Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 17, 1924 — page 147: what you’re looking at

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

A STRANGER IN TOWN. ‘““ She was pretty near to the truth, I be- lieve,” Blumefeldt said. ‘“‘ Anyway, when Marvin butted in this afternoon he spoiled my plans and I had to make my esc pe. “It came over me in a flash that he hadn’t understood—and that I hadn’t been trusted—and so I didn’t dare be taken by the police—because if I was, if I was ar- rested before I had managed to complete the task assigned me, I couldn’t prove what I had intended doing—but if I kept my liberty and the hu. dred thousand in bills, and my standing with Murgson and his associates as a man of their own stripe, I I still sayy a way in which I could make good. Now, maybe you begin to see.” Eddie nodded again. All at once he grinned. ‘‘ And so you jumped out of the window after tipping over the bleach, and hopped off the roof on top of Jenkins and ran up the street and saw me, and slapped my face.” It was all quite remarkable—like a story —but Eddie saw it and some one had said a long time before that truth was stranger than fiction. “ Just so,” said Blumefeldt. ‘‘ But—what made you give me that hun- dred dollar bill?” “T guess that was a bit dramatic,” Blumefeldt explained. ‘‘ And maybe it was just my fool sense of humor. I knew at a glance you were a stranger in town. You were standing there with your mouth open, trying to see to the top of the Call tower, and you were wearing a gray suit of clothes. I had the bill and it occurred to me what I’d do myself if I was in your shoes and somebody shoved it on me and hit me and said he owed me both the bill and the blow. “ T knew you’d run after me if you had a spark of manhood in you, and I knew if you did, you’d probably lead Jenkins off. Then, too, if he pinched you and you got into trouble, I figured you might need something for expenses, and—it wasn’t my money, anyway. ‘The government was financing my work. Besides ”—a slow grin creased his features—‘1 figured it was worth a hundred of anybody’s money toa man’s pride to have somebody he didn’t know run up and slap his face.” 297 “You’d have found what I thought it was worth if I’d caught you before Jenkins overhauled me,” Eddie said with an unmis- takable meaning. ‘““T know it. You didn’t lose any time getting into motion.” Blumefeldt laughed. ‘But the thing served my purpose, and I made my escape. I lay low till I got a chance to get hold of Marvin and explain my real standiffg in the case. After that we doped it out that Murgson and his crowd would be crazy to get at me before I dis- covered what they had done—as you know they were.” “‘ Rather.” Eddie’s agreement was em- phatic. ‘“ If you had a lump the size of a goose egg behind your ear, you wouldn’t doubt it. They wanted to reach you. That’s one thing in which they were sin- cere.” Marvin chuckled. ‘“ They were so sin- cere that they overlooked everything else. Honestly, Harmon, they were so busy with you and Miss Elton, trailing you, I mean, and then getting you down to that room of theirs that they went and rented for the occasion, that I bet they practically for- got they might be trailed themselves.” And Eddie echoed his chuckle. Everything was all right—most amazingly all right. As Marvin had said, he was in the clear— and the lump behind his ear would disap- pear after a time, and quite suddenly Mar- vin and Blumefeldt didn’t seem a potential enemy and a crook, but just a couple of friends. . ““T gave Miss Elton that bill at her sug- gestion in case anything more came up in the matter—and she’ll return it to you, of course.” “1 don’t want it,” said Blumefeldt, smil- ing in a somewhat grimacing fashion. “ I’m going back to work. They’re going to let me have my old job. I told you I thought maybe you’d need something for expenses. Use it for attorney’s fees.” Eddie looked at Portia. All at once he felt himself again and very, very bold. “The attorney’s fees will be attended to,” he declared. “ But—since you sug- gest it—we’ll keep it, and have it framed.” A glance passed between Blumefeldt and Marvin, and Portia flushed the least-bit. COnmicloool< (C@