The Argosy for May — page 111: what you’re looking at

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

298 been up against the dope to-day, you’d have been able to take him, gun and all, without a struggle on his part.” ‘“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Leffingwell disgustedly. ‘ What wretched luck | have!” ‘Oh, well, you’ll probably get an- other chance at him,’’ remarked the ser- geant comfortingly. “If your friend, the deserter, has hit the pipe once he’ll probably do it again. Once a man be- gins to smoke that stuff he can’t keep away from it, and the chances are that before very long this fellow will go to some dope-joint to roll pills and smoke himself into insensibility.” ‘T wonder what that girl will say when she learns that her lover has be- come a dope-fiend,’”’ mused Leffingwell. ‘“T must inform Mr. Addison of the fact. It’s another strong point against Mitch- ell, of course. I suppose, however, that foolish young woman won't believe it. She’s so infatuated with that scoundrel that even if she saw him with the pipe to his lips I guess she’d refuse to believe the evidence of her own eyes.” “Tf I were you,’ went on the ser- geant, ‘‘I’d spend a few nights in Chi- natown. I think you stand a good chance of running across either your deserter or the one-eyed Chinaman or both of them ‘down there, sooner or later.” “Then you don’t think he’s gone far away from New York, eh?” inquired Leffingwell eagerly. Sais ‘Well, that depends: upon how much of a scare your unexpected visit gave him. Of course, there are Chinese quar- ters in other cities, and he and his Chink friend may have.fled to one of these. I think, however, that there’s about an even chance that they won’t bother to leave New York, but inside of a few hours will steer for the nearest place where they can get opium, which, of course, is Chinatown.” ~ “ Do ye think there’s a chance of their coming back here?” broke in Simple Simon. The sergeant shook his head. “J hardly think they’ll dare to re- turn,” he replied. ‘‘ Although, of course, there’s a slight possibility of it. There’s no telling what crazy chances men will take when the dope habit has unbalanced their brains. It’s likely, though, that THE- ARGOSY. they wouldn’t have gone away and left you here bound and helpless, unless they’d fully made up their minds to desert this place for good. ‘ But ain’t it strange that they should have left that there confounded bulldog and this here opium layout behind them, unless they intended to ,come back?” argued Simple Simon. ‘Well, that does seem somewhat odd ; but, of course, they mfay have decided to get rid of the dog,” replied the sergeant. “As for this layout, they may have for- gotten about it in the excitement of the moment, or they may have reckoned that it wasn’t worth the bother of carrying away. 3 “This is a pretty. cheap outfit, and they can easily get another one like it for a few dollars. It wouldn’t be worth their while to run the risk of being nabbed by coming back for it.” “Then you wouldn’t advise us to wait here for the rest of the night on the chance of their returning,” inquired Lef- fingwell. : ‘No. I think you’d have your wait for nothing. Even if they come back at all, they ain’t likely to do so to-night. If they haven’t beaten it to some other city, they're far more likely to go down to Chinatown to-night than to return to this shack. No doubt that one-eyed Chi- naman is well acquainted in the Chink section, and he’ll take that deserter to some joint down there where they can pass the night in safety.” ‘Very good,” said Leffingwell grimly. “Then we'll go to Chinatown right away. If that cad is there I’m going to get him to-night if I have to visit every den in the section.”’ “I suppose you know the _ district pretty well, eh?” the sergeant inquired. “No. I’m sorry to say I don’t. I’ve nly been there three or four times in my life,” replied Leffiingwell. “And I haven’t been there even that much,’’ added Simple Simon. The sergeant gave a roar of laughter. “Do you hear that, men?” he asked, turning to his subordinates. ‘‘ Here’s a young man who’s only seen Chinatown three or four times in his life, and yet he talks about going down there and get- ting his man, just as if it was as easy as picking plums out of a pie.” -— eonniclbook (C@