Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 4 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

BING, BANG, BOOM! were in the former days of operation. There is no swindle to that! Any mis- representations that the fellow speaks of were made by his own befuddled brain; for, my friends, he was dead drunk when he made the purchase from me! Under- stand that—dead drunk—just as he was every night of his profligate existence! “I admit,” he went on, diminishing his voice from the crescendo to which it had risen, “‘ that it was not quite right to have sold-him that stock while he was in so revolting a condition. He might have had the transaction nullified in the courts of his State, if he had so desired. But he didn’t dare! He would have been laughed out of town! But if I did so slight a wrong as to- give him value for money he would have squandered on drink and ex- cesses, it was because I had your interests at heart. Do you know to what use I shall put that money? ‘Let me tell you: “You all know how long we have re- belled against the condition that made it necessary for us to procure our electricity from Pinebluff. Well, that condition will be removed. With that fifteen thousand dollars, which I shall call yours, and with added capital of my own, I shall bring our own plant right here to Selma! Within three months, we will sever our unpleasant relations with the unscrupulous Consoli- dated Company of Pinebluff, and you will have a model, modern electrical plant that you may call your own! | -. “Now—judge me as you will, my friends—-but be slow to judge me harshly.” For a moment there was silence as thick as that which followed Bert’s address; then someone started to cheer, and soon a shout rose off the crowd like a sudden burst of flame, and handkerchiefs and hats fluttered in the air. ‘“* Hurrah for Ellis Turner!” “ Kick the young scamp out’n town, I !” “Three cheers for the power plant!” ‘Three cheers for Spigot an’ Warren!” Through the cheering throng a young man elbowed his way to the machine, and stepping to the running-board, frantically waved and shouted for silence. Bert, be- wildered by the sudden turn of affairs, 521 numbed by the knowledge that in his first fight with Turner he had been ignominious- ly defeated, watched the newcomer through — eyes that were blurred with chagrin and burning shame. “ Let’s hear Fred Patterson!” ‘‘ Say your say, Fred!” Gradually the cheering and shouting sub- sided, and when all was quiet once more, the young man on the running-board be- gan to speak. He was a man of about Bert’s own age, tall, wiry, with an elasticity of movement that suggested great agility. His eyes were blue, and seemed to twinkle with mirth even when, as now, his face was serious. He wore a blue work-apron that was covered with ink-stains, and his long, slender hands, too, were spotted with the fluid of the printing-press. His yellow, rumpled hair was like flax in the sunshine. “Listen here,” he cried out abruptly. ‘““ Are you folks going to let yourselves be be double-crossed again? You get me sick, you do! If that man Turner told you that black was white, you’d believe him. He’s just got oyt of a tight place by saying a lot of disgusting lies about that young man who just came here, and by trying to. make you think that he’s giving you a _ present of a power plant. “T don’t know anything about this stranger, but I’d take an oath on it that he isn’t the sort of fellow Turner would have you believe him to be. You never in your life saw the kind of drunkard and dissipator Turner was talking about that had the clear skin, the bright eye, and the steady hand of that young man. Maybe he was intoxicated when he bought that stock from Turner, but I wouldn’t be sur- prised if Turner was the one who made him get that way! That’s what Turner does with you folks. He gets you all in- toxicated with words, and then he gets you to do just what he wants you to do. “As for that power plant— it’s a joke. -Of course we want our own plant; but we don’t want Ellis Turner to own it! We want to own it ourselves. We want it to be bought with the city’s money, so that the city will own it. But the city won't _buy it because every man in office from the mayor down is Turner’s man—placed in Original from STATE UNI - = THE OHIO lOOOLKK CO