Argosy, Vol. 120, No. 1 — page 100: what you’re looking at

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

$0 \ office; she had seen Shorty come out carry- ing Lawler; and she heard Shorty’s steps on the stairs as he brought his burden up, preceded by the proprietor. She was standing in the hall when the proprietor and Shorty reached the upper landing, and when the proprietor looked inquiringly at her she silently motioned to- ward her room, ~and stood aside as Shorty entered and placed his limp burden upon the bed. Della instantly took charge of Lawler. Which means that she set seriously to work with him, while Shorty stood by, his arms folded over his huge chest, one hand ca- ressing his chin, grimly watching. Shorty continued to watch. For many days he stood guard over his ‘‘ boss ’—a somber, brooding figure, silent, imperturb- able. When he moved it was only to walk slowly up and down the hall, or down- stairs to take his meals. At other times he would stand at the bedside looking down at Lawler’s closed_eyes and ashen face; or he would sit on the edge of a chair and watch him, intently, with stoic calm, his face as expressionless as a stone image. Mrs. Lawler came early the next morn- ing—after the doctor had told Della and Shorty there was a fighting chance for Lawler; and Ruth Hamlin. Shorty’s eyes grew moist as he watched Mrs. Lawler and Ruth as they stood by the unconscious man; and his voice was low and gruff when, during the day Mrs. Lawler asked him for particulars. “ That’s all there was to it, ma’am,” he said in conclusion. ‘“‘ The boss oughtn’t to have busted in that shack like he did, knowin’ Antrim was there—an’ giving the scum a chance to take the first shot at him. But he done it. An’ he done thé same thing to Warden — offered him the first shot. Ma’am, I never heard the beat of it! I’ve got nerve—as the sayin’ is. But— Lordy!” And Shorty became silent again. For three days Lawler remained uncon- scious. And during that interval there were ne disturbing sounds to agitate the deathlike quiet of the sick-room. Riders glided into town from various points of the compass and stepped softly as they moved THE ARGOSY. in the street—whispering or talking in low tones. The universal topic was the fight, and Lawler’s condition. On the second day of Lawler’s unconsciousness a keen- eyed man stepped off the. eastbound train and made his way to the hotel. “Tm Metcalf of the News, in the cap- ital,” he told Keller, the proprietor. And Keller quietly ushered the newspaperman up-stairs, where the latter stood for a long time until Mrs. Lawler opened the door of the sick-room for him. Metcalf entered, looked down at Lawler, and then drew Shorty aside where, in a whispered con- versation he obtained the particulars of the fight and the wounding of Lawler. He took the westbound train that night. A pall seemed to have settled over Wil- lets. The atmosphere was tense, strained. Riders from Caldwell’s ranch, from Sig- mund’s, from Lester’s—and from other ranches came in; and important-looking men from various sections of the State alighted from the trains at the station and lingered long in the dingy foyer of the hotel. One of these was recognized by KeHer as McGregor, secretary of the State Cen- tral Committee of Lawler’s party. And Keller noted that McGregor wore a worried look, and that he scowled continually. Willets waited; the riders who came into town waited; it seemed to the residents of Willets that the whole State waited, with the collective gaze of its citizens upon the little room in the hotel where a man lay, fighting for his life. Shorty waited—still silent, the somber, brooding light in his eyes; his jaws set a little: tighter, his eyes filled with a deeper glow. Shorty said no word to any man re- garding the deadly intention that reigned in his heart. He merely waited, watching Lawler, grimly determined that if Lawler died he would keep his promise to ‘‘ come for’ Warden. But Shorty would not have found War- den in town. On the night of the shooting | Warden had taken the westbound train, and the next day he was closeted with the Governor and Hatfield—the three of them sitting in the Governor’s office, where, their faces pale, though expressing no regret, JOO