Pulp Fiction, 1938 · page 75 of 116
10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 75: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Page This page contains story prose from a pulp fiction tale titled "Cocktails for the Corpse" by Ronald Flagg. The narrative introduces Duke Morgan, a hardboiled city gunman with superstitious tendencies, who has arrived in the coastal village of Arville and is hiding from law trouble. The story establishes tension between Duke's suspicious presence and the local constable Cranfield, who faces pressure from townspeople and the county sheriff to remove him. Two portrait illustrations—one labeled "Duke Morgan" at top and another labeled "Cranfield" midpage—accompany the text. The story appears to be a crime/mystery tale exploring how Duke's superstitions may entangle him in murder.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DUKE MORGAN You can take everything from a man—but his little superstitions. Those curi- ous quirks of mind stay d with a person until the b grave claims them. So it was with Duke Morgan, the city gunman. He took a whirl at mixing murder with superstition. RVILLE is a forgotten village in the winter. The cracking whip of the wind lashes furiously across its bare sands. Mist blows in from the ocean with constant regular- ity, cloaking the barren wastes. Queer old sea dogs with leathery faces hardened by the strong sea air hang on in this desolateness through- out the cold months. They are a quiet lot, law-abiding and fearless. During the summer, when the ocean is.a cool respite, thousands of city dwellers flock to Arville. The old sea dogs per- haps resent this inundation of chat- tering people, but they say nothing. It is expected. Yet let one of the city dwellers show his pale face during the dead of winter! The old sea dogs notice it with quizzical countenance. Especially if the cify dweller’s features are wiz- ened, and his lips are thin, bloodless and cruel like those of Duke Morgan, the cannon, For two weeks now, Duke had been geen around Arville, his flashy clothes 13 Cocktaiis for the Corpse By Ronald Flagg CRANFIELD a noticeable contrast to the home- spuns of the sea dogs. It had been rumored around the village that Duke was in hiding until some mess he had perpetrated in the city blew over. There was a general feeling among the inhabitants that Constable Cran- field should run the Duke out of the village. But the officer of the law knew that he couldn’t do that without rea- son, no matter how the people clam- ored. The county sheriff had heard the murmurings of the people, and he too was riding Cranfield “to do something —get that rat out of town.” comicbooks (e(e)