The Argosy, Vol. 75, No. 4 — page 88: what you’re looking at

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

790 THE, “Ef ye’re jedgin’ by whut Mr. Gill says when Mr. Gill is buyin’, ye’re foolish. You’d oughter hear whut Mr. Gill would say ef he was a sellin’,” Silsby exclaimed scornfully. He could see that Gill had expected to get the use of the spring at his own price. It was pleasant to know that he was about to be disappointed. His sense of justice, too, was outraged at the rival ranchman’s trying to get ahead of two women. “Just a moment! I[’ll call Mile. le Fevre. She must decide.” Silsby twisted and shifted. An in- terview with the little lady who had held him up at the spring promised him another bad ten minutes. “Do I understand that M. Geel 1s trying to ‘do’ us?” was the question with which Natalie greeted him. eo Laat s- itt" Suddenly the relief with which her immediate consideration of business had given him left Silsby. She was close to him, looking straight into his eyes, while her own were clouded and bright by turns. “You mus’ understand, M. Seelsby, that I have not done that cruel theeng to the poor beasts. Eef M. Sykes of the Double X has done eet, eet ees be- cause of me, perhaps; but not at all with my knowledge. He should be punished. He and hees cruel boss, M. Geell. Eet ees surely one dirty Irish of a treeck!”’ Silsby’s stern mouth expanded into a grin. It was impossible to listen to the polite, and to him affected, “ mon- sieurs’’ applied indiscriminately and to the elegantly accented slang without being hit in his funny spot. “ Fet ees not true?’ she demanded imperiously. “ Gill’s from Mizzoura,” he replied. In spite of her misery, Natalie laughed. “Then eet ees one dirty Mizzoura of a treeck!”’ she corrected. “Do I get the use of the spring?”’ Silsby asked, quick to take adv antage of her humor. ARGOSY. “Yes. Eet ees a good bargain for me. Come. We weel write it,” she answered. For the first time in twenty years Silsby deliberately crossed a_ thresh- old where a woman invited. Frenchy would not have known his big room. Woman touches had petted the furni- ture into pleasanter relations. Some- thing in him waked after the sleep of what he had thought was death. He wrote out an agreement, and they all signed. | “*Tain’t likely them Double X-ers is a goin’ to give in easy. I reckon [ll haf to keep some uv my boys round to make *’em let my critters alone!” he said. Natalie’s slender figure lifted and straightened. “Hef—eef M. Radford ees left here to guard — then —JI tear thees up! 3? Silsby snatched the paper from her. “What the devil—”’ “You must promise! ’’ Natalie went on, excited. ‘Unless you say you weel not let heem come to thees spring I weel not stand by thees! I weel have the Double X—” The girl was quivering with anger or excitement. Silsby stared at her as she talked, then cut in on her words with a bit of his cool common sense. “The use uv the spring’s wuth more to me than this hyah Radford. I ain’t stuck on bein’ bossed *bout whut I do with my own men; but ef it’s so much to you to have him out uy the way, Pll keep him thar!” Natalie silently handed him the agreement she had held. Silsby took it and put it in his pocket before he ran any more risks. Then he freed his mind a bit. “Tt gits me why you’re so down on this hyah Radford chap when you're keepin’ in with Tom Sykes an’ the Gill bunch. Gill’s done you more dirt than I guess you know. It was him an’ Bullen that really put up the game uv tradin’ your uncle this hyah rock- pile!” CEOPNICLOOKS (E@)