Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 18, 1928 — page 89: what you’re looking at

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

DAMAGED REPS. ‘Fine work, Sam!” I sings out, a big smile on my face. “I’ve been following this cuss all through the night, but you beat me to it. Now, if I can only get hold of Robbins, we’re all jake!” Both Sam and Red looked at me, big- eyed, taken clean by surprise. “It’s lucky you landed him, Sam,” I goes on, “ ’cause even after I got here I’d had to pass the job up on account of losing my gun. And while I was going back to town for another, like as not Red would have made a get-away.” “Lost your gun!”’ Sam says. “ How?” “ Dropped it in the creek—gol-darn the luck!” Sam smiled. ‘‘ Don’t worry! You’ll never need it now.” “ Don’t need it now!” I spouted. “ You seem to forget all about Robbins. We may need a whole storeful before we land that devil!” “If you want a gun so bad, here’s one!” Sam’s hand reached to his hip. The next second I got the worst jolt that was ever handed to any sheriff. 1 stood stiff as a post while cold sweat ran from underneath my big ten-gallon hat. My brain seemed to be freezing fast to my skull and my feet felt like lumps of ice. There, staring me square in the face, was the muzzle of Sam’s gun! And his finger was ready on the trigger. “ What—what’s the matter, Sam?” I choked. ‘“ What’s getting through you?” Sam let loose a noise that sounded like a cross between a growl and a laugh. “ You were just wishing you could get hold of Robbins, weren’t you? Well, you have, sheriff—I’m him!” If a fellow ever felt seasick on land, I did then! My brains, teeth and heart seemed to drop right down to the bottom of my stomach, never to come up. I guess I'd toppled over if I wasn’t scared too stiff to move. “ Vou--Robbins!” I gasps. “I don’t get the hang of things at all!” Both Red and Sam let go a harsh laugh. _“ Simple enough, sheriff,” Sam went on, kind of smiling to himself. ‘‘ You see, I just swapped places with that detective from Sioux Falls.” : ‘““ Swapped places?” I wheezes. ‘* Sure—just about forty miles from Highridge! Me and Red managed to get the best of him in that stateroom, and while Red was choking off his wind I fished the key to the bracelets out of his vest pocket. | ‘“ After I’d got us all loose and Red fin- ished choking him to sleep, we stripped that dick to his underwear. Then we bound him hand and foot with his own suspenders, opened the window, and waited for a river. “Tt wasn’t long before we came to a good one—wide, swift and deep. So as we were passing over the bridge we gave the dick a heave, tossing him plump into the water. And it ‘ll be a long time before they find his body—it must be in the Missouri by now. ‘* After that, I took off my own clothes and put on the dick’s, we both being about the same size and build. And of course { didn’t forget to keep his gun—that’s what you’re looking into now. Passing along a deep ravine, I pitched my clothes to the bottom. “ Then, after waiting a little while, I put the bracelets on Red, opened the door, and called to the porter. I knew the darky hadn’t got a good look at us before—he’d been too busy juggling baggage in the dark when we got aboard, and the dick had kept the door locked from the time we pulled out.”’ “But what was your idea in handing over Red—never though you fellows dou- ble crossed each other like that?” I asks, getting interested in his story in spite of the gun sticking in my face. ‘What else could we do, you fool? Do you suppose we were both going to jump out of the window with the train going that speed? Not much! And Highridge was the next station. We tried to get the conductor to stop the train before we got in, figuring toymake our get-away, but it didn’t work. So there was nothing left to do but keep on passing myself off for the detective and trust to luck I’d get a chance to free Red later. | poet “And I did, all right! When you were getting up your posse, to go down the GEomichbooks (E(e)