Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 66: what you’re looking at

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

— 876 Uncle Dan and Ed Randolph sauntered out of the store within twenty seconds of each other. Uncle Dan started off down the road toward the Clayburn farm, and Ed Randolph started across the field toward the Barnes’s place. What happened when each reached his destination I learned from various sources. Bad Eye Eely, the Barnes black man of all work, was chopping wood for the kitchen stove and Alvina was inside getting supper when Ed Randolph got there. Ed went straight into the kitchen without knocking, and asked Alvina a straight question. Was it true that this Northern fellow had kissed her? _Alvina looked him square in the eye and told him it was not only true, but that she loved Anatole and didn’t care who knew it. “How about me?” Ed said. *‘ Well, how about you?” Alvina snapped, without a spark of sympathy. “Well, you said you loved me,” Ed stammered. ““T never said anything of the kind. You’re dreaming. Don’t be silly.” “‘ Tf you haven’t said it,” Eda came back at her, “ you’ve let on in a dozen different ways that you love me. It ain’t right to kid a man along this way. You’ve let on to both Jim and me that you love each of us, and I thought you was just stringin’ him along. I thought you loved me all the time.” “Oh, stop whining,” she snapped. “JT ain’t whining, Viney; I’m only tellin’ you you ain’t been playin’ fair.” He looked sort of dazed and his skin had turned yellow, Bad Eye said—just as if he might be going to faint away the next minute. - Then he started in again. *“‘ Viney,” he said in a voice that sounded as if it was full of tears, “ I’ve laid all my plans thinkin’ you and I was goin’ to be married. And if you turn me down this way I don’t know what I’m goin’ to do. I don’t want to live if I can’t have you, Viney. You can’t mean it. You just can’t -mean it, Viney. What ’ll I do?” “What do I care?” Viney snapped. “But I love you. You’ve let me kiss you!” ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. Viney’s temper had been rising all the time, and this last was a little more than she could swallow. “Get out of here, you big, clumsy fool!” she cried. ‘It makes me sick to look at you. Goon away. I hate the sight of you. I’ve always hated the sight of you!” “But where ‘ll I go ” he groaned. “Go on back to that little sap you were engaged to. I don’t care where you go, but beat it!” “You know I can’t go back to her. You know she wouldn’t have me after what’s happened.” Well, I don’t care. I’m busy.” Ed had got over the first shock of find- ing just how true Alvina had been to him— or to anybody. But he wasn’t the resent- ful kind. Some men, I suppose, would have taken Alvina out of the kitchen and into the yard and beaten her up properly. Well, she deserved it. But Alvina was lucky. There wasn’t one man of that kind in her whole crop of victims. With that ponder- ous, slow-working mind of his, Ed came along in a minute with another argument. “You know, Viney, that no good is go- in’ to come out of your lovin’ this rich fel- ler. Men like him don’t take up with girls like you, just except to play with. You know that.” That was just a little more than Alvina could stand. “If you don’t get out of here this min- ute,” she raged at him, “ I’ll call my brother and have him run you off with a gun. Now ball the jack.” Ed balled the jack. He wasn’t afraid of Jeff Barnes and his gun, but it made him so sick seeing and listening to this new Alvina that he simply couldn’t stand any more. Later that evening Jim Randolph dropped in. He had heard the story of that kiss, and he wanted to know what was what. And Alvina told him just what she had told his brother. Then that chinless young fool from the quarry drifted in, and he learned what she thought of him. It began to appear as if Alvina was through playing her little game Well, she was. But she had started a ball rolling that she hadn’t quite calculated the size of. She Eomichbooks (S@)