Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 85: what you’re looking at

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

THE STRANGER ‘““That’s a queer provision. We'll grant that.” ‘“ And that all the weapons be given to one man. To—to—Mr. Dascom, eh?” “Queer again,” said Dascom, “but I think it can be managed.” The revolvers were handed over to him in silence. “And now,” said Logan, with a malig- nant glance at John Hodge, ‘‘ I’m ready to begin!” et ot CHAPTER XIII. THE SHEIK. O pointed had been his attitude toward ' Hodge that the attention of every one swung between the narrator and John Hodge. The latter endured this surveil- lance with a perfect equanimity, smiling upon the others and regarding Samuel Ches- ter Logan without apparent malice. ‘““ Now,” went on Logan, ‘“ I have a stock of cigarettes and a pleasant audience. May 1 be indulged in sufficient time to tell the story from the first?” “By all means,” said Hugh Dascom. “Take all the time you require.” “ Thank you. comes—”’ ‘““T think that, taking all things into con- sideration, I may promise you that I shall be able to get rid of the ambulance and the officer of the law. Does that satisfy you?” “ Perfectly. Very well, then. To go back to the beginning. The beginning is my earliest meeting with Commodore Das- com. He was an assiduous traveler in the South Seas, as you know. And he knew the Orient from heel to head, of course. I sup- pose you have heard a thousand of his tales of his voyages? ‘* Nevertheless, I am en that there are a few details of which the commodore rarely spoke. Among other things, I doubt if he dwelt at any length on his adventures with the ladies. I beg your pardon, Miss Dascom, but I must tell everything. And the commodore was celebrated for his be- lief in his attractions. In that respect, his fame was limited to the Orient, I know. And when the ambulance: AT THE GATE. 875 But men have a habit of stepping into a new character the moment they are east of Suez. At any rate, it was in the affair of a lady that I first crossed swords with the com- modore. And though he had fame and for- tune on his side, he came off second best on that occasion. © ‘““{ was proud of the victory at‘first, but since that time I’ve had reason to regret it. For the commodore never forgot a loss or forgave the man who had come in first. He was like the English. He could win in the most graceful fashion and make light of a victory. But a defeat he could not toler- ate or the man who defeated him. He hated me with all his heart after that first trifling affair. And when the commodore hated, there was nothing he would not do and, in the Orient, very little he could not do. Every one knew him. Most people feared him. When he called a thousand people were eager to listen. The result was that when my friends heard that I had fallen afoul of the commo- dore they recommended that I make my peace with him, and if I could not do that, take leave of the Orient for a cooler cli- mate. “T tried an honest best to make a truce with the commodore. He smiled and de- clared that everything was well between us, and ordered Scotch and soda. But I caught him watching me with a quiet eye even while he was trying to laugh at one of my stories, and I knew that he still had me on his books to be paid off. ‘“ And that was how matters stood with us in the beginning. ‘“T spent an wneasy month or two wait- ing for a blow to fall, but at the end of that time the commodore sailed back to the States and I was left in possession of the field of battle, so to speak, with a skin unbroken. “1 thought at the time that the commo- dore had given up the trail, had decided that our dispute was too insignificant to be worth his further attention. Some of my friends tried to undeceive me. But I was younger, then, and more trusting. I thought that the commodore, after all, could not be such a bad fellow. “The next season came, and with its COMIC OOKS2EO im