Argosy, Vol. 118, No. 4 — page 43: what you’re looking at

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

WHISPERING ROCK. shifted from one corner of his mouth to the other. His lips protruded in a leer. He came a step nearer, his gaze focusing on the sparkle of diamonds in a lavaliere showing where Jacqueline’s coat collar lay open. “ Jack!” Dot’s terrified whisper awak- ened Jacqueline to a sense of their perilous position on the cliff edge. She took Doro- thy by the arm and moved her away from that danger. The man, however, barred the only road’ of descent. In her terror Dorothy precipitated the situation. She made a rush to get past him. His hand closed on her arm, and, chuckling, he drew her to him. While she strained at arm’s-length his fingers on her gloved hand found the outline of a ring. Laughing at her ineffectual effort to free herself, he was ripping off her glove when Jacqueline advanced swiftly and struck him on the face. His grip relaxing in the surprise of at- tack, Dot wrenched herself free. With a curse he turned and clutched at Jacqueline. “Run, Dot—run!” she cried, and struck the man again. Dumb with fear, Dorothy ran. If in her panic she thought of Jacqueline at all as she stumbled down from the summit of the rock, it was to suppose that she was fol- lowing. Jacqueline was so strong, so self- reliant, so brave. She would not have said to run had she not been sure herself of eluding the man. Half-way down the path to the road, the fleeing girl fell. In arising she looked back. The- power went from her legs, and on hands and knees she remained watching the scene upon the rock. CHAPTER II. THE TRAGEDY OF THE ROCK, His arms outspread, the tramp stood considering Jacqueline, ready to inter- — cept her should she attempt to run past him. The first flush of anger over the blows she had landed on his grimy, be- whiskered face gave way to amusement. He stuck his tongue in the corner of his mouth, shoving his lower lip out repul- 3 ARGOSY ‘harm her. eorwlaccee girlie, 513 sively, a dribble of tobacco juice spilling over it. When he had approached the two girls he had not been quite certain of what he intended to do. The trinket at Jacque- line’s neck had suggested robbery, but a natural, cringing fear of the law might have restrained him from that but for the action of Dorothy, which had compelled him to ‘lay violent hands on her. Having gone so far, he felt that he might as well go the limit. He would be hunted on an assault charge, anyway. He might as well get something out of the encounter; for, even with no more against him than the count now stood, a judge would handle him severely as a lesson to his fellows. Since he was facing arrest he had little more to lose by aggravating his offense. ‘“Gimme that thing on your neck,” he demanded. Jacqueline eyed him calmly, but her heart beat fast. The spot was desolate, without human habitation nearer than a mile, except across rough country, and there was little traffic on the nearby road. But she did not believe that he would He must realize that Dot al- ready was running for help, that the alarm quickly would be out for him. She glanced toward the pathway to the road, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw Dorothy crouching there on all fours, paralyzed with fright. Without answering the man, she called to her chum: “Run, Dorothy—run to—” she forced . an air of confidence into her tone— “ to Beiter’s house.”’ She tried to speak as though Beiter’s © house was only a step away. The tramp also looked at the other girl, and he leered as she remained motionless. ‘Your pal ain’t got the guts you got, he mouthed. “ Gimme that thing on yer neck an’ y’can run along.” He moved a pace nearer. Six feet away Jacqueline backed up, maintaining the dis- tance between them. Hands clenched at her sides, she faced him defiantly. The threatened contact with such a creature awoke loathing within her. A great horse-blanket pin that held mM GO DOOK