Adventure, July 1, 1928 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

THE DUKE AND THE DUCATS 13 The six men looked the two flyers over leisurely. Finally one of them jerked his finger toward a stairway on one side. “Upstairs,” he said briefly. As they mounted the stairs Daly heard them whispering more or less excitedly. *“We certainly do create attention,” he told Tex. ‘Damned if I’m not beginning to believe there’s something more here than meets the eye!” “Here we are!” stated MacDowell. T THE front of the floor, which was mainly given up to the storage of blankets, cots, and lighter equip- ment, was a partition which extended the full width of the building. There were two doors, one marked “‘office”’.. It was open, and Daly could see a very fat man bending over a desk. ““Hello, Mr. Ivers,”’ Tex said from the doorway, and the man turned around ponderously. He. lumbered to his feet, and shook hands. His fat face expanded in a smile, and his eyes receded to mere pinpoints as the flesh gathered around them. He was bald headed, and wore eyeglasses, and must have weighed a full three hundred pounds, Duke thought. He was six feet tall, at least, and about that big around. “This is Mr. Daly,” Tex intrcduced them. Ivers’ grip was hard and firm. ““Well, well, it’s been fifteen years since I’ve seen you, Lee,” Ivers remarked as he pulled a bottle from his desk and took out some tumblers. ‘Have a drink.” Daly had a sudden shock as he saw Ivers in profile. The fat, jovial counte- nance seemed to change. His nose curved slightly, and his cheekbones were very high. He ‘seemed almost with- out eyes, from the side, too. There was strength and aggressiveness in his profile. : As he turned to pass them the drinks he was not smiling. Because of the layers of fat around his eyes they gave the effect of gray slits of light set very far back in his head, peering forth from protecting flesh. It was like another and vastly different personality, wearing that body as a blind. ““He’s sure looking me over plenty,” Daly thought. Ivers was darting quick looks at him constantly, while talking personalities with MacDowell. “Well, Mr. Ivers,” Tex said finally, “The Duke here and I have our ears out a foot to find out what the hell’s up and why we’re here.” Ivers leaned back in his chair, his hands folded over his huge paunch. There was silence in the barren office. Its only furniture was the desk, three straight chairs, and a filing cabinet. From the street came the ceaseless drone of the milling crowds, shot through with music and ribald laughter and shouting. Daly was quiet and at ease, and he smoked a cigaret with his eyes on the ceiling as he felt Ivers’ eyes boring into him. “Well, Lee,” Ivers said: finally, “TI needed assistance because I’ve been a business man all my life and I realize my limitations. First, the general situation you know pretty well. This is unique among oil towns because there was no nucleus of a town here—no substantial organized local element. It’s a collection of six or seven thousand hardbitten oil men, adventurers, highjackers, and thugs both male and female, thrown together from half a dozen oil centers. There’s no organization, but there will be one to- morrow. In general, it’s dog eat dog, and every man for himself.” “He talks like an educated man,” Daly thought as he listened. Ivers’ voice was throaty, almost wheezy, but his words were pronounced clearly and correctly, and with deliberation. “Now then,” Ivers went on, “I saw the possibilities of the field before the first well came in. I laid my plans for this busi- ness, and got half of the capital from your father. When the first well hit I had a fleet of trucks on the way, machinery shipped the next day, and was installed in this building almost before the world knew there wasa boom. Anda right tidy business it is, too. There isn’t-a dollar’s comicloooks.com