Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 4 — page 109: what you’re looking at

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

\ "a collected now, just as she had always been perfectly cool and collected on those other times when Edward had been ready to throw up the burden in his early days— those years of starvation before he got his first really big commission. . Then she heard the door open, and a light footfall tapped on the floor. She felt the new presence rather than heard his coming. “This is Mrs. Garth?” queried a pleas- ant voice. When she looked up, she started, the resemblance to Margaret was so great, but her second glance showed her differences. For instance, his chin ended in an abrupt square instead of the rounded finish, and his cheek-bones were more pronounced, the forehead higher, the cheeks thinner. More- over, from the eyes of this man, as from Margaret’s, there came a fire, but it wasa © gentle flame in the girl, and in the man it was a consuming thing. He was such a person as Mrs. Garth could never imagine unpoised, uncontrolled, unsure of himself. He looked straight into her eyes, smiling. ‘“‘ How are you,” she said, and took his hand. He kept her from getting up, and slipped at once into a chair. She saw that his pale hands were reddened on the inside, a sure proof that he had been doing com- mon labor, and his clothes were ingrained with the dust of cement, and shining from ineffectual brushing. Nevertheless, he gave a singular imipression of cleanliness. “We been wishing you ’d come to see us,” she began, a little uneasily, ‘‘ but Eddie says that you won’t come to visit; ~ not while you’re workin’ on the dam.” , “TI couldn’t play the réle of your son’s friend and a common laborer,”’ he answered. “Of course you see that. And I really shouldn’t stay here long now. It won’t do for the men to think that I have a stand-in with the big boss.” She looked at him narrowly, but there was ng double meaning on his face. ““T won’t Keep you long,” she said. “I got a little thing to speak to you about.” “ Don’t let me hurry you,’’ he answered. She saw his glance wander about the room, first carelessly, then with sudden interest. PRIDE OF TYSON. ‘“ By Jove,” he said suddenly, “‘ this is very pleasant.” “The arranging of the room is your sister’s work,” she answered pointedly. “ Oh?” he queried politely. “ ‘““She and Eddie,” nodded Mrs. Garth, . and watched him shrewdly. But it was plain that the coupling of the two names /meant nothing to him. It was hard for her to break in upon the main thread of her talk, for there was some- thing airy and easy about this fellow which embarrassed her. “It’s about your sister and Eddie that I want to talk to you,” she said. And she folded her hands over the sewing and looked him in the eye. He had started to nod casually, but now he sat up a little straighter and stared. “Yes?” he said, rather breathlessly. ‘ I'd like to know if your sister has been talkin’ to you any about my son?”’ ‘“ About Garth?” He kept his intense eyes upon her. “I’ve seen very little of Margaret since she came, and when we talked—-yes, she has often spoken of him. Quite enthusiastically. Why do you ask?” ‘““ Because Eddie has been talkin’ a lot about her.” There was no doubt of her meaning by this time. She saw a sharp flush dye the cheek of Tyson, and his jaw set. _ _ “Mr. Tyson,” she said, throwing diplo- macy to the winds, ‘I ain’t in favor of it. Are your” He could not speak. “They ain’t the same kind of folks,” she went on, scoring her points rapidly, ‘and they ’d regret it later on.” She saw his throat-muscles bulge, and then he controlled himself with an effort that left his hands clenched and his face colorless. . ‘They’re not the same—” he echoed, eand then, half under his breath: ‘“ Good God, Mrs. Garth, what do you mean?” « Just what I’m saying. Seeing a lot of each other is pretty dangerous for young folks, and Eddie and your sister have been seeing a pile of each other lately. I been watching.” “Do you mean to say that your son— Garth—is dreaming of —” 615°