Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 6, 1923 — page 126: what you’re looking at

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

= all over, ‘Bunt. I wanted to do was to tickle him some.” worked on a bull. _ maybe for the next day or two. -. the fight out of them. I didnt’ want to kill nobody, but I made up my mind he was that way. ing about. ‘Why, for killing . that mutt. You needn’t be leery. We'll all say it was self- _ defense.” “ TI aim’t worrying none,” says Bunt. “ What do you mean you ain’t worrying?” - “ He’s still running,” says Bunt. “ He ain’t a going to die.” “ Then I’m crazy,” says Pete, thinking he ain’t heard him right. “ You shot hint up, didn’t you? We seen it! You hit him He’s all tore to pieces! Ain’t no man can carry all that lead and live!” “* But he ain’t got no lead in him!” says “He ain’t got nothing in him! All “For the love of—tickle him some! With three loads from a pump gun—” “Full of salt,” Bunt explains simple enough. ‘‘ Once when I was a kid I seen it He'll be pretty tender It takes going to let me alone. Maybe I hadn’t ought to done it, but when I seen him using Mina that way something come over me, I thought of the gun I’d- loaded with salt That bird was getting too fresh—” Wasn’t that a howl, now, I ask you? Bunt never seen what the gang was laugh- “Tt ain’t funny,” he says. “ He might of hurt Mina, and I don’t know but what _ he suas trying to pull some rough stuff on = me,’ ““TH tell the world!” Pete gurgled. = sae «Bunt, you're the goods—” And then Mina comes out of the dressing ‘tent and interrupts the conversation again. Somewhere about. midnight, Sam, he comes sneaking in. In the morning = was slow-footing around the lot. a Thought you’a quit?” says Pete sar- castic, seeing him first. Sam flinched. Maybe it was on account of what Pete said to him, but knowing Sam it was hard to take it that way. He acted more like a kid that’s stayed in swimming too long on a sunny day—like he wasn’t __ comfortable standing up in his clothes. -“¥ change my mind,” says Sam. “ = something. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. ~< ~ “You must of changed your niind if you got one now!” Pete was great at flapping @ Mean tongue. “‘T never done nothing — “Can that stuff!” says Pete. “ Get in the tent. Jl hunt up the spieler and tell him to get ready to make an opening.” It would be nice, now, to tell how Sam was reformed, and Bunt and Mina got along fine all the rest of the season. But it wouldn’t be true. Mina was in love with Bunt, the poor fish, all over again, and scared to death of him, too. It sure made Bunt lonesome. Mina had hardly nothing - to talk about when she couldn’t tell Bunt He had a - kind of a case when he blames Sam for that. 3 where he got off at no more. In less than two weeks San was wanting to quit again. One of the boys overheard him talking to Pete: “I can’t stand it,” groans Samson, the strong man. “ You got to make that Bunt Simpson quit picking on me. He’s after : me all the time!” ““ Crown him!” says Pete. ‘““ He’d kill me,” says Sam all hopeless. “Well, that would be your funeral. Anyway, Pll bust you one myself if you pull any more stuff about quitting again. Ge on over and shove that tank wagon out — of the road, and save the trouble of hook- ing up a team.” Sam shoved it. A little thing like that wasn’t nothing to a big gorilla like him. - No guy can’t have everything. lf Sam had been as strong be- But that just shows. tween the ears as he was from the neck down, he might of been a song writer or Like he was, he was a ton of cheese. | | Sure, all that there caveman stuff is just the bunk in the movies. cause they pay out good coin to the bums that are hired to be beat up that way. But -outside— Try ith Pretty soon some softy w will jeu over and say: “ Poor fellow—I wong how - that happened?” — Sam never studied no history. Got it? = That’s where. this : zie here civilization comes in, Fly cops and shotguns! It goes great in the — dark on the screen. But it gets across be-_ = = = “comic Doe com> j Ay : Ri