fellow. “T do,” he told me shortly. “ Keep riding, hombre,” and he came in be- tween us, covering me with the gun. “But we don’t want to go back to Sudden City,” I expostulated, not lik- ing his tone a little bit and plumb be- wildered over his attitude. “ You can leave us right here and go on into town and we'll circle back around that posse and head south—’” “You won’t do no such thing,” he growled angrily. “I know what yore going to do. We'll head into Caxton Junction—oughter make it by sunup— and then we catch the first train north. Now, get going.” “But what for?” I cried, all up in the air over this program. “You know damn well what for!” he snapped. “ Now quit arguing and get going, or I'll let a streak of daylight through you and leave you here for the buzzards!” And I could tell by the gleam in his eye that he meant it, too. I shot a glance over his shoulder at Sadie. She was looking white and scared, but say- ing nothing. It was plain that she didn’t like the situation any better than I did. “ Oh, all right, if you feel that way about it,” I told him, starting ahead. “ But this is all Choctaw tome. I sup- posed you was helping us make a get- away, but instead you are running 1s right into more trouble. I don’t savvy your play nohow, mister.” “Oh, yes you do,” he grinned nasti- ly. He was keeping close beside me, leading Sadie’s cayuse by the reins and not paying any attention to the girl. It was me he was watching. “I’m making the same play you was figuring on, only I’m beating you to it—” Them were the last words I heard that particular hombre utter for the moment. Out the corner of my eye I saw Sadie’s arm go up and then down, and the big fellow slumped in his sad- ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. dle and slipped to the ground like a sack of oats. I stared down at him for a second, clean kerflummaxed, and then looked across his hawse at Sadie. She was still pretty white, but smiling. “IL got him,” she remarked, and held up her right hand. In it was a lead- loaded leather blackjack! Darned if she hadn’t crowned the sucker! “You seem to be prepared for al- most any emergency,” I told her. “ Do you happen to have any more promiscu- ous weapons concealed around your small person ?” “No, I guess this is the last one,” she laughed. “When [I left home I tried to go prepared for any emergency that might come up. I’d picked up this blackjack in a pawnshop a long time ago and had it hanging on the wall of my room for a curiosity, and I slipped it into my stocking just before F-left.” “It was a bright idea,’’ I told her. “ It came in right smart handy.” { slid out of the saddle and looked the big fellow over. He wasn’t bad hurt, just knocked out for the time and would be all right again in a few minutes, I figured. Then I done a little quick collecting. The first thing was my new hat, which he’d been wearing. ‘Then I re- lieved him of my spurs, and then I un- buckled my belt off him and put that on, slipping my gun into the holster, after which I frisked a big, healthy- looking roll of bills out of his pants pocket. I didn’t know whether all of it belonged to me, and I wasn’t taking the time to count it just then. I can’t begin to tell you how much better I felt after that. I had just nicely finished this job when the big guy opened his eyes. “What happened?” he asked, nurs- ing a beautiful bump on the back of his head. “You got good and_ properly beaned,”’ I informed him. “ Get up.” He climbed onto his hind legs, pretty CORMICLOOOKS (C@