Avon Fantasy Reader No. 14 — page 34: what you’re looking at

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

all bunk. He’d tell them so in a minute. He guessed he wouldn’t bother about having the operation to-day anyway. Some other time—to-morrow, maybe. He drew a second breath. Somebody had an arm across his knees. He kicked tentatively, and the arm tightened. His head was ringing. Funny how loud it was getting! Was the ringing in his head? It sounded more like a great, clanging gong away off in the distance and coming nearer and ringing clearer. There were fingers on his wrists. He tried to raise his arm, but somebody was holding him too tightly. The operation would be starting soon. No, it wouldn’t. To-morrow, not to-day. It was all bunk anyway. The doctor had said he'd lose his eye without an operation. What difference? One eye—or two eyes—or three eyes. With a great effort Tubby squirmed loose from the restraining clutches on his arms and legs and sat bolt upright on the operating table. “T ain’t goin’ to have no operation,” he said vehemently. The hands that had been holding him dropped away. His head was ring- ing fearfully, but not so loud as a moment before. The bandage over his left eye was still there. He jerked it off and opened both his eyes upon a most _ astounding tableau. The surgeon and his assistant were cowering over against the wall. Facing them threateningly was a very tall, very thin man. He had on a black frock coat and under one arm a somewhat battered plug hat was jammed. The other arm was outstretched, a finger pointing angrily at the trembling surgeon. “You Jet him alone,” commanded the stranger. His voice was deep, as though it came up from the depths of his insides. “You can’t operate on him, He’s a friend of mine.” The surgeon and his assistant were edging toward the door. The stranger waved his hand scornfully; and like frightened rabbits they slid through the doorway and down the hall. Tubby could hear their footsteps dying away in the distance. “Much obliged,” he said to the stranger. His head felt better now, and he could see out of both eyes quite as well as before the accident. He turned to his new friend. The stranger’s face was very kindly, now that the anger had gone from it. But nevertheless it was the most extraordinary face Tubby had ever seen—so extraordinary, in fact, that Tubby nearly fell off the operating table in surprise as he regarded it. The face was very thin and wrinkled, with a sharp beaklike nose turning down, and a very long, sharp chin turning up. But the most extraordinary part was that the man had three eyes—two where human eyes belonged, and another directly in the middle, over the nose. The two outside eyes were smiling in friendly fashion as they stared at Tubby; the middle eye was closed, as though that much of its owner were asleep. “You—I’m much obliged for what you done,” Tubby gasped. The stranger had been kind in scaring away that surgeon—it wouldn’t be fair to notice he was deformed. Tubby decided to be wholly gentlemanly and ignore the third eye. 32 comiclsooks.com