Argosy All-Story Weekly — "Sea Marauders" — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

po NOT FOR PUBLICATION. I used to know a good many of the newspaper boys down in El Paso— liked ’em all.” In the matter of news he seemed in- exhaustible. The troops of his govern- ment were chasing the Federals all through Mexico. He went to a wall map of the country and began to stud it wth a handful of glass-headed tacks. “We are here—and here—”’ He stepped back and punctured the city of San Luis Potosi. “Do you know what that means? It means that within thirty days we will have the whole country cleaned out of every scattering band of the enemy. From these points we can run them down like rabbits—wipe them, out. You wants news. I'll give it to you! Here!’ He took a bunch of photographs out of his desk. - Every one in the pictures was either dead or dying. A goodly share of them were hanging from trees with ropes around their necks, although quite a few were stretched out flat on the ground. “This man here,” Alavardo re- marked, indicating one prone figure, “was General Aragan. He had four- teen bullets in him. You can print any of these pictures you like.” Our sheet wouldn’t have printed that stuff at advertising rates. “Let me give you an interview then,” he offered. ““ You can quote me as Say- ing that Tyranny has been trampled under foot by Democracy. Now we're just like you people—a government of, for, and by the people. We're going to divide up the land.” I asked him about Villa. *Pancho’s a fine man,” Alavardo said. “Great patriot. The peons are simply wild about him. He’s hot-head- 487 sons the government sent me up here. Now you, maybe, know lots of rich people? You get me, Steve? Maybe you make good money if you send me some people with money.” HE door opened and a drooping countryman hobbled in on a stick. One of his feet was pillowed in bandages. “Hey, you!’ ‘Alavardo roared. “Vamos! What d’ye. think this is? Outside! Outside!” The crippled man held up a sheet of paper on which something was written. His face was working with pain and apprehension. He made no move to leave. Alavardo’s face went black. With abrupt activity he crossed the room, pitched the rickety figure out of the door, and sent him with a kick into a huddled heap in the corridor. It was luck more than anything else, I suppose, that enabled me to catch the consul, as he reéntered the room, on the exact point of the jaw that sent him off balance and lumbering against the wall. If you weigh a hundred and twenty pounds you should never paste a man who weighs around one eighty. ‘The realization of this principle came to me at once and I went from there immedi- ately, while the sefiér was still groggy. In a small city like ours one con- stantly ran across friends, on the streets, in the theater, sometimes at po- lice headquarters. Four jacks which I'd held in a poker game decided me to dine in style and state that evening at the Hotel Madison. What surprised me was not that I en- countered old Logan and Sallie dining at a near-by table, but that they had Ramon Alavardo with them. The Mex- ed, but he’s got a heart of gold. And speaking about gold—” Abruptly, the consul became confi- dential; came up close with his stench of perfume. “We're going to open up a few con- cessions down there pretty soon—to the right parties. That’s one of the rea- ican had put aside his crimson neck- sae wear for something in purple, but—per- = haps it was imagination—I could still aes smell his perfume. aa He talked volubly, with many ges- 7 tures of widespread hands, but his ee voice was guarded. Old Logan lis- a — 2 —] ST De ee ie ete age OE 2 nS : ae é VEL KS.€COmMm nt 9 MT > et Z Oa EE 5) en i hh ie os oe Re Ae oe es ae ee i C5 ates = hy - : : ia LA LN LAL Ewes N OE. FEF see = —— ae o— = oF a oe i ila a AG Te et Pe Se FO eres soe ee eo ee ee we qe at eee, Sole <4 — sas . eae aay Sm te = ns Se ae SE Sa ey On ete SAE, Spt le te Se eee ee 6455S = ions ag wet ee eR 6 eee =p are .