Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 6, 1923 — page 98: what you’re looking at

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

880 a whimpering, frightened little fat darkey who clutched a big book of clothier’s sam- ples to his soft and palpitating stomach. Jim Golly had seen Hitch coming to raise the alarm and had hidden under the stairs which led up to the lodge room. He had heard all that was said and now terror laid hold upon him. The man hunt had begun and he was the object of their search. V. NExtT a loud wail from the women.. Just before the bank closed for the day, Jim Golly had appeared before the Sisterhood of the Seven Stars, had displayed his sam- ples, and had sold them all a lodge dress accepting a deposit of two dollars each. He had gone to the bank and had changed their small currency into five twenty-dollar bills. He had then gone into a grocery and bought a bottle of mucilage. That was the last seen of him. Where, oh, where was Jim Golly now? Dividing the searching party into squads, runners were sent out on all the roads lead- ing from Tickfall. Five men, led by Fig- ger Bush, started for the Mississippi River to search for the fugitive at the spot where Figger had first seen him. Colored men loafed at the depot, watching the trains. And during all the excitement, Jim Golly shivered with fear under the steps of the Nights of Darkness lodge. At midnight Jim crawled out, bringing his precious book of tailoring samples with him, Dodging like a fat rabbit, he made his way to the railroad track, hoping to hop a free ride to safety on a freight which stopped at a watering tank on the border of the town. Hitch Diamond was patrolling the track with his battle-ax upon his shoulder. As the advancing freight engine rounded a turn, a shaft of light illumined the track for a mile. Hitch saw a shadowy form leap for the darkness beside the track, and Hitch was instantly in hot pursuit. Beside the track there was a swamp of ooze and water making it impossible for the fugitive to escape to the woods; upon the track glowed the powerful headlight of the en- ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, gine making it impossible for him to cross to the other side without detection. This enabled Hitch to chase the man down one side of the track. The thundering freight caught up with them, but Hitch raced on, knowing that the fugitive could not cross under the moving cars. By the time the train had come to a stop, the two men were far beyond the last car, and Hitch was still chasing Jim down the right-of-way. There was nothing now for Jim Golly to do but to keep moving on down the track. The Coolie swamp was on either side of the railroad track for sixteen miles. Its depth was indeterminate, it was navigable only to web-footed creatures, and a death trap to man. So Golly trotted on, carrying . his heavy sample book, Hitch Diamond in hot pursuit. At early dawn, Jim came to a ridge which led from the track to the Mississippi River. A dim path followed the ridge, an animal trail, but Jim took it. He could hide better in the brush along that path, even if he did not dare to forsake the ridge and go off into the swamp. Hitch Diamond, knowing the ways of all fleeing negroes, unerringly chose that path as the one Jim had taken. All the morn- ing he followed, stopping at intervals to listen and believing at times that he heard the rustle of the underbrush ahead of him. Shortly after noon, he caught the first glimpse of Golly through a clearing in the woods. Hitch was an athlete with muscles of oak and iron. Jim was a crook with soft bones covered with flabby fat. After twenty miles of pursuit, Hitch was still going strong. After twenty miles of flight, Jim was put- ting one foot in front of the other only by the effort of his will made strong by fear of death. Hunger gnawed at his vitals with the teeth of agony, thirst sand-papered his tongue until his mouth was filled with ash and dust, exhaustion covered him like a suffocating cloak. But he was still very much attached to his fat head and had no desire to part with it under the headsman’s decapitating ax. In the middle of the afternoon, Jim ran out upon the sandbar, where, seven days be- fore, he had first met Figger Bush and his 5 A COMicloooe S (© im