Pulp Fiction, 1934 · page 68 of 148
Western Story Magazine, May 12, 1934 — page 68: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is story prose from Street & Smith's *Western Story Magazine*. The text depicts two fur trappers, Hard-rock and Poke, dissolving their partnership after a successful season. Their dispute escalates from dividing household items (a table, a mule) to literally sawing their cabin in half down the middle—with Hard-rock working from the roof and Poke from inside to complete the cut. The passage shows their growing animosity and competitive boasting, particularly Poke's insistence he can work alone despite their apparent need for each other.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Street & Smith’s HEY heaped their belongings on the table in the center of the cabin and stacked several bales of fur—their winter’s catch— against the. wall. “Silver fox, eh?” Bud observed. “Worth about eighty dollars a skin at the fur exchange in Seattle. How many have you got?” “Fifty!” Hard-rock answered. “Four thousand dollars,’ Bud mused. “And with that much money the two of you could prospect the Iron Mountain country, blaze a trail, and make the way easy for a lot of old fellows who haven’t had the luck you’ve had.” No answer! He divided their belongings, to the last knife and fork, each getting twenty-five pelts. “Now how about the table? Shall you cut eards for it?” *“‘Naw, cut it in two,” Poke an- swered. “I'll put a couple more legs on my half.” He produced a saw and cut the table in half. “How about Tabasco, the mush- ing mule—going to cut him up?” Bud inquired. Neither partner looked at the other. “Vl take the upper half of Tabasco,” | Hard-rock snapped. “That’s the part that carries the load,” he added softly. “Give me the legs,” Poke said, with a curious gleam in his eyes, “and Ill be satisfied.” “That leaves this cabin,” Bud went on. ““Now—— “Cut it in two!” MHard-rock directed. “T’ll take the end with the stovepipe, and he can have the end with the door—or other way around. We've got an extra stove so there'll ° be no trouble about stoves.” Without a word Poke stalked over to Seeley’s cabin and said: Western Story Magazine “T’d like te borrow that long cross- cut saw.” | “Fools!” Seeley snorted. “Go help yourseli—you’re cutting up the cabin, I suppose.” The saw was eight feet long, and used only on very thick logs and timbers. “Yeah,” Poke answered. “It’s a real split- -up this time. Everything divided.” “How about Iron Mountain?” “T'}l blaze a trail. My gosh,” he added truculently, “you’d think I can’t get along without Hard-rock.”’ “You’re a great team, the best I know,” Seeley answered. “And Iron Mountain country is a two-man job any time.” “Not for me, it isn’t!” Poke cried. “Anything Hard-rock and I can do together, I can do single-handed.” Poke was ordinarily modest, but the present situation had aroused him to recklessness. He balanced the saw on his shoulder and trudged back to the cabin, the free end of the saw swaying up and down with each step. Hard-rock was waiting for him on the roof. He had drawn a line in the exact middle of the structure. They began at the peak of the roof and worked through the shingles until the cut was too wide for the length of the saw. Then Hard-rock removed his handle, thrust the saw blade through the cut, climbed down, went inside, attached the handle, and thereafter worked his end from the interior. In about two hours they had com- pleted the cut from ridge pole to foundation. Each moved his share of their belongings into his half. “Ym goin’ to hang blankets over the open end so I can’t see you,” Poke Tupper declared. “Yeah? Well, ’m goin’ to put up a log wall so I won’t hear you siphonin’ your ee OOK O)| << © (LN