Argosy All-Story Weekly — "Sea Marauders" — page 131: what you’re looking at

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

THE MAN WITH Ya,” answered the doubting Herman. -“ How much you charge, Herr Frisbie, come boss my ranch? Speak it.” “T can’t see my way clear to take over the control of your place,” said Mr. Frisbie in a confidential tone of voice, “ but for a little matter of one hundred dollars in United States gold coin I will guarantee to make twenty Piute slobs grub ten acres of sagebrush a day for ten days, which is a matter of one hundred acres—and no ques- tions asked.”’ “ Ven you gommense, Mr. Frisbie? I took dot proposition!’ shouted Her- man, slapping his hand on the wet bar. “ Eight o’clock morning. You have twenty strong bucks ready and I'll be there in the cool of the morning. Just tell ’em I’m the boss and leave the rest to me. I'll make a vacation of this job.” Promptly on time Mr. Frisbie ar- rived in a buckboard, accompanied by his critical glass eye. He was pre- sented formally to the Piutes as the new pain in their necks. Beckoning the toilers to grab the im- plements of torture and fall in behind, Lyman led the little company off to the uncleared acres until he arrived at a pine stump sawed off level and stand- ing about five feet high. This he mounted and requested the red men to gather round and “hear something,” as follows, to wit: “Listen, Injun man, paleface know everything, all same big chief Wash- ington. White man want Injun man grubbum sagebrush so farmer ketchum hay, ketchum wheat, ketchum corn. Injun man no foolum paleface. “Me know everything, hear every- thing, see everything. Me big chief, big boss. Heap smart, plenty ear, plenty eye. You watchum me. I watchum you.” With this lucid burst of oratory Mr. Frisbie, the talented bartender of the Magnolia Saloon, began his vacation by stepping down from the pine stump and removing his glass right eye from THE, LYING EVE, 553 its socket Between tas thumb a forefinger he held. the glistening ob- ject aloft and in a slow but impressive voice announced to the terrified Piutes this self-evident truth: “Me leavum eye here to watch In- jun man. You ketchum grub hoe and geo work damn quick.” With that Mr. Frisbie turned on his heel, strolled over to the willow grove on the river bank and promptly went to sleep, his wise head pillowed among the wild flowers. Twenty terrified redskins, glancing backward at the gleaming and all see- ing glass eye of the omnipotent pale- face, sailed into the sagebrush bent on a campaign of extermination. Strengthened by repose the ex-bar- tender of the Magnolia arose from the lush grass and returned at high noon to his watchful glass éye, where he summoned his wards with a series of war whoops. “TInjun man go catchum grub,” said he in guttural tones, returning the op- tical masterpiece to its socket. And so to luncheon. He knocked them off again at five for the day, and took his eye to bed with him, not forgetting to put in a call for all hands on the morrow at the old pine stump. The land began to clear of the scrub and the future looked rosy. In the meantime Lyman Frisbie put in a sup- ply of first-class sleep to the murmur of a friendly river. On the afternoon of the fifth aoe the farmer stepped out on his veranda and swept his eyes over the partly cleared land. All movement had ceased. ‘There was not a toiler in sight and the hot sun beat down on a scene of deathlike inaction. Something had gone wrong with the Frisbie System of Manual Labor. Herman made a cautious detour around the fields and found Mr. Fris- bie snoring the afternoon away, his re- maining good eye closed in penesel slumber. comicbooks;com — a . Se naediy Sena ~~ Fa et a+)” Seely