Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 3 — page 81: what you’re looking at

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

in Los Angeles nearly a year ago. ACTION! the fighter comfortingly, “‘ and it ‘ll be all right.” From his desk chair Dr. Ballard sur- -veyed the pair curiously. “Your letter and our telephone conver- sation have made the case fairly clear to me,” he began. ‘“ But perhaps you can give me a few more details.” Jimmy leaned forward. everything I know.” “Vi tell you “ As I understand it, he was hit on the ° héad during the staging of a moving-picture He was a director, I think you told me?” “Yes, sir,” said Jimmy proudly, “ and he was some director! He put on ‘ Soldier Stuff ’ and ‘ The Valley of Broken Dreams.’ Maybe you saw them on the screen?” The surgeon’s eyes opened. Among his few dissipations was a taste for the movies. “You say this man directed ‘The Valley of Broken Dreams’? You don’t mean he is—Bristol, or—” “¢ Briscoe: yes, sir; this is Lawrence Bris- coe. 9? The man they were’ discussing inter- rupted. ‘ Not Briscoe—that’s what Jimmy calls me sometimes. But I ain’t Mr. Bris- coe; I’m just Larry. And Jimmy is going to give me a new knife after I see the doc- tor. He said so.” ‘““H-m! Pity! ever since?” Jimmy Wing coughed apologetically. “No, sir; worse once. When he first came out of the hospital in Los Angeles, he was - like a baby. It seemed as if he had forgot- ten everything. He couldn’t walk decent, and he couldn’t talk much of any. I’ve learned him everything he knows. But be- fore that,” Jimmy thrust forward his head emphatically, “ before that Mr. Briscoe-was the best educated man you ever saw. Yes, sir, and the finest!” The surgeon studied the patient through his rimless spectacles. “ Did they operate on him?”. “No, sir; they said they didn’t believe that it would do any good, and that it might prove fatal.” “You understand,” said the surgeon slowly, “that a case of this character is complicated.. It is possible that an opera-, Pretty much this way 363 tion may relieve some bone pressure and restore his normal brain action. There are records of similar cases cured by shock, either mental or physical, but these in- stances are more or less accidental. Now, I shall be glad to operate, but it will be expen- sive, and I cannot guarantee the result.” _ “T understand,” nodded Jimmy, feeling reassuringly in his pockets, “ but I’m willing ‘ to pay every cent it costs—and hope it will ‘cure him! Doc, I tell you, you don’t un- derstand how I feel about kim. I was just fifteen, and living in the streets, when he picked me up and set me on my feet. He took care of me, doc, and taught me, and gave me'a job, and watched over me for three years. Why, I—I might have been his kid brother, the way he looked out for me. And when I began to do a little of this four- round fighting, amateur bouts out in Los Angeles, you know, he didn’t care. He used to go every time and holler for me.” “Yes?” encouraged the surgeon. “And all the time he kept me kind of helping him while he was directing, and maybe letting me play bits now and then, and all that. And he always wanted to send me away to school, but I wouldn’t go. I wanted to stay with him.” Jimmy paused, lost in his memories. ‘* But I wasn’t the only one. Why, doc, he just spent his money-right and left help- ing his friends; and you know what Los Angeles is—jammed with people who ex- pected to make fortunes in the movie game and went broke.. So when he got through with the hospital, he didn’t have a cent, nor: nobody to offer him a bed—and him like a child! And I—I took care of him; doc, because I wanted to; and I took care of him ever since. you, Larry?” “T have a good time, Jimmy; and I help you, don’t I?” “Sure you do. He’s learning every y day, like a kid that’s just growing.up. He can ‘build fires and sweep, and he’s learning to . cook a little. I bought him a knife about He ain’t had a bad time, have a month ago, and he’s getting to be a real. good whittler.” The afflicted man raised a protesting hand. “ You said you’d get me a new knife, Jimmy.” 1INOO no ginal fre NG o) in = S CO© TATE UN |