Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 90: what you’re looking at

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

80 for you to grind it in; only it’s beginning to be downright foolish now, and I want you to stop! Where’s that overfed jack- Taek) ass “ That—what?” “Dixon! Dixon! You know perfectly well I mean Dixon!” ‘“Oh—Mr. Dixon?” Betty shrugged carelessly. “‘ Why, he’s gone to get Pull- man berths, I think. We reached here just a moment before the train left, and he found that you hadn’t made reservations, as you promised, and there wasn’t a thing to be had. So we’re going down on the midnight train.” ‘ Betty,” James said hoarsely, “ are you serious about that?” ‘Serious? About going to Washington? Of course!” “Yowre really going with him?” ‘Mr. Whitmore, I don’t like that tone!’’ Betty said crisply. ‘It seems to imply something I—I don’t quite understand. Ii you mean to suggest—” “Say, listen to me, kid!” James Whit- more said, forcefully, as something within him snapped. “I may have been an ass, but I’m not raving crazy, and I’m not go- ing to let you be, just because you’re mad at me. You're so sure of yourself that you simply don’t understand what you’re up against with a beast like that, and—say! You’re coming home with me now!” ce Rat”? “And when I get you there, you’re go- ing to stick there, too!” James added, growing downright rough, and laid a heavy hand upon Betty’s arm. ‘‘ You can make a scene if you want to, or you can come along like a sane girl; but either way—” “Hey!” said a large voice, in James’s ear, and a hand descended so heavily on his shoulder that his grip was shaken loose. “ What’s wrong here?” There was a tiny instant wherein young Mr. Whitmore felt himself about to whirl around, draw back a fairly capable fist, plant it squarely in the center of the Dixon countenance—and take the consequences. And following this there came another in- stant, before James had moved an actual muscle, wherein flashed before him the no- toriety, the ghastly reflection upon Betty ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, when ‘the battle reached the public prints; and immediately after these cheerful thoughts raced others—the really mightily important Curlew matter, the thousand dollars, which would also be important when Betty’s reason had been restored. After all, you see, James had sworn himself to Curlew’s service this night—and Curlew had no means at all of knowing that his pretty emergency secretary was James’s wife, nor, in bare justice, should his pecu- liar interests have suffered through that mischance. Therefore, causing the said wife to stare a trifle) young Mr. Whitmore merely glanced up with the smoothest: “Oh! Hello, Dixon. Back, eh?” Dixon, both eyes on Betty, was not look- ing at him. “Was this man annoying you, Miss Ban- ford?” he asked dangerously. “ We—why, he—er—” Betty mur- mured, and James really should have drawn some comfort from the realization that his wife plainly did not wish to see him slain in cold blood. “All right. I understand,” the visitor said shortly, and tightened his grip on James’s arm. ‘‘ You come over here with me for a minute. I want to speak to you private!” He strode five paces, and James accom- panied him, willy nilly; he then whisked ‘James about and, chin protruding, brought his darkening face nearer to the bland one of James. “You know why I didn’t knock the damned head off your shoulders, standing right where we were, don’t you?” he queried. _“ My dear Dixon!” James protested. “TI think you’re a bit—” “Don’t try to put any of that slick stuff over on me. I’m not giving you what you deserve, because it would get that soft lit- tle kid all excited and scare her cold to see what I’d like to do to you. But—but— Whitmore, I don’t like your town, and, of all things in it, I don’t like you! I don’t like the way you look at that kid; if they’d change the laws a little, I’d spend the rest of my days killing off dirty hounds that look at young girls the way you look at her!” Mr. Dixon explained. 5 A COMME DOOLX (S@