Adventure Magazine Cover — page 143: what you’re looking at

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

Ajax, for Example “TY am out here, sir, to study the effects of astragalas splendens on the genus Ovius.” Dirty spits out his cigaret and clamps his jaws hard. ‘Before you do anything, Dirty, appeal to your better nature,”’ says I. “What do you think, Dirty?” asks Mag- le. “Think P”’ Dirty swings his bronc around and talks to us over his shoulder. “YT think you three has had all the fun you're going to out of me. I don’t know what it means, but you can all go to —— as far as I’m concerned.”’ We watches him ride off down the road. “Ts he—er—entirely sane?” asks Ajax, watching Dirty disappear. “Not now,” says Magpie. ‘A human being can only stand so much. He got bit by a hipwiggler the other night.”’ ‘“‘Ah! Quite interesting.”’ And he writes something in his little book. Ajax wanted to rest that day, so we didn’t bother him none. It gave us a chance to control our natural impulses to kill him, and also gave us a chance to do a little placer work. I asks Magpie that night if we’re supposed to give up our bunk to Ajax, but Magpie gives me one look which is plenty of an- swers. Anyway Ajax didn’t desire it. “Professor Middleton told me of the wonders of sleeping under the glorious firmament,” says Ajax, “and I desire to experience it as he described.” “Fairly well ventilated,” says Magpie. “Nice enough unless she rains or a hip- wiggler-comes along.”’ “Who is ‘she,’ and what is a hipwiggler, if I may ask?” ““She?”’ Magpie smooths his mustache and scowls at the ground. “Oh, yes; the hipwiggler. The hipwiggler is a animal. If one comes along and finds you sleeping on the ground it just plumb ruins you for future use. You’re dead— that’s about all.”’ “Your—er—friend you spoke about,” says Ajax. ‘Was he sleeping on Z “Uh-huh. A log saved his life. It’s thisaway, Ajax: A hipwiggler is a queer animal. It always prospects a man from his head down to his toes. It gets to the 137 end of you and then starts eating its way back. Sabe? “Dirty Shirt went to sleep with his feet on a log. The hipwiggler comes along, walks to where it strikes the ground and then starts eating. It ain’t got no sabe—not a bit. This one didn’t sabe that Dirty had his feet on a log; so it went to the end of the log and starts eating. Logs ain’t noways digestible, so it got disgusted and left Dirty alone.”’ Ajax took it all in and then gets inquisi- tive. “Could I procure a specimen?”’ ‘“‘Nope. They only sleep between twelve and one o’clock, and nobody knows where they hole up. To catch one any other time you’ve got to take a sack in your hands, stand on the stump of a persimmon-tree and make a noise like a loofmad.” “Oh, I see. Quite complicated. More of this later, as I am interested.” “Vou deserve to be,” says I. ‘“‘Ifit wasn’t for Middleton see ‘““Ah, yes. I am deeply indebted to Mid- dleton, the dear fellow. I shall mention him in my monograph.”’ “Do it,” urges Magpie. “T’ll do the same—in my prayers.”’ “T_T feel that I am going to make some wonderful discoveries out here.”’ “Well,” says Magpie, “‘that remains to be seen, as the feller said when he dug into the Injun’s grave.”’ ep) AJAX gets a little skittish about gx | sleeping outdoors, so he rolls up in 2" a blanket on the floor. Me and Magpie are heavy sleepers, but he woke us up in the night. We sets up in bed and listens to him. He’s making a lot of noise like he was trying to move the cabin. Magpie is just getting up to see what the trouble is when Ajax comes in, grunting and wheezing. Comes a big bump on the floor, a deep sigh from Ajax, and then everything is still again; so we goes to sleep. In the morning Magpie kicks me in the ribs, and I sets up in bed. There is Ajax laying on the floor with his bare legs bent up over a section of pine log about thirty inches in diameter. Magpie snorts right out, and Ajax sets up. He looks all around the cabin and then reaches for his pants. “T thank you for the information, my dear Mr. Simpson,” says he. “I feel that COMmMiCoooks (©