Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 4 — page 182: what you’re looking at

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

688 In passing on to the person of Riggs, Mary dropped from tragedy to light com- edy. In appearance he was of short, stout build, rather loudly tailored, with a squat, brown derby and bulging-toed, yel- low shoes. His diamonds were the largest in town; his watch-chain was the most mas- sive; his neckwear, the most flamboyant. “But why,” said Danny, “ would he want to lead a gang against me?” ‘‘ Jealousy,” said Mary. ‘‘ He may not be in the gang himself, but he has a crowd that will do anything for him—anything! . Since he can’t come here himself, he has determined that no one else shall come. Sets himself up to choose a husband for me, with himself as the other applicant. Till you came it amused me to see him scare tthe others off; I’d soon become tired of them anyway. But with you—” ‘“‘ Mary—Mary!” Danny possessed him- self of her hand. “If you mean that, Mary, there are not enough Ben Riggses in the world to keep me away from you.” That night he walked home on air, un- disturbed in hiS dream. The gang, in broken conclave, had decided against any further rocking. Twice they had a nar- row chance: once when the started to rock Dan Tucker through mistake (thinking him Danny Shane), again, when Danny ex- changed lead for stones. Here was one battle that Riggs would have to finish for himself. | On the following evening (Saturday) at seven o’clock @young Shane stepped into a store on Courthouse Street. As he came out he was rudely brushed by a low, heavy .. man, who was either very drunk or very _boorish, or both. Danny apologized and would have passed on, but the heavy man barred his way. ~ “ Fair words don’t butter no taters with me,” said the stranger. - “You mean you won’t accept my apolo- gies, when you were the one that should have apologized?” returned Danny. Then he noted tthe stranger’s features and habiliments—the squat, brown derby; the flaming cravat; the big-toed, yellow shoes. ‘“‘ Qh, I know what -you want now,” he said, and struck with all his might. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. A fight was no new thing in “ the city ” then, but a small group of interested spec- tators hastily gathered. Riggs was the heavier, but Danny’s recent football and gym experiences gave him a slight advan- tage.: The bets, beginning with odds against Danny, shifted to two to one in his favor. He was enjoying the fracas and warming up to the excitement when one of Riggs’s henchmen, seeing his man getting the worst of ‘the encounter, struck Danny a powerful blow across the face with a brick. | He fell like a ton of brick. Some one kicked him and 4 shoe came down heavily on his face—an immemorial custom of the Riggs’s gang. He spat out a tooth and suppressed a groan of agony. Then, as the foot descended a second time, he reached for his gun and fired. Some one fell; he was too dazed‘to dis- tinguish the victim of his bullet. But he was not kicked again. An instant of si- lence, then a man cried out hoarsely: ‘““ Not that, you fools; put up your guns. We've got another way.” Danny was only slightly conscious of the excitement he had created. The man he Shot fell at the feet of a passing woman, who shrieked and fainted. Policémen ran in from all directions, wielding their clubs and brandishing their guns. example of the half-humorous, half+pathetic incidents that often crowd on the heels of tragedy, a round-faced boy, who had been loitering in town an hour, was entering the store to buy a spool of thread for his mother when the shot was fired. He dropped his nickel on the store steps, and his hat flew off as he ran at break-neck speed homeward. 7 He was Dan Tucker’s-Rob. : Hil. _Danny’s father and Sam Morgan, the jailer, left him at ten o’clock. He was as- sured that everything was all right; under the law and evidence in the case, he was justified in killing Ben Riggs. The mayor, one policeman dnd other reputable citizens had seen the shooting, and they would tes- tify that he had shot in defense of his life. 11 A f\ on eee fee NIQiINal TI THE ) STATE UG? ADOOLK 4