Adventure Magazine Cover — page 130: what you’re looking at

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

124 None the less, a keen curiosity impelled him to be on hand at the Calumet Club that evening to see how the forthcoming business passed off. The big hall on the second floor of the club-house was pretty well filled when he arrived about seven- thirty. He found a seat near the door and divided his attention between the game and the door, watching for the entrance of Trimble and Lynn. That they were not in the hall Ward had previously ascertained by a careful inspection of the audience. But the game was over and the spectators had filed out and down the stairs, leaving two or three members of the Calumet team and several others standing at the far end of the hall, McCrady being one of them, before Lynn and Trimble put in their ap- pearance. After a malevolent look at Ward, who had not yet removed from his seat near the door, the newcomers ignored him. “Hey, McCrady!” Trimble hailed when he and Lynn had whispered together a few moments. McCrady turned from his companions at the other end of the hall, saw Trimble beckoning him, and came forward. _ “Welcome to our city,” Ward heard him greet the two men genially when he came up to them. Trimble gave him a curt nod, then stepped aside to make way for Lynn, who looked McCrady up and down insolently a moment or so before he spoke. “MeCrady, your hands are dirty,” Lynn then said in a low voice. Instinctively McCrady’s eyes hardened and his body stiffened. He divined some- thing of a sinister nature in Lynn’s words but could not fathom it. “What might you mean by that?” he asked. “Don’t get me, eh?” the other laughed. “They do say a-certain party was pretty free with herself before a certain other party picked her up off the streets, Kid McCrady.”’ The dullest man could have understood. McCrady’s body jerked as if under the impact of a violent electric shock and his teeth came together with an audible click. He shot his right fist straight for Lynn’s face, but Lynn was on his guard and avoided it. He countered with a hard left jab to McCrady’s ribs. McCrady went down like a lump of lead and lay gasping. “Beat it, Tommy,” whispered Trimble. It was not the fat promoter’s intention Adventure to have the two men fight it out then and there. He gave Lynn a push toward the door and followed him, and by the time the others had come running from the far end of the hall to see what the trouble was they were gone. McCrady’s companions helped him to his feet and down the stairs to a dressing room, getting no answers to their queries regard- ing the affair. Ward followed and noted into which room McCrady was _ taken. When the others came out and went away five minutes later he approached the door, which stood open. McCrady was sitting on a chair with his head between his hands, but when Ward’s shadow darkened the doorway he looked up. The next instant he was on his feet and lunged viciously at Ward. He lashed out at Ward with his fist, but Ward caught him and held him helpless. McCrady had not vet fullv recovered from the effects of Lynn’s blow and was comparatively easy to handle. No one was near to interfere. “Now you hold on a minute, Kid Mc- Crady,” Ward said, holding McCrady firmly. “I want to talk to you about this business. Aw, listen, Kid; it’s to your advantage to listen.” At that McCrady subsided and Ward released him. “Spit it out and beat it before I show you what I’m going to do to Tommy Lynn!” McCrady snarled. ‘I guess you’re a party to that contemptible trick.” “Not on your life, Kid, and that’s what IT want to talk to you about, ” replied Ward. “Anybody could see that it was all planned. I guess you know what it was done for, Kid. Trimble’s trying to make you go on with Tommy.” “He made good!”’ said McCrady savagely. “T’ll go on with Lynn, all right, and when I do—Say, you see Trimble right away and tell him I’ll sign articles with Lynn here tomorrow night at seveno’clock.” “Now don’t hurry yourself, Kid. You can do Trimble and Lynn a lot more harm by passing ’em up. That spoils Lynn’s chance getting a match with Nixon. Pass "em up, Kid, that’s my advice to you.” “Pll fight him,” returned McCrady dog- gedly. “They can’t put over anything like that and’ get off clean. You were there; you heard what Lynn said. What would you do if he’d said that to you?” “Well, I guess I’d feel like you do about . -— Conniclooks (C@)