Argosy (UK), January 1955 — page 123: what you’re looking at

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

CAPTAIN LIGHTFOOT 12I banged up, and Michael saw that there was a man inside Cather- ine’s room and it wasn’t her father, nor yet one of her brothers— and then he started back and stared. Regis Donnell! ‘““Go away, Martin,” cried Regis angrily. ‘“‘ Go away.” Martin, was it? What was this cold formality all of a sudden? And why the devil was Regis Donnell in Catherine’s bedroom, and her in her nightdress? ‘What in God’s name are you doing here, Regis?” he cried. ‘* 1’m where I belong. Mind your own affairs, you meddler, and go back to Dublin and leave us in peace.”’ ** Catherine, Catherine,’ called Michael, all at sea. ‘‘ Where are you? What’s going on?” Catherine appeared for a moment beside Regis, a vague white figure. ‘‘ Go away, Mick. It’s a secret. -Please, for my sake, go away!” And then Regis blurted out angrily: ‘‘ We’re married, man! And I’m hiding here—and that’s the secret, and now are you satis- fied, you swaggering Dublin bravo? ” Michael was stunned, then angry. ‘“‘ Dublin bravo, is it? A low fellow not up to your mark, eh? All right, then, why do you take my money? ”’ ‘* What money, you ass?’ shouted Regis. “Why, the two hundred guineas I gave to Brady. ‘Two hun- dred guineas, Regis Donnell. That’s a lot of gold.”’ There was a blank silence, then: ‘‘ Ah, Brady,” said Regis in distress. ‘‘ I thought his collecting was a bit on the easy side.” There was another long silence, then Michael called out: ‘ Are you happy, girl? ” And Catherine’s voice came from the darkness: “ Yes, I’m happy, Mick. Very happy.” All the same, it sounded to him as if she was crying. “TI owe you an apology, Martin,” said Regis quietly. ‘“‘ Yes, I apologize. Good lord, where did you get two hundred guineas? ” Michael laughed contemptuously. ‘‘ Two hundred guineas, is it? I could put my hand on ten thousand if you need it. But you wouldn’t take my money, would you, Regis? It’s not good money. You’d rather take it from a tenant farmer or a shoemaker or maybe a poor tinker, wandering the roads.” ** Mick! ’’? Catherine protested from the darkness. “Oh, you’re a stiff-necked fellow,” Michael went on. “ It’s all principle with you, if you hang for it; you and the others. And what of those you’ re fighting? Are your enemies so high-principled, then? You know the answer. But you’d rather go down to defeat and keep your soul clean and to hell with everybody else.” *“ Yes, Mick, I would,”’ said Regis quietly. ‘“* And he’s right,”’ called Catherine from the darkness. Michael put back his head and laughed loudly. ‘‘ Oh, to the devil with all of you! ”’ he said vehemently. “ I’m going back to Dublin. - That’s where I belong. And not with the likes of the two-shilling lot of you. Good-bye, now.” > comiclbooks.comn