Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 4, 1926 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

SILENT JERRY. mile away, where Starley had first seen that grotesque figure squirming and twist- ing in the sand. ‘““Almost there, Tin Can,” the desert man announced at last. “I marked that sun-burned granite butte there, and the twin Joshuas. Watch for tracks, now, old boy, staggering, uneven tracks, maybe, and —whoa-up! There they are! And a man’s, as I live!” The sand of the desert floor was fur- rowed unevenly ahead of them; loose par- ticles still rolled occasionally into the deep indentations. ‘ Trouble!” muttered Star- ley as he strode ahead of the burro and hurried over the broken sand crust. “‘ Look! He fell there. Or dove. Hard to get up, too. » He followed the trail another hundred yards. “Down again. Flat, this time. And crawled. Yes, he crawled here. Bad business! But he covered a lot of ground from the time I first saw him.” The desert man was loping ahead now with great, long-legged strides which left the burro far behind. But still he talked, perhaps as a safety-valve to his excitement. “ Still crawling, but falling on his face oftener and—ah! There he is!” There was a scurry of feet in the sand—vultures gain- ing speed for their awkward take-off mto the air, then the slow flapping of huge wings. One great leap forward Starley took, and stood over a huddled patch showing black against the white sand. Yes, a man, or the tortured remains of one—a boy, rather, whose hair caught and held the merciless glare of the sun, His face was raw red, his eyes closed. What had been a mouth was a puffy, bleed- ing slit; the cheeks were tightly drawn, bone- showing: the hands, too, were scrawny, mere claws. The heat had done that, the sucking sun. Starley had known big men to lose fifty pounds in a single day’s contest with thirst and sun. This boy didn’t have much to lose; at best he was probably slender. Now, as Starley took him in his arms and ran with him back to the burro, he seemed al- most without weight. The desert man placed his human bur- “could once! 323 den in the meager shade of the little mousy burro, and jerked a canteen from the pack. Half of the water he poured over the boy’s head, then jerked the bandanna from his throat, and soaked it. Carefully he squeezed the water from the handkerchief drop by drop into the lad’s half-open lips. The sufferer stirred slightly; red-shot eyes flickered open, but shut again immediately. Once more Star- ley wrung water into the boy’s mouth. “Must be careful, Tin Can,” he an- nounced, resuming the habitual one-sided — conversation with his faithful pack animal. “Not too much at first, you know. And —there! That’s plenty.” He emptied the remaining water over the thin, sun-tortured face, and then watched expectantly for those bleary eyes to flicker open agdin. But the youth re- mained unconscious, warped limply on the sand. Jerome Starley rose. He placed his huge hands on his hips, and gazed down pitying- ly at the huddled black figure. “Too late,” he muttered. “Guess I was too late. Poor kid! Nothing more I can do for you now, except give you water every little while. You’re in the hands of— of—” His voice trailed off. Suddenly he raised his lean, brown face; his piercing black eyes flashed out over the desert; one clenched fist rose, and shook fiercely. ‘““Damn you, desert!” he muttered. His voice rumbled angrily. “Damn you! Up to your old tricks again! Killing, killing, killing! That’s you, you hellish combina- tion of heat, and sand, and poison! Kill- ing the weak! Why don’t you try your tricks on me? Heh?” His voice rose grumblingly; his clenched hand pounded his huge chest. “ Why don’t you try your tricks on me?” he re- peated, daring the desert, sneering at it. “I’m strong! You can’t beat me. Oh, you You almost did, more. than once. But I know you now, know your tricks. “Yes, maybe you’ll beat me sometime, yet. But not now. you, damn you! You know it! take this kid, this poor weak kid! So you Stalk- I’m too strong for | | (E(0) COMIC WOO KS