Adventure, August 3, 1919 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

J a. ot Fs » ; e Boss. poe tik it is € so at last I had to let him g He just left. | _- Then I really became worried.” oe ‘The engineer’s brows were furrowed. “What a liar he is!” he exclaimed irri- tably. “It’s like—like coping with an eel- Did he say anything else—make any She seemed hesitant, as_ if loath to alarm him, “He said something about ‘widow’s weeds,’ but I didn’t quite catch it. Nothing else much. His talk seemed to be rambling. He said his best horse died last night and a friend named Jim Black was coming over to ‘dicker’ about some land. He said Black had advised him not to sell you the ranch but he took a chance on you and now he’ssorry. That’s about all, I guess.” . ‘*All?”? gasped Carlton. . ’ The news made him wonder if the odds Black rors against him were not too great. had a reputation. c),| THE man belonged to the second oldest profession in the world. Asse) Back in the shadowy ages of an- tiquity the kings of a legendary Egypt employed his predecessors to do their bidding. Cambyses, Claudius and Nero | used them lavishly. The Byzantine em- perors posted them on every street corner, and the age of the Borgias lifted their craftsmanship almost into the arts. From there they slowly declined in numbers and power until today they are found only in the toughest wards of the big cities or on the last frontiers. “Silent Jim’? Black was a. professional killer. - This rough-and-ready section of the country whispered about Black but could prove nothing. He never harmed any one except in self-defense, cleverly arranged. He was not a fire-eater. It was not even proven that he could be hired to kill. It was only apparent that often, when two men got into a quarrel, one of them was likely to run against Jim Black. After the, funeral Black seemed a mite more pros- perous, but that might be coincidence. The engineer’s wife felt there was some- Pink wrong. She read it in her husband’s sa __ “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Is Black a dangerous man?” Car ton played the game and put his arm 4 ” he a yf “a . , = es ae: d s 42: ~ . aj lL ae of Mirage © seen. you: » about her. years aber — “4 a : He had no intention of causing Things were bad enough as they “Black is a were. “Oh, no,”’ he reassured her. one of the most suave and courteous per- sons in the country.” “But what is he doing with Finch?” “T don’t know. Maybe I'll find out,” he replied with hidden sarcasm. ‘Never mind that. Let’s get supper.” The wife sensed there was some cruel play going on around her, but her Eastern- trained mind could not gage it. Later, as the days passed, the mystery became a torment, equal to the question of the poisoned horses. Her husband daily seemed more nervous and worried. Once, when Finch happened by, Carlton hurried inside and stood by his rifle. Again, when Finch and a black-clad stranger rode about the former’s ranch, the engineer lay under a pine tree and with field-glasses watched them until the tour was over. Later, when the dark stranger rode by alone and tossed a casual nod toward the house, Carlton’s face went white, and he kept his hand near a holster behind the doorway. When Jim Black failed to make the slightest hostile sign, the engineer felt like a fool. That episode made things worse. At times Carlton wondered if he were not a mite too scary. The engineer did not know what to think; so he puzzled and worried until at length the strain and irritation began to tellon him. Then his wife caught the infection. ; To cap the climax, Ebenezer Finch began to resume his visits when Carlton was too far afield to forestall him. First he came to “borry’”’ something, just as if nothing had happened. Later he called to bewail the loss of a prime white mare and twelve mules by poison. The visits kept the young woman exasperated and nervous, though she felt that was what he aimed for. It looked like part of his campaign of terror- ism. She sensed that his evasive, whining, wiseacre speech covered something sinister and that he was watching, watching like a coiled snake biding its time to strike. “T can’t stand it any longer!’ she blurted one October evening when she and Carlton Were seated on the steps of their narrow little porch. eo “TI know,” nodded the engineer, as he _ Pulse ot his: forbidden pipe and watched mn ae a? Ps ’ ~ =