Adventure Magazine Cover — page 152: what you’re looking at

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

ee Oe = Tse ~ « . lated. I got to be one jest fer a hour! much stock in young’uns; but now I can’t ee he - insisted. “Shamed 0’ bein’ a pappy?” he ejacu- “Good Lord, man, hit’s worth all I never *lowed that a sober feller could feel like I Afore I seen leetle Tol, I didn’t take Why, Fm so - study *bout nothin’ else. plumb light-headed and stirred-up inside _* that half the time I don’t know whether to roll on the ground and holler er take to the woods and cry!” _ Chuckling boyishly, he tugged at the ~~ sheriff’s arm. : “Come in and look him over yerself,” “Hit’ll give ye somethin’ to gas about the rest o’ yer life. I swear, thar never was sech a young’un born on Red River. Git down, Clint, and lemme show him to yo’!” _ ~ Clint’s expression changed and he shook his head. “Wish I could, Arch, but I better not,” he said. “If Lou Ann sees me, she’ll know - what I’m here for and it’ll scare her. tell her yourself, easy-like, that you’ve got to go back down there. That’s. the _ best idee. T’ll drop by later and take a look at the baby.” . Arch’s shoulders drooped again and a : _ spasm of anguish contorted his features. “‘Gosh, I sartainly do hate to leave ’em!”’ he muttered. . “Hit comes harder now then hit did the fust time!” Then, after a moment, ‘his voice con- a trolled— “Wal, Clint, when do ye want me to go?” The sheriff rubbed his chin, squinting upward at the forest-swathed mountains. “You’ve sort-a overstayed your time now,” he drawled, “seeing as you weren’t given none to start with. But how soon = _ will it suit you to leave?” ‘Arch hesitated. “Hit’ll take me ontil the end o’ this week to finish up my work here,” he said. ‘“Then | Monday I’m bound to the mill with a turn o’ corn, Tuesday’s ‘lection day, ye know, and I would like to spend Wednesday and Thursday jest messin’ round the house with Lou Ann and the young’un. Do ye reckon yo’ could give me till next Enea Clint?” Sheriff Hawkins nodded. “All right,” he agreed. “I'll send the warden a line tomorrow saying I’ve got you safe in jail, but can’t leave the county a. - to bring you down before Friday.” - You - Adventure The young man looked at him appeal- ingly, _ 7 “But, Clint, ye don’t have to take me down,”’ he protested. “I’m aimin’ to-go back anyway, and hit’ud ’pear like I ain’t to be trusted if yo’ er one o’ yer deputies go ‘long.” “That’s something you or me can’t help.” ‘The sheriff spoke crisply, scowling. “Tve give you a heap of rope, but it’s got a end. When the warden sees you, he’ll see me too. That’s the law.”’ He thoughtfully fingered his mustache for a full minute, while Arch waited, silent. The horse pawed the ground impatiently. “But VU tell you what we might do,” Clint resumed, relenting. “Thursday night you can tramp over to Nada and catch that early morning L. & N., which’ll. land you in Frankfort about noon. I'll go through to the C. & O. and make it. there the middle of Friday evening. There’s a boarding-house just across the street from the Frankfort station, and you meet me in front of it at four o’clock sharp. Then we can go ’round to the prison together, and the warden or nobody else won’t know * the difference.” He eyed the young man searchingly. “Can I count on you to keep your part of that bargain?” he demanded. ‘You won’t fail to be in front of that boarding-house at four o’clock next Friday?” Arch grasped his hand. “I'll shore be right thar, Clint,” he vowed gratefully, “fon the minute. Ye needn’t be oneasy a- tall. I know the place: ye speak of and I won’t fail ye.” ; ““May be I can talk the warden -into let- ting you off light,” added the sheriff, and touched the horse with his spur. “I’ve had. dealin’s with him before. Arch.” ; “Come back ag’in, Clint. welcome.” And, after a farewell salute, young Bal- inger resumed his interrupted labor of mending the fence. - WME WW iy light to wield his ax at the wood- : pile; and when dawn fringed the eastern mountain-walls with silver, he was out in the garden-patch, breaking ground for a row of late beans. Even Sunday Ye’re al’ays i THAT night a full moon gave him ‘brought him no time for rest; Monday he went by the country store, at Bald Knob, cS) (E00) boo Good-by, com m -