Argosy All-Story Weekly, March 15, 1924 — page 138: what you’re looking at

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

THE TATTLING THING, Carston bowed and withdrew without © comment. The room seemed unbearably warm. Its atmosphere carried an aura of impending disaster which Rainham’s tightly strung nerves quickly sensed. Some malignant in- fluence seemed to be hovering about him. And it had come with that damned letter. Furiously Rainham tore the communication to bits, stuffed it into the ash-receiver, and touched a match to the pieces. Breathing heavily he saw the shreds darken, crumble, and then turn to ashes—dead ashes. What a pity that their writer couldn’t follow them! The usurious money-shark! Rainham stepped to the coat-rack, tak- ing his cap and-coat. He was consumed with a fever to get away from the room with its dead, heavy air and ‘its deader ashes. Perhaps a brisk walk down in his woods edging Dead Men’s Curve would put new blood into him along with more sanguine thoughts. | As Rainham hastily opened the door and entered the corridor, Carston was just emerging from his room. He would have bowed without saying anything. But the sight of him brought Rainham to an abrupt ' halt. | With “the burning of the inflammatory letter some of his red anger had abated. The impending disaster was not quite so- imminent. A shade of shame seized Rain- ham. He had been rude to Carston, who was a good enough fellow, a punctilious machine. In his usual voice Rainham said confi- dentialiy, ‘“‘ Oh, Carston, I seem to be a bit off color. Going down in my woods for a stroll and a bit.of air. ll be back at—-” He jerked out his watch. “ Stopped,” he muttered. ‘ That’s funny. Must have forgotten to wind it. What time is it?” Carston quickly produced his time-piece. He stated the exact hour. “Ts your watch right?” inquired Rain- ham, for ne was punctilious about such things. “Yes, sir. I just called up Western Union and set it not fifteen minutes ago.” ‘“ Good,” commented Rainham. ‘ When I come back I'll go over those letters with you.” 7167 “Very well,” answered Carston evenly, and went about his tasks. Rainham left the house by the rear door. He went to the garage and brought out his roadster. He drove to the woods which lay some two miles from the house. He guided his car into a thickly wooded trail swerving off from the main line of travel. One hundred and twenty-five yards further along on the pike yawned Dead Men’s Curve. As Rainham slammed the door of the roadster he thought of the lives the curve had claimed. For it was notorious for miles about. Well, such a death wasn’t so bad! Swift, certain, without the stigma of financial ruin. Thoughtfully he strolled among the rust- ling trees. It was late afternoon and the weather was mild and balmlike. It laved his ragged nerves. Yet every step he took only drove home more poignantly the reali- zation that Broadlawns would shortly pass from him into the hands of another. The thought of this and Cranhouse gradually. became unbearable. thrust mind. Presently he entered a magnificent plot of evergreens. The pine needles stretched out a pungent, velvety carpet. The trees swayed lazily. From a tall pine near by a - Resolutely he tried to these biting ideas out of his bird warbled.. But the sound of its song chilled Rainham. There was a melancholy, minor note in the melody which somehow took him back to that evil- “smelling r room— to the papers he had burned, As he paced along soundleéssly he sud- denly stopped. Before him in a little open- ing by a gureling brook, a man was bent over with a can. His back was turned to- ward Rainham. And just beyond the in- truder was Rainham’s sign warning every one against trespassing under penalty of the law. There were many duplicates of the sign. Yet here was the impudent fel- low almost squatting beneath it and’ fla- grantly ignoring it! Rainham was sadly out of tune with everything. On a normal day he would have shrugged his shoulders and _ passed along, only mildly aroused by the occur- rence. But to-dav the trespasser was like a red flag to his ugly frame of mind. CO Ccomicloookks