Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 25, 1924 — page 114: what you’re looking at

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

104 “ Haw, haw, Fin.” “She thought you were a murderer.”’ “Oh, you Irish sheik!”’ Finnerty glared from one to another. He whipped off his coat and flung it down. “Will somebody say something now?” No one would, so Fin replaced his coat and betook himself to the grade. He trudged the long mound of earth for half a mile or so, then sat down to ponder his problem. Should he leave the camp? No; the story would follow him and grow by repetition, until finally he would be the outstanding joke of the line. Better stick and live it down. But the story was kept alive, neverthe- less, as Finnerty could tell by the secret conversations between old and new men, and the smiles and furtive glances at him. The subject was not mentioned in his pres- ence, however. It was well understood that the mentioner would risk a wallop on the jaw. Finnerty was considerably — surprised, therefore, when a newcomer to the camp, a city fop gone to seed who wasn’t a real railroader any more than Fin was a diplo- mat, approached him boldly and stated: “7 can fix up your affair with the widow if you want me to.” “Vou!” Finnerty glared at the fellow. “ Who the hell are you?” The fixer shrugged a thin shoulder. ‘“ Bertram McCandless, at your service.” Finnerty was impressed. Apparently McCandless was a gentleman in hard luck. His clothes were ragged but once had been stylish; he was tall and slim and hand- some; he possessed poise and distinction. “How can you help me?” Fin demand- ed. “ By boosting your stock with the lady.” Finnerty sneered. ‘A lot of boosting you can do in that rig-out, even though you have got the gift of gab.” McCandless smiled. ‘“ That, my dear Mr. Finnerty, is where my compensation for helping you comes in. Buy me some decent clothes and introduce me to Mrs. Maloney, and inside of a week I'll have told her so many good things about you that you can probably have the last laugh ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. on the camp—on the whole construction line, I should say—by leading the lady to the altar.” Finnerty didn’t know whether to thank the fellow or swat him. “You—you really think you can do a thing like that?”’ ** Assuredly.” “If I buy you a suit of clothes?” “With shoes and shirts and so on.” Finnerty scratched his head. “I think, man, that you’re crazy.” McCandless did not resent the aspersion. Instead, he took Finnerty’s arm and pilot- ed him far from the other laborers. “ Finnerty,” he said, “‘ you’ve got every- thing in your favor. The widow naturally will be looking around for another man, if she hasn’t already, and whom should she like better than a rough and ready fellow like her late husband? She is interested in you because for a while she thought you were a criminal. She feels under no obli- gation to you because you stayed here when she asked you to. If you’d only spruce up and make a try you’d probably win her anyhow. But you’re unskilled at that sort of thing, Finnerty, and that’s why you need me.”’ “ You're skilled, are you?” “T think I may say that Iam. At least, in other cases, I have steered the frail bark of love through the rocky channel of inex- perience.” Finnerty was impressed by the language. “ By golly,” he said. ‘“‘ Maybe you can, at that.” “Ts it a go, then?” lls fe ge Thus it transpired that handsome Mr. McCandless labored as a dump-wagon driv- er by day, but sauntered about in giddy garments by evening. “‘ Introduce me to the lady and then fade out,” he instructed Finnerty. ‘ Leave me alone with her for a while. Tell her ’ma college man.” “‘T don’t want to tell her no lies.” “Nonsense. The end _ justifies the means. Tell her It came here to learn rail- roading from the ground up.” So Finnerty made McCandless acquaint- ed with Alice Maloney. COMmMicloooks (C@)