Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 5, 1928 — page 127: what you’re looking at

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

ROPE NECKTIES. lf that paper was discovered it would be proof that one of us had killed Leary and fighting Deveture and his gang. We'd be lucky to get out of Gorge City alive, and even if we did, my mis- sion of revenge would have proved a dismal failure. After I get out of sight of the ranch I make somewhat better time, but Ren- wood’s cow-punchers has an hour’s start on me. I make no attempt to catch up with them. This was a case when I had to trust to Shorty’s luck and judgment; he had proved to me he was no fool, but always showed pure gold when the test came. Reaching Gorge City, I goes direct to the hotel, leaves my hoss at the hitch-post and trails direct to room twelve. As I expected, Shorty was very much in, laying down on the bed smok- ing a cigarette. “Did you have some visitors?” I asked, and then watched him chuckle fit to kill. “Gimme the story straight,” I con- tinues. “I’m in no mood for laugh- ter,” “ All right, Harry, just as you say. These here cow-punchers of Ren- wood’s find me over to the sheriff's shack, and tells me that they wants to see me most secret. Guessing what they wants, and ready to oblige, so suspicions will be stamped out of that score, I acts dumb enough to please, and accompanies them up here to our room. “They is slow as blazes, and I could have plugged them easy as a lazy man’s target. Instead I let them throw down on me and obliges with a thorough search. “Boy, they didn’t leave me with no more privacy than a newborn babe. They searches every inch of my clothes and boots, even cuts into the heels to see they ain’t hollow. “Then they starts on the room, and you'd have laughed yourself sick see- ing them trying to find loose boards on 693 the floor. When they is quite through I asks *em what it is all about. “They apologizes humble enough, and hopes I won’t hold the search agin’ ’em, that they are only follow- ing orders. Of course I knows what they is after all the time, but I plays stupid.” I grinned back at him, shorely much relieved. “Not hard for you to do that,” I drawls. ‘ And now, you wise old owl, tell your bunkie where the paper was all the time. You worried a flock of gray hairs into my head.” Shorty sat up, threw his cigarette away, and started to pour tobacco from a bag onto a sheet of rice paper. “The cow-punchers was looking at what they was searching for all the time,” he laughs, “only they never knew it. J rolled the document into a wad and hid it in the middle of this bag of tobacco. I made a smoke while they was here, and guess it took ’em off their guard, for they never thought to peep into the bag.” I looks at Shorty with all the ad- miration I can muster. “That comes,” I tells him, “ from having man-sized brains.” CHAPTER XIX. THE LYNCHING BEE. HEN I canters into the Oriental at four o’clock the faro dealers were just changing shift. Dev- eture was nowhere in sight. Staying up till dawn, I presume he slept most of the day. | “First since last night,” I said to the barkeep, and he slides a glass and a bottle of Old Jordan toward me. “Did you read the Gorge City Weekly, out this afternoon?” he asks slyly. : “No, I never read when I get in- fo’mation by word of mouth. What’s the news?” “The paper says there’s a secret Gomichbooks (E@)