Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 4, 1926 — page 121: what you’re looking at

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

ROLL YOUR OWN. about to commit— But Budlong would have his car to-night, all right enough! Chuckling, cackling savagely, young Mr. Cranning opened his safe and extract- ed the package which contained Irma’s jew- elry. A minute or so he squatted and gazed upon it, muttering in his new, stunned way, and rather overcome by the irony of the situation. Then James ceased his muttering, and found his hat, considered himself in the mirror, and smoothed out certain lines of suffering; and after that, looking very much like the normal James, indeed, departed from his lately happy little office with the packet fast under his arm. The private entrance of his pawnshop swung open once more at his touch. The same baldheaded man was sitting at the same desk, too. He glanced up at young Mr. Cranning in his bored, professional way, and, recognizing him, grew a shade less bored and a shade more inquiring. ‘Oh, how-de-do?” he even muttered to one who seemed to have become a steady customer. ‘How are you?” James responded with sufficient heartiness and good cheer. ‘‘ Back again, you see.” ‘““T see,” agreed the baldheaded man as he rose and switched on the lights in a booth. Quite impassive, he sat and waited pa- tiently while young Mr. Cranning untied his parcel with fingers that were not too steady. He watched the tremor with the faintest visible curiosity. “Needed a little more cash than I had supposed,” James said brightly. ‘““T see,” said the other. “Got on the wrong side of the market last week, and they’re doing their best to squeeze me out.” , “T see,” said the baldheaded man. “ And so I brought these around,” James concluded, and waited an instant; for in his strange state this afternoon he knew that if the being stated just ence more that he saw, the package would be ‘hattered over his shining skull, and James Cranning would flee, a shrieking maniac! This time, however, the man merely nodded, and James went on with his 431 string—and there they were, anyway! He pushed the little kid cases forward and then sat back more or less comfortably. He had felt no real infatuation for this baldheaded individual at their first meeting; now there was something about him which James dis- tinctly did not like—something in the way he glanced at his new customer. He had screwed the loupe into his eye now, and was running Irma’s bracelet back and forth beneath it. Without comment he laid it aside, and passed to Irma’s very beautiful lace pin; and for a moment his head was raised and he glanced at James with the loupeless eye, and then went on to the third of the cases. This evidently was Irma’s rope of pearls. The expressionless being examined them one by one, and opened the last case—and young Mr. Cranning started and stared, for he had not even known that Irma owned a diamond necklace, far less that the crown jewels of some monarchy had been looted to secure it for her! The baldheaded man drew an audible breath, proving at least that he was human, and pursed his lips. Then, slowly, his eyes came up, and he looked directly at James—and looked and looked—and sud- denly gazed down on the necklace again, perhaps one second before James would have burst into wild and senseless protest that he hadn’t stolen the bauble. Well, no matter what sort of eye the shiny-pated one might have, he mustn’t let that happen again! He braced himself, and this was well, for the bald one was regarding him once more and murmuring: “Well, Mr. Jordan?” a4 Eh?” ' “How much do you want on these?” ‘“T want two thousand dollars.” “Umum?” mused the other, might have meant anything. ‘And not a cent less than that!”? James added firmly. ‘‘ Those things are worth a good many times two thousand.” He was rather well satisfied that he had made this speech convincingly, too. The other nodded. “T see. These are your property, of course, Mr. Jordan?” he queried pen- sively. 2 ( e which COPMIELOOOKS (E@)