Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 13, 1925 — page 57: what you’re looking at

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

THROW UP YOUR HANDS. claim jumpers. They’re th’ kind o’ men ya don’t see as much in th’ new West as ya did in th’ old—men with so many crimes behind ’em they don’t dast go into a town where law and order reigns. Used t’ belong to Kit Snacker’s outfit down on th’ Rio Grande afore th’ Rangers wiped ’em out. Been rovin’ these yere hills since them days. Oh, we shore are in for trouble now!” The horse thieves dismounted. Sarl the Killer, stroking his long, tangled brown beard, advanced toward the group with a threatening jeer. Gory Oliver, his beady little ey@s full of suspicion, swaggered be- hind him, his hand resting on the butt of one of his guns. Karl the Killer swept off his bleached and dingy black sombrero with a flourish. ‘“ At yore suvvice, folks!” he roared. Mrs. Yost yelped. The mocking bow which Karl the Killer made had given her a complete view of the top of his bald head, and it was not surprising that she had been moved to cry out. The bald dome of Karl the Killer was an intricate pattern of old knife scars and bullet scars and patches of greenish-blue—old gun- powder marks. Most prominent were the bullet scars—pale streaks across his scalp, where he had been “ creased” countless times. The outlaw replaced his sombrero, de- posited his large brown hands on his hips, and looked at her, then glanced inquiringly at Julius. “ Who’s this dame?” he wanted to know. ‘* She’s—she’s my mother,” the young man stammered. “Ayah? Wall, I had a mother m’self, once. All right, folks, let’s git down t’ business. This young feller yere’s a been a tellin? me and me pal th’t Red Wilpin stuck ya up and made his get-away with all yore valuables and a purty young gal. Whut we got t’ do, as I figger it, is t’ strike quick and fast. Does that meet with yore approval?” There was a chorus of affirmatives. “Then let’s hold a conference,” the Killer briskly suggested. “A capital idea,” Judge Oglethorpe coin- cided. ‘“‘ Now we're getting somewhere. The motion has been made by this gentle- AA O29 man that we hold a conference. I second the motion. All those in favor of holding a conference will signify in the usual manner.” There was a chorus of “ Aye, aye!” “The motion has been carried,” the judge said briskly, ‘‘ that we hold a confer- ence. I think we may now proceed with the business of the meeting. This gentle- man has the floor.” Karl the Killer bowed slightly. “I will be as brief and t’ th’ p’int as possible, folks. JI know Red Wiipin, I used t’ know his pappy, and, afore him, many’s th’ game 0’ cribbage and backgammon I played with his granddaddy by th’ light o’ th’ old log fire with th’ wind a howlin’ and th’ Apaches a gittin’ ready t’ attack at any minnit. Might go s’ fur as to state that I know th’ Wilpin family well. ‘“°S a family o’ quick-drawin’, straight- shootin’, hard-fightin’ he-men and womanly women, That’s why I heartily recommend to ya, as I recommended t’ th’ young feller yere, th’t we don’t go a chasin’ Red Wilpin with no small foss. ’S only one way to hunt down Red Wilpin, and old man Fri- day—and that’s with a posse!” He looked at the circle of eager faces about him. “JT agree with you,” Marshal Sniffin put in vigorously. ‘I know you two men well, as it happens. Yowre both wanted men, with prices on your heads, and I am United states Marshal Jeffery P. Sniffin. It is my duty to arrest you men, but in the face of this emergency and until it is over, I will not molest you.” Karl the Killer grasped the marshal’s hand and pressed it fervently. ‘T call that white of ya, marshal,” he said in a voice somewhat choked with emo- tion. “ Gory, don’t ya call that white o’ th’ marshal t’ declare an armistice?” Tears misted the eyes of Gory Oliver. “T shore do.” ‘| can safely say,” the marshal went on, “that two men could not have been better selected for our purpose. They know these mountains as we know the streets of our respective home communities. They are fearless men.” “ T think it is in order,” Judge Oglethorpe Conn cloOOkS