Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine, Vol. 107 No. 3 — page 66: what you’re looking at

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

408 Bugbee, “ providing they inspire it in him. And if he thinks people deserving of his notice and conversation, he gives ’em good seegars. You hain’t got an idea, Marshal Tom, how good these seegars are. Wait till you smoke one of them—you only smelled it yit.” Marshal Tom grunted. A grunt is something which has been long used. King Robert of Sicily may have used it. It is as yet undefined, in precise terms, although it often substitutes for con- versation. _ It serves the purpose of a “ white chip,” pokerishly speaking, when you think the other party to the jack-pot for which the “‘ prelude ” is going on has a kilter hand. CHAPTER IX. * SHOW-DOWN.” IM,” said Marshal Tom, “ I’ll show- down with you on this Stuart for twenty bucks.” “How you going to tell who wins the pot, Tom?” ‘The man with the most information, up to the time I come into the door to see you, wins; and we both come clean, all the way.” Mr. Bugbee promptly ‘“ covered” the twenty with the one Marshal Tom slapped on the counter, adding: “ You know me, Tom.” It was one-fifth of the needful oat money, and he had been saving it, as stated. _ “Dern the automobiles,” said Mr. Bugbee to himself, as Tom began reciting his official litany. “T suspicioned this fellow when he first got off the trolley, cracking to the conductor with a lot of smart stuff and looked at Viv Baldwin when she got off the car. I knew he was up to something. I trailed him, after dinner, all over town. And derned if he didn’t ketch me at it. But I ketched him, too. He didn’t sell a type- writer to anybody all afternoon—didn’t even open his case to show his typewriter. What typewriter salesman ever did that?” Producing a memorandum, Marshal Tom proceeded to back up his statement by reading a list of firms and individuals called ARGOSY AND RAILROAD MAN’S MAGAZINE. on by Jimmy up to the time he stopped to look at the sign, “ Public Stenographer,”’ ere going into the lot. “ First,’’ said Marshal Tom, “ he looked at the sign; next, he acted awful suspicious. I knew that Viv wasn’t in her office just then, for I’d seen her down by the First National, talking with Mike Burns, just before this fellow came to her haltway.” Mr. twenty. Tom had good cards. He nodded morosely. ‘‘ Go on, Tom, what next?” ‘“‘ Now, Stuart, as he calls himself, didn’t go up to Viv’s office then? Why?” ““ How should I know?” asked Mr. Bug- bee, secretly rejoicing as he thought of the same query he would propound to the mar- shal about the golf that the same man had played on the hotel register! “You shouldn’t know,” said Marshal Tom, ‘“ unless he told you why he didn’t go in there, until after he went back around into the lot and into the shed where your old phaeton is. And you already told me he hadn’t told you that—and you’d ask him to-morrow when he give you another cigar.” Mr. Bugbee nodded, again. ‘* Now, whilst he was in that lot, I caught him peeking out at me,” said Marshal Tom wrathfully. ‘“ And so, of course, I had to vamose. And whilst I did, I said to myself: ‘Young fellow, I’ll ketch you yet, if you go . into Viv’s office when you do come out of the lot.’ ““So I sent’ a certain party into Viv’s office before Viv got back, and with in- structions to see and hear, but not to be seen or heard.” “Who was that party?” demanded Bug- bee. “That don’t make any difference, Tim. I’m comin’ clean with all that I know up to the time when I come in the door to-night, and so are you. That was our agreement.” “It sure was,” said Mr. Bugbee. ‘Go “ Before Stuart got back out of the lot, Viv come back up-street, went into her office, and lit her ‘lectric light. I was acrost the street and I seen her. Then out comes this smart Aleck, and he goes straight up the stairs and into her office. But he don’t try on. Bugbee gazed sorrowfully at his. - CELDOO© CO S Co mM