Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 31: what you’re looking at

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

JEREMIAH PARSONS—HE-MAN., the light. With a shouted curse the dredge master flung down his gun and cut loose. Jem, on the instant, was at the curb, an- swering. But the flight of the car and the uncertain light rendered both fusillades in- nocuous, The judge started on the run toward the hall, Jem at his heels. The crowd by now had wavered in its panicky flight and was surging back through the door. Jem and his companion pushed through the mob and into the hall. They forced their way to the spot that seemed to be the center of in- terest. There, on the floor, lay a young man of perhaps twenty-three or four. His eyes were closed and his face white. The floor about him was wetly crimson. By his side knelt a man whom Jem recognized as Dr. Moore. A few feet away a girl lay prone and senseless, several women at her side calling for water and more space with the usual hysterical incoherence of such an occasion. Another figure pushed through into the cen- ter of the crowd, forcing his way with the assurance of authority. Jem recognized the sheriff, Harry Goss—big, sandy haired, with eyes that struck Jem immediately as shifty. ‘What has happened here?” he de- manded. ‘ Who did this?” CHAPTER III. JEM ACCEPTS A CHALLENGE. MAN stepped forward, volunteering A the requested information. ‘“One of the Blue Buttes gang— Herb Hoskins. George and Amy were dancing, and as they passed close by Hos- kins he slipped some insulting remark to the girl. George, being hot-headed, snapped back. They exchanged words a couple of times, and then Hoskins pulls his gun and cuts loose at George. Got him, too, ’m afraid.” The sheriff turned to the doctor. does it look, doc?” he inquired. The physician rose to his feet. “He’s hurt pretty badly,” he stated. “ One bullet got him through the lung; an- “ How 661 other one shattered his arm; but it’s the lung wound that is dangerous. We'd better get him out of here right away.” Goss turned to the crowd behind him. He waved his arm, “Clear out of here,” he commanded. “We've got to have room. Sam ”—he ad- dressed one of the men that had pressed in behind him—‘“ you and Joe go down to Dr. Moore’s office and get the stretcher.” Milling reluctantly, the crowd retreated through the doorway. Judge Lawton, by virtue of his official position, remained; and Jem, in companionship with the judge, stayed at the latter’s side. A dozen or so other men likewise remained—officials of some sort or other, Jem surmised, or other important personages. In a few minutes the two messengers returned with the stretcher. The wounded man was placed upon it, and, accompanied by the doctor, was carried out. The un- conscious girl had revived sufficiently to be likewise removed, “Well,” one of the officials remarked, “TI guess this pretty nearly evens up Kurtz for the licking he got to-night.” Goss looked up inquiringly. ‘“ Was there more trouble here to-night?” The first man jerked his thumb toward Jem. “This stranger had a little run-in with Kurtz.” He briefly sketched the incident. The sheriff turned upon Jem a keen, searching look. There was a subtle sneer in his voice as he spoke. ‘ You’re some scrapping kid, ain’t you?” “Oh, no!” Jem drawled. “I’m a man of peace and quiet. But I guess I knows which end of a gun is which when the oc- casion trots itself forward.” Goss’s voice was resentful, accusing. “I suppose it was that foolish scrap of yours that made Kurtz and his friends sore and brought this on. Now poor George has to pay for it.” Jem’s face flushed darkly beneath its tan. “ More likely he’s payin’ for a lack of guts in the officials hereabouts in en- forcin’ the law and keepin’ down this cheap bunch of hell-raisers,” he retorted. The sheriff’s eyes narrowed. ‘ Are you intending any particular insinuation?” he Eomichbooks (S@)