Pulp Fiction, 1934 · page 117 of 148
Western Story Magazine, May 12, 1934 — page 117: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This page contains **story prose** from a pulp fiction narrative titled "The Barking Dog" (page 115). The text depicts a tense scene where a character named Jerry and his companions forcibly take a man (referred to as "the trailer") from his home on horseback, against the protests of the man's sister, Mrs. Virlee. As they prepare to ride away, Jerry spots a large group of riders approaching—including men in red shirts whom he identifies as miners. The passage ends with Jerry calling out "Ride!" as this threat bears down on the group, creating a cliffhanger moment that suggests impending conflict or danger.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| The Barking Dog 115 seized her shoulders and pushed her into a chair. _ “Want me to slap your face?” he demanded. “Stop your noise an’ listen to me.” He was brutal. His dark face was twisted as he leaned down to the woman. Jerry registered that against him. A man who would treat a woman so deserved to be treated even more sternly. Jerry declared he would break the fellow’s neck if he didn’t come fast and clean. “But Virlee’s gone,” the woman whimpered. “Now they’re goin’ to take you away. I'll be all alone.” That organ note in Virlee’s voice would be music in the ears of such a woman, Jerry knew. Probably - everything about him appealed to her, his size, his wet eyes, his flash- ing diamonds, the power he had displayed. Jerry was sorry for her. “They can’t take me away,” the trailer declared. “We better be gettin’ outta here, Jerry,” Tyson said. “Virlee’s men ain’t goin’ to keep holed up all night.” The men went into the front. room. “Come outside, fella,” Jerry said. “Let your sister get quiet. You're on’y fussin’ her up.” The woman stared at Jerry with stricken eyes. He wished he did not have to take the trailer along, but he could not relent. The man was one of Virlee’s hirelings; he was re- lated to Virlee by marriage. If any one was in the big man’s confidence, he should be. “Set right where you are, sis,” the trailer said. “Ill be back in a minute. These fellas can’t take me away. They can’t do nothin’ to me.” The woman relaxed in her chair. She seemed to have great confidence in her brother all of a sudden. Jerry thought = had remembered something about him. They took the trailer outside. “Not a sound from you,” said. ‘Where’ s your horse? speak. Point.” The trailer walked to the corner of the house and pointed to a small stable in the rear. He seemed to feel so secure that he was ready to do anything he was told to do. A puncher ran back to the stable and brought out a horse with its gear already on it. Jerry ordered the trailer to mount. “But ” the trailer began. “Shut up! We've wasted too much time already.” They were all presently in the read, mounted. Mrs. Virlee came to the door. When she saw that her brother was about to be taken away, she began to scream again. Jerry felt shamed. Damn it, this was no way to treat a woman. Then he thought of Elizabeth’s dead father. He had to take what he could get. The woman would survive. To his relief, she proved that she was think- ing more of Virlee than of her brother. - Suddenly she _ stopped screaming. ) “You keep your mouth shut, you hear me?” she called to the trailer. The trailer was silent, but he seemed to have lost none of his con- fidence. Jerry opened his lips to tell the men to ride. He did not speak. There was a pounding behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that a big body of riders was bear-. ing down on him and these men. Virlee’s hirelings had at last found courage to leave the saloon and get horses. As those riders came. on, Jerry saw red-shirted men among them. Those were worn by miners. He could not kill a miner. Jerry Don’t “Ride!” he calleds -aicbhaoles earn