Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 155: what you’re looking at

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

CHEDDAR CHEESE. ing her eyes for an instant off the winding road. “It’s a double action. And hold it low—under what you're shooting at. Un- til you have learned the balance of a gun it will always jump 4 little and shoot high.” He marveled at the coolness with which she gave these directions while.she was whisking the storming car at breakneck speed around the twistings and turnings in the hilly road, And although they had not yet regained enough of the touring car’s lead to bring it in sight again it was with a sigh of relief that he found Della check- _ing the headlong pace at the bottom of one of the hills where the road crossed a trick- ling stream. “ Water,” she said, stopping the car with its front wheels in the stream. ‘I don’t dare to try another hill climb without fill- ing the tank. When we get into the moun- tains it will be all uphill.” Barrett sprang out, got the canvas bucket out of the deck locker and, working rapidly _ under her directions, replenished the water supply. The enforced stop was not long, but minutes even on the poor road might easily mean half miles in increasing the lead of the car ahead and thus further com- plicate matters. “Half a tank—that’s enough,” she an- nounced; and as Barrett climbed to his place she opened the throttle again and the race was resumed. A short half mile beyond the ravine of the creek the road left the foothills and be- gan to climb the backgrounding mountains, looping the gulch heads in thick timber and doubling the points of the shouldering spurs. Barrett wondered why a fairly practicable road should have been made in such an iso- lated wilderness, but the query answered itself shortly when they began to pass, along the foot of the upper slopes, wide stretches from which the timber had been cut. Evidently, the road had once been an outlet for a lumbering company. Della, bent over the wheel in a ceaseless _ effort to steer fine enough to keep from plunging the car over the precipices that threatened all the way along, spoke only once in the storming climb and that was to ask Barrett how far he thought it might be to the cabin. “T can’t tell,” he answered. only guess from the height we’ve reached. It can’t be much farther now.” 9ST > “TI can Ty Nie . 5 AR ARAAS As he spoke, the climax they had been -more than half expecting leaped out at them. As the roadster rounded a sharp _curve they both saw the red light signal less than a hundred yards ahead and it was standing still. Luckily, the curve was on _a stiff upgrade, so the roadster was brought - to.a stop within its length. With admirable _presence of mind, Della put the engine in _reverse and let the car roll silently back- ward down the grade and out of sight around the curve and at a safe distance she stopped and set the brakes. “Did they see us?” was her first whis- pered query. Barrett had pocketed the electric torch and was softly unlatching the door on his side. “I think not,” he answered. “ They ~ would have fired at us if they had.” “What are you going to do?” “This is our chance—or rather mune. We can’t be far from the cabin, and they are evidently stalled again — something _ wrong with their car. Ill cut around and get in ahead of them. There is the one chance in a million that the money may be cached in the old tunnel and-if I can get - = to it first and find it and get away with it while they are stopping here tinkering their car, it will be that much to the good. While I’m gone, you back down until you can find a safe place to turn around and then you'll be ready to make a run for it when the time comes.” “And let you go and get killed all by yourself?” she replied indignantly. “Tf think I see myself doing anything like that! I’m going with you.” It was quite in vain that he argued, esa: ed, begged while the precious moments wasted themselves. : “Td much rather die with you than live without you, Jimsie, dear,” was all the an- swer he could get; and in the end he yield- ed as the bridegroom of a day must. “ All right,” he consented at length; must, you must, But Ill never forgive my- self if anything happens to you. Come on; what-we do must be done quickly.” Fortunately for the detouring experiment Z oO “if you —comicbooks ‘CO.