Adventure Magazine Cover — page 148: what you’re looking at

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

142 come in, and they met. When an irresistible jackass meets an immovable educated fool there is something going on. Them two misfits of the human race went into a clinch and hugged each other like long-lost brothers. They got up fighting blind, went into another clinch and rolled under Scenery’s bronc. For a few seconds there ain’t nothing but hoofs, boots and dust to be seen. Then it gets too warm for a buzzard-headed bronc, and said animal leaves its master to fate and an educated fool. Ajax was a lot stronger than he looked. He squirmed loose, grabs the sheriff by the neck and the seat of the pants and cast him far away. Poor Scenery! He rolls over a few times and staggers to his feet. He whales away with both fists at nothing, crosses his feet and falls down again. Then he gets up and starts off-down the road. He walks a few steps and then runs a few. Then he does it all over again, like he was expecting a kick in the rear every time he steps. Ajax has set down on the ground and is trying to dig the alkali out of his mouth and eyes. He sure isa sight. Me and Magpie walks over to him, and Magpie says— ‘Say, professor, we’d admire to know if it was you who knocked Scenery into our cabin.” Fe ages me “Scenery?” He peers up at us and then blinks shut again. “The genera] aspect, as regards variety or beauty, or the reverse, of a landscape?”’ “My !’? says I. “He asked you ina lady-like manner: Who knocked Scenery in- toour cabin? The man you fought. Sabe?”’ “The—the man I fought?’ stutters Ajax. “Did I—I fight a man?” “Say,” says Magpie, “did you get hit so hard that you don’t sabe things? What did you think you was mopping the earth with?” ‘“‘T—er—really—”’ Ajax mops some more dirt out of his features and peers around— ‘“‘I—er—suppose I must take your unsup- ported word for it, but I—I thought at the time that I was being attacked by a speci- men of the genus Ovius.”’ Magpie kicks the empty bean- kettle into the cabin, and me and him follers it inside. Pretty soon Ajax looks in. He peers all around and then begins to search outside. Me and Magpie went out there and Adventure looked around, too. Then Ajax starts cir- cling the cabin, and me and Magpie follered him like a pair of bird-dog pups follering an old dog, but we don’t find anything. Pretty soon Ajax sighs deep-like. “Well, it isn’t here, it seems.” ‘““Maybe you lost it some other place,” suggests Magpie. ‘No. I had it when I arrived.” as !? grunts Magpie. ‘‘What was it, Ajax?” ‘“The—er—specimen of the genus Ovius.”’ I grabs Magpie just in time. Ajax never did know how close he skidded to the grave- yard that time. Magpie was so mad that he wouldn’t come into the cabin while I throws a feed into Ajax. “There should be a drastic legislation against the careless use of firearms,” states Ajax. ‘‘Would you believe it—” he pokes a fork at me like he was trying to see if I was done—“‘some careless person, evidently shooting at random, nearly struck me? I was a little south of here, returning with my specimen, when I detected a singing noise past my ear. Immediately following came the report of a firearm. ‘In endeavoring to ascertain the location of the miscreant I became entangled with my specimen, and luckily we fell into a de- pression behind an outcropping of granite formation. Luckily the depression was filled with a thick growth of mimosaceous shrub, which screened us from view. “T feel sure that the target was located upon or near that granite outcropping, be- cause in a few minutes I could hear the marksman carrying on a conversation like this, omitting the vulgarity, of course: ‘“““Pshaw! Missed entirely!’ ‘“‘And then he seemed heartily ashamed of himself, as he said: ‘“““Too bad! I should have had higher aspirations.’ ‘“‘The last may not be correct, but at any rate he mentioned something about holding higher, which amounts to the same.” “Yes,” says I; “he was careless, Ajax. I feel sorry for him.”’ “Perhaps I should have extended my sympathy,’ says Ajax. “But—er—really I was in no position to think of the niceties of social custom.” “What was you doing all this time?” asks Magpie from the doorway. “‘I—er—I was trying to preserve my hold upon the Ovius.” NOOK (©