Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 14, 1928 — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

184 up in him. What right had she to treat him so, after the encouragement she had given him? But—a bitter suggestion came to him ~—was she really sincere in those heart- ening words she had spoken to him in front of the courthouse? More likely, as he had half-suspected at the time, she was simply letting him down easy. He had shown himself so futile, so inept, sttch a perfect boob, that she hadn’t felt it worth while to betray her irritation; just gave the poor haliwit a jollying pat, and let him go his way. “Good Lord!” he thought with withering — self-abasement. “ Why shouldn’t she? About all she has ever seen me do is to make funny falls and flop around in the dust at her feet.” The flare of anger which had brought his head up for a second died away, and as the butler held the door for him with the manner of one shoot- ing out a stray alley-cat he slunk by with shamed, downcast eyes. | Into his dilapidated, waiting hack he climbed. z= “Get me back to town as quick as you can make it,” he growled. He didn’t care much now whether they crashed over one of those preci- pices on the road-or not. T he morti- » fying experience through which he had . just passed could, as he saw it, mean only one thing: Molly Todd had defi- nitely and decisively given him the gate. And, after that, what else mat- tered? The driver obligingly started off in a manner that seemed likely to gratify Norman’s suicidal ambitions. But be- fore they got clear of the grounds one of the car’s flimsy old tires blew out with a report like a cannon, and they had come to a halt. “ Nev’ min’, senor!’ The driver scrambled out cheerfully and began working on the spare. ‘ We make eet all right. I feex him queeck. “Si, si, we make eet all right,” he repeated, and something in his tone ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, reminded Norman of Molly Todd’s confident assurances to him as they raced so recklessly to Rio Rita at noon —assurances which she would certain- ly have made good if it had not been for that disastrous truck. No question that she had been eager to aid him then. And remembering that thrilling dash and her other ef- forts to help him win the contract, Norman could not but feel that it would be an ungrateful and caddish thing—no matter what her attitude to- ward him now—to go away, keeping the information he possessed. Since she did not want to see him, he would not intrude upon her again of course. But that did not prevent him from sending her a communica- tion covering the facts. He beckoned to a man who had sauntered over from the lodgekeeper’s house to watch the Mexican work upon the tire, and who was evidently em- ployed upon the estate. “There’s something I failed to tell Miss ‘Todd when I was up to the house,” said Norman. ‘ If I put it in a note, can you deliver it for me, and see that it gets into her own hands right away?” “Sure.” The fellow nodded. “ I’ve got to go up to the big house anyhow in about fifteen minutes, and I’ll hand it to her myself.” Accordingly Norman began search- ing among the papers in his pocket for a blank sheet on which to set down his discoveries in regard to the dam. As he did so he came across the draft of that explanatory telegram to his firm which he had not sent. Why not save time, and simply turn that over to her, came the suggestion. It covered the facts as completely as any statement he could get up, and told her all she needed to know. | Scratching out, therefore, his plea to be retained on the job, and adding only a line to say that he was going away, and wanted to advise her of this intelligence before he left it, he sealed COPMNICLOOKS (E@)