Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 6, 1923 — page 102: what you’re looking at

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

834 this-a-away. I see it in yore eye. I know what you’ve come back to deo. ‘‘ A-fore I tell you, I want to say some- thin’ about Angel. You know, these Basques ain’t a bad people; they’re fightin’ men. In some ways they’re right like the mountain people yore daddy came from. Yore daddy’s paw and me and the rest of us fi’t pretty hard for this country. ‘When the Basques came pilin’ in here we jumped ’em. We didn’t allow to let ?em have this land after what we’d been through. Lord only knows what we’d a- done with it all! But they stuck; and they’ve done pretty well. “ Lookin’ back, I see how foolish the whole fight was. But men go on like that —like Angel has done. He’s been the biggest fool of all. Now, things has changed—everythin’ but him! The coun- try’s changed; the Basques has changed; and they’re a goin’ to keep on changin’. They can’t do nuthin’ else; they ain’t ever goin’ back to Spain. “And so I want to ask you—what’s Angel got for himself out of all the hatin’ he’s done? He’s an old man—I reckon he’s known his mistakes for a long time— but he’s afeered to admit it now; he’s too stiff-necked. I guess God’s just lettin’ him live till he’s willin’ to eat crow. “No matter what you do to him, Joseph, I won’t hold it agin you. He’s got it a- comin’ to him, but boy, if you’d only promise—”’ “Please! Do not exact a promise from me. This matter concerns only that man and me. No one must come between us. But his death would only defeat my pur- pose. Angel Irosabal must live. Tell me —who killed Kit Dorr?” The suddenness of the question made Peter recoil. It grew very still in the little dug-out. Both man and boy seemed to be caught up and held motionless in a tensely charged way. Waiting—one to hear, and the other to voice—a brief syl- lable or two; and both fully conscious that the course of their lives might well be changed thereby. Joseph’s eyes never left the old man’s. Seconds dragged by before Peter’s lips moved. No sound escaped them, however, ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. and when he did speak his voice was dry, unnatural. ‘“It—it was—Andres.”’ ‘“Andres—” It was a whisper. For a seemingly endless time, the boy remained motionless, his eyes closed. Slip- py-foot stared at him anxiously. She whimpered softly as Joseph sat down. ““Andres—my mother’s brother!” he repeated. He did not raise his voice, but the hatred and bitterness with which he spoke gave his words a dreadful sound. “It was Andres,” Peter muttered, but his was not the air of one who enjoys his own tale. To escape the boy’s staring eyes, he spread his blankets upon the floor and made ready for sleep, but as he bent over the expected question came from the boy: ‘* How do you know?” ‘‘ Joseph,” Peter scolded, “ don’t look at me that-a-way. You make me feel all clammy and cold as if death was stalkin’ around in “ere.” “Oh, man, go on,” the boy insisted. “How do you know it was Andres?” The old man pulled off his boots and sat down upon his blankets before he spoke. “‘T heard him say so,” he began. ‘“ When T got into that pocket I crawled way in below the ledge and rolled up and tried to go to sleep. I was on foot and me thankin’ my stars I didn’t have no animal to look after that night, when I caught sound of some one comin’ up the hog- back. I don’t remember who I thought it was. It wa’n’t late—’bout eight thirty. A man had to yell that night to make him- self heard. ‘““I savvy Basque pretty well, and the first word I made out was zaldiak—horses. In those days the Basque gente wa’n’t particularly welcome round here. I got kinda curious right off. And the next min- ute I heard those horses comin’ right down into that pocket. One of the men—they was two of them—tried to strike a light, but you couldn’t make fire even thar that night.”” Peter paused and reflected for a moment. ‘“T didn’t say nuthin’,” he went on; “TI knew they didn’t know I was there.” “Who was the second man?” Joseph interrupted him to ask. COMmiclboo (©