Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 3 — page 208: what you’re looking at

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

450) sha’n’t detain you long. Ten minutes, per- haps, at most.” His voice was gentle, ingratiating, the voice of an inferior begging a favor. Yet Patrick Torblend seemed very pale. He glanced about him, and dropped into the chair beside the table. After that first start- led ejaculation he had said nothing. He seemed desperately trying to overcome the terror which had mastered him. This terror must have been a mental panic rather than a physical fright, for there was certainly nothing about Ferguson to frighten any one. The man was rather small, and the tightly fitting jacket-uniform accentuated this lack of size. He held no weapon. His manner was quite subservient. Even his voice was respectful. _ A scant two minutes had passed since the door opened. -Ferguson remained standing, watching the seated Torblend with those gray agate eyes, so wide and even expressionless. There was not the slightest menace in his. attitude. One would have said without hesitation that he was expecting some orders from Torblend. , ““ Well?” said Torblend at last, scowling blackly at him. “ Just a few mimutes,” said Ferguson. He spoke with a gentle vagueness, as though talking to himself. he added apologetically, “‘ we used to know you pretty well three years ago, all of us. We all liked you—I, and my sister Edna, and my brother Larry. Poor Larry is dead now. He was crippled, of course, and it could not be expected—yes, we liked you. Edna and I have waited, quite sure you would return. Larry always said that you’d do the right thing when you did show up—” ‘His voice trailed away. Suddenly he appeared to be just a wistful, feeble little old man, lost in some introspective musing thought. A gleam of hope glittered in the eyes of Patrick Torblend. As he looked and lis- tened, he mastered the inward panic that had come upon him. He regained his poise and his fighting power. The gleam in his eye skowed that he scorned himself for hav- ing thought this fellow would dare hurt him. ae SP oT IE Digitized by Go ogle “You know,” . ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. “T see,” he said quietly,.and took out a fresh cigarette. ‘Smoke, Ferguson?” The other man reached forward, inspect- ed the tube, and smiled as he felt for a match. . ‘Larry used to send them home to us,” he said. “ The real article, eh? Nane of your doped and damned imitation Turkish —yes, the real Egyptian. Larry used to send them to us.” Torblend felt that it was time he took the situation in Hand. — “ Well?” he said sharply, with the imP¥- cation that he was a busy man. “ You wanted to speak with me, Ferguson?” “Yes, of course,” ‘said the other. you don’t mind.” Torblend smiled a littl. He was amused ‘by the sudden fright that had gripped him. This man might be a damned good actor, but that was improbable; quite improbable! No, the trouble lay in himself. He should have known better than to be afraid or to have even hesitated an instant. ‘““Go ahead,” he said, relaxing in his chair and inhaling the cigarette. “Well,” said Ferguson, “ you see, it was « If over three years ago that you came to board . with us. - Larry had just come home then, crippled. He’d heen caught by a wounded lion—but you know all that, ofcourse. He had brought home with him the secret of that new mining-field down in South Africa. “We were all quite poor then, and it was a godsend to have you as-q@ boarder. Then Edna got that job in Jersey City, and went over there for the summer, and I was work- ing nights. So when Larry:came down with the fever, you nursed him. We all liked that. It was fine in you, Mr. Torblend. We knew he wouldn’t live so very long, of course. “So you had the secret from him while he was ill. That was all right. We talked it over, all of us. We decided that you were the man to take it in hand and go away to turn it into a fortune; you were employed in Wall Street and you knew every one, and all that. Then you disap- peared very suddenly, and we knew that you had gone. We found out. - But that was all right; Larry always said you’d come back and do the right thing by us.” CO