Adventure Magazine Cover — page 92: what you’re looking at

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

78 to take Andy into the setting-room and show him the plotograph album, which is squarehead for a large evening. After a while the lamp went out or some- thing, and Susy made a mistake in the dark, missed the chair she’s aiming for, and sat down on top of Andy. This was too much for the self-respect of Andy’s chair. It busted simultaneous, and the floor is next. The jar overset a fancy clock, weighing six pounds and a quarter, off the chimney shelf, and the same fetched Andy a healthy Swipe square between theeyes. ‘Taking the lady and the clock together thisaway knocked Andy cold like a mule had kicked him It took thirty minutes and half the tank to bring him to. “Let’s go,” he snuffles in my ear when he’s able to stand. ‘‘Let’s go—now.” But going away ain’t so simple as he says it. He made the mistake of calling good- by before he’s topped his horse, and Susy reached the upper gate first. Go? I guess not. “TI skoll gass not!” “T ban like you, Andy,” she says, looking like a stuffed tent in the moonlight and not minding me a-tall. ‘More better you stay un talk to your leetle Susy.” “We gotta be pulling our freight,’”’ pro- tests Andy, starting to swing up quick. Susy reached out one hand to his collar, and he stopped just as quick. “Lat’s go in de house,” she says with a smile you could button behind her ears, and giving him a playful shake that made his teeth rattle. “I ban make you some kaffee.”’ | If it had been poison she was fixing to feed him he couldn’t have gone along more reluctant. “By hal,’ says Ole, looking after ’em, -“T tank I lose mein leetle gal.” “T’ll bet Andy wishes he could,” I says unthinking. “He ban like her, huh?” asks Ole, missing the point a mile. “How can he help it?” says I. ‘Love at first sight, Ole, that’s what.” “Yaw, yaw,’ says he vigorous. “TI gas mabbe I find me gude cook somevare pretty —— quick.” Ole and me tracked along up to the house. Going by the kitchen I looked in the win- dow. There’s Andy sitting on a chair in the corner and grinding the coffee like he hadn’t a minute to lose. Adventure “By yiminy,”’ Susy was saying, “T skoll teach you how to cook.” Andy didn’t say nothing but he sure looked jo-awful faint and despairing. Susy brought coffee to Ole and me out on the porch, but her and Andy had theirs in the kitchen. Soon Ole went to the corral and I turned in for the night. I’m sleeping fine when Andy woke me up slumping down on the bed. “Oh, Lordy! Lordy!” says he under his breath, propping his head on his hands. _ ‘What’s the matter?” I asks him. “‘Whatsa matter?” he gasps in a whisper. “Whatsa matter? Say, Bill—” changing his tone abrupt— ‘‘what am I gonna do?” “Whatcha talking about?” I grins. ‘“‘She—she—that female thinks we’re en- gaged,”’ he bubbles out. ‘““Ain’t you?” I says. “No, I ain’t!”’ he snaps. “Well,” I says, “I thought you was. I thought your falling through that chair together was a new way of announcing it. Shucks, yes. I thought so; Ole he thought so; and Susy she thought so. What could be fairer than that?” But he paid no attention. ‘She thinks I’m gonna marry her,” he groans, batting his eyes desperate. “T’m stringing my chips with hers,” I told him. ‘Yessir, | sure am. If she says you’re gonna marry her, you’re gonna. No two ways about that!” “Not so loud!” he shushes at me. “They'll hear you! My Gawd, Bill!” he rants on, hanging to his trouble like a bull- dog to somebody’s pants. “I didn’t even tell her I liked her! I didn’t act mushy nor soft a-tall. I wouldn’t mind if I had. Id have it coming to me then. But I hardly put my arm around her more’n part way.” ‘Which was doing right well at that,” I says, “even for a long-armed gent like you.” “T tell you I didn’t mean nothing,” he insists. “I was just having pity on the poor girl like. I didn’t think—Bill, I can’t marry her! I can’t! Look at her! Just look at her! Why, it’s plumb ridiculous!’’ I choked off a laugh, and he snarls: “That’s right, make fun o’ me! I thought you was a friend o’ mine. Will you do this much? Tell ’em in the morn- Ing you ain’t seen me.”’ “Sure,” Isays. “Why?” com (@) books. co