Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 124, No. 3 — page 128: what you’re looking at

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

D902 the most important office to be filled was county clerk—or mebbe it was prosecutor— an’ everybuddy was on pins an’ needles, wonderin’ who was goin’ to be elected to that office. ‘‘ Now, in that there town they had a big political boss, an’ he wanted a certain man —we'll jest call him Jones—to git that of- fice, b’cause he held a kinder mortgage on the man’s soul. Well, jest b’fore the elec- tion, things didn’t look so durn bright for that there political boss and Jones. It looked like as if they was goin’ to git licked by a couple o’ votes, an’ they was all up in the air about it. So what did they go an’ do but cook up a leetle trick that was a world-beater. “This here political boss was a smart feller, even if he was crookeder ’n a cork- screw. He knew the laws backward and forward, an’ he picks out one leetle law that he knew was goin’ to save the day fer him. He knew that if a voter’s full name and the name of his county was left off ’n the poll-book when he registered, why his vote couldn’t be counted. He knew that, all right; but the trouble was how he could git those names off ’n the poll-book. ‘*'Y’see, this was jest b’fore election day, an’ of course, registeration was all done with, an’ what’s more, it ’d all been done. perfeckly straight an’ accordin’ to the laws. Now, of course, he knew a lot 0’ people who would vote against his man sure as fate, an’ he knew that if he could make the - names of some o’ them look irreg’lar on the book, his man ’d win, hands down. You foller me, don’t you, Noah?” - The prosecuting attorney gave several quick, short nods. He was sitting forward in his chair, his body tense with fearful interest, his face grown suddenly as white as the sheets of foolscap that lay on the desk before him. “We ain’t got¢to the funny part yet,” went on David, never glancing at the man opposite -him. ‘ Wait till you hear how they went an’ got those names off ’n the poll-book! They talked it over together— this here political boss an’ his man, Jones— an’ they decided that the only way it could be done was to change the real book fer a fake one. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. “So they git a copy of all the voters that registered, an’ they git a blank poll- ~ , book, an’ they make a duplicate poll-book, jest like the real one, exceptin’ they make about sixty—or mebbe sixty-six—names look irreg’lar, accordin’ eto that law I was tellin’ you of. An’ they was slick enough, mind you, to change a few o’ their own men, so’s they’d git cast out along with a bunch o* the other. party’s voters; b’cause. that ’d do away with any suspicions that might arise. They felt that they could afford to lose, say, twelve votes, if the other feller lost fifty-four. _ “Well, the night b’fore election, this here Jones breaks into the pollin’- -place an’ changes the books; an’ that’s how he gits elected.” - He paused, his shoulders shaking with his silent laughter as he regarded the ash of his cigar. “ Ain’t that a funny one, Noah? Some slick, eh?” For a while Spigot made no reply. Now he realized the object of David’s visit. David knew! Somehow, the station-master had disclosed the secret that he had thought to be shared only by Turner and himself, _the dark secret that would bring about his ruin—nay, take from him his very liberty— were it divulged! How much did David know? Did he have proofs of this accusa- tion which he so subtly worded? Or was it merely founded upon the suspicions of this old man3 A sudden trembling seized him, and he held his hands below the level of the table- top so that David should _not perceive his fright. He struggled, with all his will, to cover every visible trace of his nervous- ness. David might have told that imper- sonal story for the very purpose of draw- ing him out, of making him commit him- self! David was playing a game; and he must play it with him. “Where did you hear that’ story, David?” he asked, forcing his lips into a wry smile. “ That didn’t—really Happen, did it?” ‘’ Probably not,” said-David. “It’s jest a leetle story I happened fo know, an’ I thought mebbe you’d enjoy ‘hearin’ it. In fact, I consider that there story so duit funny that I ain’t never told it to a livia comicbooks.com ove