Argosy, Vol. 122, No. 1 — page 124: what you’re looking at

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

114 gain the property with a good title. And let me add, you and your brother will never succeed in forcing me to sign away my estate, however much you may resort to torture, not against my will; while if you murder me and forge my name, my rela- tions will certainly bring the matter to the attention of the courts, and you will be apprehended and eventually hung. ‘Law in this country lays a heavy hand on malefactors, my dear José Barbanera. ‘Sou 're a stranger to it, so be warned. But if we fight and you defeat me, then you secure the estate with my open acknowl- edgment. I don’t say that I agree to this now, but I may consider it.” ‘‘ There’s a certain truth in your words,” said the other thoughtfully. ‘“ Beyond ques- tion, I could disarm you if it pleased me to do so. I shall consult with my brother, Emilio, in regard to this suggestion. It amounts to this: we fight; I make you helpless; you buy your life with your estate. Have I heard correctly, sir?” “You have. But I’ve not yet made up my mind. For you’re a famous swordsman, while I’m but an obscure rice-grower, as you've said.” “Ho! you begin to tremble already,” Barbanera cried. ‘““My estate is worth much; it’s only reasonable that I should hesitate to risk it thus. If I lost, I should depart with only the shirt I wear on my back.” The other’s black eyes began to burn with greed, as if already he had the Gaillard property within his grasp. The prisoner, narrowly observing him, felt that the sug- gestion implanted in his brain would con- tinue to sprout; for to the Cuban, swollen with vanity, it appeared that he had only to extend his arm, to make one thrust of his blade in order to bring back all of Gail- lord’s possessions fixed from its point. THE ARGOSY. Whether his vanity contained a sufficient element of obstinacy to withstand his brother’s scheme, and override it, was now the question. Time alone could answer that. “Perhaps Hemando Zorrilla has a pair of swords,” Gaillard remarked. ' “ Ves, several pair. I’ve tried them all. Two of Seville make are the best.” ““T see you’re a connoisseur as well as a fencer.”’ | “Undoubtedly I, José Barbanera, know more of blades and their use than any living man,’’ was the reply. ‘There are a pair of old Milan blades, rapiers, in my house that would interest you.” Barbanera’s large eyebrows arose. “Aha! is it possible? I’m even more expert with the long than with the short sword. Some men there may be who can defend themselves with the latter from my attacks for a few minutes, but with rapiers there’s not one man walking on two legs to-day, by all the saints, whom I can’t skin and quarter and then cut into dice, all in the twinkling of an eye. As for your Milan rapiers,” he concluded complacently, ‘‘ [ll examine them and see if they are what you purport them to be, whether real or mere imitations, when I move into your house.”’ Egetism of such monumental proportion had never before come within Gaillard’s ken. It was too vast for this world; it should have a freer range in another. And the bound man, smiling his thin-lipped smile, determined his should be the hand that would cut it loose. “Well, I’ve rather a weakness for rapiers myself,” he said. ‘ If the choice rests with me, we'll use them when we fight.” “Then you agree to fight?” “We'll cross blades sooner or later, I fancy,” Gaillard replied. (To be continued NEXT WEEK.) One of the most powerful stories of psychic phenomena ever printed. “SERAPION’” BY FRANCIS STEVENS BEGINS NEXT WEEK cComiclbooks.com